Electrocatalytic reactions mediated by N,N,N',N'-Tetraalkyl-1,4-phenylenediamine redox liquid microdroplet-modified electrodes: chemical and photochemical reactions In, and At the surface of, femtoliter droplets

The electro-oxidation of electrolytically unsupported ensembles of N,N-diethyl-N',N'-dialkyl-para-phenylenediamine (DEDRPD, R = n-butyl, n-hexyl, and n-heptyl) redox liquid femtoliter volume droplets immobilized on a basal plane pyrolytic graphite electrode is reported in the presence of aqueous electrolytes. Electron transfer at these redox liquid modified electrodes is initiated at the microdroplet-electrode-electrolyte three-phase boundary. Dependent on both the lipophilicity of the redox oil and that of the aqueous electrolyte, ion uptake into or expulsion from the organic deposits is induced electrolytically. In the case of hydrophobic electrolytes, redox-active ionic liquids are synthesized, which are shown to catalyze the oxidation of l-ascorbic acid over the surface of the droplets. In contrast, the photoelectrochemical reduction of the anaesthetic reagent halothane proceeds within the droplet deposits and is mediated by the ionic liquid precursor (the DEDRPD oil).     

Asymmetric synthesis of substituted 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acids via diketopiperazine methodology

Diketopiperazinespirocyclopropane 12 is prepared in > 98% d.e. via the conjugate addition of a phosphorus ylide to (6S)-N,N'-bis(p-methoxybenzyl)-3-methylenepiperazine-2,5-dione 2. Deprotection and hydrolysis of adduct 12 and subsequent peptide coupling demonstrate the applicability of this methodology to the asymmetric synthesis of 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acids for incorporation into novel peptides. A model for the high level of diastereofacial selectivity observed in the cyclopropanation reaction is presented. A highly selective asymmetric approach (> 98% d.e.) to (S)-[2,2-(2)H2]-1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid 29 is also reported via a deuterated sulfur ylide addition to acceptor 2.     

An efficient asymmetric synthesis of grenadamide

The cyclopropane containing natural product grenadamide has been prepared in six steps using (R)-5,5-dimethyl-oxazolidin-2-one as a chiral auxiliary for asymmetric synthesis. Key synthetic steps include the use of the β-hydroxyl group of a syn-aldol product as a ‘temporary’ stereocentre to control the facial selectivity of a directed cyclopropanation reaction, as well as the use of phenylethylamine as a nucleophile for the direct aminolysis of an N-acyl-oxazolidin-2-one intermediate.     

Fluorescent probe for the imaging of superoxide and peroxynitrite during drug-induced liver injury

Drug-induced liver injury (DILI) is an important cause of potentially fatal liver disease. Herein, we report the development of a molecular probe (LW-OTf) for the detection and imaging of two biomarkers involved in DILI. Initially, primary reactive oxygen species (ROS) superoxide (O₂˙⁻) selectively activates a near-infrared fluorescence (NIRF) output by generating fluorophore LW-OH. The C C linker of this hemicyanine fluorophore is subsequently oxidized by reactive nitrogen species (RNS) peroxynitrite (ONOO⁻), resulting in cleavage to release xanthene derivative LW-XTD, detected using two-photon excitation fluorescence (TPEF). An alternative fluorescence pathway can occur through cleavage of LW-OTf by ONOO⁻ to non-fluorescent LW-XTD-OTf, which can react further with the second analyte O₂˙⁻ to produce the same LW-XTD fluorescent species. By combining NIRF and TPEF, LW-OTf is capable of differential and simultaneous detection of ROS and RNS in DILI using two optically orthogonal channels. Probe LW-OTf could be used to detect O₂˙⁻ or O₂˙⁻ and ONOO⁻ in lysosomes stimulated by 2-methoxyestradiol (2-ME) or 2-ME and SIN-1 respectively. In addition, we were able to monitor the chemoprotective effects of tert-butylhydroxyanisole (BHA) against acetaminophen (APAP) toxicity in living HL-7702 cells. More importantly, TPEF and NIRF imaging confirmed an increase in levels of both O₂˙⁻ and ONOO⁻ in mouse livers during APAP-induced DILI (confirmed by hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining).

Drug-induced liver injury (DILI) is an important cause of potentially fatal liver disease.     

Fast iterative methods for symmetric sinc-Galerkin systems

The symmetric sinc-Galerkin method developed by Lund, when appliedto the second-order self-adjoint boundary value problem, givesrise to a symmetric coefficient matrix has a special structureso that it can be advantageously used in solving the discretesystem. In this paper, we employ the preconditioned conjugategradient method with banded matrices as preconditioners. Weprove that the condition number of the preconditioned matrixis uniformly bounded by a constant independent of the size ofthe matrix. In particular, we show that the solution of an n-by-ndiscrete symmetric sinc-Galerkin system can be obtained in O(nlog n) operations. We also extend our method to the self-adjointelliptic partial differential equation. Numerical results aregiven to illustrate the effectiveness of our fast iterativesolvers.     

On Evolving Social Systems: Communication, Speciation and Symbiogenesis

In this paper we introduce three enhancements for evolutionary computing techniques in social environments. We describe the use of the genetic algorithm to evolve communicating rule-based systems, where each rule-based system represents an agent in a social/multi-agent environment. It is shown that the evolution of multiple cooperating agents can give improved performance over the evolution of an equivalent single agent, i.e. non-social, system. We examine the performance of two social system configurations as approaches to the control of gait in a wall climbing quadrupedal robot, where each leg of the quadruped is controlled by a communicating agent. We then introduce two social-level operators&2014;speciation and symbiogenesis&2014;which aim to reduce the amount of knowledge required a priori by automatically manipulating the system&2018;s social structure and describe their use in conjunction with the communicating rule-based systems. The reasons for implementing these kinds of operators are discussed and we then examine their performance in developing the controller of the wall-climbing quadruped. We find that the use of such operators can give improved performance over static population/agent configurations.     

1,1-Diacyloxy-1-phenylmethanes as versatile N-acylating agents for amines

1,1-Diacyloxy-1-phenylmethanes and 1-pivaloxy-1-acyloxy-1-phenylmethanes have been used as bench stable N-acylating reagents for primary and secondary amines and anilines under solvent-free conditions to afford their corresponding amides in good yield.     

A bench top experimental model of bubble transport in multiple arteriole bifurcations

Motivated by a novel gas embolotherapy technique, a bench top vascular bifurcation model is used to investigate the splitting of long bubbles in a series of liquid-filled bifurcations. The developmental gas embolotherapy technique aims to treat cancer by infarcting tumors with gas emboli that are formed by selective acoustic vaporization of 6 μm, intravascular, perfluorcarbon droplets. The resulting gas bubbles are large enough to extend through several vessel bifurcations. The current bench top experiments examine the effects of gravity and flow on bubble transport through multiple bifurcations. The effect of gravity is varied by changing the roll angle of the bifurcating network about its parent tube. Splitting at each bifurcation is nearly even when the roll angle is zero. It is demonstrated that bubbles can either stick at one of the second bifurcations or in the second generation daughter tubes, even though the flow rate in the parent tube is constant. The findings of this work indicate that both gravity and flow are important in determining the bubble transport, and suggest that a treatment strategy that includes multiple doses may be effective in delivering emboli to vessels not occluded by the initial dose.     

ISOQUINO[2,1-c][1,3,2] BENZODIAZAPHOSPHORINE DERIVATIVES: NEW POTENTIAL AGENTS FOR CANCER CHEMOTHERAPY

Abstract

Three derivatives of 2-chloro-5,8,9,13b-tetrahydro-5-methyl-6H-Isoquino[2,1 -GI[1,3,2]benzodiazaphosphorine 6-oxides as well as its sulphides were synthesized with the aim of evaluating their antitumor properties. Three of the twenty one compounds were found to be significantly active (inhibition of tumor growth > 80%) in the Ehrlich ascites carcinoma screen. Several structure-activity relationships were indicated for antitumor activity in this screen. An aziridinyl substituted derivative, bis-(2-chloroethyl)amino substitution (3) also exhibited significant activity against the growth of P-388 lymphocytic Leukemia cells in male BDF, mice (% T/C = 147; % T/C > 125 is considered significant). The reference for activity comparison is cyclophosphamide or cytoxan i.e. [bis(2-chloroethyl)aino]-5,6-dihydro-2H-1,3,2-oxazaphosphorinane 2-oxide [having TIC × 100 = 339 at a dose of 65 mg/kg]     

Synthesis of Di‐, Tri‐, and Tetrasubstituted Oxetanes by Rhodium‐Catalyzed OH Insertion and CC Bond‐Forming Cyclization

Oxetanes offer exciting potential as structural motifs and intermediates in drug discovery and materials science. Here an efficient strategy for the synthesis of oxetane rings incorporating pendant functional groups is described. A wide variety of oxetane 2,2‐dicarboxylates were accessed in high yields, including functionalized 3‐/4‐aryl‐ and alkyl‐substituted oxetanes and fused oxetane bicycles. Enantioenriched alcohols provided enantioenriched oxetanes with complete retention of configuration. The oxetane products were further derivatized, while the ring was maintained intact, thus highlighting their potential as building blocks for medicinal chemistry.