The biosynthesis of the alkaloids of croton sparsiflorus morong

Incorporation of tyrosine, dopa, dopamine, 4-hydroxyphenylpyruvic acid, (±)-, norcoclaurine-1-carboxylic acid, -norcoclaurine, -coclaurine, and -N-methylcoclaurine into N-methylcrotsparine, N-methylcrotsparinine and N-methylsparsiflorine in Croton sparsiflorus Morong has been studied. The evidence supports the direct oxidative coupling of (+)-, and (-)-N-methylcoclaurines to give N-methylcrotsparine and N-methylcrotsparinine respectively. Tracer experiment show that N-methylcrotsparine undergoes dienone-phenol rearrangement to give N-methylsparsiflorine. A double labelling experiment with (±)-N[¹⁴C]methyl[1-³H]coclaurine demonstrated that the H atom at the asymmetric centre in the 1-benzylisoquinoline precursor is retained in the bioconversion. The intermediacy of norcoclaurine-1-carboxylic acid and specific incorporation of dehydro-N-methylcoclaurinium salt into the bases have been demonstrated.     

The structure,absolute configuration and biosynthesis of nortiliacorinine a

The incorporation of (±)-norcoclaurine, (±)-coclaurine, (±)-N-methylcoclaurine and dehydro-N-methylcoclaurine into nortiliacorinine A in Tiliacora racemosa colebr has been studied and specific utilisation of the (±)-coclaurine demonstrated. The evidence supports oxidative dimerization of two coclaurine units to give nortiliacorinine A. Experiments with (±)-N-methylcoclaurine and (±)-[1-³H, N-¹⁴CH₃]N-methylcoclaurine established that only one N-methylcoclaurine unit is specifically utilised to constitute that “half” of the base which had phenolic OH group in the benzylic portion and further demonstrated that the H atom at the asymmetric centre in the 1-benzylisoquinoline precursor is retained in the bioconversion into nortiliacorinine A. Double labelling experiment with (±)-[1-³H, 6,0-¹⁴CH₃]N-methylcoclaurine showed that O-Me function of the precursor is lost in the bioconversion into nortiliacorinine A. Parallel feedings of (+)-(S)- and (-)-(R)-N-methyl-coclaurines and (-)-(S)-, and ( + )-(R)-coclaurines revealed that the stereo-specificity is maintained in the biosynthesis of nortiliacorinine A from 1-benzylisoquinoline precursors and established ‘S,S’-configuration at the two asymmetric centres in nortiliacorinine A.     

Interaction between photons, “trapped electron” and vibronic excitation

The role of “trapped electron,” photon, and vibronic state coupling has been worked out in relation to an aspect of cancer, namely, to the activity of an anticancer drug. The main emphasis for such study comes from the fact that in cancerous systems the participation of usual electronic states of the molecule may not be sufficient. Because of disorder in the cancer tumour, additional states, viz. trapped electron states, could be formed in the manner of localised states in solids. The drug activity of mitomycin C obtained in this way agrees with the experimental values. An additional feature of the study is that it shows that it will be effective mainly in the initial phases of cancer.     

Order-disorder transition in Nd2−yGdyZr2O7 pyrochlore solid solution: An X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopic study

Powder X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Raman spectroscopic study of order-disorder-phase transition with increase in the content of Gd in Nd_2−yGd_yZr₂O₇ solid solution is being reported. It has been observed from Rietveld analysis that with increase in concentration of Gd in Nd_2−yGd_yZr₂O₇, the value of the x parameter of the 48f oxygen changes from 0.332(1) to 0.343(1) with a sudden change in the slope for y=1.8, which indicates that the structure is transforming from ordered pyrochlore to disordered pyrochlore. In addition to that a sudden and drastic change in the Raman spectra including changes in the position and width of several Raman modes beyond y?1.8 has also been observed which has been correlated with increasing disorder. Based on these studies, it is suggested that there is a discontinuous order-disorder transition from ‘perfect pyrochlore’ to ‘defect pyrochlore’ phase in Nd_2−yGd_yZr₂O₇ solid solution.     

Electrophilic fluorinating reagent mediated synthesis of fluorinated alpha-keto Ethers,benzil, and 6,6'-dialkoxy-2,2'-bipyridines

Interactions of various fluorinated and nonfluorinated alcohols with trans-stilbene in the presence of electrophilic reagents were studied. Under neat conditions, reactions of trans-stilbene (1) with fluorinated alcohols, R(f)OH (R(f) = CF3CH2-, CFH2CH2-, CF3CF2CH2-, CF2H(CF2)3CH2-, (CF3)2CH-, (CF3)3C- (2a-f) in the presence of an electrophilic reagent, 1-(chloromethyl)-4-fluoro-1,4-diazoniabicyclo[2.2.2]octane bis(tetrafluoroborate) (Selectfluor) or N,N-difluoro-2,2'-bipyridinium bis(tetrafluoroborate) (MEC-31), gave alpha-keto ethers (3a-f) and benzil (4) in good to moderate yields. alpha-Keto ether and benzil formation was very much dependent on the reaction time, the degree of fluorination of the alcohols, and whether a solvent such as CH3CN, DMF or DMA was utilized. In solution, alpha-keto ethers and benzil did not form. Interestingly, under neat conditions, nonfluorinated alcohols, ROH (R = CH3-, CH3CH2-, CH3CH2CH2-, CH3CH2CH2CH2-, CH3CH2CH2CH2CH2CH2-) (5g-k) did not react with trans-stilbene in the presence of MEC-31 but gave 6,6'-dialkoxy-2,2'-bipyridines (6g-k), regioselectively, in excellent isolated yields. On the other hand, fluorinated alcohols did not react with MEC-31. Reaction of MEC-31 with an excess of diethylene glycol (7) gave the bipyridine derivative (8) in 88% isolated yield. Reaction of 8 either with diethylaminosulfur trifluoride (DAST) or bis(2-methoxyethyl)aminosulfur trifluoride (Deoxofluor) readily produced the corresponding difluoro derivative (9) in 85% isolated yield. All new compounds have been characterized by spectroscopic and elemental analysis.     

Novel reactions of phosphorus(III) azides and isocyanates: unusual modes of cycloaddition with dipolarophiles and an unexpected case of ring expansion

New modes of 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition are uncovered by the isolation of [CH2(6-t-Bu-4-Me-C6H2O)2]P(C(CO2Me)C(CO2Me)N[NP(N3)(OC6H2-6-t-Bu-4-Me)2CH2]N) (3) and [CH2(6-t-Bu-4-Me-C6H2O)2]P(C(CO2Me)C(CO2Me)C(O)N) (4) on treating [CH2(6-t-Bu-4-Me-C6H2O)2]P-X [X = N3 (1) and NCO (2)] with the dipolarophile MeO2CC identical to CCO2Me; compound 4 undergoes an unprecedented ring expansion upon addition of 2-(methylamino)ethanol to afford the spirocycle [CH2(6-t-Bu-4-Me-C6H2O)2]P(OCH2CH2N(Me)CH(CO2Me)CH(CO2Me)C(O)N) (5).     

Template synthesis, spectroscopic studies and biological screening of macrocyclic complexes derived from thiocarbohydrazide and benzil

A novel series of complexes of the type [M(TML)X₂]; where TML is a tetradentate macrocyclic ligand; M = Co(II), Ni(II), Cu(II) or Zn(II); X = Cl⁻, CH₃COO⁻ or NO ₃ ⁻ have been synthesized by template condensation of benzil and thiocarbohydrazide in the presence of divalent metal salts in methanolic medium. The complexes have been characterized with the help of elemental analyses, conductance measurements, molecular weight determination, magnetic measurements, electronic, NMR, infrared and far infrared spectral studies. Electronic spectra along with magnetic moments suggest the six coordinate octahedral geometry for these complexes. The low value of molar conductance indicates them to be non-electrolytes. The biological activities of metal complexes have been tested in vitro against a number of pathogenic bacteria to assess their inhibiting potential.     

Study of phase transition and volume thermal expansion in a rare-earth (RE) oxyfluoride system by high-temperature XRD (RE=La, Nd, Sm, Eu and Gd)

Volume thermal expansion behaviour of a number of rare-earth oxyfluorides (REOF) have been studied using high-temperature X-Ray diffractometry (HT-XRD) in the 298–1075 K range in air. The studies revealed an anomalous expansion for each compound associated with phase transition. The phase transition temperature and the coefficient of volume thermal expansion of five compounds in REOF series determined by this method are reported and compared with our earlier results obtained by dilatometry.