Diethylene glycol ether-linked 3,4,5-trihydroxybenzamides as triply branched dendritic anchors to CdSe/ZnS core/shell type nanoparticles: potential hydrophilic fluorescent probes

Functionalized N-2-mercaptoethyl-gallamides bearing three or five hydroxyl units that are tethered with diethylene glycol ether(s) allow for transferring hydrophobically pyridine-capped CdSe/ZnS core/shell nanoparticles from an organic to an aqueous layer with intact fluorescent profiles.     

Electrodiffusion of ions inside living cells

Electrodiffusion of ions, both inside and outside biologicalcells, are of utmost importance to proper cellular functions.Experiments indicate that both ion concentrations and electropotentialcan jump discontinuously across the cell membranes. We studya system of nonlinear partial differential equations modellingsuch phenomena. Jump conditions for species concentrations andelectropotential across cell membranes are imposed. Under zero-fluxboundary conditions for one-dimensional domains, the solutionsare proved to exist for all times. With further assumptions,these transient solutions will converge to the unique steady-statesolution. Numerical experiments in one- and two-dimensionaldomains are also performed in order to study some unresolvedtheoretical issues.     

Direct atom-efficient esterification between carboxylic acids and alcohols catalyzed by amphoteric, water-tolerant TiO(acac)2

A diverse array of oxometallic species were examined as catalysts for a test direct condensation of benzoic acid and 2-phenylethanol in 1:1 stoichiometry. Besides group IVB MOCl2-xH2O and TiOX2-xH2O, group VB VOCl2-xTHF and group IVB TiO(acac)2 were found to be the most efficient and water-tolerant catalysts for the test reaction. The new neutral catalytic protocol with the optimal TiO(acac)2 tolerates many stereo/electronic structural variations in both (di)acid (1 degree -3 degrees alkyl and aryl) and (di)alcohol (1 degree, 2 degrees alkyl, and aryl) components with high chemoselectivity.     

Nucleophilic acyl substitutions of anhydrides with protic nucleophiles catalyzed by amphoteric, oxomolybdenum species

[reaction: see text] Among six different group VIb oxometallic species examined, dioxomolybdenum dichloride and oxomolybdenum tetrachloride were the most efficient catalysts to facilitate nucleophilic acyl substitution (NAS) of anhydrides with a myriad array of alcohols, amines, and thiols in high yields and high chemoselectivity. In contrast to the well-recognized redox chemical behaviors associated with oxomolybdenum(VI) species, the catalytic NAS was unprecedented and tolerates virtually all kinds of functional groups. By using benzoic anhydride as a mediator for in situ generation of an incipient mixed anhydride-MoO(2)Cl(2) adduct with a given functional alkanoic acid, one can achieve oleate, dipeptide, diphenylmethyl, N-Fmoc-alpha-amino, pyruvic, and tert-butylthio ester, N-tert-butylamide, and trityl methacrylate syntheses with appropriate protic nucleophiles. The amphoteric character of the Mo=O unit in oxomolybdenum chlorides was found to be responsible for the catalytic NAS profile as supported by a control NAS reaction of using an authentic adduct-MoOCl(2)(O(2)CBu(t)())(2) between pivalic anhydride and MoO(2)Cl(2) as the catalyst.     

Synthesis of substituted esters of imidazoles,oxazoles, thiazoles,and diethyl pyrazine-2,5-dicarboxylate from a common acyclic precursor employing C-formylation strategy

A novel synthetic route to substituted esters of imidazoles, oxazoles, thiazoles, and diethyl pyrazine-2,5-dicarboxylates via C-formylation of glycine ethyl ester hydrochloride is reported. This methodology is simple, robust, and gives good yields of different heterocyclic esters in one or two steps from a common acyclic precursor and is amenable to large scale synthesis.