Total synthesis of polycavernoside A, a lethal toxin of the red alga Polycavernosa tsudai

[structure: see text] Two approaches to the synthesis of the aglycon 120 of polycavernoside A (1) were developed, only one of which was completed. The successful "second-generation" route assembled the aglycon seco acids 102 and 106 via Nozaki-Hiyama-Kishi coupling of aldehyde 70, prepared from methyl (S)-3-hydroxy-2-methylpropionate (72) and (S)-pantolactone (73), with vinyl bromide 71. The latter was obtained from a sequence which commenced from the silyl ether 24 of 3-hydroxypropionaldehyde and entailed cyclization of (Z)-zeta-hydroxy-alpha,beta-unsaturated ester 82. Regioselective Yamaguchi lactonization of trihydroxycarboxylic acids 102 and 106 and subsequent functional-group adjustments led to macrolactone 120, to which the fucopyranosylxylopyranoside moiety was attached. Stille coupling of the glycosidated aglycon 128 with dienylstannane 129 furnished polycavernoside A in a synthesis for which the longest linear sequence was 25 steps. The overall yield to lactone 120 was 4.7%.     

Growth dynamics and intracluster reactions in Ni+(CO2)n complexes via infrared spectroscopy

Ni(+)(CO(2))(n), Ni(+)(CO(2))(n)Ar, Ni(+)(CO(2))(n)Ne, and Ni(+)(O(2))(CO(2))(n) complexes are generated by laser vaporization in a pulsed supersonic expansion. The complexes are mass-selected in a reflectron time-of-flight mass spectrometer and studied by infrared resonance-enhanced photodissociation (IR-REPD) spectroscopy. Photofragmentation proceeds exclusively through the loss of intact CO(2) molecules from Ni(+)(CO(2))(n) and Ni(+)(O(2))(CO(2))(n) complexes, and by elimination of the noble gas atom from Ni(+)(CO(2))(n)Ar and Ni(+)(CO(2))(n)Ne. Vibrational resonances are identified and assigned in the region of the asymmetric stretch of CO(2). Small complexes have resonances that are blueshifted from the asymmetric stretch of free CO(2), consistent with structures having linear Ni(+)-O=C=O configurations. Fragmentation of larger Ni(+)(CO(2))(n) clusters terminates at the size of n=4, and new vibrational bands assigned to external ligands are observed for n> or =5. These combined observations indicate that the coordination number for CO(2) molecules around Ni(+) is exactly four. Trends in the loss channels and spectra of Ni(+)(O(2))(CO(2))(n) clusters suggest that each oxygen atom occupies a different coordination site around a four-coordinate metal ion in these complexes. The spectra of larger Ni(+)(CO(2))(n) clusters provide evidence for an intracluster insertion reaction assisted by solvation, producing a metal oxide-carbonyl species as the reaction product.     

Total synthesis of (-)-dysibetaine via a nitrenium ion cyclization-dienone cleavage strategy

The diastereoselective total synthesis of the marine natural product (-)-dysibetaine is reported. The key steps in this venture are i) a diastereoselective nitrenium ion spirocyclization, which serves to generate the pyrrolidinone ring and quaternary stereocenter of the target, and ii) use of the 2-methoxycyclohexa-2,5-dienone ring formed during cyclization as a masked 2-amino-1,3-dicarbonyl synthon.     

The photolysis of platinacycloalkanes in solution

The photolysis of [I₂$\text{PtCH}{}_2\text{CH}{}_2\text{CH}{}_2\text{C}$H₂ (PMe₂ Ph)₂] gives ethylene and but-1-ene as volatile products, the latter probably being formed via a five-coordinate platinum intermediate. However, the formation of propene from the photolysis of [Cl₂$\text{PtCH}{}_2\text{CH}{}_2\text{C}$H₂ (1,10-phenanthroline) appears to involve a direct transfer of a hydrogen atom between neighbouring CH₂ groups in the ring. Other gaseous products, e.g. cyclopropane, ethylene, may be formed via a platinum ion radical.     

Reaction of tris(trimethylsilyl)methylsilicon halides with methanolic sodium methoxide. Probability of sila-olefin intermediates

The compounds TsiSiR₂X [Tsi = Me₃Si)₃C; R = Me, X = Cl, Br, I, or R = Ph, X = F, Cl, Br, I)] react with boiling 2 M MeONa-MeOH to give products of the type (Me₃Si)₂CHSiR₂OMe. It is suggested that the reaction proceeds through an elimination, analogous to E2 eliminations of alkyl halides, involving synchronous attack of MeO^? at an Me₃Si group, liberation of X^?, and formation of (Me₃Si)₂CSiR₂. The compounds TsiSiPhMeF TsiSiPhCl₂ react analogously to give (Me₃Si)₂CHSiPhMe(OMe) and (Me₃Si)₂CHSiPh(OMe)₂ [tha latter presumably by solvolysis of the initially-formed (Me₃Si)₂CHSiPhCl(OMe)]. The compounds TsiSiMe₂OMe and TsiSiMe₃ do not react, while TsiSiMe₂H gives TsiH. The compound TsiSiCl₃ reacts with 0.1 M MeONa-MeOH to give the substitution and elmination products TsiSiCl₂(OMe) and (Me₃Si)₂CHSi(OMe)₃ in ca. $\text{1}\text{2}$ ratio.     

The Bioconversion of (3RS,E)- and (3RS,Z)-Nerolidol into Oxygenated Products by Streptomyces cinnamonensis. Possible Implications for the Biosynthesis of the Polyether Antibiotic Monensin A??

The ability of the monensin-producing organism Streptomyces cinnamonensis to bioconvert the (E)-and (Z)-isomers of nerolidol (= 3,7,1 1-trimethyldodeca-1,6,10-trien-3-ol) into new oxygenated products has been investigated. When a ³H-labelled racemic form of each sesquiterpene was added to fermentations of S. cinnamonensis, several new ³H-labelled products could be detected. Two products were isolated from bioconversion of (E)-nerolidol, the amide 8 and the 9 (Scheme 2), whereas four products were isolated from the bioconversion of (Z)-nerolidol, the epoxydiol 10 , triols 11 and 12 , and the tetrahydrofuryl alcohol 13 (Scheme 4). Products 9 – 13 were obtained as a 1 : 1 mixture of diastereoisomers, and 12 was shown to arise by the overall anti addition of two OH groups to the trisubstituted (Z)-double bond of (Z)-nerolidol. Both isomers of nerolidol as well as the acetylene 7 are inhibitors of monensin production in shake cultures of S. cinnamonensis.     

Nuclear quadrupole hyperfine structure in the microwave spectrum of HCl-N2O: electric field gradient perturbation of N2O by HCl

The microwave spectra of six isotopomers of HCl-N(2)O have been obtained in the 7-19 GHz region with a pulsed molecular beam, Fourier transform microwave spectrometer. The nuclear quadrupole hyperfine structure due to all quadrupolar nuclei is resolved and the spectra are analyzed using the Watson S-reduced Hamiltonian with the inclusion of nuclear quadrupole coupling interactions. The spectroscopic constants determined include rotational constants, quartic and sextic centrifugal distortion constants, and nuclear quadrupole coupling constants for each quadrupolar nucleus. Due to correlations of the structural parameters, the effective structure of the complex cannot be obtained by fitting to the spectroscopic constants of the six isotopomers. Instead, the parameters for each isotopomer are calculated from the A and C rotational constants and the chlorine nuclear quadrupole coupling constant along the a-axis, chi(aa). There are two possible structures; the one in which hydrogen of HCl interacts with the more electronegative oxygen of N(2)O is taken to represent the complex. The two subunits are approximately slipped parallel. For H (35)Cl-(14)N(2)O, the distance between the central nitrogen and chlorine is 3.5153 A and the N(2)O and HCl subunits form angles of 72.30 degrees and 119.44 degrees with this N-Cl axis, respectively. The chlorine and oxygen atoms occupy the opposite, obtuse vertices of the quadrilateral formed by O, central N, Cl, and H. Nuclear quadrupole coupling constants show that while the electric field gradient of the HCl subunit remains essentially unchanged upon complexation, there is electronic rearrangement about the two nitrogen nuclei in N(2)O.