Dialkyl Ether Formation by Nickel‐Catalyzed Cross‐Coupling of Acetals and Aryl Iodides

A new substrate class for nickel‐catalyzed C(sp³) cross‐coupling reactions is reported. α‐Oxy radicals generated from benzylic acetals, TMSCl, and a mild reductant can participate in chemoselective cross‐coupling with aryl iodides using a 2,6‐bis(N‐pyrazolyl)pyridine (bpp)/Ni catalyst. The mild, base‐free conditions are tolerant of a variety of functional groups on both partners, thus representing an attractive C? C bond‐forming approach to dialkyl ether synthesis. Characterization of a [(bpp)NiCl] complex relevant to the proposed catalytic cycle is also described.     

Intramolecular Aminoboration of Unfunctionalized Olefins

A direct and catalyst‐free method for the intramolecular aminoboration of unfunctionalized olefins is reported. In the presence of BCl₃ (1 equiv) as the sole boron source, intramolecular aminoboration of sulfonamide derivatives of 4‐penten‐1‐amines, 5‐hexen‐1‐amines, and 2‐allylanilines proceeded readily without the use of any catalyst. The boronic acids obtained after hydrolysis could be converted into the corresponding pinacol borates in a straightforward manner by treatment with pinacol under anhydrous conditions.     

HPLC with fluorescence detection assay of perampanel,a novel AMPA receptor antagonist,in human plasma for clinical pharmacokinetic studies

Perampanel (Fycompa®), a novel α‐amino‐3‐hydroxy‐5‐methyl‐4‐isoxazolepropionic acid (AMPA) receptor antagonist, is registered for the adjunctive treatment of patients (aged ≥12 years) with refractory partial‐onset seizures. To support therapeutic drug monitoring, a simple high‐performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) assay with fluorescence detection was developed to determine perampanel concentrations in human plasma and validated to support clinical trials. Human plasma samples (1.0 mL) were processed by liquid extraction using diethyl ether, followed by chromatographic separation on a YMC Pack Pro C₁₈ column (150 × 4.6 mm i.d., 5 µm) with isocratic elution of acetonitrile–water–acetic acid–sodium acetate (840:560:3:1.8, v/v/v/w) at a flow rate of 1.0 mL/min. Column eluent was monitored at excitation and emission wavelengths of 290 and 430 nm, respectively. The assay was linear (range 1.0–500 ng/mL) and this could be extended to 25 µg/mL by 50‐fold dilution integrity. No endogenous peaks were detected in the elution of analytes in drug‐free blank human plasma from six individuals and no interference was observed with co‐medications tested. Intra‐ and inter‐batch reproducibility studies demonstrated accuracy and precision within the acceptance criteria of bioanalytical guidelines. Validation data demonstrated that our assay is simple, selective, reproducible and suitable for therapeutic drug monitoring of perampanel. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

How can the Cross-Link Adducts Formed by Novel Trans Platinum Drug be Influenced by Hydrogen Bond

A systematic quantum chemical characterization of intrinsic structure, energies and spectral properties of all the studied cross-link adducts formed by the novel trans platinum with thiazole ligand has been carried out at B3LYP/6-31G^＊ level of theory with the Lanl2dz pseudo potential basis set for the Pt atom. Special attention has been paid to the relative stability of these complexes and the factors that probably alter the order of the relative stability. The important influence of hydrogen bond on the structures, the energies and the spectral property was revealed. Other factors that contribute to relative stability including solvation effect, entropy and electronic delocalization energy were taken into account. The stability energy of the whole complex, and the interaction energy between two purine bases and the [Pt-（NH3）thiazole]^2＋ group were adopted to study the interplay among subsystems and their contribution to relative stability of all the studied cross-link model. Finally, basic spectral properties of these complexes including H（8） chemical shifts of all the studied complexes and the VCD （vibrational circular dichroism） spectra of two pairs of GG chelate enantiomers, were provided in order to define the structure of the most possible duplex bearing novel trans platinum drug lesions.     

Application of fractional mass for the identification of peptide-oligonucleotide cross-links by mass spectrometry

A method has been developed to identify oligonucleotide-peptide heteroconjugates by accurate mass measurements using MS. The fractional mass (the decimal fraction mass value following the monoisotopic nominal mass) for peptides and oligonucleotides is different due to their differing molecular compositions. This property has been used to develop the general conditions necessary to differentiate peptides and oligonucleotides from oligonucleotide-peptide heteroconjugates. Peptides and oligonucleotides generated by the theoretical digestion of various proteins and nucleic acids were plotted as nominal mass versus fractional mass. Such plots reveal that three nucleotides cross-linked to a peptide produce enough change in the fractional mass to be recognized from non-cross-linked peptides at the same nominal mass. Experimentally, a Cytochrome c digest was spiked with an oligonucleotide-peptide heteroconjugate and conditions for analyzing the sample using liquid chromatography (LC)-MS were optimized. Upon analysis of this mixture, all detected masses were plotted on a fractional mass plot and the heteroconjugate could be readily distinguished from non-cross-linked peptides. The method developed here can be incorporated into a general proteomics-like scheme for identifying protein-nucleic acid cross-links, and this method is equally applicable to characterizing cross-links generated from protein-DNA and protein-RNA complexes.     

Catalytic Organometallic Reactions of Ammonia

Until recently, ammonia had rarely succumbed to catalytic transformations with homogeneous catalysts, and the development of such reactions that are selective for the formation of single products under mild conditions has encountered numerous challenges. However, recently developed catalysts have allowed several classes of reactions to create products with nitrogen‐containing functional groups from ammonia. These reactions include hydroaminomethylation, reductive amination, alkylation, allylic substitution, hydroamination, and cross‐coupling. This Minireview describes examples of these processes and the factors that control catalyst activity and selectivity.