Sodium borohydride-iodine mediated reduction of γ-lactam carboxylic acids followed by DDQ mediated oxidative aromatisation: a facile entry to N-aryl-formylpyrroles

A simple methodology for the conversion of substituted N-aryl-γ-lactam 2/3-carboxylic acids to substituted N-aryl-2/3-formyl-pyrroles has been developed. Several N-aryl-γ-lactam 2/3-carboxylic acids were reduced to substituted (N-aryl-pyrrolidine-2/3-yl)-methanols in good yields at room temperature using sodium borohydride-iodine. Controlled oxidation and aromatisation of these alcohols using DDQ produced N-aryl-2/3-formyl-pyrroles.     

Double versus single helical structures of oligopyridine-dicarboxamide strands. Part 2: The role of side chains

A series of heptameric oligoamides comprising 4-alkoxy-substituted 2,6-diaminopyridine and 2,6-pyridine-dicarbonyl units have been synthesized using convergent methods. The hybridization of these compounds into double helical dimers was studied in solution by ¹H NMR spectroscopy in CDCl₃ or DMSO-d₆ at various concentrations, and in the solid state using X-ray crystallographic analysis. Both solid state and solution data suggest that these compounds follow identical hybridization schemes. In CDCl₃, the oligomers possess dimerization constants considerably (up to 2000-fold) higher than related compounds having no alkoxy substituents on their 2,6-diaminopyridine units. The origin of this effect can be in part interpreted as a result of interactions between the 4-alkoxy side chains when they are present on all pyridine rings. For example, 4-benzyloxy-substituted oligomer 2 has a higher dimerization constant than 4-decyloxy and 4-methoxy-substituted analogues 1 and 3. The crystal structure of 2 reveals multiple aromatic-aromatic interactions between the benzyl side chains, both face-to-face and edge-to-face at various angles surrounding the duplex. In the solid state, these double helices are stacked on top of each other to form long channels filled with water molecules. The 4-methoxy and 4-decyloxy-substituted analogues 1 and 3 have similar dimerization constants, showing that interactions between side chains are not significant between purely aliphatic residues. Consequently, the high stability of the double helices formed by 1 and 3 compared to related compounds having alkoxy substituents on their 2,6-pyridine-dicarbonyl units only does not find its origin in interactions between side chains but in the direct effect of the alkoxy substituents upon main chain aryl-aryl interactions.     

A strategy for designing "multi-prong" enzyme inhibitors by incorporating selective ligands to the liposomal surface

We offer a novel strategy for designing "multi-prong" inhibitors of enzymes by incorporating selective ligands on the liposomal surface.     

A bifunctional molecule that displays context-dependent cellular activity

The cell-permeable dihydrofolate reductase inhibitor methotrexate was covalently linked to a ligand for the protein FKBP to create a bifunctional molecule called MTXSLF. The covalent tether between the two ligands was designed to be prohibitively short, so that unfavorable protein-protein interactions between DHFR and FKBP preclude formation of a trimeric complex. In vitro and in vivo experiments demonstrate that MTXSLF is an effective inhibitor of human DHFR, but that efficacy is decreased in the presence of human FKBP due to the high concentration of FKBP and its tight affinity for MTXSLF. MTXSLF also inhibits Plasmodium falciparum DHFR in vitro, but a low concentration of the weaker binding Plasmodium FKBP has no effect on the inhibitory potency of MTXSLF in vivo. These studies illustrate a potentially general strategy for modulating the biological activity of synthetic molecules that depends on the ligand-binding properties of a nontarget protein.     

A newly developed highly selective ratiometric fluoride ion sensor: spectroscopic, NMR and density functional studies

A new easy-to-synthesize chemosensor, 3,3'-bis(indolyl)-4-chlorophenylmethane (hereafter S), was designed, synthesized and employed as a selective optical chemosensor for fluoride ions.(1)H NMR and density functional studies on the system have been carried out to determine the nature of the interaction between S and X(-) (X = inorganic anions) responsible for the significant fluoride-induced changes in the absorption properties of S. The experimental results reveal that abstraction of an acidic proton of S by the fluoride ion, leading to the formation of anionic species, is responsible for the spectral changes. These changes allow signaling for the fluoride ion to detect and estimate the concentration of fluoride ion present even at the submicromolar level, accurate up to 2 μM. Calculations of the transition energies of S, S(-), and S···F(-) (hydrogen bonded complex) show that only S(-) is responsible for the long-wavelength absorption band in the presence of F(-).     

Amyloid-like fibril-forming supramolecular β-sheets from a β-turn forming tripeptide containing non-coded amino acids: the crystallographic signature

The crystal structure of a terminally protected tripeptide Boc-Leu-Aib-β-Ala-OMe 1 containing non-coded amino acids reveals that it adopts a β-turn structure, which self-assembles to form a supramolecular β-sheet via non-covalent interactions. The SEM image of peptide 1 exhibits amyloid-like fibrillar morphology in the solid state.     

Topology-Controlled AIEE of Iminocoumarin Luminophores

Aggregation-induced emission enhancement (AIEE) is an unusual phenomenon where luminophores show a higher photoluminescence efficiency in the aggregated and solid state. We report the design and synthesis of a series of luminophores 1 – 4 with imine functionality at 6 position of coumarin and studied their AIE propensities on self-assembly. The effect of the topology of the phenolic hydroxyl group on the emission behaviour of the luminophores has been investigated. The imines show significant solvatochromism with high emission in non-polar solvents, whereas the emission gets quenched in the polar solvent. The fluorescence in the toluene-hexane mixture arises due to the aggregation of fluorophores and falls under the category of AIEE. Not only the solution state emission of the isomeric iminocoumarin luminophores is notably varied, but also their solid-state emission found to be significantly different from each other. Moreover, the iminocoumarin 1 selectively recognizes Fe(III) over Fe(II) with a prominent color change. In situ oxidation of Fe(II) with H₂O₂ exhibits the same effect like Fe(III) and developed a chemical combinational logic gate.     

Solid-supported synthesis of polymerizable lanthanide-ion chelating lipids for protein detection

Usually, lipids are synthesized employing solution-phase organic synthesis techniques. Though successful, the purifications can be difficult to accomplish due to the amphiphilic nature of the molecules. Herein, we demonstrate the advantages of a solid-phase approach for preparing a variety of metal-chelating lipids. A number of saturated and polymerizable metal-chelating lipids were prepared using this methodology. This approach requires one chromatographic purification after cleaving the lipids from the solid support. We also demonstrate that the resulting polymerized liposomes (containing Eu3+) possess the appropriate luminescence properties for the qualitative and quantitative determination of proteins.     

The Nonclassicality and Decoherence of a Superposition State Generated in a Resonant Cavity

We discuss nonclassicality of a superposition of coherent states in terms of sub-Poissonian photon statistics as well as the negativity of the Wigner function. We derive an analytic expression for the Wigner function from which we find that the function has some negative region in phase space. We obtain a compact form of the Wigner function when decoherence occurs and study the effect of decoherence on the state. We demonstrate the behaviour of the nonclassicality indicator.