Formal catalytic asymmetric total synthesis of fostriecin

The common synthetic intermediate of a potent and promising anticancer agent, fostriecin, was synthesized using a unique method that combines four catalytic asymmetric reactions as shown above.     

State of titanium in Ti-containing silica and silicalite catalysts in relation to their oxidation activity

The nature of active titanium species for epoxidation of olefins with H₂O₂ and t-butyl hydroperoxide has been investigated for titanium silicalite (TS-1), titania silica (TiO₂/SiO₂) prepared by a sol-gel method, and titanium oxide supported on silica by a CVD method (TiO₂/SiO₂-CVD). IR and XANES analyses suggested that Ti in TiO₂/SiO₂ and TiO₂/SiO₂-CVD has a tetrahedral configuration bonded to SiO₂ and that in TS-1 has a configuration composed of >Ti=O or related to it. Their configurations are closely related to their reactivities for epoxidation of olefins in which the former works with t-butyl hydroperoxide and the latter with H₂O₂.     

Alternating copolymerization of 1- and 2-vinylnaphthalene with methyl methacrylate by using diethylaluminum chloride

The alternating copolymerization of 1- and 2-vinylnaphthalene (1-VNap and 2-VNap) with methyl methacrylate (MMA) by using diethylaluminum chloride (Et₂AlCl) in toluene at 0°C has been studied. No polymerization could occur without Et₂AlCl, and alternating copolymers were obtained only when an equimolar amount of Et₂AlCl with MMA was supplied. Through ¹H-NMR analyses on both dyad and triad of alternating deuterated 1- and 2-α-d-VNap–MMA copolymers, each configuration could be described successfully by a single parameter, coisotacticity σ, whose value was estimated as 0.41 for the former and 0.56 for the latter copolymer, respectively. A rather low coisotacticity of copoly(1-VNap–MMA) was explained in the terms of steric effect (peri effect) of 1-VNap monomer.     

Efficient synthesis of (±)-8,14-cedranoxide using electrochemical method as a key step

(±)-8,14-Cedranoxide has been synthesized starting from 3,4-dimethoxyphenol, wherein 6-acetoxymethyl-2,6-dimethyl-9-methoxytricyclo[5.3.1.0^1,5]undec-9-en-8,11-dione as a key intermediate has been produced efficiently by means of electrochemical methods.     

Effects of ligands on the “living” radical polymerization initiated by the aged Cr2+ plus benzoyl peroxide system

The “living” radical polymerization of methyl methacrylate with the aged Cr²⁺ plus benzoyl peroxide (BPO) system in the presence of various amines as ligand has been studied in N,N′-dimethylformamide. Aliphatic amines such as ethylenediamine diminished the rate of polymerization, while dipyridyl (dipy) and o-phenanthroline (phen) accelerated the polymerization rate as follows: phen > dipy > pyridine ? none. Specifically, the rate of polymerization in the presence of phen had a maximum value at [phen]/[Cr²⁺] = 0.5. The retardation of polymerization by aliphatic amines was explained by the interaction of BPO with free and coordinated amines. The latter result may support the mechanism involving the complexed radical proposed for the living radical polymerization with the aged Cr²⁺ + BPO system. In the presence of phen the effects of aging period and aging temperature as well as polymerization temperature were studied and the nature of complexed radicals is discussed.     

Synthetic studies directed toward the assembly of the C-glycoside fragment of the telomerase inhibitor D8646-2-6

[reaction: see text] Construction and characterization of the C-glycosidic moiety of telomerase inhibitor D8646-2-6 (1) are described. This is the first example of the C-glycosylation using electron-poor aromatics, 4-hydroxypyrone, as a glycosyl acceptor. The glycosylation reaction and base-promoted isomerization affords desired beta-C-glycoside in a 61% overall yield.     

Electrochemical analysis of single nucleotide polymorphisms of p53 gene

Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of cancer repression gene p53 were analyzed electrochemically with ferrocenyl naphthalene diimide (1) as a hybridization indicator. The SNPs studied were the transition to A from G in the codon for amino acid at positions 175, 248 or 273 and the transversion to C from G in the codon for the amino acid at position 72. Thus, 20-meric oligonucleotides carrying the SNP site were used both as a sample and a probe with the latter immobilized on an electrode. Even one base difference on the p53 gene resulted in a significant difference in the current response of 1 and the magnitude of the response correlated with the amount of the DNA hybrid on the electrode. Moreover, when PCR products of exon 4, on which the P72/R72 SNP resides, of the p53 gene were analyzed by this method, the heterozygote and homozygotes were discriminated with modest precision.     

Direct catalytic aldol-type reactions using RCH2CN

[reaction: see text] A copper fluoride-catalyzed cyanomethylation that can be applied to a wide range of ketones and aldehydes was developed using TMSCH(2)CN as a nucleophile. The reaction was extended to a conceptually more advanced copper alkoxide-catalyzed direct addition of alkylnitriles to aldehydes, which can act as a surrogate direct catalytic aldol reaction of esters. These reactions can be applied to the first catalytic enantioselective cyanomethylation of ketones and direct catalytic enantioselective cyanomethylation of aldehydes.     

Photoinduced Molecular Transformations. Part 142. One-step syntheses of 1H-benz[f]indole-4,9-diones and 1H-indole-4,7-diones by a new regioselective photoaddition of 2-amino-1,4-naphthoquinones and 2-amino-1,4-benzoquinones with alkenes

The 2,3-dihydro-1H-benz[f]indole-4,9-diones 3a–d , h were formed in a one-step reaction in 13–82% yield by an unprecedented [3 + 2] regioselective photoaddition of 2-amino-1,4-naphthoquinone ( 1 ) with various electronrich alkenes 2 (Scheme 1, Table). The [3 + 2] photoadducts derived from 1 with vinyl ethers and vinyl acetate gave 1H-benz[f]indole-4,9-diones 4e , f , i , in 33–72% yield, by spontaneous loss of the corresponding alcohol or AcOH from the resulting adducts; 4i has a kinamycin skeleton. The [3 + 2] photoaddition also took place on irradiation of the differently substituted amino-1,4-benzoquinones 6 , 7 , and 12 and excess alkenes 2 in benzene, giving 1H-indole-4,7-dione derivatives 13 and 14 (Scheme 3), 15a and 16 (Scheme 4), and 18 (Scheme 4), respectively. The initial products in these photoadditions were proved to be hydroquinones, the air oxidation of which yielded the heterocyclic quinones; 2,3-dihydro-2-methoxy-2-methyl-5-phenyl-1H-indole-1,4,7-triyl triacetate ( 19 ) was isolated after treatment of the crude photoaddition mixture obtained from 2-amino-5-phenyl-1,4-benzoquinone ( 7 ) and 2-methoxyprop-1-ene ( 2f ) with Ac₂O and pyridine under N₂. A pathway leading to the annelated hydroquinones involving ionic intermediates arising from an electron transfer in these photoadditions is proposed (Scheme 5).