Asymmetric hydrogenation of ketones using a ruthenium(II) catalyst containing BINOL-derived monodonor phosphorus-donor ligands

[structure: see text] A series of ruthenium(II) complexes containing BINOL-based monodonor phosphorus ligands have been prepared and applied to the asymmetric catalysis of the hydrogenation of aryl/alkyl ketones. The best ligands for this application are those which contain an aromatic groups with either a methoxide or bromide on the ortho position. Using these ligands, alcohols with ee's of up to 99% are formed.     

Water-Soluble imide-amide copolymers. II. Preparation and characterization of poly (acrylamide-co-p-maleimidobenzoic acid)

The comonomer required, p-maleimidobenzoic acid (MBA) was first prepared in good yield by refinements of published methods. p-Carboxysuccinanilic acid (CSA), and p-succinimidobenzoic acid (SBA), were also prepared to provide models useful for IR and NMR for spectroscopic assignments of the new copolymers. Polymerization of MBA with acrylamide in glacial acetic acid at 60°C gave copolymers with estimated viscosity average molecular weights of 60,000 to 90,000. Yields and viscosity average molecular weights decreased as the MBA to acrylamide monomer feed ratio was increased. The rate of incorporation of MBA into the copolymer rose from 7 to 23% when the mole ratio in the feed was raised from 5 to 20%. Decreasing the initiator concentration increased molecular weights by less than predicted and reduced the yield of copolymer for any given feed ratio of MBA to acrylamide. In all cases about 30–40% of the MBA units in the purified copolymers were hydrolyzed. A change to dimethyl sulfoxide solvent gave good, and poor yields of copolymer at 5 and 10 mol % MBA, respectively, and no copolymer at 20 mol % MBA. Viscosity average molecular weights of the copolymer products prepared in DMSO were somewhat lower than obtained for the copolymers prepared in acetic acid. Polymerization in a DMSO-water mixture gave a negligible yield of polymeric product. Instead, only hydrolysates of MBA precipitated when the coloured polymerization solutions were added to methanol.     

Pyrimethamine analogs as strong inhibitors of double and quadruple mutants of dihydrofolate reductase in human malaria parasites

Pyrimethamine acts against malarial parasites by selectively inhibiting their dihydrofolate reductase-thymidylate synthase. Resistance to pyrimethamine in Plasmodium falciparum is due to point mutations in the DHFR domain, initially at residue 108 (S108N), with additional mutations imparting much greater resistance. Our previous work, the development of a simple rational drug design strategy to overcome such resistance, used suitable meta-substituents in the pyrimethamine framework to avoid the unfavorable steric clash with mutant side chains at position 108. Interestingly, the meta-chloro analog of pyrimethamine not only overcame the resistance due to S108N, but also that contributed by the more remote mutation, C59R. The present work improves on this by means of other meta-substituents. Against wild type DHFR, double mutant types A16V + S108T and C59R + S108T, and the highly pyrimethamine/cycloguanil-resistant quadruple-mutant form N51I + C59R + S108N + I164L, pyrimethamine itself gave Ki values of 1.5, 2.4, 72.3 and 859 nM, respectively. The meta-substituted analogs, especially the meta-bromo analog, were much more powerful inhibitors of these DHFRs, including the quadruple-mutant form (meta-bromo analog, Ki 5.1 nM). For comparison, the dihydropyrazine antifolate, WR99210, gave Ki values of 0.9, 3.2, 0.8 and 0.9 nM, respectively. Ki values were also measured against recombinant human DHFR, as were their activities against the growth of Plasmodium falciparum cultures bearing the double mutations (FCB and K1 strains) and quadruple mutation (V1/S) and the wild type (3D7). The meta-analogs were highly active against all of these, with the meta-bromo again being the strongest, having an IC50 of 37 nM against V1/S, compared to > 5000 nM for pyrimethamine itself and 1.1 nM for WR99210.     

A Photoelectron-spectroscopic investigation of the Homoconjugative Interaction between π- and Walsh-Orbitals in endo- and exo-Cyclopropano-norbornene

Photoelectron spectra of endo- and exo-cyclopropano-norbornene ( = endo- and exo-tricyclo[3.2.1.0^2.4]octa-6-ene) show that a significant homoconjugation exists between the π-orbital of the double bond and the symmetric Walsh-es-orbital of the cyclopropane ring in the exo-isomer, whereas the interaction is negligeable in the endo-derivative.     

Modeling deoxyribose radicals by neutralization-reionization mass spectrometry. Part 1. Preparation,dissociations, and energetics of 2-hydroxyoxolan-2-yl radical,neutral isomers,and cations

Collisional neutralization of several isomeric C(4)H(7)O(2) cations is used to generate radicals that share some structural features with transient species that are thought to be produced by radiolysis of 2-deoxyribose. The title 2-hydroxyoxolan-2-yl radical (1) undergoes nearly complete dissociation when produced by femtosecond electron transfer from thermal organic electron donors dimethyl disulfide and N,N-dimethylaniline in the gas phase. Product analysis, isotope labeling ((2)H and (18)O), and potential energy surface mapping by ab initio calculations at the G2(MP2) and B3-PMP2 levels of theory and in combination with Rice-Ramsperger-Kassel-Marcus (RRKM) kinetic calculations are used to assign the major and some minor pathways for 1 dissociations. The major (approximately 90%) pathway is initiated by cleavage of the ring C-5[bond]O bond in 1 and proceeds to form ethylene and *CH(2)COOH as main products, whereas loss of a hydrogen atom forms 4-hexenoic acid as a minor product. Loss of the OH hydrogen atom forming butyrolactone (2, approximately 9%) and cleavage of the C-3[bond]C-4 bonds (<1%) in 1 are other minor pathways. The major source of excitation in 1 is by Franck-Condon effects that cause substantial differences between the adiabatic and vertical ionization of 1 (5.40 and 6.89 eV, respectively) and vertical recombination in the precursor ion 1(+) (4.46 eV). (+)NR(+) mass spectra distinguish radical 1 from isomeric radicals 2-oxo-(1H)oxolanium (3), 1,3-dioxan-2-yl (9), and 1,3-dioxan-4-yl (10) that were generated separately from their corresponding ion precursors.     

Non planéité de cyclopenténones substituées analyse conformationnelle par résonance magnétique nucléaire

The stereochemistry of substituted cyclopent-2-en-1-ones was studied by NMR. The existence of non-planar rings is indicated and conformational analysis, based principally upon examination of the coupling constants enables the conformational population to be estimated; trans dihalogeno derivatives, for example, occur predominantly in the diaxial form.     

Regioselective palladium-catalyzed alkylation of allylic halides with benzylic grignard reagents. Two-step synthesis of abietane terpenes and tetracyclic polyprenoid compounds

A highly regioselective palladium-catalyzed alpha-alkylation of allylic bromides 1a,c-e and chloride 1b with substituted and unsubstituted benzylic Grignard reagents is reported. The resulting all-trans polyenehomobenzene derivatives were obtained in excellent yields and regioselectivity. These products were easily converted to abietane-type diterpenes (10-12) and tetracyclic polyprenoid compounds (13, 14) through a Lewis acid-promoted cascade polyene cyclization reaction.     

Shot noise sets the limit of quantification in electrochemical measurements

Detection of single molecules, particles, and rapid redox events is a challenge of electrochemical investigations and requires either an amplification strategy or significant averaging for the electrochemical current to exceed the noise level. We consider the minimum number of electrons required to reach the limit of quantification in these electrochemical measurements. A survey of the literature indicates that the state-of-the-art limit in current detection for different types of measurements (e.g. voltammetry, single-molecule redox cycling, ion channel recordings of single molecules, metal nanoparticle collision, and phase nucleation) is independent of the nature of the measurement and increases linearly with reciprocal response time, Δt^?1, over ～5 orders of magnitude (from ～10 to ～10⁶ s^?1). We demonstrate that the practical limit of quantification requires cumulative measurement of ～2100 electrons during Δt and is determined by statistics of counting electrons, that is, the shot noise in the current.     

Thermodynamische Untersuchungen zur Chelatbildung zwischen Aminoterephthalsäure-N,N-diessigsäure und 3 d- bzw. Erdalkalimetallionen. Eine Betrachtung zum Einfluß einer koordinativ inaktiven Carboxylgruppe auf die komplexe Bindung von Metallionen durch Aminopolycarbonsäuren

N-(2-Carboxyphenyl)iminodiacetic acid (H₃A) and N-(2,5-dicarboxyphenyl)iminodiacetic acid (H₄B) are tetradentate ligands and form complexes of the composition MA- and MB^2? with M^II ions. These compounds differ by the additional charge of the second carboxylic group only, which is fixed to the benzene nucleus and which is unable for coordination for steric reasons. Using an anisothermal calorimeter ΔH values for the formation of the complexes MA- and MB^2? in aqueous solution have been measured at an ionic strength 0.1 m KNO₃. From these data, and from the stability constants of the complexes, entropy changes ΔS have been calculated. In all cases investigated (M^m+ = H⁺, Mg²⁺, Ca²⁺, Sr²⁺, Co²⁺, Ni²⁺, Cu²⁺, Zn²⁺) the ΔH values are more negative for the complexes MA^m-3 than for complexes MB^m-4, whereas the ΔS values are greater for complexes MB^m-4. Using a simple model for the molecules of the complexes MB^m-4 and empirically determined dielectric constants of the medium between the central ions and the noncoordinated ionized carboxylic group, the electrostatic attraction between these charges was calculated. Basing on these results the influence of the noncoordinated carboxylic group on the central atom by the mesomeric and inductive effect is discussed.     

Combined bond polarization function basis sets for accurate ab initio calculation of the dissociation energies of AHn molecules (A=LI to F)

An alternative route toward developing basis sets for post-Hartree-Fock calculations, the hybrid bond polarization function method, is investigated. Two new basis sets, denoted 6-31G(d, p)+ B and 6-31 + G(d,p)+B, are defined for the first-row hydrides. The dissociation energies of the first-row hydride species in their respective ground states are computed using full fourth-order Møller-Plesset theory, and compared with results obtained with large polarized basis sets containing no bond functions. It is shown that results are competitive even with basis sets as large as 6-311++G(3df,3pd), while computation times are reduced by a factor of 4 to 20. On empirical grounds, the basis set superposition error should be neglected entirely.