A critical review of the chemical kinetics of SF4, SF5, and S2F10 in the gas phase

The gas phase chemical kinetics of SF₄, SF₅, and S₂F₁₀ are reviewed with particular emphasis on relevance to the general problem of the dielectric breakdown of SF₆. Specific reaction systems treated are SF₄ + F₂, SF₅ + SF₅, and the pyrolysis of S₂F₁₀. Computer modeling calculations were carried out to arrive at the best estimates of rate parameters. Based on the results of these calculations, sets of recommended rate parameters are provided. The major discrepancies and problems in establishing the kinetic data base are described. Thermochemical consequences of different model calculations are given.     

Modeling Studies of the Formation and Destruction of NO in Pulsed Barrier Discharges in Nitrogen and Air

This paper presents the results of modeling studies on the formation and destruction of NO in pulsed barrier discharges in nitrogen and air. The goals of this work are to identify the major processes involved in the formation and destruction of NO in air discharges, to distinguish between oxidative and reductive paths for NO destruction, to explore the potential importance of excited state reactions, to evaluate the role of water in such systems, and to identify the final products in the absence of heterogeneous processes. In all cases, the systems were modeled with 100×10^–4% (100 ppm) of added NO, with and without 3% added water. The focus in all of this work is chemistry in the post-pulse regime.     

OVID and SUPER: Two overlap programs for drug design

Summary Two programs, OVID and SUPER, for exploring the similarity of molecules with respect to their action at a receptor are described. OVID accepts two molecules as input and optimizes the three-dimensional overlap of specified atoms in one molecule with specified atoms in the second molecule. The result is expressed as a percent of the theoretical maximum. OVID gives a quantitative measure of the extent of a guessed correspondence between two molecules based on volume overlap of selected atoms. The Achilles' heel of OVID is that the correspondence between the two molecules has to be guessed. We realized that it would be better to systematically examine all possible correspondences of two structures to minimize the chance of overlooking a superior correspondence. We created SUPER to satisfy this need. SUPER accepts two molecules as input and finds the top twenty correspondences of their surfaces and charge distributions, giving a quantitative measure of the extent of each correspondence. An instructive example of the application of OVID and SUPER to the design of leukotriene D₄ receptor antagonists is described. SUPER appears to be a practical brainstorming tool for the medicinal chemist trying to understand how molecules whose structures may not resemble one another in an obvious way can bind to the same site.     

Construction of a New Class of Tetracycline Lead Structures with Potent Antibacterial Activity through Biosynthetic Engineering

Antimicrobial resistance and the shortage of novel antibiotics have led to an urgent need for new antibacterial drug leads. Several existing natural product scaffolds (including chelocardins) have not been developed because their suboptimal pharmacological properties could not be addressed at the time. It is demonstrated here that reviving such compounds through the application of biosynthetic engineering can deliver novel drug candidates. Through a rational approach, the carboxamido moiety of tetracyclines (an important structural feature for their bioactivity) was introduced into the chelocardins, which are atypical tetracyclines with an unknown mode of action. A broad‐spectrum antibiotic lead was generated with significantly improved activity, including against all Gram‐negative pathogens of the ESKAPE panel. Since the lead structure is also amenable to further chemical modification, it is a platform for further development through medicinal chemistry and genetic engineering.     

Ion-ion reactions in the gas phase: Proton transfer reactions of protonated pyridine with multiply charged oligonucleotide anions

Isolated triply and doubly charged anions of the single-stranded deoxynucleotide 5′-d(AAAA)-3′ were allowed to undergo ion-ion proton transfer reactions with protonated pyridine cations within a quadrupole ion trap mass spectrometer. Sufficiently high ion number densities and spatial overlap of the oppositely charged ion clouds could be achieved to yield readily measurable rates. Three general observations were made: (1) the ion-ion reaction rate constants were estimated to be 10^{? (7 ? 8)} cm³ ion^?1 s^?1; (2) the ion-ion reaction rates were found to be dependent on the reactant ion number density, which could be controlled by both the reactant ion number and the pseudopotential well depth, and (3) very little fragmentation, if any, was observed, as might normally be expected with highly exothermic proton transfer reactions.     

Stopped-flow study of the gas-phase reaction of ozone with organic sulfides: Dimethyl sulfide

The autoinhibiting reaction of ozone with dimethyl sulfide (DMS), has been studied at 296°K and 1.1 kPa (8 torr) as a function of the concentrations of both reactants. The major products of the reaction are H₂CO, H₂O, CO, and SO₂. The specific rate of primary attack of O₃ on DMS is immeasurably slow. It is suggested that the rapid overall rate observed for this reaction is due to a chain reaction initiated by the very slow primary reaction. It is concluded that reaction (1) cannot be important under atmospheric conditions and that the major loss process for DMS in the atmosphere is probably reaction with photochemically generated free radicals.     

Stereocontrolled Synthesis of Vinyl Boronates and Vinyl Silanes via Atom‐Economical Ruthenium‐Catalyzed Alkene–Alkyne Coupling

The synthesis of vinyl boronates and vinyl silanes was achieved by employing a Ru‐catalyzed alkene–alkyne coupling reaction of allyl boronates or allyl silanes with various alkynes. The double bond geometry in the generated vinyl boronates can be remotely controlled by the juxtaposing boron‐ and silicon groups on the alkyne substrate. The synthetic utility of the coupling products has been demonstrated in a variety of synthetic transformations, including iterative cross‐coupling reactions, and a Chan‐Lam‐type allyloxylation followed by a Claisen rearrangement. A sequential one‐pot alkene‐alkyne‐coupling/allylation‐sequence with an aldehyde to deliver a highly complex α‐silyl‐β‐hydroxy olefin with a handle for further functionalization was also realized.     

Diastereoselective synthesis of substituted tetrahydroquinoline-4-carboxylic esters by a tandem reduction-reductive amination reaction

A diastereoselective synthesis of 1-methyl-2-alkyl- and 2-alkyl-1,2,3,4-tetrahydroquinoline-4-carboxylic esters has been developed from methyl (2-nitrophenyl)acetate (1). The method involves alkylation of 1 with an allylic halide, ozonolysis of the double bond, and catalytic hydrogenation. The final hydrogenation initiates a tandem sequence involving (1) reduction of the aromatic nitro group, (2) condensation of the aniline or hydroxylamine(8) nitrogen with the side chain carbonyl, (3) reduction of the resulting nitrogen intermediate, and (4) reductive amination of the tetrahydroquinoline with formaldehyde produced in the ozonolysis to give a methyl (+/-)-1-methyl-2-alkyl-1,2,3,4-tetrahydroquinoline-4-carboxylate. Removal of the formaldehyde prior to hydrogenation gives the simple (+/-)-2-alkyl derivatives. The products are isolated in high yield as single diastereomers having the C-2 alkyl group cis to the C-4 carboxylic ester. The reaction has been extended to the synthesis of tricyclic structures with similar high diastereoselection.     

A Model Equation Illustrating Subcritical Instability to Long Waves in Shear Flows

A model equation somewhat more general than Burger's equation has been employed by Herron [1] to gain insight into the stability characteristics of parallel shear flows. This equation, namely, u_t + uu_y = u_xx + u_yy, has an exact solution U(y) = ?2tanh y. It was shown in [1] that this solution is linearly stable, and more recently, Galdi and Herron [3] have proved conditional stability to finite perturbations of sufficiently small initial amplitude using energy methods. The present study utilizes multiple-scaling methods to derive a nonlinear evolution equation for a long-wave perturbation whose amplitude varies slowly in space and time. A transformation to the heat-conduction equation has been found which enables this amplitude equation to be solved exactly. Although all disturbances ultimately decay due to diffusion, it is found that subcritical instability is possible in that realistic disturbances of finite initial amplitude can amplify substantially before finally decaying. This behavior is probably typical of perturbations to shear flows of practical interest, and the results illustrate deficiencies of the energy method.