Active thionium species mediated functionalization at the 2α-position of indole derivatives

A combination of dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) and trifluoroacetic anhydride (TFAA) mediates functionalization at the 2α-position of indole derivatives. Carbon and heteroatom nucleophiles were directly introduced via a one-pot procedure in excellent yields.     

Surfactant-free synthesis of palladium nanoclusters for their use in catalytic cross-coupling reactions

Surfactant-free Pd nanoclusters (Pd NCs) (size: 1-1.5 nm) showed high catalytic activity in the Suzuki-Miyaura cross-coupling and Mizoroki-Heck reactions. The Pd NCs had a high turnover number, up to 6.0 × 10(8), which can be recycled at least five times without loss of catalytic activity.     

Surface abundance change in vacuum ultraviolet photodissociation of CO2 and H2O mixture ices

Photodissociation of amorphous ice films of carbon dioxide and water co-adsorbed at 90 K was carried out at 157 nm using oxygen-16 and -18 isotopomers with a time-of-flight photofragment mass spectrometer. O((3)P(J)) atoms, OH (v = 0) radicals, and CO (v = 0,1) molecules were detected as photofragments. CO is produced directly from the photodissociation of CO(2). Two different adsorption states of CO(2), i.e., physisorbed CO(2) on the surface of amorphous solid water and trapped CO(2) in the pores of the film, are clearly distinguished by the translational and internal energy distributions of the CO molecules. The O atom and OH radical are produced from the photodissociation of H(2)O. Since the absorption cross section of CO(2) is smaller than that of H(2)O at 157 nm, the CO(2) surface abundance is relatively increased after prolonged photoirradiation of the mixed ice film, resulting in the formation of a heterogeneously layered structure in the mixed ice at low temperatures. Astrophysical implications are discussed.     

A theoretical and experimental study on translational and internal energies of H2O and OH from the 157 nm irradiation of amorphous solid water at 90 K

The photodesorption of H(2)O in its vibrational ground state, and of OH radicals in their ground and first excited vibrational states, following 157 nm photoexcitation of amorphous solid water has been studied using molecular dynamics simulations and detected experimentally by resonance-enhanced multiphoton ionization techniques. There is good agreement between the simulated and measured energy distributions. In addition, signals of H(+) and OH(+) were detected in the experiments. These are inferred to originate from vibrationally excited H(2)O molecules that are ejected from the surface by two distinct mechanisms: a direct desorption mechanism and desorption induced by secondary recombination of photoproducts at the ice surface. This is the first reported experimental evidence of photodesorption of vibrationally excited H(2)O molecules from water ice.     

Ab initio theoretical calculations of the electronic excitation energies of small water clusters

A direct ab initio molecular dynamics method has been applied to a water monomer and water clusters (H(2)O)(n) (n = 1-3) to elucidate the effects of zero-point energy (ZPE) vibration on the absorption spectra of water clusters. Static ab initio calculations without ZPE showed that the first electronic transitions of (H(2)O)(n), (1)B(1)←(1)A(1), are blue-shifted as a function of cluster size (n): 7.38 eV (n = 1), 7.58 eV (n = 2) and 8.01 eV (n = 3). The inclusion of the ZPE vibration strongly affects the excitation energies of a water dimer, and a long red-tail appears in the range of 6.42-6.90 eV due to the structural flexibility of a water dimer. The ultraviolet photodissociation of water clusters and water ice surfaces is relevant to these results.     

Optimization of the Water-PRESS Pulse Sequence and Its Integration into Pulse Sequences for Studying Biological Macromolecules

In this paper, the recently developed “Water-PRESS” method of water suppression [W. S. Price and Y. Arata (1996),J. Magn. Reson. B112,190] in which homospoil pulses are used to manipulate the effects of radiation damping on the water resonance and thereby selectively alter the effective relaxation times of the water resonance with respect to the solute (e.g., biological macromolecules) resonances is further developed and applied. In the present work, methods for optimization in terms of degree of water suppression and in temporal terms (important for the application of Water-PRESS to multidimensional experiments) are considered so that recycle delays of less than 2.3 s (including the acquisition time) are possible. Also, a simple modification which allows the observation of solute resonances with relaxation times similar to that of the water resonance is presented. Finally, the inclusion into more complicated pulse sequences is also discussed. Experimental examples using aqueous samples of lysozyme and immunoglobulin are given. Compared to most other NMR water suppression techniques, this method is extremely simple to implement and optimize and does not require accurately calibrated RF pulses or perfect lineshape.     

Out of Equilibrium Dynamics of the Toy Model with Mode Coupling and Trivial Hamiltonian

We extend our previous analysis of the toy model that mimics the mode coupling theory of supercooled liquids and glass transitions to the out of equilibrium dynamics. We derive a self-consistent set of equations for correlation and response functions.     

Palladium(O)-catalyzed allylic alkylation and amination of allylic phosphates

Allyl diethyl phosphates (1) can be easily substituted with malonates and amines in the presence of palladium(O) catalyst. Synthetic utility of the reaction is demonstrated by the sequential amination-amination and alkylation-amination of (Z)-4-acetoxybut-2-enyl diethyl phosphate (1b) with high regio- and stereoselectivity.     

Field desorption mass spectrometry of natural products—I: Steroid- and triterpene saponins

Field desorption mass spectra of underivatized oligoglycosides of spirostanol and its congeners and of hederagenin revealed the molecular weight and structural information. The basic predominance of the formation of stable ions of highly polar natural products (with 5–17 free OH functions) is clearly demonstrated. After the extraction and purification procedure from plant material the samples contained inorganic salts in concentrations between 0.01 and 0.1%. These salt impurities, mostly alkali halides, strongly promoted the attachment of alkali cations to the intact molecules and their fragments. The ions produced gave analytical information not only for the confirmation of the molecular weight but also for the identity of the aglycone and, to some extent, for the sequence of the sugars in the oligoglycosides. All spectra were recorded on photoplates at a resolution of better than 15000 and enabled the evaluation of the elemental composition of the ions generated. The drawbacks and merits of integrating ion recording using the photoplate for FD investigations of highly polar substances are discussed.