Direct C-glycosylation by indium-mediated alkynylation on sugar anomeric position

Indium-mediated alkynylation reaction was studied for the direct preparation of C-glycosides. Easily available starting sugar derivatives with an acetyl group at the anomeric position were tested as electrophiles toward alkynylindium reagents under Barbier conditions. Good yields and stereoselectivities were observed during the reaction. The alkynylation was applied to the synthesis of an alpha-(1-->6)-C-disaccharide analogue of isomaltoside.     

Synthesis of α-Aminophospiionic Esters by Solid-Liquid Phase Transfer Catalysis

Abstract

(1-aminoalkyl)phosphonic acids are important amino acids with interesting biological properties (1). They are available by various procedures (2). However, a potentially efficient and direct route not very well documented is the use of schiff bases derived from diethyl-aminomethylphosphonate. These substrates have been used to prepare a-alkylated phosphonic aminoacids using strong bases under anhydrous conditions (3). We report here a simple method using solid-liquid phase transfer catalysis (PTC) as wel1 as solid-liquid PTC without solvent:     

Unexpected catalyzed C=C bond cleavage by molecular oxygen promoted by a thiyl radical.

Olefin oxidation with molecular oxygen, promoted by a transition metal catalyst and a thiophenol, involved C=C bond cleavage into the corresponding carbonyl derivatives. This new reaction proceeds under one atmosphere of oxygen, at room temperature, in the presence of an excess of thiophenol and a catalyst such as MnL(2) 3a or VClL(2) 3c. It was applied to aromatic and aliphatic olefins, as well as to functionalized or unfunctionalized acyclic compounds, providing the corresponding ketones and aldehydes in up to 98% yield. The synthetic interest of this catalytic oxidation was illustrated by a one-step preparation of the fragrance (-)-4-acetyl-1-methylcyclohexene 7e in 73% isolated yield. The C=C bond cleavage probably results from a catalyzed decomposition of the beta-hydroperoxysulfide intermediate 12 that is formed by the radical addition of thiophenol to the olefin in the presence of oxygen. Although an excess of the thiophenol was used, it was transformed into the disulfide which could then be reduced without purification in 83% overall yield, thereby allowing for recycling. In addition, the C=C bond cleavage under oxygen could be promoted by catalytic quantities of the thiyl radical, generated by photolysis of the disulfide; thus, in the presence of 0.1 equiv of bis(4-chlorophenyl) disulfide 4b and 5% of the manganese complex 3a, trans-methylstilbene 1b gave, under radiation, benzaldehyde 6a and acetophenone 7a in up to 95% yield. This new reaction offers an alternative to the classical C=C bond cleavage procedures, and further developments in the fields of bioinorganic and environmental chemistry are likely.     

Ferrier-type alkynylation reaction mediated by indium

An efficient Ferrier-type alkynylation reaction between glycals and iodoalkynes using Barbier conditions is described. These conditions require In0, InI, or InII and lead to alpha-2,3-unsaturated-C-glycosides with good stereoselectivity. When glycosyliodoalkynes are used, trehalose-derived compounds and alpha-(1-->6)-C-disaccharides are obtained.     

Effect of High Intensity Blue Light on Fusobacterium nucleatum Membrane Integrity

Oral malodour is considered to be caused mainly by the production of volatile sulfide compounds (VSC) by anaerobic gram-negative oral bacteria. Previous studies showed that these bacteria were susceptible to blue light phototoxicity mediated by the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS). In the present study, we tested the effect of blue light on the integrity Fusobacterium nucleatum's membrane, cellular proteins and DNA. Bacterial samples were exposed to high intensity blue light for 0, 70, 140 and 280 s (i.e. fluences of 0, 96, 192 and 384 J cm⁻², respectively). Following light exposure, bacterial samples were examined for membrane damage using fluorescence microscopy, intra-cellular protein analysis using electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) and DNA fragmentation using ultra–filtration. Results showed that the increasing exposure of bacterial samples to blue light caused increased membrane permeability concomitant with a reduction in intra-cellular proteins and DNA fragments content. These results suggest that membrane damage is the main effect of high intensity blue light exposure on malodour producing bacteria.     

Synthesis of alkynes and alkynyl iodides bearing a protected amino alcohol moiety as functionalized amino acids precursors

Amino acid precursors in protected amino alcohol form are important synthons that can be used as building-blocks for the hemisynthesis of non-natural amino acids. Serine can be used as a common starting material for the synthesis of such compounds differently protected. Particularly, protected amino alcohols bearing an ethynyl and/or an iodoethynyl group can be used in cross-couplings, in 1,3-dipolar cycloadditions and/or in Nozaki-Hiyama-Kishi type reactions. We thus demonstrated that the efficiently protected amino alcohols derived from serine can be coupled to a sugar derivative by an indium mediated alkynylation reaction. The conditions of this coupling are compatible with such functionalized derivatives and allow envisaging an access to C-glycosylated amino acids.     

Pyrimidine biosynthesis in normal and transformed cells

We have developed procedures for sensitive measurement of specific radioactivities of pyrimidine nucleosides excreted from cells in culture. The changes in the observed values reflect dilution of the added isotope through de novo biosynthesis of nonradioactive pyrimidine nucleosides or by shifting and equilibration of other nucleotide pools into the free uridine pool. It is thus possible to monitor uridine biosynthesis occurring in intact cells without destroying or disrupting the cell population. On comparing a series of normal and and transformed lines, we have observed several growth-dependent patterns of change in specific activity and levels of uridine excretion and the temporal appearance of these changes. Hamster embryo fibroblasts slows pyrimidine biosynthesis at mid-growth while the hamster cell line V79 continues to dilute the pyrimidine pool at about 7% of the rate observed during exponential growth at confluence. Both cells exhibit Urd excretion beginning at one-half maximal growth. Passageable normal rat liver cells (IARC-20) also show a cessation of pyrimidine biosynthesis with a prior increase in uridine excretion. Two chemically transformed lines IARC-28 and IARC-19 derived from IARC-20 show different patterns. IARC-19 begins uridine excretion in early log growth and the specific activity continues to decrease at about 2% of the rate observed during exponential growth at confluence. The IARC-28 cells also begin excretion in early log growth but pyrimidine biosynthesis stops at about midlog. This method may prove to be an additional aid in recognizing and differentiating transformed cells in culture that do not exhibit the transformed phenotype.