Unprecedented single-pot synthesis of nitrile-derived ketoimino platinum(II) complexes by ring opening of Delta4-1,2,4-oxadiazolines

[PtCl2(RCN)2] (1a R=CH2CO2Me, 1b R=CH2Cl) prepared upon EtCN replacement at [PtCl2(EtCN)2] by the appropriate organonitrile, react with a cyclic nitrone -O-+N=CHCH2CH2C(Me)2, under mild conditions, to give, in an unprecedented single-pot synthesis involving spontaneous N-O bond cleavage, the ketoimino complexes trans-[PtCl2[RC(=O)N=CN(H)C(Me)2-CH2CH2]2 (2a, 2b) with two (pyrrolidin-2-ylidene)amino ligands. The analogous 2c (R=Et) and 2d (R=Ph) are formed by treatment with H2, in the absence of any added catalyst, of the Delta4-1,2,4-oxadiazoline complexes trans-[PtCl2[N=C(R)ONC(Me)2CH2CH2CH]2] (3a R=Et, 3b R=Ph) derived from the [2 + 3]-cycloaddition of the cyclic nitrone with the appropriate organonitrile complex of type 1. The compounds were characterized by elemental analyses, IR, 1H, (13C and 195Pt NMR spectroscopies, FAB mass spectrometry and X-ray structure analyses for 2a and 2d.     

Synthesis and structural characterization of two novel heterometallic clusters: [Rh4Pt2(CO)11(dppm)2] and [Ru2Rh2Pt2(CO)12(dppm)2

Two novel heterometallic octahedral clusters [Rh(4)Pt(2)(CO)(11)(dppm)(2)](1) and [Ru(2)Rh(2)Pt(2)(CO)(12)(dppm)(2)](2) were synthesized by the reaction of [Rh(2)Pt(2)(CO)(6)(dppm)(2)] with [Rh(6)(CO)(14)(NCMe)(2)] and Ru(3)(CO)(12), respectively. Solid state structures of 1 and 2 have been established by a single crystal X-ray diffraction study. Two dppm ligands in 1 are bonded to one platinum and three rhodium atoms, which form an equatorial plane of the Rh(4)Pt(2) octahedron. Two rhodium and two platinum atoms bound to the diphosphine ligands in 2 are nonplanar to give an octahedral C2 symmetric Ru(2)Rh(2)Pt(2)(dppm)2 framework. The (31)P NMR investigation of and (1D, (31)P COSY, (31)P-[(103)Rh] HMQC) and simulation of 1D spectral patterns showed that in both clusters the structures of the M(6)(PP)(2) fragments found in the solid state are maintained in solution.     

Adaptation of the human skin by chronic solar-simulating UV irradiation prevents ultraviolet-B irradiation-induced rise in serum C-reactive protein levels

Exposure of the skin to UV radiation induces local inflammation. We hypothesized that inflammation induced by erythemal UV-B irradiation could elevate levels of serum C-reactive protein (CRP) and that suberythemal repeating doses of solar-simulating UV radiation (SSR) would produce photoadaptation to such inflammation. Separation-free high-sensitivity assays of CRP show an increase by 42% (P = 0.046) in CRP concentrations in healthy human subjects 24 h after a 3 minimal erythemal dose (MED) dose of UV-B delivered onto a 100 cm2 skin area. Preceding daily suberythemal doses of whole-body SSR for 10 or 30 consecutive days completely prevented the CRP increase. UV-B-induced skin erythema was partially attenuated by 30 preceding days of SSR only (P = 0.00066). After 10 daily SSR doses, the mean baseline CRP concentrations (0.24 +/- 0.21 mg/L) declined by 35% (P = 0.018). Using high-sensitivity analysis of serum CRP as the endpoint marker for cutaneous inflammation, we show that acute exposure of even a relatively small skin area to erythemal UV-B induces skin inflammation detectable also at the systemic level and that photoadaptation by preceding repeating suberythemal doses of SSR reduces signs of inflammation. Our data complement the view given by previous studies in that local photoadaptation also has systemic manifestations.     

Assembly of the Au-diphosphine helical cage molecules via alkynyl-μ4-methylydine ligand transformation

The assembly of the gold(I)-diphosphine cages occurs via unprecedented transformation of the alkynyls into the μ(4)-methylydine ligands under basic conditions. These compounds demonstrate the equilibrium between the P?M helical isomers and serve as hosts to accommodate small molecules (CH(2)Cl(2) and CS(2)).     

Push-pull nitrile ligands exhibit specific hydration patterns

The reaction between K[PtCl(3)(Me(2)SO)] or prepared in this work cis- and trans-[PtCl(2)(NCNR(2))(Me(2)SO)] (R(2) = Me(2), 1; C(4)H(8)O, 2; C(5)H(10) 3) with an excess of NCNR(2) in water gives the cationic bischelate [Pt{κ(2)-N,N'-NH=C(NMe(2))OC(NMe(2))=NH}(2)](2+) (4(2+)) and the monochelates [PtCl{κ(2)-N,O-NH=C(NR(2))NC(NR(2))=O}(Me(2)SO)] (R(2) = C(4)H(8)O, 5; C(5)H(10), 6). Complex 4(2+) was released from the reaction mixture as 4·[PtCl(3)(Me(2)SO)](2)·(H(2)O)(2) or it was precipitated as 4·[A](2) (A = pic, 4·[pic](2); PF(6), 4·[PF(6)](2); BPh(4), 4·[BPh(4)](2)·(NH(2)CONMe(2))) by addition of picric acid, NaPF(6), or NaBPh(4), respectively, to the filtrate obtained after separation of 4·[PtCl(3)(Me(2)SO)](2)·(H(2)O)(2). In 2, the dialkylcyanamide ligand undergoes bond cleavage giving the known trans-[PtCl(2){N(H)C(4)H(8)O}(Me(2)SO)] (trans-7). All complexes were characterized by elemental analyses (C, H, N), high resolution ESI-MS, IR, (1)H and (13)C{(1)H} NMR spectroscopic techniques, including 2D NMR correlation experiments ((1)H,(1)H-COSY, (1)H,(13)C-HMQC/(1)H,(13)C HSQC, (1)H,(13)C-HMBC, and (1)H,(1)H-NOESY). The structures of cis-1, cis-3, 4·[PtCl(3)(Me(2)SO)](2)·(H(2)O)(2), 4·[BPh(4)](2)·(NH(2)CONMe(2)) and 5 were determined by a single-crystal X-ray diffraction.     

A Unique Tryptophan C‐Prenyltransferase from the Kawaguchipeptin Biosynthetic Pathway

Cyanobactins are a rapidly growing family of linear and cyclic peptides produced by cyanobacteria. Kawaguchipeptins A and B, two macrocyclic undecapeptides reported earlier from Microcystis aeruginosa NIES‐88, are shown to be products of the cyanobactin biosynthetic pathway. The 9 kb kawaguchipeptin (kgp) gene cluster was identified in a 5.26 Mb draft genome of Microcystis aeruginosa NIES‐88. We verified that this gene cluster is responsible for the production of the kawaguchipeptins through heterologous expression of the kgp gene cluster in Escherichia coli. The KgpF prenyltransferase was overexpressed and was shown to prenylate C‐3 of Trp residues in both linear and cyclic peptides in vitro. Our findings serve to further enhance the structural diversity of cyanobactins to include tryptophan‐prenylated cyclic peptides.     

A One‐Pot Synthesis of N‐Aryl‐2‐Oxazolidinones and Cyclic Urethanes by the Lewis Base Catalyzed Fixation of Carbon Dioxide into Anilines and Bromoalkanes

The multicomponent assembly of pharmaceutically relevant N‐aryl‐oxazolidinones through the direct insertion of carbon dioxide into readily available anilines and dibromoalkanes is described. The addition of catalytic amounts of an organosuperbase such as Barton's base enables this transformation to proceed with high yields and exquisite substrate functional‐group tolerance under ambient CO₂ pressure and mild temperature. This report also provides the first proof‐of‐principle for the single‐operation synthesis of elusive seven‐membered ring cyclic urethanes.     

Pt(II)-mediated nitrile-tetramethylguanidine coupling as a key step for a novel synthesis of 1,6-dihydro-1,3,5-dihydrotriazines

The coupling between tetramethylguanidine, HN=C(NMe2)2, and coordinated organonitriles in the platinum(II) complexes cis/trans-[PtCl2(RCN)2] (R = Me, Et, Ph) proceeds rapidly under mild conditions to afford the diimino compounds containing two N-bound monodentate 1,3-diaza-1,3-diene ligands [PtCl2{NH=C(R)N=C(NMe2)2}2] (R = Et, trans-1; R = Ph, trans-2; R = Me, cis-3; R = Et, cis-4), and this reaction is the first observation of metal-mediated nucleophilic addition of a guanidine to ligated nitrile. Complexes 1-4 were characterized by elemental analyses (C, H, N), X-ray diffraction, FAB mass spectrometry, IR, and 1H and 13C{1H} NMR spectroscopies; assignment of signals from E/Z-forms of 1,3-diaza-1,3-diene ligands and verification of routes for their Z right harpoon over left harpoon E isomerization in solution were performed using 2D 1H,1H-COSY, 1H,13C-HETCOR, and 1D NOE NMR experiments. The newly formed and previously unknown 1,3-diaza-1,3-dienes NH=C(R)N=C(NMe2)2 were liberated from the platinum(II) complexes [PtCl2{NH=C(R)N=C(NMe2)2}2] (1-3) by substitution with 2 equiv of 1,2-bis-(diphenylphosphino)ethane (dppe) to give the uncomplexed HN=C(R)N=C(NMe2)2 species (5-7) in solution and the solid [Pt(dppe)2](Cl)2. The former were utilized in situ, after filtration of the latter, in the reaction with 1,3-di-p-tolylcarbodiimide, (p-tol)N=C=N(tol-p), in CDCl3 to generate (6E)-N,N-dimethyl-1-(4-methylphenyl)-6-[(4-methylphenyl)imino]-1,6-dihydro-1,3,5-triazin-2-amines) (8-10) due to the [4 + 2]-cycloaddition accompanying elimination of HNMe2. The formulation of 8-10 is based on ESI-MS, 1H, 13C{1H} NMR, and X-ray crystal structures determined for 9 and 10. The reaction of 1,3-diaza-1,3-dienes with 1,3-di-p-tolylcarbodiimide, described in this article, constitutes a novel synthetic approach to a useful class of heterocyclic species like 1,6-dihydro-1,3,5-triazines.     

Nitrile-amidine coupling at Pt(IV) and Pt(II) centers. An easy entry to imidoylamidine complexes

Treatment of trans-[PtCl4(RCN)2] (R = Me, Et, Ph, NEt2) with 2 equiv of the amidine PhC(=NH)NHPh in a suspension of MeCN (R = Me), CHCl3 (R = Et, Ph), or in CHCl3 solution (R = NEt2) results in the formation of the imidoylamidine complexes trans-[PtCl4{NH=C(R)N=C(Ph)NHPh}2] (1-4) isolated in good yields (66-84%). The reaction of soluble complexes 3 and 4 with 2 equiv of Ph3P=CHCO2Me in CH2Cl2 (40 degrees C, 5 h) leads to dehydrochlorination resulting in a chelate ring closure to furnish the platinum(IV) chelates [PtCl2{NH=C(R)NC(Ph)=NPh}2] (R = Ph, 5; R = NEt2, 6), accordingly, and the phosphonium salt [Ph3PCH2CO2Me]Cl. Treatment of 5 with 3 equiv of Ph3P=CHCO2Me at 50 degrees C for 5 d resulted in only a 30% conversion to the corresponding Pt(II) complex [Pt{NH=C(NEt2)NC(Ph)=NPh}2] (15). The reduction can be achieved within several minutes, when Ph2PCH2CH2PPh2 in CDCl3 is used. When the platinum(II) complex trans-[PtCl2(RCN)2] is reacted with 2 equiv of the amidine, the imidoylamidinato complexes [PtCl(RCN){NH=C(R)NC(Ph)=NHPh}] (8-11) and [PhC(=NH)NHPh] x HCl (7) are formed. The reaction of trans-[PtCl2(RCN)2] with 4 equiv of the amidine under a prolonged reaction time or treatment of [PtCl(RCN){NH=C(R)NC(Ph)=NHPh}] (8-11) with 2 more equiv of the amidine yields the complex bearing two chelate rings [Pt{NH=C(R)NC(Ph)=NHPh}2] (12-15). The treatment of cis-[PtCl2(RCN)2] (R = Me, Et) with the amidine gives ca. 50-60% yield of [PtCl2{NH=C(R)NHC(Ph)=NHPh}] (16 and 17). All of the platinum compounds were characterized by elemental analyses; FAB mass spectrometry; IR spectroscopy; 1H, 13C{1H}, and 195Pt NMR spectroscopies, and four of them (4, 6, 8, and 15) were also characterized by X-ray crystallography. The coupling of the Pt-bound nitriles and the amidine is metal-mediated insofar as RCN and PhC(=NH)NHPh do not react in the absence of the metal centers in conditions more drastic than those of the observed reactions. The nitrile-amidine coupling reported in this work constitutes a route to the synthesis of imidoylamidine complexes, some of them exhibiting luminescent properties.     

The first examples of metal-mediated addition of a phosphorus imine to nitriles; the preparation and X-ray crystal structures of [PtCl4{NH=C(Et)N=PPh3}2] and [PtCl2(EtCN){NH=C(Et)N[double bond, length as m-dash]PPh3}

Imino(triphenyl)phosphorane, Ph3P=NH (1), reacts with nitrile complexes of Pt(IV) to generate hydrolytically sensitive [PtCl4{NH=C(R)N=PPh3}2](R=Me 2a, Et 2b, Ph 2c), and with the Pt(II) complex [PtCl2(EtCN)2] to give [PtCl2(EtCN){NH=C(Et)N=PPh3}](3) and [PtCl2{NH=C(Et)N=PPh3}2](4); X-ray crystallography performed upon (2b) and (3) confirms the presence of an imine/nitrile addition ligand bound by the terminal nitrogen.