Chiral N-alkyl-2,4,6-triphenylpyridiniums as enantioselective triplet photosensitizers. laser flash photolysis and preparative studies

Three N-alkylpyridinium photosensitizers having chiral alkyl groups have been prepared by reacting 2,4,6-triphenylpyrylium tetrafluoroborate ion with (1R,2S)-(-)-norephedrine, (S)-(+)-2-(aminomethyl)pyrrolidine, and (R)-(-)-1-cyclohexylethylamine. Laser flash photolysis allows detection of the corresponding triplet excited states that are quenched by hydrogen atom donors and electron donors. Asymmetric quenching of the chiral triplet excited state was observed using enantiomerically pure 1,2-diamino cyclohexane as quencher. Low enantiomeric excess values (up to 7%) were measured for the photochemical cyclization of 5-methyl-4-hexenoic acid to its corresponding gamma-lactone using these chiral N-alkylpyridinium as photosensitizers.     

Two dimensional reversed-phase-reversed-phase separations isomeric separations incorporating C18 and carbon clad zirconia stationary phases

Informational theory and a geometric approach to factor analysis were employed to evaluate the degree of orthogonality of a two-dimensional reversed-phase-reversed-phase chromatographic system. The system incorporated a C18 column as one dimension and a carbon clad zirconia column as the second dimension. In order to study the resolving power of this system, the separation of a sample matrix containing an artificial mix of 32 isomers (structural and diastereoisomers) was evaluated. Using this system, between 25 and 28 of the 32 isomers could be separated, depending on the mobile phase combinations--with resolution that could not possibly be achieved in a single one dimensional separation. The results from this study indicate that in order to fully evaluate the resolving power of a 2D system multiple methods of analysis are most appropriate. This becomes increasingly important when the sample contains components that are very closely related and the retention of solutes is clustered in one quadrant of the 2D space. Ultimately, the usefulness of the 2D separation is determined by the goals of analyst.     

Site-selective labeling strategies for screening by NMR

NMR based screening has become an important tool in the pharmaceutical industry. Methods that provide information on the location of small molecule binding sites on the surface of a drug target (e. g. SAR-by-NMR and related techniques) are of particular interest. In order to extend the applicability of such techniques to drug targets of higher molecular weight, selective labeling strategies may be employed. Dual-amino acid selective labeling and site directed non-native amino acid replacement (SNAAR) allow for the selective detection of NMR resonances of a specific amino acid residue. This results in significantly reduced spectral complexity, which not only enables application to higher molecular weight systems, but also eliminates the need for sequential resonance assignment in order to identify the binding site. Regio-selective (or segmental) labeling of an entire protein domain of a multi domain protein may also be achieved. Labeling only a selected part of a multi domain protein (e. g. a catalytic or ligand binding domain) is an attractive way to simplify the spectral interpretation without disturbing the system under study.     

Synthesis of corroles bearing up to three different meso substituents

[reaction: see text] We have developed a new method that affords regioisomerically pure corroles possessing up to three different substituents at the meso positions. The corrole formation reaction involves the acid-catalyzed condensation of a dipyrromethane-dicarbinol with pyrrole followed by oxidation with DDQ. ABC-Type corroles were synthesized for the first time according to this procedure.     

Electron impact mass spectral interpretation for some thiophosphoryl-p-acetylaminobenzenesulfonamides

This work discusses the synthesis and the fragmentation patterns for 2-(p-acetylaminosulfonamido)-2-thiono-(5,5-dimethyl-1,3,2-dioxaphosphorinane)(1) and for the p-acetylaminosulfonylamides of O,O-diethylthiophosphoric acid (2), O,O-diphenylthiophosphoric acid (3), dimethylaminocyclohexylthiophosphoric acid (4), and diethylaminophenylthiophosphoric acid (5). A thionamidic-thiolimidic structure was attributed to compounds 1-5, consistent with their IR and NMR spectra. EI mass spectra at 70 eV, high resolution (HR) mass measurements and metastable ion spectra were used to elucidate the fragmentation processes and to determine the kinetic energy release values associated with the metastable ion dissociations. HR accurate mass measurements were used to confirm the compositions of the more abundant ions.     

Structure determination of bioactive galloyl derivatives by NMR spectroscopy

The investigation of the chemical constituents of Symplocos racemosa Roxb led to the isolation of two new glycosides, symcomoside A (1) and symcomoside B (2), together with one known glycoside, tortoside C (3), which is reported for the first time from this plant. The structures of the new compounds were determined by 1D and 2D homonuclear and heteronuclear NMR spectroscopy, from chemical evidence and by comparison with published data for closely related compounds. Symcomoside B (2) showed potent inhibitory activity against alpha-glucosidase in a concentration-dependent fashion with an IC50 value of 0.733 +/- 0.033 mM whereas symcomoside A (1) showed very weak inhibitory activity against alpha-glucosidase (9.90% in 0.70 mM).     

Quantitative validation of different protein precipitation methods in proteome analysis of blood platelets

For the preparation of proteins for proteome analysis, precipitation is frequently used to concentrate proteins and to remove interfering compounds. Various methods for protein precipitation are applied, which rely on different chemical principles. This study compares the changes in the protein composition of human blood platelet extracts after precipitation with ethanol (EtOH) or trichloroacetic acid (TCA). Both methods yielded the same amount of proteins from the platelet preparations. However, the EtOH-precipitated samples had to be dialyzed because of the considerable salt content. To characterize single platelet proteins, samples were analyzed by two-dimensional fluorescence differential gel electrophoresis. More than 90% of all the spots were equally present in the EtOH- and TCA-precipitated samples. However, both precipitation methods showed a smaller correlation with nonprecipitated samples (EtOH 74.9%, TCA 79.2%). Several proteins were either reduced or relatively enriched in the precipitated samples. The proteins varied randomly in molecular weight and isoelectric point. This study shows that protein precipitation leads to specific changes in the protein composition of proteomics samples. This depends more on the specific structure of the protein than on the precipitating agent used in the experiment.     

Intramolecular fluorescence quenching in luminescent copolymers containing fluorenone and fluorene units: a direct measurement of intrachain exciton hopping rate

The quenching process of fluorescence emission in polyfluorene (PF) due to the presence of intramolecular 9-fluorenone (9 FL) moieties is studied in dilute toluene solution as a function of 9 FL content in eight copolymers containing both fluorene and fluorenone units (PF/FL(x)). The absorption spectrum of PF/FL(x) copolymers clearly shows a new absorption band, redshifted relatively to the PF and 9-fluorenone absorption, which increases in intensity when the fluorenone fraction increases and also decreases with solvent polarity. Fluorescence emission spectra of PF/FL(x) show that this redshifted and unstructured emission does not coincide with the 9-fluorenone emission and, with increasing solvent polarity, it further redshifts and decreases in intensity. An isoemissive point is clearly observed on the fluorescence emission spectra of PF/FL(x) as a function of fluorenone content, showing that the new emission band is formed at the expense of PF. We propose the formation of an intramolecular charge transfer complex (ICTC) between PF units and 9-fluorenone to explain the appearance of the new emission band. Global analysis of time resolved fluorescence decays collected at 415 nm (PF emission) and 580 nm (the ICTC emission) show that three exponentials are generally needed to achieve excellent fits. Two of the components (420 ps and 6.5 ns) are independent of 9-fluorenone fraction. A further fast component is strongly dependent on fluorenone fraction and ranges between 280 and 70 ps. This component appears as a decay time at 415 nm and as a rise time at 580 nm and is ascribed to the migration of exciton to quenching sites (formation of intramolecular CT complex or exciton ionization at CT complex). A kinetic mechanism involving three different kinetic species, quenched PF units kinetically coupled with the ICTC complex, and unquenched PF units is proposed to explain the experimental data and the quenching rate constant is obtained, k(1) congruent with 10(11) s(-1). This is an experimental measurement of the intrachain exciton hopping rate.     

Self-assembly, optical behavior, and permeability of a novel capsule based on an azo dye and polyelectrolytes

A novel capsule composed of an azo dye, Congo red (CR), and different polymers, including poly(styrenesulfonate, sodium salt) (PSS), poly(allylamine hydrochloride) (PAH), and poly(diallyldimethylammonium chloride) (PDDA), have been successfully fabricated by the layer-by-layer self-assembly technique. The stepwise linear deposition process was monitored by means of UV-visible absorption measurements. The formation of hollow capsules was verified by confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) and scanning force microscopy (SFM). The resulting hollow PSS/PAH/CR/PDDA capsules displayed a sensitive response to visible light. Optical changes of the hollow capsules prior to and after the photoreaction were investigated in detail by means of UV-visible spectroscopy, CLSM, and SFM. It was found that the photochemical reaction of the assembled hollow capsules depends strongly on the matrix. Qualitative results on the permeability of the hollow capsule walls with CR as one component indicate that the permeability of the walls can be easily photo-controlled at varying irradiation time intervals without addition of external chemicals.     

Stereochemistry of isoplagiochin C, a macrocyclic bisbibenzyl from liverworts

Cyclic bisbibenzyls, like isoplagiochins C (1) and D (2), are stereochemically intriguing molecules: Although not equipped with any of the traditional stereogenic elements that render molecules conformationally stable per se, they are sometimes isolated in an optically active form and are thus chiral at room temperature. The paper describes quantum chemical calculations, in particular investigations of the conformational space and molecular dynamics simulations, showing that the helicity is a property of the entire molecule, whose ring strain makes the molecule configurationally stable overall, with (formally) three stereogenic elements (two biaryl axes and one helical stilbene unit). Only one of the biaryl axes (the 'upper' one, joining C-12' and C-14) has a stable configuration, leading to a population of four interconverting diastereomers, yet without racemization at room temperature. On the basis of these conformational and dynamic calculations, the circular dichroism spectrum of isoplagiochin C (1) was calculated, leading to the first assignment of the absolute configuration of a cyclic bisbibenzyl. Accordingly, 1 has the P-configuration at the stereochemically stable biaryl axis and constitutes a mixture of diastereomers with respect to the other biaryl axis and the helical stilbene unit. From the temperature dependence of the racemization rates, an enantiomerization barrier of 101.6 kJ/mol was determined. Likewise, for the first time for cyclic bisbibenzyls, the enantiomeric ratio of this natural product was determined, by chromatography on a chiral phase with CD-coupling. Accordingly, 1 from Plagiochila deflexa is not enantiomerically pure, but occurs in a 85:15 ratio in favor of the enantiomer that has the P-configuration at the stereochemically stable axis.