Reactions of Allyl Alcohols of the Pinane Series and of Their Epoxides in the Presence of Montmorillonite Clay

The reactivity of allyl alcohols of the pinane series and of their epoxides in the presence of montmorillonite clay in intra‐ and intermolecular reactions was studied. Mutual transformations of (+)‐trans‐pinocarveol ((+)‐ 2 ) and (?)‐myrtenol ((?)‐ 3a ) were major reactions of these compounds on askanite–bentonite clay (Schemes 1 and 2). However, the two reactions gave different isomerization products, indicating that the reactivity of the starting alcohol (+)‐ 2 or (?)‐ 3a was different from that of the same compound (+)‐ 2 or (?)‐ 3 formed in the course of the reactions. (?)‐cis‐ and (+)‐trans‐Verbenol ((?)‐ 16 and (+)‐ 12 , resp.), as well as (?)‐cis‐verbenol epoxide ((?)‐ 20 ) reacted with both aliphatic and aromatic aldehydes on askanite–bentonite clay giving various heterocyclic compounds (Schemes 4, 5 and 7); the reaction path depended on the structure of both the terpenoid and the aldehyde.     

The Thermal Fragmentation of Some O-Arylsulfonyl Diphenylhydroxylamine Derivatives

Thermal fragmentation of O-Aryl-N,N-diphenylhydroxylamines I and II were investigated. Neat heating in an atmospheric nitrogen afforded arenes, biaryl, diaryl sulfide, diphenylamine, diaryl sulfone, phenols, arenesulfonic acid, carbazole, and thianthrene. In the presence of isoquinoline as a radical trap, I gave 1-phenylisoquinoline as well as the previous products. Analogous results were obtained on heating of I in boiling tetraline, which lead to the formation of 1-hydroxytetraline, α -tetralone, and 1,1′-bitetralyl as the major products. A free-radical mechanism has been postulated to take place through the initial homolysis of N─O and S─O bonds to account for the identified products.     

Discovery of Novel Sultone Fused Berberine Derivatives as Promising Tdp1 Inhibitors

A new type of berberine derivatives was obtained by the reaction of berberrubine with aliphatic sulfonyl chlorides. The new polycyclic compounds have a sultone ring condensed to C and D rings of a protoberberine core. The reaction conditions were developed to facilitate the formation of sultones with high yields without by-product formation. Thus, it was shown that the order of addition of reagents affects the composition of the reaction products: when sulfochlorides are added to berberrubine, their corresponding 9-O-sulfonates are predominantly formed; when berberrubine is added to pre-generated sulfenes, sultones are the only products. The reaction was shown to proceed stereo-selectively and the cycle configuration was confirmed by 2D NMR spectroscopy. The inhibitory activity of the synthesized sultones and their 12-brominated analogs against the DNA-repair enzyme tyrosyl-DNA phosphodiesterase 1 (Tdp1), an important target for a potential antitumor therapy, was studied. All derivatives were active in the micromolar and submicromolar range, in contrast to the acyclic analogs and 9-O-sulfonates, which were inactive. The significance of the sultone cycle and bromine substituent in binding with the enzyme was confirmed using molecular modeling. The active inhibitors are mostly non-toxic to the HeLa cancer cell line, and several ligands show synergy with topotecan, a topoisomerase 1 poison in clinical use. Thus, novel berberine derivatives can be considered as candidates for adjuvant therapy against cancer.     

Novel Tdp1 Inhibitors Based on Adamantane Connected with Monoterpene Moieties via Heterocyclic Fragments

Tyrosyl-DNA phosphodiesterase 1 (Tdp1) is a promising target for anticancer therapy due to its ability to counter the effects topoisomerase 1 (Top1) poison, such as topotecan, thus, decreasing their efficacy. Compounds containing adamantane and monoterpenoid residues connected via 1,2,4-triazole or 1,3,4-thiadiazole linkers were synthesized and tested against Tdp1. All the derivatives exhibited inhibition at low micromolar or nanomolar concentrations with the most potent inhibitors having IC₅₀ values in the 0.35–0.57 µM range. The cytotoxicity was determined in the HeLa, HCT-116 and SW837 cancer cell lines; moderate CC₅₀ (µM) values were seen from the mid-teens to no effect at 100 µM. Furthermore, citral derivative 20c, α-pinene-derived compounds 20f, 20g and 25c, and the citronellic acid derivative 25b were found to have a sensitizing effect in conjunction with topotecan in the HeLa cervical cancer and colon adenocarcinoma HCT-116 cell lines. The ligands are predicted to bind in the catalytic pocket of Tdp1 and have favorable physicochemical properties for further development as a potential adjunct therapy with Top1 poisons.     

Antisense oligonuclotides with oxetane-constrained cytidine enhance heteroduplex stability,and elicit satisfactory RNase H response as well as showing improved resistance to both exo and endonucleases

Antisense oligonucleotides (AONs) with single and double oxetane C modifications [1',2'-oxetane constrained cytidine, 1-(1',3'-O-anhydro-beta-D-psicofuranosyl)cytosine] have been evaluated, in comparison with the corresponding T-modified AONs, for their antisense potentials by targeting to a 15mer complementary RNA. Although the C modified mixmer AONs show approximately 3 degrees C drop per modification in melting temperature (Tm) of their hybrid AON-RNA duplexes, they are found to be good substrates for RNase H, in comparison with the native AON-RNA duplex. An AON with double C modifications along with 3'-DPPZ (dipyridophenazine) conjugation shows the Tm of the hybrid duplexes as high as that of the native, and the RNase H activity as good as its unconjugated counterpart. A detailed Michaelis-Menten kinetic analysis of RNase H cleavage showed that the single and double C modified AON-RNA duplexes as well as double C modifications along with 3'-DPPZ have catalytic activities (kcat) close to the native. However, the R Nase H binding affinity (1/Km) showed a slight decrease with increase in the number of modifications, which results in less effective enzyme activity (kcat/Km) for C modified AON-RNA duplexes. All oxetane modified AON-RNA hybrids showed a correlation of Tm with the 1/Km, Vmax, or Vmax/Km. The C modified AONs (with 3'-DPPZ), as in the T counterpart, showed an enhanced tolerance towards the endonuclease and exonuclease degradation compared to the native (the oxetane-sugar and the DPPZ based AONs are non-toxic to K562 cell growth, ref. 18). Thus a balance has been found between exo and endonuclease stability vis-a-vis thermostability of the heteroduplex and the R Nase H recruitment capability and cleavage with the oxetane-constrained cytidine incorporated AONs as potential antisense candidates with a fully phosphate backbone for further biological assessment.     

An efficient synthesis of 2,2′-arylmethylene bis-(3-hydroxy-5,5-dimethyl-2-cyclohexene-1-one) and 1,8-dioxooctahydroxanthenes using ZnO and ZnO-acetyl chloride

<正>2,2'-Arylmethylene bis(3-hydroxy-5,5-dimethyl-2-cyclohexene-1-one) 4l-s produced from reaction between dimedone with various aldehydes in acetonitrile using ZnO as a catalyst;whereas in the presence of ZnO-acetyl chloride catalysts the reaction is limited to give only 1,8-dioxo-octahydroxanthenes 3a-k in very good yields.     

Host-guest complexes of carotenoids with beta-glycyrrhizic acid

The structure, stability, and reactivity of the host-guest complexes between a set of carotenoids and the triterpene glycoside, beta-glycyrrhizic acid (GA), were investigated by different physicochemical techniques: high-performance liquid chromatography, optical absorption, and fluorescence spectroscopy. It has been demonstrated recently that the molecular complexes of GA with a number of drugs are characterized by reduced toxicity and increased therapeutic activity of these drugs. In the present work it was found that carotenoids form 1:2 complexes with GA in aqueous solutions as well as in polar organic solvents, methanol, acetonitrile, and dimethylsulfoxide. We assume that the structure of the complex is a cycliclike dimer of GA encapsulating a carotenoid molecule. The stability constants in all solvents are near 10(4) M(-1). In addition, GA forms inclusion complexes with carotenoid radical cations, which results in their stabilization. Complex formation (a) decreases the rate of electron transfer from carotenoids to electron acceptors (Fe3+ or quinone) and (b) considerably increases the lifetime of the carotenoid-quinone charge-transfer complex and the yield of the major product (a carotenoid-quinone adduct). A thermodynamic study shows that hydrophobic interactions are the main driving force of the carotenoid-GA complex formation. These results are important for understanding both the nature of GA complexes and the influence of GA on the therapeutic activity of some drugs. Furthermore, carotenoid-GA complexes could be used for the design of artificial light-harvesting, photoredox, and catalytic systems.     

Order in chaotic pseudoplastic flow between coaxial cylinders

Order is found within the chaotic nonlinear flow between rotating coaxial cylinders. The flow stability analysis is carried out for a pseudoplastic fluid through bifurcation diagram and Lyapunov exponent histogram. The fluid is assumed to follow the Carreau–Bird model, and mixed boundary conditions are imposed. The low-order dynamical system, resulted from Galerkin projection of the conservation of mass and momentum equations, includes additional nonlinear terms in the velocity components originated from the shear-dependent viscosity. It is observed that the base flow loses its radial flow stability to the vortex structure at a lower critical Taylor number, as the shear-thinning effects increase. The emergence of the vortices corresponds to the onset of a supercritical bifurcation, which is also seen in the flow of a linear fluid. However, unlike the Newtonian case, shear-thinning Taylor vortices lose their stability as the Taylor number reaches a second critical number corresponding to the onset of a Hopf bifurcation. Complete flow field together with viscosity maps are given for different scenarios in the bifurcation diagram.     

Unusual Reactions of (+)‐Car‐2‐ene and (+)‐Car‐3‐ene with Aldehydes on K10 Clay

The reactions of (+)‐car‐2‐ene ( 1 ) and (+)‐car‐3‐ene ( 2 ) with aldehydes in the presence of montmorillonite clay were studied for the first time (Schemes 3 and 5). The major products of these reactions are optically active, substituted hexahydroisobenzofurans, probably formed as a result of an attack of the protonated aldehyde at the cyclopropane ring. Quite unexpectedly, the products are cis‐configured at the ring‐fusion site; the fact was established by means of quantum‐chemical calculations and NMR data. It appeared that the behavior of the 2 : 3 mixture 1 / 2 in reactions with aldehydes in the presence of K10 clay differed substantially from the reactivities of the corresponding individual monoterpenes.