Regioselective quinazolinone-directed ortho lithiation of quinazolinoylquinoline: practical synthesis of naturally occurring human DNA topoisomerase I poison luotonin a and luotonins B and E

A regioselective quinazolinone-directed ortho lithiation on an adjacent quinoline moiety has been used as a key step for a short, efficient, and practical synthesis of the human DNA topoisomerase I poison luotonin A and luotonins B and E. The quinazolinoylquinoline 5 on treatment with in situ-generated nonnucleophilic mesityllithium furnished the desired dilithiated intermediate 6, which on treatment with formaldehyde followed by Mitsunobu ring closure reaction gave luotonin A (1a) in very good yield. The reaction of dilithiated intermediate 6 with DMF directly furnished luotonin B (1b) in 81% yield. Luotonin B (1b) on methylation with p-TSA/methanol gave luotonin E (1c) in 82% yield.     

Cyanuric chloride: decent dehydrating agent for an exclusive and efficient synthesis of kinetically controlled isomaleimides

Starting from maleanilic and maleamic acids, a facile general approach to kinetically controlled isomaleimides has been described for the first time using cyanuric chloride as a dehydrating agent with 85-98% yields. The effect of a variety of substituents present on the aromatic ring in amine and maleic anhydride moiety, on these kinetic/thermodynamic dehydration processes of anilic acids has been also described. Under the same set of reaction conditions the phthalanilic acid gave kinetically controlled product, isophtalimide in 91% yield, while the corresponding succinanilic acid furnished the thermodynamically more stable succinimide in high yield.     

A facile synthesis of natural products chaetomellic acid A and 1,7(Z)- nonadecadiene-2,3-dicarboxylic acid

Synthesis of recently isolated bioactive natural products chaetomellic acid A anhydride (1) and a novel 1,7(Z)-nonadecadiene-2,3-dicarboxylic acid (2) have been described. Chemoselective carbon[bond]carbon S(N)2' coupling reactions of appropriate Grignard reagents with dimethyl bromomethylfumarate (7) in diethyl ether in the presence of HMPA at room temperature furnished the corresponding diesters 8 and 15 in 60-62% yields. The formed diesters 8 and 15 on hydrolysis gave respectively the corresponding desired diacids 9 and 2 in quantitative yields. Acetic anhydride induced ring closure of diacids 9 and 2 respectively gave the chaetomellic acid A anhydride (1) and isochaetomellic acid B anhydride (16) with 38-39% overall yields in five steps.     

Influence of an Oxidising Impurity on Preparation of 2-Lithio-1,3-dithiane: Isolation of bis[2-d,3-Dithianyl)]methanol

Bis-dithianylalkanols and dimers are formed in preparation of 2-lithio-1,3-dithianes due to the presence of oxidising impurity in n-BuLi (perhaps n-BuOOLi).     

Profiling primaquine metabolites in primary human hepatocytes using UHPLC‐QTOF‐MS with 13C stable isotope labeling

Therapeutic efficiency and hemolytic toxicity of primaquine (PQ), the only drug available for radical cure of relapsing vivax malaria are believed to be mediated by its metabolites. However, identification of these metabolites has remained a major challenge apparently due to low quantities and their reactive nature. Drug candidates labeled with stable isotopes afford convenient tools for tracking drug‐derived metabolites in complex matrices by liquid chromatography‐tandem mass spectrometry (LC‐MS‐MS) and filtering for masses with twin peaks attributable to the label. This study was undertaken to identify metabolites of PQ from an in vitro incubation of a 1:1 w/w mixture of ¹³C₆‐PQ/PQ with primary human hepatocytes. Acquity ultra‐performance LC (UHPLC) was integrated with QTOF‐MS to combine the efficiency of separation with high sensitivity, selectivity of detection and accurate mass determination. UHPLC retention time, twin mass peaks with difference of 6 (originating from ¹³C₆‐PQ/PQ), and MS‐MS fragmentation pattern were used for phenotyping. Besides carboxy‐PQ (cPQ), formed by oxidative deamination of PQ to an aldehyde and subsequent oxidation, several other metabolites were identified: including PQ alcohol, predictably generated by oxidative deamination of PQ to an aldehyde and subsequent reduction, its acetate and the alcohol's glucuronide conjugate. Trace amounts of quinone‐imine metabolites of PQ and cPQ were also detected which may be generated by hydroxylation of the PQ/cPQ quinoline ring at the 5‐position and subsequent oxidation. These findings shed additional light on the human hepatic metabolism of PQ, and the method can be applied for identification of reactive PQ metabolites generated in vivo in preclinical and clinical studies. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A facile phenol-driven intramolecular diastereoselective thermal/base-catalyzed dipolar [2+2] annulation reactions: an easy access to complex bioactive natural and unnatural benzopyran congeners

The complex bioactive natural and unnatural benzopyran congeners have been synthesized using one-/two-step approaches in very good yields from the reactions of two different dihydroxyphthalides, natural resorcyclic acid derivative, and trihydroxybenzophenone with citral and/or farnesal, via the phenol-driven intramolecular diastereoselective thermal/base-catalyzed dipolar [2+2] cycloaddition reactions and three different thermal intramolecular cyclization reactions. The effects of the nature and the position of phenolic groups in the starting materials on the course of these cycloaddition reactions have also been described. Depending upon the absence or presence of intramolecular hydrogen bonding of the phenolic group with the carbonyl moiety in the starting materials, these phenol-driven intramolecular thermal/base-catalyzed dipolar [2+2] cycloaddition reactions either furnished the kinetically controlled products or directly formed the thermodynamically controlled rearranged products, respectively.     

Reactions of Cyclic Anhydrides XIV. Facile Syntheses of Fused Heterocycles via Anilic Acids Pyridobenzoxazinones,Isoquinolinobenzoxazinones and Isocoumarinoquinolines

o-Carboxyhomomaleanilic acids (5) and o-carboxyhomophthalanilic acids (6) on treatment with sodium acetate-acetic anhydride furnished pyridobenzoxazinones (8) and isoquinolinobenzoxazinones (9) respectively in quantitative yields. Conversion of o-formylhomophthalanilic acid (7) to isocoumarinoquinoline (11) via 2-axo-3(o-carboxyphenyl)quinoline (10) is also described.     

Experimental investigation of evaporation and condensation in the contact line region of a thin liquid film experiencing small thermal perturbations

Image-analyzing interferometry technique is successfully used to study microscale transport processes related to a curved microfilm on a solid substrate. Digital image processing is used to analyze the images of interference fringes, leading to the evaluation of liquid (heptane) film thickness and curvature profiles at different inclinations on a high refractive index glass surface. The curvature profiles obtained at different inclinations clearly demonstrate that there is a maximum in curvature near the junction of the adsorbed film (of uniform thickness) and the curved film, and then it becomes constant in the thicker portions of the film. The adsorbed film thickness is measured for horizontal as well as inclined positions. Experimentally obtained values of the dispersion constants are compared to those predicted from the Dzyaloshinskii-Lifshitz-Pitaevskii (DLP) theory, and reasonable agreements were obtained. A parameter alpha is defined and experimentally evaluated to quantify the closeness of the system to equilibrium. The nonequilibrium behavior of this parameter alpha is also observed with certain heat input at a particular inclination. A small thermal perturbation is used to force the liquid meniscus to undergo a cycle of alternating condensation and evaporation. High-speed video-microscopy and subsequent image analysis are used for data analysis. The numerical solution of a model that takes into account the balance between the suction and the capillary force is compared with the data to elicit new insights into the evaporation/condensation phenomena and to estimate the interfacial temperature differences for near-equilibrium situations.