Microrobotics and MEMS-based fabrication techniques for scaffold-based tissue engineering

Scaffold based tissue engineering strategies use cells, biomolecules and a scaffold to promote the repair and regeneration of tissues. Although scaffold-based tissue engineering approaches are being actively developed, most are still experimental, and it is not yet clear what defines an ideal scaffold/cell construct. Solid free form fabrication (SFF) techniques can precisely control matrix architecture (size, shape, interconnectivity, branching, geometry and orientation). The SFF methods enable the fabrication of scaffolds with various designs and material compositions, thus providing a control of mechanical properties, biological effects and degradation kinetics. This paper reviews the application of micro-robotics and MEMS-based fabrication techniques for scaffold design and fabrication. It also presents a novel robotic technique to fabricate scaffold/cell constructs for tissue engineering by the assembly of microscopic building blocks.     

Ring-opening reactions of arylvinylidenecyclopropanes with diaryl diselenide upon heating: formation of 1,2-diarylselenocyclopentene derivatives

Arylvinylidenecyclopropanes undergo a novel reaction upon heating at 150 °C with diaryl diselenide to give the corresponding 1,2-diarylselenocyclopentene derivatives in good to high yields within 1.5 h. The further transformation of 1,2-diarylselenocyclopentene derivatives has been disclosed.     

Quantitative and Qualitative Analysis of the Anti-Proliferative Potential of the Pyrazole Scaffold in the Design of Anticancer Agents

The current work presents an objective overview of the impact of one important heterocyclic structure, the pyrazole ring, in the development of anti-proliferative drugs. A set of 1551 pyrazole derivatives were extracted from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) database, together with their growth inhibition effects (GI%) on the NCI’s panel of 60 cancer cell lines. The structures of these derivatives were analyzed based on the compounds’ averages of GI% values across NCI-60 cell lines and the averages of the values for the outlier cells. The distribution and the architecture of the Bemis–Murcko skeletons were analyzed, highlighting the impact of certain scaffold structures on the anti-proliferative effect’s potency and selectivity. The drug-likeness, chemical reactivity and promiscuity risks of the compounds were predicted using AMDETlab. The pyrazole ring proved to be a versatile scaffold for the design of anticancer drugs if properly substituted and if connected with other cyclic structures. The 1,3-diphenyl-pyrazole emerged as a useful scaffold for potent and targeted anticancer candidates.     

Reverse fingerprinting, similarity searching by group fusion and fingerprint bit importance

Summary Recent research has shown that using data fusion rules in fingerprint-based similarity searching can improve results over traditional searches. Group fusion scores, which use multiple reference compounds, have in particular been shown to be quite effective in increasing enrichment rates over single reference structure based searches. In this paper, the effectiveness of using data fusion with multiple reference compounds to increase similarity search recall rates was investigated using 44 biological targets and four different 2D fingerprinting systems, including a new 2D typed triangle fingerprinting system introduced here. Scaffold-hopping abilities using data fusion rules were investigated using eight (8) different classes of scaffolds active against cGMP phosphodiesterase isoform 5 (PDE5). An approach to using the reference group for ranking and visualizing important fingerprints bits, or reverse fingerprinting, was presented, and used to score and visualize important pharmacophore features within sample active molecules. Finally, similarity statistics within the reference groups were investigated and compared to recall rates.     

Triflic acid–catalyzed rearrangement of unalkylated benzene sulfonanilides

Previous work has demonstrated that alkylated benzene sulfonanilides undergo sulfuric acid (98%)–catalyzed rearrangement to alkylamino diaryl sulfones. Similar treatment of their unalkylated analogs typically leads only to hydrolysis. Surprisingly, when the unalkylated benzene sulfonanilides react with triflic acid, rearrangement to sulfones does occur.     

Rhodium-Catalyzed Dimerization of Diaryl Acetylenes in the Presence of Grignard Reagents: Synthesis of 1,2,3-Triphenyl Naphthalene Derivatives

An efficient Rh-catalyzed dimerization of diaryl acetylenes was achieved in the presence of Wilkinson catalyst, AgF₂, and 1.5 equivalent of PhMgBr in toluene, providing the 1,2,3-triaryl naphthalene derivatives in moderate to good yields.

Supplemental materials are available for this article. Go to the publisher's online edition of Synthetic Communications to view the free supplemental file.     

Study of nano‐Cu/SiO2 catalysts for highly selective hydrogenation of acetophenone

Hydrogenation of acetophenone over nano‐Cu/SiO₂ catalysts was investigated. The catalysts, prepared by a liquid precipitation method using various precipitating agents, were characterized using low‐temperature nitrogen adsorption, X‐ray diffraction, temperature‐programmed desorption of ammonia, hydrogen temperature‐programmed reduction, transmission electron microscopy and X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy. It was found that the catalysts prepared by a homogeneous precipitation method had better activity and stability than those prepared by a co‐precipitation method. The catalyst prepared using urea as precipitating agent had well‐dispersed copper species, high surface area and abundant pore structure. The catalytic performance and mechanism of the Cu/SiO₂ catalysts were further studied. It was found that the activity and stability of the catalysts could be improved by adjusting the proportion of Cu⁺/(Cu⁺ + Cu⁰). The sample prepared using urea as precipitating agent presented higher activity and selectivity. Also, the catalyst prepared using urea maintained a high catalytic performance while being continuously used for 150 h under the optimal reaction conditions.     

Multimetallic Oxynitrides Nanoparticles for a New Generation of Photocatalysts

A versatile synthetic strategy for the preparation of multimetallic oxynitrides has been designed and here exemplarily discussed considering the preparation of nanoscaled zinc–gallium oxynitrides and zinc–gallium–indium oxynitrides, two important photocatalysts of new generation, which proved to be active in key energy related processes from pollutant decomposition to overall water splitting. The synthesis presented here allows the preparation of small nanoparticles (less than 20 nm in average diameter), well-defined in size and shape, yet highly crystalline and with the highest surface area reported so far (up to 80 m² g⁻¹). X-ray diffraction studies show that the final material is not a mixture of single oxides but a distinctive compound. The photocatalytic properties of the oxynitrides have been tested towards the decomposition of an organic dye (as a model reaction for the decomposition of air pollutants), showing better photocatalytic performances than the corresponding pure phases (reaction constant 0.22 h⁻¹), whereas almost no reaction was observed in absence of catalyst or in the dark. The photocatalysts have been also tested for H₂ evolution (semi-reaction of the water splitting process) with results comparable to the best literature values but leaving room for further improvement.     

Rapid Synthesis of N-Acyl Ureas from Their Thio Analogues Using Wet Silica-Supported Permanganate Under Solvent-Free Conditions

A rapid method to N-acyl ureas from corresponding N-acyl thioureas is described. N-coumaroyl-N′-arylthioureas, which are easily prepared by the reaction of coumarin-3-carboxylic acid chloride with potassium thiocyanate and arylamines, can be expeditiously transformed into corresponding N-acyl ureas via r.t. grinding with wet silica supported potassium permanganate under solvent-free conditions in an excellent yield.