Transition-Metal Catalysis of Triene 6π Electrocyclization: The π-Complexation Strategy Realized

Triene 6π electrocyclization, wherein a conjugated triene undergoes a concerted stereospecific cycloisomerization to a cyclohexadiene, is a reaction of great historical and practical significance. In order to circumvent limitations imposed by the normally harsh reaction conditions, chemists have long sought to develop catalytic variants based upon the activating power of metal–alkene coordination. Herein, we demonstrate the first successful implementation of such a strategy by utilizing [(C₅H₅)Ru(NCMe)₃]PF₆ as a precatalyst for the disrotatory 6π electrocyclization of highly substituted trienes that are resistant to thermal cyclization. Mechanistic and computational studies implicate hexahapto transition-metal coordination as responsible for lowering the energetic barrier to ring closure. This work establishes a foundation for the development of new catalysts for stereoselective electrocyclizations.     

Electrochemical reduction of 1-([(4-halophenyl)imino]methyl)-2-naphthols in aprotic media.

The electrochemical reduction of 1-([(4-halophenyl)imino]methyl)-2-naphthols on graphite electrodes was studied using cyclic voltammetry, chronoamperometry, constant-potential coulometry and preparative constant-potential electrolysis techniques. The data revealed that the reduction on graphite was irreversible and followed an EC mechanism. The diffusion coefficients and the number of electrons transferred were determined using the chronoamperometric Cottrell slope and the ultramicro disc Pt-electrode steady-state current. The number of electrons was also determined by bulk electrolysis. The compounds were subjected to constant-potential preparative electrolysis and the electrolysis products were purified and identified by spectroscopic methods. Based on these findings, a mechanism for the electro-reduction process is proposed.     

Optimization problems of the stress-deformed state of thermoelastic shells

We discuss general questions about the choice of optimization criteria for the stressed state of thermoelastic shells taking account of the functional measures of the space-time variability of its characteristics. The efficiency of the proposed approach is illustrated using the example of the solution of a problem for an axisymmetrically heated cylindrical shell.Translated fromMatematicheskie Metody i Fiziko-Mekhanicheskie Polya, Issue 27, 1988, pp. 11–18.     

Hierarchical structure of the energy landscape of proteins revisited by time series analysis. I. Mimicking protein dynamics in different time scales

Time series models, which are constructed from the projections of the molecular-dynamics (MD) runs on principal components (modes), are used to mimic the dynamics of two proteins: tendamistat and immunity protein of colicin E7 (ImmE7). Four independent MD runs of tendamistat and three independent runs of ImmE7 protein in vacuum are used to investigate the energy landscapes of these proteins. It is found that mean-square displacements of residues along the modes in different time scales can be mimicked by time series models, which are utilized in dividing protein dynamics into different regimes with respect to the dominating motion type. The first two regimes constitute the dominance of intraminimum motions during the first 5 ps and the random walk motion in a hierarchically higher-level energy minimum, which comprise the initial time period of the trajectories up to 20-40 ps for tendamistat and 80-120 ps for ImmE7. These are also the time ranges within which the linear nonstationary time series are completely satisfactory in explaining protein dynamics. Encountering energy barriers enclosing higher-level energy minima constrains the random walk motion of the proteins, and pseudorelaxation processes at different levels of minima are detected in tendamistat, depending on the sampling window size. Correlation (relaxation) times of 30-40 ps and 150-200 ps are detected for two energy envelopes of successive levels for tendamistat, which gives an overall idea about the hierarchical structure of the energy landscape. However, it should be stressed that correlation times of the modes are highly variable with respect to conformational subspaces and sampling window sizes, indicating the absence of an actual relaxation. The random-walk step sizes and the time length of the second regime are used to illuminate an important difference between the dynamics of the two proteins, which cannot be clarified by the investigation of relaxation times alone: ImmE7 has lower-energy barriers enclosing the higher-level energy minimum, preventing the protein to relax and letting it move in a random-walk fashion for a longer period of time.     

Infrared multiphoton excitation of small molecules

The collisionless infrared excitation by short CO₂ laser pulses of the molecules SO₂, OCS, NO₂, NH₃ and DN₃ is compared with that of larger molecules. The average number of photons absorbed per molecule and the fraction of molecules dissociated depends predominantly on the laser intensity, while for larger molecules with higher densities of vibrational states the excitation is primarily determined by the laser fluence.     

The role of oxalate ions in the coverage of mild steel with polypyrrole

In this study, the coverage conditions of mild steel with polypyrrole (PPy) were investigated. It was observed that the surface was passive up to 0.6 V, to the oxidation potential of pyrrole in oxalic acid solution. The PPy coverage was obtained with 0.1 M oxalic acid + 0.2 M pyrrole. A passivity mechanism supported with current potential curves was proposed. The PPy deposition was also investigated according to pyrrole and oxalic acid concentrations by successive voltammetric scans.This article was submitted by the authors in English.From Elektrokhimiya, Vol. 41, No. 2, 2005, pp. 175–180.Original English Text Copyright © 2005 by Asan, Kabasakaloglu, Aksu.This revised version was published online in April 2005 with corrections to the article note and article title and cover date.     

Infinitely many singular interactions on noncompact manifolds

We show that the ground state energy is bounded from below when there are infinitely many attractive delta function potentials placed in arbitrary locations, while all being separated at least by a minimum distance, on two dimensional non-compact manifold. To facilitate the reading of the paper, we first present the arguments in the setting of Cartan–Hadamard manifolds and then subsequently discuss the general case. For this purpose, we employ the heat kernel techniques as well as some comparison theorems of Riemannian geometry, thus generalizing the arguments in the flat case following the approach presented in Albeverio et al. (2004).     

Synthesis of Dopamine,Rotigotin, Ladostigil,Rasagiline Analogues 2-Amino-4,5,6-trimethoxyindane, 1-Amino-5,6,7-trimethoxyindane,and Their Sulfamide Derivatives

Dopamine, rotigotin, ladostigil, and rasagiline analogues 2-amino-4,5,6-trimethoxyindane and 1-amino-5,6,7-trimethoxyindane were synthesized starting from 5,6,7-trimethoxyindan-1-one for the first time with 34% and 45% total yields. α-Carboxylation of indanone, reduction of ketone group with Et₃SiH, basic hydrolysis of ester, Curtius reaction of the acid, and addition of BnOH afforded the corresponding carbamate. Pd-C-catalyzed hydrogenolysis of carbamate and deprotonation of amine hydrochloride with NaOH gave the dopamine and rotigotin analogue 2-aminoindane. Reduction of 5,6,7-trimethoxyindan-1-one with NaBH₄ afforded the alcohol, which was then converted to the azide derivative via Mitsunobu reaction with diphenylphosphoryl azide; Pd-C catalyzed hydrogenation of the azide to the amine hydrochloride and then deprotonation of the amine hydrochloride with NaOH furnished the ladostigil and rasagiline analogue 1-aminoindane. These amines and BnOH were reacted with CSI to produce sulfamoyl carbamates, which were converted to sulfamides via Pd-C-catalyzed hydrogenolysis reaction with 20% and 25% total yields.