Hypotensive effects on spontaneously hypertensive rats and antifungal activity on various species of Fusarium oxysporum of diethylstilbestrol-related compounds

The diethylstilbestrol-related compounds 3,3'-dihydroxy-alpha, beta-diethyldiphenylethane (I), diethylstilbestrol (II) and hexestrol (III) showed hypotensive effects on spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) and antifungal activities against all Fusarium oxysporum sp. tested. As previously reported, I had strong hypotensive action on normotensive rats at the dose of 10 mg/kg, while II and III showed weak hypotensive effects on these rats at the same dose. In this work, all three compounds also had hypotensive actions on SHR at the same dose. I showed the strongest hypotensive effect (-80.0 +/- 5.0 mmHg, 10 mg/kg, i.v.) on both SHR and normotensive rats. The three compounds also had antifungal activities against five kinds of Fusarium oxysporum sp. tested. Especially, II strongly inhibited the growth of Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. raphani IFO-9972 (minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC): 1.0 micrograms/ml).     

Two-dimensional networks based on Mn4 complex linked by dicyanamide anion: from single-molecule magnet to classical magnet behavior

Three two-dimensional (2D) network compounds based on Mn(III)/Mn(II) tetranuclear single-molecule magnets (SMMs) connected by dicyanamide (dcn-) linkers have been synthesized: [Mn4(hmp)4(Hpdm)2(dcn)2](ClO4)2 x 2 H2O x 2 MeCN (2), [Mn4(hmp)4Br2(OMe)2(dcn)2] x 0.5 H2O x 2 THF (3), [Mn4(hmp)6(dcn)2](ClO4)2 (4), where Hhmp and H2pdm are 2-hydroxymethylpyridine and pyridine-2,6-dimethanol, respectively. The [Mn4]/dcn- system appears very versatile, but enables its chemistry to be rationalized by a fine-tune of the synthetic conditions. The double cuboidal [Mn4] unit is preserved in the whole family of compounds, despite strong modifications of its Mn(II) coordination sphere. The chemical control of the coordination number of dcn- on the Mn(II) sites has been the key to obtain the following series of compounds: a discrete cluster, [Mn4(hmp)6(NO3)2(dcn)2] x 2 MeCN (1), 2D networks (2, 3, and 4), and the previously reported 3D compound, [Mn4(hmp)4(mu3-OH)2][Mn(II)(dcn)6] x 2 MeCN x THF. Direct current magnetic measurements show that both Mn2+-Mn3+ and Mn3+-Mn3+ intra-[Mn4] magnetic interactions are ferromagnetic leading to an S(T) = 9 ground state for the [Mn4] unit. Despite the very similar 2D lattices in 2-4, the two kinds of orientation of the [Mn4] unit (i.e., angle variations between the two easy axes) lead to different magnetic properties ranging from SMM behavior for 2 and 1 to a long-range canted antiferromagnetic order for 4. Compound 3 is more complicated as the magnetic measurements strongly suggest the presence of a canted antiferromagnetic order below 2.1 K, although the magnetization slow relaxation is simultaneously observed. Heat capacity measurements confirm the long-range magnetic order in 4, while in 3, the critical behavior is frozen by the slow relaxation of the anisotropic [Mn4] units.     

Low-temperature heat capacity of room-temperature ionic liquid, 1-hexyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide

Heat capacities of liquid, stable crystal, and liquid-quenched glass of a room-temperature ionic liquid (RTIL), 1-hexyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluromethylsulfonyl)imide were measured between 5 and 310 K by adiabatic calorimetry. Heat capacity of the liquid at 298.15 K was determined for an IUPAC project as (631.6 +/- 0.5) J K(-1) mol(-1). Fusion was observed at T(fus) = 272.10 K for the stable crystalline phase, with enthalpy and entropy of fusion of 28.34 kJ mol(-1) and 104.2 J K(-1) mol(-1), respectively. The purity of the sample was estimated as 99.83 mol % by the fractional melting method. The liquid could be supercooled easily and the glass transition was observed around T(g) approximately 183 K, which was in agreement with the empirical relation, T(g) approximately ((2)/(3)) T(fus). The heat capacity of the liquid-quenched glass was larger than that of the crystal as a whole. In the lowest temperature region, however, the difference between the two showed a maximum around 6 K and a minimum around 15 K, at which the heat capacity of the glass was a little smaller than that of crystal.     

Cyclization mechanism for the synthesis of macrocyclic antibiotic lankacidin in Streptomyces rochei

The lankacidin biosynthetic gene cluster in Streptomyces rochei strain 7434AN4 was found to span 31 kb of the giant linear plasmid pSLA2-L and contain a polyketide synthase (PKS)/nonribosomal peptide synthetase (NRPS) hybrid gene (lkcA), type I PKS genes, and pyrroloquinoline quinone (PQQ) biosynthetic genes (lkcK-lkcO). Feeding of PQQ to a pqq mutant restored the lankacidin production, suggesting its crucial role in an oxidation process. However, formation of the 17-membered macrocyclic ring was not catalyzed by PQQ-dependent dehydrogenase (Orf23), but was by flavin-dependent amine oxidase (LkcE). Compound LC-KA05 isolated from an lkcE disruptant was an acyclic intermediate lacking the C2-C18 linkage. These results suggested a cyclization mechanism for the synthesis of the lankacidin macrocyclic skeleton.     

Fluorescence enhancement by hydroperoxides based on a change in the intramolecular charge transfer character of benzofurazan

Strong fluorescence signals were observed after the reaction of novel reagents with hydroperoxides.     

Excitation-energy migration in self-assembled cyclic zinc(II)-porphyrin arrays: a close mimicry of a natural light-harvesting system

The excitation-energy-hopping (EEH) times within two-dimensional cyclic zinc(II)-porphyrin arrays 5 and 6, which were prepared by intermolecular coordination and ring-closing metathesis reaction of olefins, were deduced by modeling the EEH process based on the anisotropy depolarization as well as the exciton-exciton annihilation dynamics. Assuming the number of energy-hopping sites N = 5 and 6, the two different experimental observables, that is, anisotropy depolarization and exciton-excition annihilation times, consistently give the EEH times of 8.0 +/- 0.5 and 5.3 +/- 0.6 ps through the 1,3-phenylene linkages of 5 and 6, respectively. Accordingly, the self-assembled cyclic porphyrin arrays have proven to be well-defined two-dimensional models for natural light-harvesting complexes.     

A recyclable catalyst for asymmetric transfer hydrogenation with a formic acid-triethylamine mixture in ionic liquid

A novel task-specific ionic ligand with an imidazolium salt moiety was synthesized, and its catalytic ability and recyclability for asymmetric transfer hydrogenation of acetophenone derivatives with a formic acid-triethylamine azeotropic mixture in an ionic liquid [bmim][PF6] was examined.     

Parallel vs. anti-parallel orientation in a curdlan/oligo(dA) complex as estimated by a FRET technique

We already found that beta-1,3-glucan polysaccharides form polymeric complexes with certain polynucleotides, but the parallel vs. anti-parallel orientation in those complexes had remained unsolved. In this paper, this controversial problem has been discussed for curdlan/oligo(dA) complexes utilizing two different energy transfer techniques. The first system consists of a combination of fluorescein-labeled curdlan and 3'-(or 5'-)tetramethyl-rhodamine (TAMRA)-labeled oligo(dA). The second system utilizes gold nanoparticles: that is, two curdlan chains were linked by a disulfide bond and after complexation with oligo(dA), the complex was immobilized on gold nanoparticles. In this system, TAMRA was attached to the 3'(or 5') end of oligo(dA) and the gold particle acted as a fluorescence quencher (energy acceptor). These experiments have led us to conclude that in the curdlan/oligo(dA) complex, parallel orientation is more favourable than anti-parallel orientation. These findings have enabled us to envision a clearer image for the complexation mode between beta-1,3-glucan polysaccharides and polynucleotides.     

Peroxotungstate immobilized on ionic liquid-modified silica as a heterogeneous epoxidation catalyst with hydrogen peroxide

Peroxotungstate immobilized on ionic liquid-modified SiO2 is capable of heterogeneously epoxidizing a wide range of olefins with the maintenance of the catalytic activity of homogeneous analogue. The epoxidation was immediately stopped by the removal of the catalyst, and no tungsten species could be found in the filtrate after the removal of the catalyst. These results can rule out any contribution to the observed catalysis from the tungsten species that leached into the reaction solution, and the observed catalysis is truly heterogeneous in nature. Furthermore, the catalyst was reusable without the loss of the catalytic performance.