Behavior of rifampicin in association with<Emphasis Type="Italic"> β</Emphasis>-cyclodextrin in aqueous media: a spectroscopic and conductometric study

The behavior of rifampicin (D) with -cyclodextrin (-CyD) in aqueous media (W) has been examined by means of UV-vis spectroscopy and conductivity measurements over the temperature range 15–30 °C. The UV-vis study has been used to characterize the systems. The estimated molar absorption coefficient for D/CyD/W system was 10757±280 M^–1 cm^–1 in comparison to the value of 6133±99 M^–1 cm^–1 for D/W system. The conductivity was measured (i) as a function of [D] for binary D/W systems, (ii) as a function of [CyD], keeping the concentration of drug constant, for D/CyD/W system, and (iii) as a function of [D] in the presence of a constant cyclodextrin concentration. Two transition points were observed for D/CyD/W system at constant [CyD], which were assigned as cac-1 and cac-2. The stoichiometry of the association was estimated from the conductivity data. This was obtained from [drug] value at which the change in slope of occurs. The standard free energy change, of aggregation was also calculated from the critical concentration data. An attempt has also been made to estimate the stoichiometry of -cyclodextrin:rifampicin association.     

The intramolecular asymmetric Pauson-Khand cyclization as a novel and general stereoselective route to benzindene prostacyclins: synthesis of UT-15 (treprostinil)

A general and novel solution to the synthesis of biologically important stable analogues of prostacyclin PGI(2), namely benzindene prostacyclins, has been achieved via the stereoselective intramolecular Pauson-Khand cyclization (PKC). This work illustrates for the first time the synthetic utility and reliability of the asymmetric PKC route for synthesis and subsequent manufacture of a complex drug substance on a multikilogram scale. The synthetic route surmounts issues of individual step stereoselectivity and scalability. The key step in the synthesis involves efficient stereoselection effected in the PKC of a benzoenyne under the agency of the benzylic OTBDMS group, which serves as a temporary stereodirecting group that is conveniently removed via benzylic hydrogenolysis concomitantly with the catalytic hydrogenation of the enone PKC product. Thus the benzylic chiral center dictates the subsequent stereochemistry of the stereogenic centers at three carbon atoms (C(3a), C(9a), and C(1)).     

Conformational studies of 3,4-dideoxy furanoid sugar amino acid containing analogs of the receptor binding inhibitor of vasoactive intestinal peptide

Conformational analysis of vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) receptor binding inhibitor Leu¹-Met²-Tyr³-Pro⁴-Thr⁵-Tyr⁶-Leu⁷-Lys⁸1 by various NMR techniques and constrained molecular dynamics (MD) simulation studies revealed that the molecule had a turn structure involving its Tyr³-Pro⁴-Thr⁵-Tyr⁶ moiety with intramolecular hydrogen bond between Tyr⁶NH→Tyr³CO. In order to mimic the structure of 1, peptidomimetic analogs 2-4 were synthesized using conformationally constrained scaffolds of 3,4-dideoxy furanoid sugar amino acids (2S,5R)-ddSaa1 5 and its enantiomer (2R,5S)-ddSaa2 6. All these analogs displayed well defined three-dimensional structures akin to that found in 1. Peptides 2 and 3, which differed only in the sugar amino acid stereochemistry, show propensity of structures with identical intramolecular hydrogen bonds between ThrNH→MetCO. A similar structure with a hydrogen bond between TyrNH→MetCO was observed in 4.     

Ab initio studies of the protonation of CO,N2 and NO+: Calculation of the minimum energy reaction paths

Ab initio molecular orbital calculations employing a 4-31G basis set have been used to study the minimum energy paths for the formation of HCO⁺, COH⁺, and HCOH²⁺ from CO by protonation. The protonation of N₂ to give NNH⁺ and HNNH²⁺ and of NO⁺ to form HNO²⁺ and NOH²⁺ have also been investigated. All species formed have linear equilibrium geometries and the minimum energy path for approach of the proton is along the line-of-centers of the heavy atoms. Energy barriers to the formation of the various species are given, where appropriate, and changes in geometry, ordering of molecular orbitals and orbital occupancy are discussed.     

Phase Transfer Catalyzed Peroxidation of Car Boxylic Acids with Potassium Persulfate

Aqueous solution of potassium persulfate converts water-insoluble carboxylic acids in ether (or dichloromethane), to peracids in a yield of 80–90% under the catalytic influence of benzyltriethylammonium chloride (BTEAC) or polyethyleneglycol (PEG-400). The reaction is further catalyzed kinetically in presence of a sulfonated polymer.     

Gravity-free hydraulic jumps and metal femtoliter cups

Hydraulic jumps created by gravity are seen everyday in the kitchen sink. We show that at small scales a circular hydraulic jump can be created in the absence of gravity by surface tension. The theory is motivated by our experimental finding of a height discontinuity in spreading submicron molten metal droplets created by pulsed-laser ablation. By careful control of initial conditions, this leads to solid femtoliter cups of gold, silver, copper, niobium, and tin.     

Electrooxidation of Chlorpromazine in Aqueous and Micellar Media and Spectroscopic Studies of the Derived Cationic Free Radical and Dication Species

Summary.  The electrochemical behaviour of chlorpromazine has been examined in phosphate buffers in aqueous as well as micellar media at a pyrolytic graphite electrode surface. Two oxidation peaks were obtained in linear sweep voltammetry of chlorpromazine. The first peak corresponds to the formation of the cationic free radical, which on further 1e⁻-oxidation gives a dication. The spectroscopic changes and kinetics of the cationic free radical and dication species generated during electrooxidation of chlorpromazine were investigated in both media. The decay of the dication was studied chronoamperometrically and was found to follow first-order kinetics with a half-life of ∼25 ms. Surfactants affect both E _p and i _p values. The anionic surfactant SDS has been found to catalyze the reaction of the free radical cation and the dication.     

Characterization of dipeptidylcarboxypeptidase of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Leishmania donovani</Emphasis>: a molecular model for structure based design of antileishmanials

Leishmania donovani dipeptidylcarboxypeptidsae (LdDCP), an angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) related metallopeptidase has been identified and characterized as a putative drug target for antileishmanial chemotherapy. The kinetic parameters for LdDCP with substrate, Hip-His-Leu were determined as, Km, 4 mM and Vmax, 1.173 μmole/ml/min. Inhibition studies revealed that known ACE inhibitors (captopril and bradykinin potentiating peptide; BPP1) were weak inhibitors for LdDCP as compared to human testicular ACE (htACE) with Ki values of 35.8 nM and 3.9 μM, respectively. Three dimensional model of LdDCP was generated based on crystal structure of Escherichia coli DCP (EcDCP) by means of comparative modeling and assessed using PROSAII, PROCHECK and WHATIF. Captopril docking with htACE, LdDCP and EcDCP and analysis of molecular electrostatic potentials (MEP) suggested that the active site domain of three enzymes has several minor but potentially important structural differences. These differences could be exploited for designing selective inhibitor of LdDCP thereby antileishmanial compounds either by denovo drug design or virtual screening of small molecule databases.