Highly efficient synthesis of azabicyclo[x.y.0]alkane amino acids and congeners by means of Rh-catalyzed cyclohydrocarbonylation

A highly efficient method for the synthesis of 1-azabicyclo[x.y.0]alkane amino acid derivatives and their congeners by means of extremely regioselective cyclohydrocarbonylation (CHC) is described. The CHC reactions are catalyzed by Rh-BIPHEPHOS complex under mild conditions. These CHC reaction processes involve (i) an extremely linear-selective hydroformylation of the terminal alkene moiety of a dehydrodipeptide substrate, (ii) intramolecular condensation to form cyclic N-acyliminium key intermediate, and (iii) the second cyclization through intramolecular nucleophilic addition of a heteoatom nucleophile to the cyclic N-acyliminium moiety to afford the corresponding 1-azabicyclo[x.y.0] system. This consecutive double cyclization process proceeds with extremely high diastereoselectivity in most cases. This method has been successfully applied to the syntheses of 1-azabicyclo[4.4.0], -[5.4.0], and -[4.3.0] systems. The mechanisms of the reactions and the rationale for the observed extremely high diastereoselectivity are presented. This Rh-catalyzed CHC process would serve as a highly efficient and versatile method for the syntheses of a variety of conformationally restrained dipeptides, peptidomimetics, alkaloids, and other biologically active natural or unnatural products.     

Rhodium-catalyzed cyclohydrocarbonylation approach to the syntheses of enantiopure homokainoids

Homologues of kainic acid, a naturally occurring potent glutamate receptor agonist, were designed based on a rigidified pipecolinoglutamic acid structure and can be regarded as homokainoids for their potential activities in the central nervous system. These novel homokainoids in an enantiomerically pure form were synthesized from enantiopure (R)- and (S)-Garner's aldehyde, featuring (i) the highly diastereoselective addition of alkenylcuprates to the acrylate intermediates and (ii) the Rh-catalyzed cyclohydrocarbonylation of homoallylic amine intermediates to construct the functionalized piperidine moiety in the key steps. For the introduction of a substituent at the 4- or 5-position of pipecolinoglutamic acid, a few different strategies were used, which successfully led to the formation of enantiopure homokainoids.     

Stereoselective vinylogous Mannich reaction of 2-trimethylsilyloxyfuran with N-gulosyl nitrones

Stereoselective vinylogous Mannich reaction of 2-trimethylsilyloxyfuran with L-gulose-derived chiral nitrones in the presence of a catalytic amount of trimethylsilyl trifluoromethanesulfonate was investigated. The selectivity was strongly influenced by the bulkiness of the C-substituent of the nitrone: for example, C-benzyloxymethyl nitrone afforded four stereoisomers, whereas bulky C-[(4S)-2,2-dimethyl-1,3-dioxolan-4-yl]nitrone gave a single stereoisomer. The latter product was elaborated to afford key synthetic intermediates for polyoxin C and dysiherbaine.     

Reductive aminopropylation of ketene silyl (thio)acetals leading to the synthesis of δ-amino esters

In the presence of silica gel or titanium tetrachloride, ketene silyl acetals or ketene silyl thioacetals underwent 1,4-addition with α,β unsaturated aldimines which possess a large triphenylmethyl group at the imino nitrogens followed by reduction with sodium cyanoborohydride to give aminopropylated products, δ-amino esters, in good yields.     

Pressure broadening coefficients of the water vapor lines at 556.936 and 752.033 GHz

The air induced broadening coefficients of the pure rotational transitions of H₂O at 556.936 GHz (1₁₀←1₀₁), and 752.033 GHz (2₁₁←2₀₂) were measured by terahertz time-domain spectroscopy. The air broadening coefficient was determined to be for the 556.936 GHz line and for the 752.033 GHz line, respectively. The present broadening coefficients for the 556.936 GHz water line are significantly smaller than those of Markov and Krupnov [Measurements of the pressure shift of the 1(10)-1(01) water line at 556.936 GHz produced by mixtures of gases. J Mol Spect 1995:172;211-4] but relatively close to the values of the HITRAN database. The measured data may improve the accuracy of the abundance of water vapor retrieved from spectra obtained by the Odin/SMR satellite instrument. The effect on the satellite retrieval processing is discussed.     

Widely repetition-tunable 200 fs pulse source using a Mach-Zehnder-modulator-based flat comb generator and dispersion-flattened dispersion-decreasing fiber

By combining a Mach-Zehnder-modulator-based flat comb generator (MZ-FCG) with a dispersion-flattened dispersion-decreasing fiber, femtosecond pulses have been generated from a cw light. Near-Fourier-transform-limit picosecond pulses generated from the MZ-FCG were compressed into femtosecond order by pulse compression. Our system enables flexible tuning of the repetition rate and pulse width, because those depend on the driving signal of the MZ-FCG. Pulse trains of 200 fs width were continuously and stably generated without mode hopping, with a repetition rate range from 5 to 17 GHz. Our system consists of a modulator and compression fiber; thus, the configuration is simpler and more stable.     

Structure of χ3-Borophene Studied by Total-Reflection High-Energy Positron Diffraction (TRHEPD)

We have investigated the structure of χ₃-borophene on Ag(111), a monolayer material of boron atoms, via total-reflection high-energy positron diffraction (TRHEPD). By comparing the experimental rocking-curves with ones for several structures calculated by using dynamical diffraction theory, we confirmed that the χ₃-borophene layer has a flat structure. The distance from the topmost layer of the metal crystal is 2.4 Å, which is consistent with results reported by X-ray standing wave-excited X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. We also demonstrated that the in-plane structure of χ₃-borophene is compatible with the theoretical predictions. These structural properties indicate that χ₃-borophene belongs to a group of epitaxial monolayer sheets, such as graphene, which have weak interactions with the substrates.     

Discovery of New Cytotoxic Aplaminone Derivatives from the Sea Hare Aplysia kurodai and Elucidation of Their Accumulation from Local Sea Algae through the Food Chain

The shell-less herbivorous marine mollusk (sea hare) Aplysia kurodai is known to contain a variety of bioactive substances. While these compounds have been thought to originate from sea algae or their associated microbes, most of their origin and acquisition pathways are still unclear. Six new cytotoxic aplaminone derivatives, bromodopamine-terpenoid hybrid molecules, were isolated from A. kurodai. Among them, isoaplaminone had a reverse prenyl group at the C15 aliphatic chain, which is a rare structural feature from the viewpoint of terpenoid biosynthesis. Investigation for chemical components in A. kurodai and the sea algae collected at several different locations revealed that two major aplaminones were contained in the Laurencia complex species at specific sites. Our chemical and ecological studies provide new insights into the origin of marine alkaloid toxins and their dynamism through the food chain.