Separation and identification of positively charged and neutral nucleoside adducts by capillary electrochromatography-microelectrospray mass spectrometry

Capillary electrochromatography (CEC) is shown to be capable of separating mixtures containing both positively charged and neutral styrene oxide–adenosine adducts. In a study of the mechanism of deamination of positively charged 1-(2-hydroxy-1-phenylethyl) adenosine using ¹⁸O-labeled water, possible contamination of the chromatographically purified deamination product, 1-(2-hydroxy-1-phenylethyl) inosine, with the positively charged 1-(2-hydroxy-1-phenylethyl) adenosine was observed. Because the deamination product and the presumed contamination have the same molecular weights and similar structures, CEC-microelectrospray mass spectrometry (CEC-μESI/MS) was used to confirm the presence and identity of the suspected impurity. A trace amount of the positively charged 1-(2-hydroxy-1-phenylethyl) adenosine, which could not be observed by either HPLC-UV or CEC-UV, was detected by CEC-μESI/MS. This discriminatory ability of CEC-μESI/MS is attributed to the fact that positive ion mode ESI-MS is a more sensitive detector for a positively charged compound than a UV detector, and that the combination of electroosmotic and electrophoretic flows and hydrophobic interactions with the stationary phase contributes to the separation of the positively charged compound. As a result, the positively charged compound was observed to elute much earlier and with much sharper peaks than the neutral compounds for which electroosmotic flow is the only “pumping” force for the solvent.     

Recent developments in thio‐, seleno‐, and telluro‐ether ligand chemistry

New routes developed recently to overcome the difficulties usually associated with the sequential introduction of Te centers into polytelluro‐ethers and the introduction of tellurium into macrocyclic compounds are described, including the synthesis of the first facultative telluro‐ethers, RTe(CH₂)₃Te(CH₂)₃TeR, R = Me or Ph, and the first tridentate S₂Te‐donor macrocycles and a tetradentate S₃Te‐donor macrocycle. The first systematic investigations into the preparation and characterization of coordination complexes of MX₃ (M = As, Sb, Bi; X = Cl, Br, I) involving polydentate and macrocyclic thio‐ and seleno‐ether ligands are then discussed. The structures of examples of each class of compound are described, including the first examples of seleno‐ether adducts of the group 15 acceptors. A more limited range of telluro‐ether derivatives has been identified and the structure of the first example of this type is included. These species serve to demonstrate the wide structural diversity exhibited by these systems and the factors directing the assembly of these structures are highlighted. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Heteroatom Chem 13:550–560, 2002; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/hc.10100     

Formation of 3-Sulfonyl-Substituted Benzo[a]heptalene-2,4-diols from Heptalene-1,2-dicarboxylates and Lithiomethyl Phenyl Sulfones

On treatment with 6 mol-equiv. of lithiomethyl phenyl sulfone at −78° in THF, dimethyl 5,6,8,10-tetramethylheptalene-1,2-dicarboxylate ( 1′b ) gives, after raising the temperature to −10° and addition of 6 mol-equiv. of BuLi, followed by further warming to ambient temperature, the corresponding 3-(phenylsulfonyl)benzo[a]heptalene-2,4-diol 2b in yields up to 65% (cf. Scheme 6 and Table 2), in contrast to its double-bond-shifted (DBS) isomer 1b which gave 2b in a yield of only 6% [1]. The bisanion [ 9 ]²⁻ of the cyclopenta[a]heptalen-1(1H)-one 9 (cf. Fig. 1), carrying a (phenylsulfonyl)methyl substituent at C(11b), seems to be a key intermediate on the reaction path to 2b , because 9 is transformed in high yield into 2b in the presence of 6 mol-equiv. of BuLi in the temperature range of −10° to room temperature (cf. Scheme 7). Heptalene-dicarboxylate 1′b was also transformed into benzo[a]heptalene-2,4-diols 2c – g by a number of lithiated methyl X-phenyl sulfones and BuLi (cf. Scheme 9 and Table 3).     

Ring-Enlargement and Ring-Opening Reactions of 1,2-Thiazetidin-3-one 1,1-Dioxides with Ammonia and Primary Amines as Nucleophiles

The N-benzyl- and N-alkyl-substituted 1,2-thiazetidin-3-one 1,1-dioxides 1b – d reacted readily with NH₃ and primary amines via ring opening. The reaction with NH₃ proceeded at −78°→room temperature yielding ring-opened adducts via nucleophilic attack of NH₃ at the sulfonyl group, whereas the reactions with amines at room temperature yielded products via attack at the carbonyl group. The N-unsubstituted analogue 1a , when reacted with benzylamine in refluxing EtOH, also gave a product of ring opening via nucleophilic attack at the carbonyl group of 1a . The transamidation-like reactions of the 2-(aminoalkyl)-1,2-thiazetidin-3-one 1,1-dioxides 19a – d proceeded via six-, seven-, and eight-membered intermediates, giving the ring-enlarged eight-, nine-, and ten-membered products 21 – 24 (Schemes 8 and 9), respectively, in 42 – 87% yields. The products resulted from the nucleophilic attack of the amino group of the side chain at the carbonyl C-atom. The structure of the eight-membered product 24 with an asymmetrically situated methyl substituent was established by X-ray crystallography.     

The Cyclobutanocucurbit[5–8]uril Family: Electronegative Cavities in Contrast to Classical Cucurbituril while the Electropositive Outer Surface Acts as a Crystal Packing Driver

The structural parameters for the cyclobutanoQ[5–8] family were determined through single crystal X-ray diffraction. It was found that the electropositive cyclobutano methylene protons (CH₂) are important in forming interlinking crystal packing arrangements driven by the dipole–dipole interactions between these protons and the portal carbonyl O of a near neighbor. This type of interaction was observed across the whole family. Electrostatic potential maps also confirmed the electropositive nature of the cyclobutano CH₂ but, more importantly, it was established that the cavities are electronegative in contrast to classical Q[5–8], which are near neutral.