Corrected Structure of Aglalactone Isolated from Aglaia elaeagnoidea (Meliaceae)

Summary.  The structure of aglalactone, a dihydrobenzofuranone from Aglaia elaeagnoidea, was revised on the basis of 2D NMR data and lanthanide induced shifts (LIS). Received June 29, 2000. Accepted July 11, 2000     

Design and synthesis of inhibitors of adenosine and AMP deaminases

Nucleosides and nucleotides which are able to undergo covalent hydration in the aglycone ring system are potential inhibitors of the enzymes adenosine deaminase (ADA) and AMP deaminase, respectively. Calculations of the enthalpy of covalent hydration and of enzyme binding energy have been used to design new inhibitors of ADA. The ribosyl triazolotriazine 16, which was synthesized as a result of these calculations, exists predominantly as the covalent hydrate 18 in water and is a potent inhibitor of mammalian ADA (IC(50) 50 nM).     

Lateral diffusion studied by pulsed field gradient NMR on oriented lipid membranes

This mini-review focuses on the utilization of pulsed magnetic field gradients to measure diffusional motion in systems of macroscopically oriented lipid bilayers. The NMR diffusion technique is proposed to have appreciable potential for future biophysical investigations in the field of membrane biology. Topics such as transport of molecules both across and in the plane of the membrane can be successfully studied, and the formation of lipid domains and their intrinsic dynamics can also be scrutinized. First, a short introduction to the NMR technique is given together with a brief discussion on methods of obtaining a good bilayer orientation. Then, a number of recent results on biophysical/biological membrane systems of great interest is presented, in which some unique conclusions on so-called 'raft membranes' are reached. It is shown for systems with large two-phase areas of liquid disordered and liquid ordered phases that lipid lateral diffusion is faster in the former phase and has a smaller apparent activation energy. Further, on the time-scale of the experiments (50-250 ms), exchange between the two phases is fast in the phospholipid-cholesterol-water ternary system, whereas it is slow in the sphingomyelin-dioleoylphosphatidylcholine-cholesterol-water quaternary system.     

Albartin—a new sesquiterpene-coumarin ether fromArtemisia alba

A new sesquiterpene isofraxidin ether (isofraxidin=7-hydroxy-6,8-dimethoxy-coumarin) was isolated from the roots ofArtemisia alba and characterized by means of¹H-nmr,¹³C-nmr, ms, uv, and ir. Albartin is an exomethylene isomer of 3-acetyloxy-drimartol isofraxidin ether with -OAc axial and -CH₂OAr equatorial. The chemosystematic significance of this class of compounds within the genusArtemisia is briefly discussed.

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Albartin — ein neuer Sesquiterpen-Cumarin-Ether ausArtemisia alba (Kurze Mitteilung)

Zusammenfassung Aus den Wurzeln vonArtemisia alba wurde ein neuer Sesquiterpen-Isofraxidin Ether (Isofraxidin = 7-Hydroxy-6,8-dimethoxy-cumarin) isoliert und mittels¹H-NMR,¹³C-NMR, MS, UV und IR charakterisiert. Albartin ist ein exo-Methylen-Isomer von 3-Acetyloxy-drimartol-isofraxidin-ether mit-OAc axial und -CH₂OAr equatorial. Die chemosystematische Bedeutung dieser Verbindungsklasse innerhalb der GattungArtemisia wird kurz diskutiert.

     

New unsymmetrically substituted tetrahydrofurofuran lignans from artemisia absinthium : Assignment of the relative stereochemistry by lanthanide induced chemical shifts

The isolation of thirteen tetrahydrofurofuran lignans from the roots of A. absinthium and six closely related species is reported. A new group of four lignans, all stereoisomers of 1- [(3,4-methylenedioxy-5-methoxy) phenyl]-4-(3,4,5-trimethoxyphenyl)-tetrahydro-1H,3H-furo[3,4-c]furan, was found. The compounds, named sesartemin, episesartemin A, episesartemin B, and diasesartemin, were characterized by ¹H NMR (including lanthanide induced shifts), UV, IR and MS. A fifth new lignan of the sesamin type (the eq/eq isomer of fargesin) could be identified as a minor constituent. The relative configurations of two further products (fargesin and epiashantin) could be confirmed by the lanthanide induced shift technique.     

Prospects for combinatorial chemistry in the agrosciences

The recent progress and future prospects for the successful application of combinatorial chemistry and high throughput screening within the agrochemical lead discovery process are outlined and discussed. Solid and solution phase library synthesis technologies are reviewed and compared, and the role and importance of bioavailability, diversity and virtual screening in rational library design are detailed.     

The design, synthesis and screening of a muscarinic acetylcholine receptor targeted compound library

Potent new agonists of the insect muscarinic acetylcholine receptor (mAChR) have been discovered by synthesizing and screening a library of 225 oxime ether amines. Library evaluation was facilitated by the development of a high throughput test enabling the rapid determination of muscarinic agonist activity. The most interesting compounds were the thiadiazole 17 and the isoxazole 24 which were potent muscarinic agonists (EC50 13 and 21 nM, respectively) and showed lead levels of insecticidal activity.     

Observation of shot-noise-induced asymmetry in the Coulomb blockaded Josephson junction

We have investigated the influence of shot noise on the IV curves of a single mesoscopic Josephson junction. We observe a linear enhancement of zero-bias conductance of the Josephson junction with increasing shot-noise power. Moreover, the IV curves become increasingly asymmetric. Our analysis on the asymmetry shows that the Coulomb blockade of Cooper pairs is strongly influenced by the non-Gaussian character of the shot noise.     

Aglairubine: Structure Revision of a Chemotaxonomically Interesting Bisamide in Aglaia (Meliaceae)

Summary.  The bisamide aglairubine was isolated from different Aglaia species. The original structure was revised on the basis of FDMS and 2D-NMR data. Since all isolates were obtained from species belonging to the section Amoora of the genus Aglaia, aglairubine might serve as a taxonomic marker. Received July 3, 2001. Accepted July 12, 2001