A novel one-pot conversion of amines to homologated esters in poly(ethylene glycol)

The first deaminative homologation of amines (-CH₂NH₂) to esters (-CH₂CH₂COOEt) in one-pot is reported. The reaction proceeds through, formation of an aldehyde from an amine in the presence of Pd/C as catalyst followed by Wittig reaction and catalytic hydrogenation using poly(ethylene glycol) as the solvent in one-pot.     

Synthesis of the southern furan segment of furanocembranoids

Abstract

A convergent synthesis of the southern furan segment of novel furanocembranoids from Croton oblongifolius has been accomplished involving silver-catalyzed cyclization of alkynyl diol as the key step towards 2, 5-disubstituted furan ring formation.     

Thermal analysis of low alloy Cr-Mo steel

The paper deals with results of thermal analysis of low-alloyed chromium-molybdenum steel. The methods of analysis were dilatometry, differential thermal analysis (DTA) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The Ac₁ and Ac₃ temperatures of the steel samples measured by dilatometry and DTA during the heating period were in good agreement. Generated by cooling a martensitic structure first became apparent at 503 K. Tempering of the as-quenched samples showed the presence of the second tempering stage in the region between 473 and 573 K. At that stage heat capacity decreased from 0.48 to 0.32 J g^-1 K^-1, as a result of conversion of transition carbide due to heat consumption. After normalization of the as-quenched samples the heat capacity values were restored to between 0.42 and 0.47 J g^-1 K^-1 in the temperature range from 373 to 673 K. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Single-step conversion of N-benzyl, N-trityl and N-diphenylmethyl amines to t-butyl carbamates using polymethylhydrosiloxane

t-Butyl carbamates were obtained efficiently in high yields from the corresponding N-benzyl, N-trityl and N-diphenylmethyl precursors in a single-step reductive transformation employing polymethylhydrosiloxane and di-t-butyl dicarbonate under Pd(OH)₂/C catalysis.     

Palladium-catalyzed addition of hydroxylamine derivatives to Baylis-Hillman acetate adducts

The first use of hydroxylamine derivatives as the aminoxy equivalent of nucleophiles in palladium catalyzed addition to Baylis-Hillman acetate adducts is described. The reaction proceeds smoothly to give the substituted allyloxy amines in good yield and selectivity.     

Quantifying induced electric field strengths during gene transfer to the intact rat vasculature

The application of appropriate electric fields to cells and tissues, termed electroporation, can result in efficient and safe gene transfer. We have shown previously that this approach results in high level gene transfer to and expression in the vasculature of living animals. This paper presents the results of an electric field distribution study of a rat mesenteric vasculature model using the Finite-Element Time-Domain (FETD) technique. A novelty of this work is the use of Debye dispersive dielectric parameters, as the electrical response of biological tissues is inherently frequency-dependent. The results compare fairly well with experimental findings.     

Membrane switch hypothesis. 1. Cell density influences lateral domain structure of tumor cell membranes

The domain structure of human cancer cells membranes was investigated by electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) in different phases of cell growth, and the results were compared to those obtained for nonmalignant cells. On the basis of computer simulation of the EPR spectra using a newly developed GHOST condensation routine it was suggested that plasma membranes of cancer cells have less lateral lipid domain types at confluent conditions than in the exponential growing phase, while in nonmalignant cells the domain structure does not change significantly during cell growth. In accordance to our experimental data we propose a membrane switch hypothesis: disappearance of certain membrane domain types might act as a switch promoting the clustering of membrane constituents into the active units in a common lipid membrane domain and thus influencing the physiology of cells.     

Acid-catalyzed N-alkylation of tosylhydrazones using benzylic alcohols

N-Alkylation of tosylhydrazones in the presence of an acid catalyst is described for the first time. Tris(pentafluorophenyl) borane was found to be a mild and efficient catalyst when benzylic alcohols were used as the alkylating agents.     

Molecular Dynamics Simulation of Ester‐Linked Hen Egg White Lysozyme Reveals the Effect of Missing Backbone Hydrogen Bond Donors on the Protein Structure

The three‐dimensional structure of a protein is stabilized by a number of different atomic interactions. One of these is hydrogen bonding. Its influence on the spatial structure of the hen egg white lysozyme is investigated by replacing peptide bonds (except those of the two proline residues) by ester bonds. Molecular dynamics simulations of native and ester‐linked lysozyme are compared with the native crystal structure and with NOE distance bounds derived from solution NMR experiments. The ester‐linked protein shows a slight compaction while losing its native structure. However, it does not unfold completely. The structure remains compact due to its hydrophobic core and a changed network of hydrogen bonds involving side chains.     

Radii of Redox Components from Absolute Redox Potentials Compared with Covalent and Aqueous Ionic Radii

Aqueous standard potentials, referred to that of the SHE as zero, were recently shown to vary linearly with gaseous ionization potentials, with the absolute potential of SHE as the intercept. This enabled arriving at the absolute redox potentials of elements. Here, the distances between the oxidized and reduced forms in aqueous solutions have been evaluated. From the linear dependence of these distances on the covalent radii of atoms, the radii of the redox components have been obtained. The latter also vary linearly with the aqueous ionic radii estimated earlier from ion‐water distances, and indicate the presence of aqueous molecular anions.