Structure of the first parallel DNA quadruplex-drug complex

The first crystal structure of a drug (daunomycin) bound to a parallel-stranded intermolecular telomeric G4 quadruplex (d(TGGGGT)4) has been determined to high resolution. A planar assemblage of three daunomycin molecules stacks onto the 5' end of the G4 column, with the daunosamine substituents occupying three of the four quadruplex grooves. The surface area of the terminal G-quartet in this parallel DNA quadruplex, presently occupied by three daunomycins, is sufficiently large that it could easily accommodate other potential telomerase inhibitors such as substituted porphyrins or telomestatin.     

Synthesis of 2,3,4,5-tetranitropyrrole

Dealkylation of 1-tert-butyl-2,3,4-trinitropyrrole in boiling trifluroacetic acid gave 2,3,4-trinitropyrrole, the structure of which was confirmed by X-ray crystallography. Treatment of this trinitropyrrole with nitric acid/oleum briefly at 60° gave 2,3,4,5-tetranitropyrrole.     

Heterogeneous activation of oxone using Co3O4

This study explores the potential of heterogeneous activation of Oxone (peroxymonosulfate) in water using cobalt oxides. Two commercially available cobalt oxides, CoO and Co3O4 (CoO.Co2O3) were tested for the activation of peroxymonosulfate and the consequent oxidation of 2,4-dichlorophenol (2,4-DCP) via a sulfate radical mechanism. Both systems, CoO/Oxone and Co3O4/Oxone, were tested at acidic and neutral pH and compared with the homogeneous Co(NO3)2/Oxone. The activity of these systems was evaluated on the basis of the induced transformation of 2,4-DCP as well as the dissolution of cobalt occurred after 2 h of reaction. It was observed that only Co3O4 activates peroxymonosulfate heterogeneously, with its heterogeneity being more pronounced at neutral pH. Both CoO and Co2O3 contained in Co3O4 might be responsible for the observed heterogeneity, and the relative mechanisms are further discussed here. To our knowledge, this is perhaps the first study that documents the heterogeneous activation of peroxymonosulfate with cobalt, the best-known catalyst-activator for this inorganic peroxide.     

Continuum formulation of the Scheutjens-Fleer lattice statistical theory for homopolymer adsorption from solution

Homopolymer adsorption from a dilute solution on an interacting (attractive) surface under static equilibrium conditions is studied in the framework of a Hamiltonian model. The model makes use of the density of chain ends n(1,e) and utilizes the concept of the propagator G describing conformational probabilities to locally define the polymer segment density or volume fraction phi; both n(1,e) and phi enter into the expression for the system free energy. The propagator G obeys the Edwards diffusion equation for walks in a self-consistent potential field. The equilibrium distribution of chain ends and, consequently, of chain conformational probabilities is found by minimizing the system free energy. This results in a set of model equations that constitute the exact continuum-space analog of the Scheutjens-Fleer (SF) lattice statistical theory for the adsorption of interacting chains. Since for distances too close to the surface the continuum formulation breaks down, the continuum model is here employed to describe the probability of chain configurations only for distances z greater than 2l, where l denotes the segment length, from the surface; instead, for distances z < or = 2l, the SF lattice model is utilized. Through this novel formulation, the lattice solution at z = 2l provides the boundary condition for the continuum model. The resulting hybrid (lattice for distances z < or = 2l, continuum for distances z > 2l) model is solved numerically through an efficient implementation of the pseudospectral collocation method. Representative results obtained with the new model and a direct application of the SF lattice model are extensively compared with each other and, in all cases studied, are found to be practically identical.     

C-Glycosylidene derivatives (exo-glycals): their synthesis by reaction of protected sugar lactones with tributylphosphonium ylids, conformational analysis and stereoselective reduction

Stabilised tributylphosphonium ylids Bu₃PCHCH(EWG), where EWG is CO₂Me, CO₂^tBu or CN, react with protected sugar lactones under mild conditions to give high yields of glycosylidene derivatives (4 and 5) with good Z/E selectivity. X-Ray crystallography shows that in the solid state the tetra-O-benzyl protected (Z)-glucosylideneacetonitrile (Z)-4c adopts a conformation intermediate between a boat and a twist-boat, whereas the isomeric galactose derivative (Z)-5c exists as a distorted chair. NMR data suggest that in solution chair-like conformations are again more favoured for galactosylidene derivatives than for their glucosylidene analogues. Solution phase NMR studies and molecular modelling show that the (E)-double bond geometry disfavours the chair-like geometry of the ring, even in the galactose series; this is consistent with the avoidance of allylic 1,3-strain. Reduction of the glycosylidene double bond to give stereoselective formation of β-C-glycoside derivatives may be achieved by using Et₃SiH-CF₃CO₂H or Et₃SiH-BF₃·Et₂O.     

A modified bischler-napieralski reaction. Synthesis of 2,3,4,9- tetrahydro-1H-pyrido[3,4-B]indole derivatives and their base-catalyzed transformation to N-acetyl-N-[2-[1 -acetyl-2-[1 -(acetyloxy)-1-propenyl]- 1H-indol-3-yl]ethyl]acetamides

The treatment of N-[2-(1H-indol-3-yl)ethyl]alkanamide, 1 (1), with phosphorus oxychloride under controlled conditions gave l-alkyl-2,3,4,9-tetrahydro-1H-pyrido[3,4-b]indol-1-ol, 2 . The reaction of 2 with acetic anhydride or with methyl isocyanate at room temperature resulted in the formation of amido carbinol 3 and urea carbinol 7, respectively. The former was transformed into amido ester 4 by boiling acetic anhydride. When the reaction of 3 with acetic anhydride was carried out in the presence of excess triethylamine at 105°, C-N bond cleavage of the tetrahydropyridine ring took place with concurrent bis(N-acetylation) to give the enol ester derivative 5 . The structures of all compounds are consistent with chemical and spectral evidence.     

Development of combinatorial chemistry methods for coatings: high-throughput adhesion evaluation and scale-up of combinatorial leads

Coupling of combinatorial chemistry methods with high-throughput (HT) performance testing and measurements of resulting properties has provided a powerful set of tools for the 10-fold accelerated discovery of new high-performance coating materials for automotive applications. Our approach replaces labor-intensive steps with automated systems for evaluation of adhesion of 8 x 6 arrays of coating elements that are discretely deposited on a single 9 x 12 cm plastic substrate. Performance of coatings is evaluated with respect to their resistance to adhesion loss, because this parameter is one of the primary considerations in end-use automotive applications. Our HT adhesion evaluation provides previously unavailable capabilities of high speed and reproducibility of testing by using a robotic automation, an expanded range of types of tested coatings by using the coating tagging strategy, and an improved quantitation by using high signal-to-noise automatic imaging. Upon testing, the coatings undergo changes that are impossible to quantitatively predict using existing knowledge. Using our HT methodology, we have developed several coatings leads. These HT screening results for the best coating compositions have been validated on the traditional scales of coating formulation and adhesion loss testing. These validation results have confirmed the superb performance of combinatorially developed coatings over conventional coatings on the traditional scale.     

Electron-capture negative ionization calibrants for magnetic sector mass spectrometers

Fomblin [poly(perfluoropropylene oxide)], PFK (perfluorokerosene) and FC-43 (perfluorotributylamine) are investigated as mass calibrants in electron-capture negative ionization mass spectrometry on a magnetic sector hybrod mass spectrometer. This work provides exact negative ion mass tables of these three calibrants obtained using high-resolution peak matching of representative ions of the calibrants against ions of known mass. The suitability of these calibrants for full data system control in the negative ionization mode is demonstrated for the techniques of high-resolution scanning, selected ion recording and calibration of the quadrupole sector of a hybrid instrument.     

Sesquiterpenoids—27: X-ray crystallographic analysis of istanbulin-B,A 1-oxo-eremophilenolide

The stereochemistry of istanbulin-B has been defined by X-ray crystal-structure analysis. Rings A and B are transfused, with the Me groups at C(4) and C(5) cis. The α,β-unsaturated,γ -lactone ring is essentially planar. Crystals of istanbulin-B are orthorhombic, space group P2₁2₁,2₁, with a = 6.729(2), b = 13.447(3), c = 14.721(3)Â,and Z = 4. The crystal structure was determined by direct phasing and the atomic parameters were subsequently adjusted by least-squares calculations that converged at R 38% over 1179 diffractometer |F_a| values     

AN ACTION SPECTRUM FOR LETHAL PHOTOSENSITIZATION OF Candida albicans BY 8-MOP AFTER LOW-DOSE BROAD-BAND UV-A IRRADIATION; AN ACTION SPECTRUM FOR 8-MOP 4′,5′- MONOADDUCTS?

An action spectrum was obtained for lethal photosensitization of Candida albicans that had been pre-irradiated with a sub-lethal low dose of broad-band UV-A after incubation with 8-methoxypsoralen and then washed to remove any non-photobound 8-methoxypsoralen. The resultant spectrum with a peak in the 320-335 nm region was similar to that obtained by a conventional method (single irradiation only) and also to the absorption spectrum of the 4',5'-monoadduct. These data support the hypothesis that the chromophore for lethal photosensitization by 8-methoxypsoralen is the 8-methoxypsoralen/DNA 4',5'-monoadduct rather than 8-methoxypsoralen itself.