New Chiral Kemp's Acid Diamides for Chiral Amine Recognition by 1 H NMR

Two Kemp's acid diamides were synthesized and applied to chiral amine recognition using ¹H NMR analysis. One derivative based on 1-(1-naphthyl)ethylamine had good chiral recognition of six amines and was useful to determine the optical purity for three amines, i.e., methylbenzylamine, 1-(1-naphthyl)ethylamine and 1- henylpropylamine,however, the cyclohexylethylamine derivative showed little discrimination for the amines studied. Together with the results for alkylamines, it was shown that aromatic structure was important for aromatic shielding anisotropy and –– interactions between host and guest. The structure of the 1-(1-naphthyl)ethylamine derivative in solution was also considered based on ¹H NMR data and computer simulation.     

Effects of natural polysaccharide addition on drug release from calcium-induced alginate gel beads

Calcium-induced alginate gel beads (Alg-Ca) containing various polysaccharides, including an alginate hydrolysate, were prepared and the drug release profiles were investigated. Hydrocortisone (HC) was gradually released from Alg-Ca into the mimic gastric fluid, while in intestinal fluid, it was quickly released with the dissolution of Alg-Ca. However, with Alg-Ca containing 5% chitin (CT), dissolution of Alg-Ca was not observed, and release of HC showed apparent zero-order kinetics. Furthermore, addition of the alginate hydrolysate altered the HC-release profile for Alg-Ca.     

L-histidine decarboxylase as a probe in studies on histamine

Because the Falck-Hillarp formaldehyde fluorescence method, which was superbly applied to identify catecholaminergic and serotonergic neurons, is not applicable to histamine, the first author (T.W.) developed an antibody to L-histidine decarboxylase (HDC) for identification of the histaminergic neuron system in the brain. The anti-HDC antibody was of great use for mapping the location and distribution of this histaminergic neuron system. (S)-alpha-fluoromethylhistidine, a specific and potent irreversible inhibitor of HDC, was also very useful in studies on functions of the neuron system. The activity of HDC is increased by various agents, treatments, and physiological conditions. We found new compounds that increased HDC activity (i.e., tetradecanoylphobol acetate (TPA), other tumor promoters, and staphylococcal enterotoxin A); and using mast cell-deficient mutant (W/W(v)) mice, we obtained evidence that this increase occurred in macrophages. To further characterize the mechanism of increases in HDC activity, the second author (H.O.) cloned human HDC cDNA and a human HDC gene. In studies on the regulation mechanism of the HDC gene, which is expressed only in limited types of cells such as mast cells, enterochromaffin-like cells in the stomach, cells in the tuberomammillary nucleus of the brain, and macrophages, CpG islands in the promoter region of the HDC gene were found to be demethylated in cells expressing the gene, whereas they are methylated in other cells that do not express the HDC gene. In collaboration with many other researchers, we developed HDC knockout mice. The resulting research is producing a lot of interesting findings in our laboratory as well as in others. In summary, HDC has been and will be useful in studies on functions of histamine.     

Silica sol-gel/organic hybrid material for protein encapsulated column of capillary electrochromatography

A new-type of sol-gel/organic hybrid composite material using gelatin or chitosan with tetramethoxysilane was developed for the bovine serum albumin (BSA)-encapsulated monolithic column for capillary electrochromatography (CEC). The composite monolith was used to immobilize BSA in a fused-silica capillary. The addition of gelatin and chitosan to the alkoxysilane enabled the enantioseparation of Trp. A very small amount of these polymers were effective for the enantioseparation. Especially, the monolithic column prepared from chitosan with tetramethoxysilane showed a high enantioselectivity for Trp enantiomers and the value (alpha' = t2/t1, t1: fast eluted enantiomer, t2: second eluted enantiomer) reached 1.15 on CEC mode. Furthermore, the composite materials exhibited a higher stability compared to the silica sol-gel column. These results showed that the sol-gel/organic hybrid composite was useful as a monolithic matrix for the BSA-encapsulated column for CEC.     

Synthesis and characterization of polystyrene‐b‐poly (1,2‐isoprene‐ran‐3,4‐isoprene) block copolymers with azobenzene side groups

Polystyrene‐b‐poly(1,2‐isoprene‐ran‐3,4‐isoprene) block copolymers with azobenzene side groups were synthesized by the esterification of azobenzene acid chloride with polystyrene‐b‐hydroxylated poly(1,2‐isoprene‐ran‐3,4‐isopenre) block copolymers for creating new photochromic materials. The resulting block copolymers with azobenzene side groups were characterized for structural, thermal, and morphological properties. IR and NMR spectroscopies confirmed that the polymers obtained had the expected structures. Differential scanning calorimetric measurements by heating runs clearly showed the glass transitions of polystyrene and polyisoprene main chains and two distinct first‐order transitions at temperatures of azobenzene side groups around 48 and 83 °C. The microstructure of these block copolymer films was investigated using both transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and near‐field optical microscopy (NOM). TEM images revealed typical microphase‐separated morphologies such as sphere, cylinder, and lamellar structures. The domain spacing of microphase‐separated cylindrical morphology in the NOM image agreed with that of the TEM results. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 40: 2406–2414, 2002     

Palladium(0)-catalyzed stereoselective cyclization of allenenes: divergent synthesis of pyrrolidines and 3-azabicyclo[3.1.0]hexanes from single allenenes

Two novel palladium(0)-catalyzed cyclizations of allenenes are described. Treatment of allenenes such as N-(1-alkyl-2,3-butadienyl)-N-allylsulfonamide with an aryl halide and K(2)CO(3) in the presence of a catalytic amount of Pd(PPh(3))(4) in dioxane affords 2,3-cis-pyrrolidines in a stereoselective manner. In sharp contrast, cyclization of the same allenenes using catalytic Pd(2)(dba)(3) x CHCl(3) in the presence of allyl methyl carbonate in CH(3)CN leads to stereoselective formation of a 3-azabicyclo[3.1.0]hexane framework in moderate yields.     

Electronic structural changes between nickel(II)-semiquinonato and nickel(III)-catecholato states driven by chemical and physical perturbation

The selective synthesis of tetracoordinate square-planar low-spin nickel(II)-semiquinonato (Ni(II)-SQ) and nickel(III)-catecholato (Ni(III)-Cat) complexes, 1 and 2, respectively, was achieved by using bidentate ligands with modulated nitrogen-donor ability to the nickel ion. The electronic structures of 1 and 2 were revealed by XPS and EPR measurements. The absorption spectra of 1 and 2 in a noncoordinating solvent, dichloromethane (CH2Cl2), are completely different from those in tetrahydrofuran (THF), being a coordinating solvent. As expected from this result, the gradual addition of N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF), which is also a coordinating solvent like THF, into a solution of 1 or 2 in CH2Cl2 leads to color changes from blue (for 1) and brown (for 2) to light green, which is the same color observed for solutions of 1 or 2 in THF. Furthermore, the same color changes are induced by varying the temperature. Such spectral changes are attributable to the transformation from square-planar low-spin Ni(II)-SQ and Ni(III)-Cat complexes to octahedral high-spin Ni(II)-SQ ones, caused by the coordination of two solvent molecules to the nickel ion.     

Convergent synthesis of polycyclic ethers via the intramolecular allylation of alpha-acetoxy ethers and subsequent ring-closing metathesis

The Lewis acid mediated reaction of alpha-acetoxy ethers 15-22 gave the corresponding cyclized products 23, 25, 27, 29, 31, 32, 34, and 36 in good yields with high stereoselectivities. Those cyclized products were subjected to ring-closing metathesis to afford the polycyclic ethers 38-42, 44, and 45 in good yields. The usefulness of the present methodology was demonstrated by the convergent synthesis of the CDEF ring system of brevetoxin B (1) and the CDEFG ring system of gambierol (2).