Biotransformation of ferulic acid into two new dihydrotrimers by Momordica charantia peroxidase

As a result of a continuing investigation of the biotransformation of ferulic acid with H2O2/Momordica charantia peroxidase at pH 5.0 in the presence of acetone, triFA1 (1) and triFA2 (2), two new FA dehydrotrimers, have been isolated. The structures were elucidated from the spectroscopic data including 2D-NMR such as HSQC, HMBC and NOESY data. TriFA1 (1) is a unique FA dehydrotrimer possessing a 3a,9b-dihydro-1H-furo[3,4-c][1]benzopyran-3(4H)-one ring system. The possible mechanism for the formation of triFA1 was also discussed.     

A novel one-pot synthesis of carbazole-1,4-quinones through Pd-catalyzed cyclocarbonylation,desilylation and oxidation processes from 3-iodo-2-propenylindoles

A novel one-pot synthesis of carbazole-1,4-quinone by consecutive Pd-catalyzed cyclocarbonylation, desilylation, and oxidation reactions is described. We propose a possible mechanism of the cyclocarbonylation reaction between 3-iodo-2-propenylindole and CO (1 atm) in the presence of a tributyl(vinyl)tin and Pd-catalyst and the resulting acylpalladium species was directly coupled with a terminal alkene to produce the carbazole-1,4-quinone. To our knowledge, this is the first example of this type of reaction. A new formal total synthesis of a carbazole-1,4-quinone alkaloid, murrayaquinone A was established using this reaction.     

2, 2'-bis(diphenylphosphino)-1, 1'-binaphthyl(binap) : A new atropisomeric bis(triaryl)phosphine. synthesis and its use in the rh(l)-catalyzed asymmetric hydrogenation of α-(acylamino)acrylic acids

Racemic 2, 2'-bis(diphenylphosphino)-l, 1'-binaphthyl has been synthesized from 2, 2'-dihydroxy-l, l'-binaphthyl in two steps and resolved into optically pure (R)-(+) and (S) (-) enantiomers by the use of (+)-di-μ-chlorobis[(S)-N,N-dimethyl-α-phenylethylamine-2C,N]dipalladium. This new axially dissymmetric bis(triaryl)phosphine serves as an excellent ligand for Rh(l)-catalyzed asymmetric hydrogenations of α-(acylamino) acrylic acids or esters. Factors controlling the enantioselectivity and mechanistic aspects are discussed on the basis of the ³¹P-NMR measurements     

Behavior of bound water in polyethylene oxide studied by DSC and high-frequency spectroscopy.

Measurements of DSC, NMR and high-frequency spectroscopy have been done on PEO-H2O and PEO-H2O-HQ mixed systems. DSC measurements show that water molecules contained in PEO are divided roughly into two species: freezable water and non-freezable water. By 1H-NMR measurements, PEO and H2O protons show an absorption peak around 3.6 ppm and 4.5 ppm, respectively. All the PEO-H2O samples containing H2O show NMR absorption signals, suggesting the existence of movable H2O. Samples with H2O molar ratio over 0.5, show one absorption peak of H2O protons, and more than two peaks of PEO. The results from DSC and NMR measurements show that the bound state of H2O in PEO, as well as the mobility of PEO itself, varies according to the water content in PEO-H2O samples. On the other hand, DSC measurements give the result that PEO-H2O-HQ systems can be considered as homogeneous so long as the content of H2O and/or HQ is not so high. Furthermore, the water molecules in the system exist as bound water. Results of high-frequency spectroscopic measurements for the PEO-H2O and PEO-H2O-HQ systems show good agreement with those of DSC and NMR measurements.     

Development of a high-Performance MALDI-TOF mass spectrometer utilizing a spiral ion trajectory

A novel MALDI-TOF mass spectrometer that utilizes a spiral ion trajectory was developed. In this mass spectrometer, the ions sequentially passed through four toroidal electrostatic sectors and revolved along a figure-eight-shaped orbit on a particular projection plane. Each toroidal electrostatic sector had eight stories, and during multiple revolutions, the ion trajectory shifted perpendicular to the projection plane in every cycle, thereby generating a spiral trajectory. The flight path length of one cycle was 2.1 m; therefore, when the ions completed eight cycles, the total flight path length was 17 m. By adopting an ion optical system that had a flight path length five times longer than that in the commonly used reflectron ion optical system, the mass dependence on the mass resolving power was reduced, while improving the mass accuracy of the mass measurements. The basic performance of the system was tested by using standard peptides or the tryptic digest of bovine serum albumin. A mass resolving power of 80,000 (full width at half maximum) was achieved at m/z = 2564 (ACTH18-39). An improved mass accuracy less than 2 ppm was realized over a wide m/z range of 500 to 3000 by correction using one or two internal standard substances.