Syntheses totales et etudes de lignanes biologiquement actifs—I : Application de la reaction d'ullmann a la synthese de biaryles precurseurs de lignanes bisbenzocyclooctadienes

Several biaryls bearing various substituents on both rings were synthesized in a preparative fashion, and in yields up to 88% by a technical improvement on the classical Ullmann reaction. All these biaryls bear reactive functional groups (i.e. formyl, methoxycarbonyl, dimethoxycarbonylpropyl and butanolidylmethyl) in both the o and o′ positions. The biaryls 9, 13, 21 and 26–33 are plausible synthons for bisbenzocyclooctadiene lignans such as schizandrin and steganacin.     

Quantification of volatile PAHs present at trace levels in air flow by aqueous trapping—SPE and HPLC analysis with fluorimetric detection

In the context of a European project, a new approach of sampling of volatile polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) from air was developed. In fact, the aim of this project was to test the efficiency of an air cleansing prototype reactor, which was operating by non-thermal plasmolysis. With an eye to model the atmosphere ejected by the prototype, we needed to vaporise the volatile PAHs in an air stream at concentrations as low as those recommended by European Directives (96/62/CE) for PAHs in ambient air (i.e. 1 ng m⁻³). Our strategy was based on the analysis of PAHs trapped in an aqueous medium, in order to avoid important losses of volatile compounds observed during the delicate desorption-concentration step when classical solid supports are used. Then a study was carried out to determine: the design of the collecting part, the flow-rate of the air sampling, the nature and concentration of chemical additives used to enhance PAH solubility in water. The very highly diluted aqueous media obtained after the bubbling step were concentrated by solid-phase extraction (SPE) on hydrophobic cartridges and analysed on-line by reversed-phase HPLC with UV and fluorimetric detections. Lastly, the sampling technique was directly applied to the outlet of the air cleansing prototype and the analysis after 3-6 h of non-thermal plasmolysis showed that the target volatile PAHs were not present in an air stream initially polluted by volatile organic compounds.     

Atomic origin of hysteresis during cyclic loading of Si due to bond rearrangements at the crack surfaces

The atomistic origin of fatigue failure in micron-sized silicon devices is not fully understood. Two series of density-functional theory calculations on cubic diamond Si explore the effect of surface bond formation on crack healing in systems which exhibit strong surface reconstruction. Both series introduce a separation between Si(100) layers (i.e., the crack) and allow the ions to relax to their minimum-energy configuration. The initial surface ionic positions are either bulk terminated or 2 x 1 reconstructed. A plot of the energy versus the introduced separation reveals that once the surfaces reconstruct, the crack is no longer able to return to the equilibrium configuration. Rather, the healed crack interface contains defects which places the flawed energy minimum at a finite strain of 3% and an increased energy of 1.13 Jm2 relative to the equilibrium configuration. The irreversible plastic deformation supports the mechanism proposed by Kahn et al. [Science 298 1215 (2002)] that invokes mechanically induced subcritical cracking to explain the delayed onset of failure.     

Asymmetric total synthesis of the antileukaemic lignan precursor (-)steganone and revision of its absolute configuration

A total synthesis of (-)steganone, correlating it with L-glutamic acid, shows it to have the opposite configuration to that assigned by Kupchan.     

Acidity functions of aqueous fluorinated acid solutions by differential pulse polarography

The acidity functions of aqueous trifluoroacetic and trifluoromethanesulphonic acid mixtures, and aqueous hexafluoropropane-2, 2-diol solutions, have been determined by differential pulse polarography. The apparent shift of the half-wave potential for the ferrocene—ferricinium couple, as the solvent composition is changed, is used to indicate the change in potential of a glass electrode; acidity is measured as the H_GF acidity function. The densities of two of these solvent systems as a function of composition are also reported. Trifluoromethanesulphonic acid—water mixtures represent the strongest aqueous acid solvent system so far studied.     

Single-strand conformation polymorphism-based analysis of mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 reveals significant substructuring in hookworm populations

Sequence heterogeneity in a portion of the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 gene (pcox1) was measured for the hookworms, Ancylostoma caninum from Australia, A. duodenale from China, and Necator americanus from China and Togo using single-strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP) analysis combined with DNA sequencing. The pcox1 sequences were characterised for individual nematodes displaying genetic variation within each of the three species, and those were compared with pcox1 sequences of four other species of hookworm. While intraspecific variation in the pcox1 sequence ranged from 0.5 to 8.6% for A. caninum, 0.3 to 3.3% forA. duodenale, and 0.3 to 4.3% for N. americanus, interspecific differences varied from 4.8 to 12.9%. Sequence data also provided information on nucleotide compositions and substitution patterns. Genetically distinct groups were detected within A. caninum and A. duodenale, indicating significant population substructuring within these species. Also, N. americanus individuals from China all differed from those from Togo at four nucleotide positions, supporting a previous proposal (based on ribosomal DNA sequence data) that N. americanus may represent a species complex. The findings indicated the value of pcox1 sequence data and the mutation scanning approach for studying the genetic structures of hookworm populations, which should have important epidemiological relevance.     

Crystal structure of the 2:1 acetonitrile complex of 18-crown-6

Single crystal X-ray analysis of the 2:1 acetonitrile complex of 18-crown-6 is reported. Crystals of the complex are monoclinic,P2₁/n, witha=9.123(3),b=8.524(3),c=13.676(4) Å, =104.68(3)°, andD _c =1.118 g cm^–3 forZ=2. The complex lies on a center of symmetry, with the crown in theD _3d conformation. Methyl groups of the acetonitrile molecules have weak interactions with the crown oxygen atoms, and are tilted 31.7° from the host's threefold axis. Methyl hydrogen atoms are rotationally disordered about the acetonitrile axis. Supplementary Data relating to this article are deposited with the British Library as Supplementary Publication No. SUP 82057 (12 pages).     

Iron(III) salen-type catalysts for the cross-coupling of aryl Grignards with alkyl halides bearing beta-hydrogens

Iron(III) salen and related complexes are active catalysts for the coupling, under mild and simple reaction conditions, of aryl Grignard reagents with primary and secondary alkyl halide substrates bearing beta-hydrogens.     

Synthesis and Properties of Bis(2,5-dimethylpyrrolo[3,4-d])tetrathiafulvalenes, a Class of Annelated Tetrathiafulvalene Derivatives with Excellent Electron Donor Properties

The synthesis of the first derivatives of bis(pyrrolo[3,4-d])tetrathiafulvalene has been studied in detail. Starting from the readily available 2,5-dimethylpyrrole (11) and N-phenyl-2,5-dimethylpyrrole, bis(2,5-dimethylpyrrolo[3,4-d])tetrathiafulvalene (8) and the N,N'-disubstituted derivatives 6, 7, 9, and 10 were prepared in good yields by practical procedures. In contrast to the other types of aromatic annelated tetrathiafulvalenes (TTFs), which have appreciably higher oxidation potentials than TTF, the redox behavior of the pyrrolo tetrathiafulvalenes (TTFs) is very close to that of TTF itself. The potential of pyrrolotetrathiafulvalenes as a new series of organic metal building blocks is shown by the two-probe conductivities of the tetracyanoquinodimethane (TCNQ) complexes of the N-phenyl compound 7 and the N-methyl compound 9, which give higher values than TTF-TCNQ under similar conditions.     

A New Silicate Clathrate Hydrate: An X-Ray Diffraction and Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Study of a System with Octameric Silicate Anions and Trivalent Cations

The first crystal structure is reported for a silicate clathrate hydrate involving a triply charged cation [C₁₈H₃₀N₃]³⁺ and an octameric cubic silicate cage. The structure is essentially a host/guest system, with the silicate cages linked into a framework by hydrogen bonding to water molecules. The space group is P with Z = 2, and the asymmetric unit includes a complete cation and half the anion, plus 21 water molecules (4 of which are in disordered positions). Solid-state (CPMAS) ²⁹Si and ¹³CNMR spectra are consistent with the diffraction-determined structure and indicate substantial distortion of the anion from cubic symmetry. Solution-state spectra of precursor solutions and of melted material are also presented and discussed.