Preparation of Enantiopure trans‐1,2‐Cyclohexanediol and trans‐2‐Aminocyclohexanol

Trans‐1,2‐cyclohexanediol and trans‐2‐aminocycloxexanol are useful chiral auxiliaries. Simple chemical resolution procedures for these molecules are presented.     

Approach for the Direct Synthesis of β-Dichlorosubstituted Acetanilides Using Iodine Trichloride (ICl3) as the Oxidant and Catalyst

A reliable method for direct synthesis of β‐dichlorosubstituted acetanilides is reported. The key transformation involves the oxidative and catalytic cleavage of a carbon‐carbon bond in the presence of iodine trichloride (ICl₃). In this protocol ICl₃ is used not only as the catalyst but also as the oxidant which widely broadens the scope of its application in organic synthetic chemistry.     

TRIFLUOROMETHYLTHIOCOPPER CATALYZED OXIRANE RING OPENING

Trifluoromethylthiocopper has been found to catalyze the opening of the epoxide ring and to furnish not-so-easily accessible novel trifluoromethylthiolated α-hydroxy compounds. This communication presents the mechanism of the formation of the various compounds and their mass spectral data.     

Pd‐catalyzed homocoupling of arylhydrazines via C―N cleavage under O2

An efficient and simple synthetic method for biaryl synthesis was developed using Pd(OAc)₂ as catalyst from aryl hydrazides under O₂. Various biaryls were synthesized in good yields, offering an expedient protocol for the synthesis of symmetrical biaryl molecules via C―N cleavage. The reactions were performed in component solvent of toluene and acetone without using any pro‐oxidant. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Electrochemical Tri- and Difluoromethylation-Triggered Cyclization Accompanied by the Oxidative Cleavage of Indole Derivatives

Considering their unique roles in organic synthesis, and pharmaceutical and agrochemical applications, the development of fluoroalkylation, cyclization, and indole oxidative cleavage are important topics. Herein, an unprecedented electrochemical tri- and difluoromethylation/cyclization/indole oxidative cleavage process occurring in an undivided cell is presented. The protocol employs a readily prepared Langlois reagent as the fluoroalkyl source, affording a series of tri- or difluoromethylated 2-(2-acetylphenyl)isoquinoline-1,3-diones in good yields with excellent stereoselectivity. It is worth noting that this new methodology merges the fluoroalkylation/cyclization of N-substituted acrylamide alkenes with the oxidative cleavage of an indole C(2)=C(3) bond under external oxidant-free conditions.     

Two heptadentate Co(III) and Mn(III) complexes with partially deprotonated cyclen derivative bearing four hydroxypropyl pendants: structure,DNA binding and DNA cleavage

Two new complexes, (Co^III)₂(H₃L^?)₂(0.5H₂O)₂(ClO₄)₄ (I) and (Mn^III)₂(H₃L^?)₂(0.5H₂O)₂ (ClO₄)₄ (II), were synthesized and crystallographically characterized [H₄L = 1,4,7,10‐tetra‐(2‐hydroxypropyl)‐l,4,7,10‐tetraazacyclododecane] using electrospray ionization mass spectrometry and X‐ray photoelectron spectrometery. The characterizations confirmed that the valences of the metal ions increased from divalent to trivalent due to deprotonation of one OH group (H₄L was in the form of H₃L^?). Owing to the instability of Co(III) and Mn(III) in both air and in solution, they preferred to exist in divalent form. The two heptadentate complexes are extraordinary in that the chiral pendants of the complexes are different in configuration. Spectroscopic studies, viscosity measurements, thermal denaturation experiments and circular dichroism spectra demonstrated that the complexes were prone to interact with DNA by groove binding. At micromolar concentrations and under physiological conditions, the two complexes were able to oxidatively cleave the supercoiled pUC19 plasmid DNA into its nicked and linear forms. Mechanistic studies using various additives suggest the complexes had structures different from those of other inorganic complexes. These are the first reported inorganic complexes not containing planar aromatic ligands and yet binding at the major groove. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Influence of methyl‐modified silyl groups on the properties of polymers and Si/B/N/C ceramics derived from N‐silylated borazine derivatives

Thermal silazane cleavage of dichloroboryldisilylamines (SiCl_mMe_3?m)N(SiMe₃)(BCl₂) (1: m = 1; 2: m = 2) at 196 °C leads to the borazine derivates [(SiCl_mMe_3?m)NB(Cl_nMe_1?n)]₃ (3: m = 1, n = 0.185; 4: m = 2, n = 0.111) characterized by NMR and IR spectroscopy and mass spectrometry. Single‐crystal X‐ray diffraction structure analyses reveal (BN)₃ units with unusual twisted boat conformations in both compounds. Additionally, more detailed studies are done to clear up the function of the by‐products (SiCl_mMe_3?m)N(SiClMe₂)(BClMe) formed during the cyclization step leading to asymmetrically boron substituted borazine derivatives. The single‐source precursors 3 and 4 were cross‐linked with methylamine producing polymers 3P and 4P, which were transformed into black amorphous materials with ceramic yields of 20.8 % and 50.3 %, respectively. Ceramic 4C (Si_1.00B_0.98 N_2.55 C_1.37O_0.05) was further investigated by ¹¹B and ²⁹Si magic angle spinning (MAS) NMR spectroscopy. A combined study of high‐temperature TG analyses and X‐ray powder diffraction analyses confirms the thermal stability of 4C up to 1670 °C. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Synthesis,crystal structure,DNA interaction and anticancer evaluation of pyruvic acid derived hydrazone and its transition metal complexes

A novel tridentate chelating ligand, Ethyl 2‐(2‐(2‐chlorobenzoyl)hydrazono)propanoate and its late transition metal complexes were synthesized, characterized and evaluated for anticancer behavior. The structures were elucidated with the help of elemental analyses, spectral (vibrational, electronic, NMR and mass) and thermo‐gravimetric techniques. Single crystal X‐ray crystallographic studies of the ligand suggest an orthorhombic lattice structure with Pna21 space group. The interaction of ligand and complexes with DNA (CT‐DNA) has been extensively studied using absorption, emission, viscosity and thermal denaturation studies with E. coli DNA. The DNA cleavage ability of ligand and metal complexes was tested using plasmid pBR322 DNA by gel electrophoresis method. The ligand and its copper complex have been evaluated for their in vitro anticancer activity against human cancer cells of different origin such as KB (Oral), A431 (Skin), Mia‐Pa‐Ca (Pancreases), K‐549 (Lung), K‐562 (Leukemia), MCF‐7 (Breast) and VERO by MTT assay and the apoptosis assay was carried out with acridine orange/ethidium bromide (AO/EB) staining method. The studies suggest that ligand and copper complex exhibit significant cytotoxic activity on KB, MCF‐7, A‐431, Mia‐Pa‐Ca‐2 an d A‐549 cell lines compared to K‐562 and VERO cell lines.     

Origin and Prediction of Highly Specific Bond Cleavage Sites in the Thermal Activation of Intact Protein Ions

Predicting the fragmentation patterns of proteins would be beneficial for the reliable identification of intact proteins by mass spectrometry. However, the ability to accurately make such predictions remains elusive. An approach to predict the specific cleavage sites in whole proteins resulting from collision-induced dissociation by use of an improved electrostatic model for calculating the proton configurations of highly-charged protein ions is reported. Using ubiquitin, cytochrome c, lysozyme and β-lactoglobulin as prototypical proteins, this approach can be used to predict the fragmentation patterns of intact proteins. For sufficiently highly charged proteins, specific cleavages occur near the first low-basicity amino acid residues that are protonated with increasing charge state. Hybrid QM/QM′ (QM=quantum mechanics) and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations and energy-resolved collision-induced dissociation measurements indicated that the barrier to the specific dissociation of the protonated amide backbone bond is significantly lower than competitive charge remote fragmentation. Unlike highly charged peptides, the protons at low-basicity sites in highly charged protein ions can be confined to a limited sequence of low-basicity amino acid residues by electrostatic repulsion, which results in highly specific fragmentation near the site of protonation. This research suggests that the optimal charge states to form specific sequence ions of intact proteins in higher abundances than the use of less specific ion dissociation methods can be predicted a priori.