SDS/Ac2O/H2O: Surfactant‐Mediated Cleavage of Imines with Acetic Anhydride to Carbonyls and Acetanilides in Water

Surfactant (SDS)‐mediated cleavage of imines was achieved with acetic anhydride to the corresponding carbonyls (aldehydes and ketones) and acetanilides in water at 25–30°C with very good to excellent yields, thus contributing significantly to the green chemistry concept.     

Facile Synthesis and Unusual Methanesulfonylation Reaction of (2R,3R)‐1,4‐Dimethoxy‐1,1,4,4‐tetrasubstituted‐2,3‐butanediols

A facile method for the synthesis of (2R,3R)‐1,4‐dimethoxy‐1,1,4,4‐tetrasubstituted‐2,3‐butanediols involving oxidative cleavage of benzylidene acetal as a key step is described. These sterically hindered diols unusually formed cyclic sulfites as the major product under methanesulfonylation reaction conditions.     

Unexpected cleavage of the Cpy–Cpy bond in the reaction of 2,2′-bipyridine N,N′-diimines with acetylenes

An unusual cleavage of the C_py–C_py bond in the reaction of 2,2′-bipyridine N,N′-diimine and its C-methyl substituted derivatives with acetylenes is described. The effect of the solvent on the yield of 7,7′-bipyrazolo[1,5-a]pyridine-2,2′,3,3′-tetracarboxylates and the products of cleavage of the C_py–C_py bond has been studied. The mechanism of the cleavage reaction is discussed on the basis of DFT calculations.     

Effect of Various Intercalators on the Fenton‐Type Oxidative Cleavage of Double‐Stranded DNA

The intensity of the linear dichroism (LD) in the absorption region of DNA (about 260 nm) decreased with time in the presence of [Fe(EDTA)]²⁺ (EDTA=ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid), H₂O₂, and ascorbate. The decrease in the LD signal indicated either an increase in flexibility, a shortening of the DNA stem, or both, owing to oxidative cleavage, and was best described by the difference between the two single‐exponential‐decay curves, thereby suggesting the involvement of two sequential first‐order reactions. The fast reaction was assigned to cleavage of one of two DNA strands, which increased the flexibility of the DNA. The slow reaction corresponded to cleavage at or near the first cleavage site, thereby shortening the DNA stem. The presence of an intercalator, including ethidium, propidium, 9‐aminoacridine, and proflavine, inhibited the first step of the cleavage reaction. One of the possible reasons for the observed inhibition might be a change in the DNA conformation near the intercalation site. Intercalation caused an unwinding and elongation of the DNA and resulted in changes in the location of the H atoms of the sugar moiety, which is known to be the main site at which hydroxyl radicals react.     

Nitrile Oxide‐Norbornene Cycloaddition as a Bioorthogonal Crosslinking Reaction for the Preparation of Hydrogels

This communication describes the first application of cycloaddition between an in situ generated nitrile oxide with norbornene leading to a polymer crosslinking reaction for the preparation of poly(ethylene glycol) hydrogels under physiological conditions. Hydrogels with high water content and robust physical strength are readily formed within 2–5 min by a simple two‐solution mixing method which allows 3D encapsulation of neuronal cells. This bioorthogonal crosslinking reaction provides a simple yet highly effective method for preparation of hydrogels to be used in bioengineering.

     

A DFT Study on the Binuclear Copper(I)-Catalyzed Synthesis Mechanism of 1,2,3-Triazolo[1,5-c]Pyrimidine via Interrupted Click and Ketenimine Rearrangement

In this paper, the mechanism of the full catalytic cycle for binuclear Cu(I)-catalyzed sulfonyl azide-alkyne cycloaddition reaction for the synthesis of triazolopyrimidines was rationalized by density functional theoretical (DFT) calculations. The computed reaction route consists of: (a) formation of dicopper intermediates, including C−H activation of terminal alkyne, 3+2 ring cycloaddition and ring-reducing reaction and transmetalation, (b) interrupted CuAAC reaction, including di-copper catalyzed ring-opening of 2H-azirines and C−C bond formation to generate the copper-triazoles and -ketenimines, (c) two-step C−N cross-coupling and following (d) multi-step hydrogen transfer by the hydrogen bonding chain of water to promote the C−N formation and another C−N cleavage through the removal of p-tolyl sulfonamides. Our DFT results indicate that the multi-step hydrogen transfer process is the rate-determining step along the potential energy surface profile. The explicit water model was used for systematic determination of barrier for C−C cross-coupling, C−N bond formation and cleavage, and p-tolylsulfonamide removal. A critical insight in the interrupted CuAAC reaction was proposed. Further prediction interprets H₂O hydrogen bond chain plays an important role in C−N bond formation and cleavage, and the removal of p-tolylsulfonamide. This may have fundamental guidance on the design of 1, 5-herterocyclic functionalized triazolopyrimidines via interrupted CuAAC rearrangement reaction, as well as hydrogen bond chain of water.     

Incorporation of β-Alanine in Cu(II) ATCUN Peptide Complexes Increases ROS Levels,DNA Cleavage and Antiproliferative Activity**

Redox-active Cu(II) complexes are able to form reactive oxygen species (ROS) in the presence of oxygen and reducing agents. Recently, Faller et al. reported that ROS generation by Cu(II) ATCUN complexes is not as high as assumed for decades. High complex stability results in silencing of the Cu(II)/Cu(I) redox cycle and therefore leads to low ROS generation. In this work, we demonstrate that an exchange of the α-amino acid Gly with the β-amino acid β-Ala at position 2 (Gly2→β-Ala2) of the ATCUN motif reinstates ROS production (^•OH and H₂O₂). Potentiometry, cyclic voltammetry, EPR spectroscopy and DFT simulations were utilized to explain the increased ROS generation of these β-Ala2-containing ATCUN complexes. We also observed enhanced oxidative cleavage activity towards plasmid DNA for β-Ala2 compared to the Gly2 complexes. Modifications with positively charged Lys residues increased the DNA affinity through electrostatic interactions as determined by UV/VIS, fluorescence, and CD spectroscopy, and consequently led to a further increase in nuclease activity. A similar trend was observed regarding the cytotoxic activity of the complexes against several human cancer cell lines where β-Ala2 peptide complexes had lower IC₅₀ values compared to Gly2. The higher cytotoxicity could be attributed to an increased cellular uptake as determined by ICP-MS measurements.     

Catalytic Cleavage of Ether CO Bonds by Pincer Iridium Complexes

The development of efficient catalytic methods to cleave the relatively unreactive C? O bonds of ethers remains an important challenge in catalysis. Building on our group’s recent work, we report the dehydroaryloxylation of aryl alkyl ethers using pincer iridium catalysts. This method represents a rare fully atom‐economical method for ether C? O bond cleavage.