Total synthesis of calystegine A7

A straightforward chiral pool synthesis for the glycosidase inhibitor calystegine A₇ (isolated from Lycium chinense) from methyl α-d-glucopyranoside is described. Keysteps of this synthesis include a ultrasound assisted Zn-mediated tandem ring opening reaction followed by a Grubbs' catalyst mediated ring closure metathesis.     

The Total Synthesis of Eleutherobin: A Surprise Ending

An “sp ² –sp ³ Stille coupling” of the vinyl triflate 1 and the stannyl compound 2 is a key step toward the completion of the total synthesis of eleutherobin, a natural product exhibiting taxol-like cytotoxic activity.     

HELFIT: Helix fitting by a total least squares method

The problem of fitting a helix to data arises in analysis of protein structure, in nuclear physics, and in engineering. A continuous helix is described by five parameters: helix axis, helix radius, and helix pitch. One of these helix parameters is frequently predefined in the helix fitting. Other algorithms find only the helix axis or determine separately the helix axis, the helix radius, or the helix pitch. Here we describe a total least squares method, HELFIT, for helix fitting. HELFIT enables one to calculate simultaneously all five of the helix parameters with high accuracy. The minimum number of data points required for the analysis is only four. HELFIT is very insensitive to noise even in short helices. HELFIT also calculates a parameter, p = rmsd/(N − 1)^1/2, which estimates the regularity of helical structures independent of the number of data points, where rmsd is the root mean square distance from the best-fit helix to data points and N is the number of data points. It should become a basic tool of structural bioinformatics.     

Total Synthesis of (±)‐Eusiderin G and (±)‐Eusiderin M

(±)‐Eusiderin G and (±)‐Eusiderin M were first synthesized from pyrogallol, in which the Claisen Rearrangement was used to afford two important C₆‐C₃ units.     

Asymmetric total syntheses of heliannuol E and epi-heliannuol E

Asymmetric total syntheses of heliannuol E and epi-heliannuol E were achieved in 10 and 13 steps, respectively, from the commercially available starting materials. The syntheses feature an intramolecular attacking on the sulfate to form the dihydropyran ring of heliannuol E and an acyl transfer-secondary carbocation capture sequence to construct the dihydropyran ring of epi-heliannuol E.     

Synthesis of Lignans Based on a Borate-mediated One-pot Sequential Suzuki-Miyaura Coupling of Cyclic Boranes

Lignans are a group of polyphenolic phytochemicals that possess a large spectrum of chemical structures and biological activities. Here the syntheses of lignans – anwulignan, burseran, dehydroxycubebin, ruburisandrin B, and sesamin – are achieved based on a borate-mediated one-pot sequential Suzuki-Miyaura coupling of cis- and trans-fused bicyclic boranes, which were prepared by diastereoselective cyclic hydroboration of exo-cyclic diene with cyclopentyl- and thexylboranes, respectively. A one-pot sequential Suzuki-Miyaura coupling of each cyclic borate with various aryl bromides initiated by activation of the cyclic borane with the carbon nucleophile provided 2,3-dibenzylbutane derivatives with different aromatic substituents. Finally, the syntheses of naturally occurring lignans were accomplished in several steps from the products of Suzuki-Miyaura coupling.     

Luminescent energy transfer between cadmium telluride nanoparticle and lanthanide(III) chelate in competitive bioaffinity assays of biotin and estradiol

Fluorescence resonance energy transfer has been studied between lanthanide(III) chelates as donors and protein-coupled CdTe semiconductor nanoparticles as acceptors. Wide excitation spectra and large Stokes shift of semiconductor nanoparticles and timeresolved fluorescence detection were shown to provide a combination for successful energy transfer assay. Different intrinsically fluorescent europium(III) and terbium(III) chelates coupled to single biotin molecules were studied for optimal energy transfer with streptavidin labeled semiconductor nanoparticles. No significant differences between the studied chelates were observed. The strength of the methodology was demonstrated in a clinically relevant competitive and separation-free immunoassay of estradiol, where subnanomolar limit of detection was achieved with the coefficient of variation 2-11%. The data suggested that relatively short distance was needed to obtain adequate energy transfer. Therefore, biomolecules were coupled onto the semiconductor nanoparticles without any spacers.     

Total synthesis of (±)-17-norcamptothecin, a novel E-ring modified camptothecin

The first total synthesis of (±)-17-norcamptothecin, a novel camptothecin analog possessing an α-hydroxy-γ-lactone E-ring, has been accomplished by using a short and flexible route. The stability of this new compound in aqueous medium has been evaluated through fluorescence spectroscopy.     

Design of Functional Carbon Composite Materials for Energy Conversion and Storage

The carbon composite materials have been a research hotspot in the fields of catalysis, energy conversion and so on, because of their features of large structure and morphology variety, good chemical and electrochemical stability, and high electronic conductivity, large specific surface area and rich active sites. This paper summarizes some research progress of carbon composite materials, including assembly methodologies, their structure regulation, properties, and related applications. Moreover, the current challenges and the prospects of these materials are also discussed.     

Ferrozine colorimetry and reverse flow injection analysis (rFIA) based method for the determination of total iron in aqueous solutions at nanomolar concentrations

Iron is one of the most microbiologically and chemically important metals in natural waters. The biogeochemical cycling of iron is significantly influenced by the redox cycling of Fe(II) and Fe(III). Because of the unique chemistry of iron, it is often needed to analyze iron at nano-molar concentrations. This article describes a reverse flow injection analysis (rFIA) based method with ferrozine spectrophotometric detection to quantify total iron concentration in stream water at nanomolar concentrations. The rFIA system has a 0.65 nM detection limit and a linear dynamic range up to 1.40 μM for the total iron analysis. The detection limit was achieved using a 1.0 m long liquid waveguide capillary flow cell, 1.50 m long knotted reaction coil, 87.50 μL injection loop and a miniature fiber optics spectrophotometer. The optimized colorimetric reagent has 1.0 mM ferrozine, 0.1 M ascorbic acid, 1.0 mM citric acid and 0.10 M acetate buffer adjusted to pH 4.0. The best sample flow rate is 2.1 mL min^?1 providing a sample throughput of more than 15 samples h^?1. The linear dynamic range of the method can be adjusted by changing the volume of the injection loop. The rFIA manifold was assembled exclusively from commercially available components.