Hydrophobically directed selective reduction of ketones using amine boranes

Amine boranes bearing hydrophobic substituents were used to reduce aryl ketones in competition with a methyl ketone. Their high stability in protic solvents combined with their ease of preparation made amine boranes useful compounds in the study of hydrophobically directed selective reductions. Several characteristics of the reducing agent were found to be important in determining the reaction selectivity, including available hydrocarbon surface area, degree of fluorination, and proximity of the hydrophobic group to the active hydrides.     

Evaluation of the Kushida Method of short-term earthquake prediction

Kushida and Kushida found that FM radio waves from stations at distances over-the-horizon are received before earthquakes. Based on this finding, since the mid-1990’s, the Kushidas have been practicing “Earthquake Precursor Detection Experiment”. The performance of the Kushida method during 2000–2003 has been evaluated by checking their predictions against the actual seismicity. During the period, there were 92 Kushida predictions mentioning the possibility of M ≥ 5.5 event, whereas there were 49 M ≥ 5.5 earthquakes in the Japanese region. If the criteria for successful prediction are set as: the errors in date is less than one day, epicentral position is roughly within specified area, and error in M is less than 0.5, the success rate was 20% and the alarm rate was 12%. If we relax the criteria to: the errors in dates within 10 days, epicenter within additional 100 km of specified area and the magnitude error less than 1.0, the success rate was 40% and the alarm rate was 27%. These rates may look insufficient for a practical prediction method. Considering, however, the fact that no other short-term prediction has ever been made in Japan so far it is a significant achievement. Moreover, it was found that in almost all failed predictions, meaningful signals were detected although the interpretations were incorrect. This indicates that the method is promising provided further investigation is carried out. The same evaluation at the M ≥ 6.0 level showed that the general performance was similar to the M ≥ 5.5 level, except that both success rate and alarm rate were lower at the M ≥ 6.0 level. If this unexpected finding is real, it might be inherent to the methodology using scattering of short-wave length radio waves as suggested by M. Hayakawa and may contain important information in understanding the earthquake physics and LAI-coupling. The results of the present study indicate strongly that the earthquake prediction research using anomalous transmission of VHF FM radio waves should be enhanced in parallel with complementary research in other frequency ranges.     

Motor protein nano-biomachine powered by self-supplying ATP

A new nano-biomachine has been created from microtubules (MTs) and hetero-bifunctional polymer particles bearing pyruvate kinase, which is propelled on glass surfaces coated with kinesin by use of self-supplying ATP.     

Runaway Electron Measurements in the EAST Tokamak

An experimental study of runaway electrons in the EAST tokamak has been performed by a recently developed multi‐channel hard x‐ray diagnostics based on NaI(TL) scintillator detectors. It is found that in the current quench phase, the inductive loop voltage plays an important role in the generation of runaway electrons. And the avalanche mechanism was the main mechanism for runaway electrons after the disruptions. The distribution and transportation of runaway electrons were also investigated by multi‐channel hard x‐ray diagnostics. It is also found that the intensity of runaway electrons emission in the core plasma was much higher than those in the downside of the cross‐section, while the emission intensity of runaway electrons in the core plasma was almost the same. Calculated shrinking coefficient of runaway electrons emission after the plasma disruption was about 26 m/s according to the experimental data (© 2010 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Photo-control of kinesin-microtubule motility using caged peptides derived from the kinesin C-terminus domain

To design a nanoscale biodevice that can be controlled by an external stimulus, we have introduced photochemical switching peptides derived from the kinesin C-terminus domain into the kinesin-microtubule in vitro motility system.     

Synthesis and antiviral activities of some 4,4'-dihydroxytriphenylmethanes

4,4'-Dihydroxytriphenylmethanes were synthesized using Br?nsted acid or Lewis acid in yields of 24-86% as target compounds for developing antiviral agents. Most of the 4,4'-dihydroxytriphenylmethanes showed significant activity against herpes simplex virus type 1 (anti-HSV-1 activity) in a plaque reduction assay. Higher cytotoxicity was observed generally in halogenated 4,4'-dihydroxytriphenylmethanes (2a-d) than in non-halogenated derivatives. The non-halogenated derivative, 4,4',4"-trihydroxy-3"-methoxytriphenylmethane (3), showed remarkable antiviral activity with an EC(50) value of 1.8 microg/ml.     

Unusual frequency dispersion effects of the nonlinear optical response in highly conjugated (polypyridyl)metal-(porphinato)zinc(II) chromophores

The syntheses and electrooptic properties of a new family of nonlinear optical chromophores are reported. These species feature an ethyne-elaborated, highly polarizable porphyrinic component and metal polypyridyl complexes that serve as integral donor and acceptor elements. Examples of this structural motif include ruthenium(II) [5-(4'-ethynyl-(2,2';6',2' '-terpyridinyl))-10,20-bis(2',6'-bis(3,3-dimethyl-1-butyloxy)phenyl)porphinato]zinc(II)-(2,2';6',2' '-terpyridine)(2+) bis-hexafluorophosphate (Ru-PZn); osmium(II) [5-(4'-ethynyl-(2,2';6',2'-terpyridinyl))-10,20-bis(2',6'-bis(3,3-dimethyl-1-butyloxy)phenyl)porphinato]zinc(II)-(2,2';6',2'-terpyridine)(2+) bis-hexafluorophosphate (Os-PZn); ruthenium(II) [5-(4'-ethynyl-(2,2';6',2'-terpyridinyl))-15-(4'-nitrophenyl)ethynyl-10,20-bis(2',6'-bis(3,3-dimethyl-1-butyloxy)phen-yl)porphinato]zinc(II)-(2,2';6',2' '-terpyridine)(2+) bis-hexafluorophosphate (Ru-PZn-A); osmium(II) [5-(4'-ethynyl-(2,2';6',2' '-terpyridinyl))-15-(4'-nitrophenyl)ethynyl-10,20-bis(2',6'-bis(3,3-dimethyl-1-butyloxy)phenyl)porphinato]zinc(II)-(2,2';6',2' '-terpyridine)(2+) bis-hexafluorophosphate (Os-PZn-A); and ruthenium(II) [5-(4'-ethynyl-(2,2';6',2' '-terpyridinyl))osmium(II)-15-(4'-ethynyl-(2,2';6',2'-terpyridinyl))-10,20-bis (2',6'-bis(3,3-dimethyl-1-butyloxy)phenyl)porphinato]zinc(II)-bis(2,2';6',2'-terpyridine)(4+) tetrakis-hexafluorophosphate (Ru-PZn-Os). The frequency dependence of the dynamic hyperpolarizability of these compounds was determined from hyperRayleigh light scattering (HRS) measurements carried out at fundamental incident irradiation wavelengths (lambda(inc)) of 800, 1064, and 1300 nm. These data show that (i) coupled oscillator photophysics and metal-mediated cross-coupling can be exploited to elaborate high beta(0) supermolecules that exhibit significant excited-state electronic communication between their respective pigment building blocks; (ii) high-stability metal polypyridyl compounds constitute an attractive alternative to electron releasing dialkyl- and diarylamino groups, the most commonly used donor moieties in a wide range of established nonlinear optical dyes; (iii) this design strategy enables ready elaboration of chromophores having extraordinarily large dynamic hyperpolarizabilities (beta(lambda) values) at telecommunication relevant wavelengths; and (iv) porphyrin B- and Q-state-derived static hyperpolarizabilities (beta(0) values) can be designed to have the same or opposite sign in these species, thus providing a new means to regulate the magnitude of lambda(inc)-specific dynamic hyperpolarizabilities.     

N-long-chain monoacylated derivatives of 2,6-diaminopyridine with antiviral activity

N-Monoacyl-2,6-diaminopyridines (2a-c) and N,N'-diacyl-2,6-diaminopyridines (3a-c) were synthesized from 2,6-diaminopyridine by acylation with the corresponding acyl halide or by dehydration with the corresponding carboxylic acid using 1,3-dicyclohexylcarbodiimide (DCC). The antiviral activities of N-monoacyl- and N,N'-diacyl-2,6-diaminopyridines (2a-c and 3a-c) were estimated using plaque reduction assay with HSV-1. All N-monoacyl derivatives (2a-c) showed significant anti-herpes simplex virus (HSV)-1 activity (EC(50) = 15.3-18.5 microg/ml). The CC(50) values of 2a-c measured using Vero cells ranged at 37.5-50.0 microg/ml. These compounds showed no significant antibacterial activities with Escherichia coli or Staphylococcus aureus even at a concentration of 1 mg/ml. The N,N'-diacyl derivatives (3a-c) showed no significant anti-HSV-1 activity.