Preparation of the first examples of ansa-spiro substituted fluorophosphazenes and their structural studies: analysis of C-H...F-P weak interactions in substituted fluorophosphazenes

The reactions of fluorophosphazenes, endo ansa FcCH(2)P(S)(CH(2)O)(2)[P(F)N](2)(F(2)PN) (1) (Fc = ferrocenyl) and spiro [RCH(2)P(S)(CH(2)O)(2)PN](F(2)PN)(2) (R = Fc (2), C(6)H(5) (3)], with dilithiated diols have been explored. The study resulted in the formation of the first examples of ansa-spiro substituted fluorinated cyclophosphazenes as well as a bisansa substituted fluorophosphazene. The bisansa compound [1,3-[FcCH(2)P(S)(CH(2)O)(2)]][1,5-[CH(2)(CH(2)O)(2)]]N(3)P(3)F(2) (4) was found to be nongeminaly substituted with both the ansa rings in cis configuration, which is in stark contrast to the observations on cyclic chlorophosphazenes where geminal bisansa formation has been observed. The ansa-spiro compounds (5-7) underwent the ansa to spiro transformation leading to dispiro compounds in the presence of catalytic amounts of CsF at room temperature. Two of the ansa-spiro compounds, endo-[3,5-[FcCH(2)P(S)(CH(2)O)(2)]][1,1-[CH(2)(CH(2)O)(2)]]N(3)P(3)F(2) (5) and endo-[3,5-[FcCH(2)P(S)(CH(2)O)(2)]][1,1-[FcCH(2)P(S)(CH(2)O)(2)]]N(3)P(3)F(2) (6), were structurally characterized, and the crystal structures indicate boat-chair conformation as well as crown conformation for the eight-membered ansa rings. Weak C-H.F-P interactions observed in the crystal structures of the ansa-spiro substituted fluorophosphazene derivatives have been analyzed and compared with C-H.F-P interactions of other fluorinated phosphazenes and thionyl phosphazenes.     

Enolate Alkylations with Vinylphosphonates

A remarkable feature of diethyl-1,3-butadiene-phosphonate, unlike the dienephosphonium salts,^2,3 is that it undergoes a simple Michael addition with enolates of aldehydes and ketones without the loss of the phosphorus group.⁴ Whether such a difference in reactivity exists between the two-carbon reagents, vinyltriphenylphosphonium bromide 1 ⁵ and diethyl vinylphosphonate 2 ⁶ is the subject of this investigation.     

Regioselective synthesis of C-2 substituted imidazo[4,5-b]pyridines utilizing palladium catalysed C–N bond forming reactions with enolizable heterocycles

In this Letter we report a rapid and facile access to C2-substituted imidazo[4,5-b]pyridine analogues utilizing palladium mediated Buchwald–Hartwig cross-coupling reactions. The use of enolizable heterocycles as cross-coupling partners resulted in a wide range of imidazo[4,5-b]pyridine analogues which are prone to have medicinal relevance. Xantphos and Pd(OAc)₂ were found to be more effective for the coupling of 2-halo imidazo[4,5-b]pyridines with pyridone nucleophiles. A regioselective approach for the synthesis of 2-substituted 3H-imidazo[4,5-b]pyridine and 1H-imidazo[4,5-b]pyridine is also reported.     

Development of fish gelatin-based artificial fish baits incorporating bioattractants from seafood processing waste

The study dealt with evolving an artificial fish bait by incorporating bioattractant concentrates derived from seafood processing wastes by enzymatic hydrolysis namely fish waste concentrate (FWC), squid waste concentrate (SWC), and shrimp processing concentrate (SPWC). They were characterized based on amino acid content and presence of different functional groups using FTIR. Among them, SWC was found to have the highest amino acid content of 60.85mg/100 mg followed by FWC (42.21mg/100 mg) and SPWC (24.82mg/100 mg). The developed artificial fish baits were subjected to protein leaching, solubility in seawater besides testing for acceptability by the red snapper. The study revealed that the bait incorporated with SWC at 3% level was found be the most ideal, with the protein leaching rate of 24.82 mg/g/h, solubility rate of 36.6 mg/g/h and the attractability score of 29/30. The amino acid leaching rate was 3.11 mg/h/100 mg and it was found to contain five amino acids such as glycine, proline, glutamic acid, alanine and serine. The study revealed that the hydrolyzed squid waste concentrate can be incorporated at 3% (w/w) with fish gelatin based biomatrix during gelation to prepare artificial bait.     

Probing the oxyferrous and catalytically active ferryl states of Amphitrite ornata dehaloperoxidase by cryoreduction and EPR/ENDOR spectroscopy. Detection of compound I

Dehaloperoxidase (DHP) from Amphitrite ornata is a heme protein that can function both as a hemoglobin and as a peroxidase. This report describes the use of 77 K cryoreduction EPR/ENDOR techniques to study both functions of DHP. Cryoreduced oxyferrous [Fe(II)-O(2)] DHP exhibits two EPR signals characteristic of a peroxoferric [Fe(III)-O(2)(2-)] heme species, reflecting the presence of conformational substates in the oxyferrous precursor. (1)H ENDOR spectroscopy of the cryogenerated substates shows that H-bonding interactions between His N(ε)H and heme-bound O(2) in these conformers are similar to those in the β-chain of oxyferrous hemoglobin A (HbA) and oxyferrous myoglobin, respectively. Decay of cryogenerated peroxoferric heme DHP intermediates upon annealing at temperatures above 180 K is accompanied by the appearance of a new paramagnetic species with an axial EPR signal with g(⊥) = 3.75 and g(∥) = 1.96, characteristic of an S = 3/2 spin state. This species is assigned to Compound I (Cpd I), in which a porphyrin π-cation radical is ferromagnetically coupled with an S = 1 ferryl [Fe(IV)═O] ion. This species was also trapped by rapid freeze-quench of the ambient-temperature reaction mixture of ferric [Fe(III)] DHP and H(2)O(2). However, in the latter case Cpd I is reduced very rapidly by a nearby tyrosine to form Cpd ES [(Fe(IV)═O)(porphyrin)/Tyr(?)]. Addition of the substrate analogue 2,4,6-trifluorophenol (F(3)PhOH) suppresses formation of the Cpd I intermediate during annealing of cryoreduced oxyferrous DHP at 190 K but has no effect on the spectroscopic properties of the remaining cryoreduced oxyferrous DHP intermediates and kinetics of their decay. These observations indicate that substrate (i) binds to oxyferrous DHP outside of the distal pocket and (ii) can reduce Cpd I to Cpd II [Fe(IV)═O]. These assumptions are also supported by the observation that F(3)PhOH has only a small effect on the EPR properties of radiolytically cryooxidized and cryoreduced ferrous [Fe(II)] DHP. EPR spectra of cryoreduced ferrous DHP disclose the multiconformational nature of the ferrous DHP precursor. The observation and characterization of Cpds I, II, and ES in the absence and in the presence of F(3)PhOH provides definitive evidence of a mechanism involving consecutive one-electron steps and clarifies the role of all intermediates formed during turnover.     

Molecular dynamics studies of brittle fracture in vitreous silica: Review and recent progress

The dynamics of brittle fracture in vitreous silica has been a subject of many molecular dynamics (MD) simulations and experiments. A striking similarity between both simulations and experiments is the observation of nanoscale voids that eventually coalesce leading to failure. In this work, we review the above MD simulations and carry out further MD investigations using two variations of classical 2-body potentials. We study the effect of charge-transfer, an important aspect neglected by previous simulations. Further, we examine the growth of ‘critical’ voids and characterize regions surrounding the voids.     

Enolate alkylations with diethylbutadiene phosphonat-I

Enolates of various cyclic ketones undergo Michael addition to 1-diethyl-phosphinyl-1,3-butadiene to yield ketophosphonates.     

Active Intermediates in Copper Nitrite Reductase Reactions Probed by a Cryotrapping‐Electron Paramagnetic Resonance Approach

Redox active metalloenzymes catalyse a range of biochemical processes essential for life. However, due to their complex reaction mechanisms, and often, their poor optical signals, detailed mechanistic understandings of them are limited. Here, we develop a cryoreduction approach coupled to electron paramagnetic resonance measurements to study electron transfer between the copper centers in the copper nitrite reductase (CuNiR) family of enzymes. Unlike alternative methods used to study electron transfer reactions, the cryoreduction approach presented here allows observation of the redox state of both metal centers, a direct read‐out of electron transfer, determines the presence of the substrate/product in the active site and shows the importance of protein motion in inter‐copper electron transfer catalyzed by CuNiRs. Cryoreduction‐EPR is broadly applicable for the study of electron transfer in other redox enzymes and paves the way to explore transient states in multiple redox‐center containing proteins (homo and hetero metal ions).