Rh(III)-Catalyzed One-Step Synthesis of ortho-Alkynylated Perylene Imide Dyes: Optical and Electrochemical Properties of New Derivatives

A one-step Rh-catalyzed site-selective ortho-C−H alkynylation of perylene as well as naphthalene mono- and diimides is reported. A single step regioselective access to ortho-C−H alkynylated derivatives of these ryleneimides not only increases the step economy of the ortho-functionalization on these dyes but also provides a quick access route towards highly functionalized dyes that have potential optoelectronic applications. Increased solubility of tetra(triisopropylsilyl)acetylenyl PDIs in organic solvents greatly enhances their utility for further derivatization.     

Anti-fibrosis attributes: UHPLC-MS/MS-based pharmacokinetics profiling of a novel autotaxin inhibitor with excellent in vivo efficacy in rat

3,4-Difluorobenzyl(1-ethyl-5-(4-((4-hydroxypiperidin-1-yl)-methyl)thiazol-2-yl)-1H-indol-3-yl)carbamate (NAI59), a small molecule with outstanding therapeutic effectiveness to anti-pulmonary fibrosis, was developed as an autotaxin inhibitor candidate compound. To evaluate the pharmacokinetics and plasma protein binding of NAI59, a UPLC–MS/MS method was developed to quantify NAI59 in plasma and phosphate-buffered saline. The calibration curve linearity ranged from 9.95 to 1990.00 ng/mL in plasma. The accuracy was −6.8 to 5.9%, and the intra- and inter-day precision was within 15%. The matrix effect and recovery, as well as dilution integrity, were within the criteria. The chromatographic and mass spectrometric conditions were also feasible to determine phosphate-buffered saline samples, and it has been proved that this method exhibits good precision and accuracy in the range of 9.95–497.50 ng/mL in phosphate-buffered saline. This study is the first to determine the pharmacokinetics, absolute bioavailability, and plasma protein binding of NAI59 in rats using this established method. Therefore, the pharmacokinetic profiles of NAI59 showed a dose-dependent relationship after oral administration, and the absolute bioavailability in rats was 6.3%. In addition, the results of protein binding showed that the combining capacity of NAI59 with plasma protein attained 90% and increased with the increase in drug concentration.     

Portable single-sided NMR measurements at variable temperatures: Implementation of a thermo-controlled device and application to the heating of bread dough

A temperature control unit was implemented to vary the temperature of samples studied on a commercial Mobile Universal Surface Explorer nuclear magnetic resonance (MOUSE-NMR) apparatus. The device was miniaturized to fit the maximum MOUSE sampling depth (25 mm). It was constituted by a sample holder sandwiched between two heat exchangers placed below and above the sample. Air was chosen as the fluid to control the temperature at the bottom of the sample, at the interface between the NMR probe and the sample holder, in order to gain space. The upper surface of the sample was regulated by the circulation of water inside a second heat exchanger placed above the sample holder. The feasibility of using such a device was demonstrated first on pure water and then on several samples of bread dough with different water contents. For this, T1 relaxation times were measured at various temperatures and depths and were then compared with those acquired with a conventional compact closed-magnet spectrometer. Discussion of results was based on biochemical transformations in bread dough (starch gelatinization and gluten heat denaturation). It was demonstrated that, within a certain water level range, and because of the low magnetic field strength of the MOUSE, a linear relationship could be established between T1 relaxation times and the local temperature in the dough sample.     

Unconventional Secondary Structure Mimics: Ladder-Rungs

Secondary structures tend to be recognizable because they have repeating structural motifs, but mimicry of these does not have to follow such well-defined patterns. Bioinformatics studies to match side-chain orientations of a novel hydantoin triazole chemotype ( 1 ) to protein-protein interfaces revealed it tends to align well across parallel and antiparallel sheets, like rungs on a ladder. One set of these overlays was observed for the protein-protein interaction uPA⋅uPAR. Consequently, chemotype 1 was made with appropriate side-chains to mimic uPA at this interface. Biophysical assays indicate these compounds did in fact bind uPAR, and elicit cellular responses that affected invasion, migration, and wound healing.     

Influence of Polarity and Activation Energy in Microwave–Assisted Organic Synthesis (MAOS)

The aim of this work was to determine the parameters that have decisive roles in microwave-assisted reactions and to develop a model, using computational chemistry, to predict a priori the type of reactions that can be improved under microwaves. For this purpose, a computational study was carried out on a variety of reactions, which have been reported to be improved under microwave irradiation. This comprises six types of reactions. The outcomes obtained in this study indicate that the most influential parameters are activation energy, enthalpy, and the polarity of all the species that participate. In addition to this, in most cases, slower reacting systems observe a much greater improvement under microwave irradiation. Furthermore, for these reactions, the presence of a polar component in the reaction (solvent, reagent, susceptor, etc.) is necessary for strong coupling with the electromagnetic radiation. We also quantified that an activation energy of 20–30 kcal mol⁻¹ and a polarity (μ) between 7–20 D of the species involved in the process is required to obtain significant improvements under microwave irradiation.     

Functional Binding Surface of a β‐Hairpin VEGF Receptor Targeting Peptide Determined by NMR Spectroscopy in Living Cells

In this study, the functional interaction of HPLW peptide with VEGFR2 (Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Receptor 2) was determined by using fast ¹⁵N‐edited NMR spectroscopic experiments. To this aim, ¹⁵N uniformly labelled HPLW has been added to Porcine Aortic Endothelial Cells. The acquisition of isotope‐edited NMR spectroscopic experiments, including ¹⁵N relaxation measurements, allowed a precise characterization of the in‐cell HPLW epitope recognized by VEGFR2.     

Direct Transformation of Arenols Based on C—O Activation

In the view of substrate availability, atomic efficiency and cost, directly using arenols as coupling partners in cross‐coupling, would be one of the most attractive goals. Up to date, many efforts have been made to activate the C—O bond of phenols with different strategies, for example, through in‐situ formed intermediates, through a catalytic reductive dearomatization‐condensation‐rearomatization sequence or catalytic deoxygenation. In this review, we summarized recent advances in cross‐couplings of arenols as the electrophiles via C—O activation.     

A Biosilification Fusion Protein for a ‘Self‐immobilising’ Sarcosine Oxidase Amperometric Enzyme Biosensor

Monomeric sarcosine oxidase (mSOx) fusion with the silaffin peptide, R5, designed previously for easy protein production in low resource areas, was used in a biosilification process to form an enzyme layer electrode biosensor. mSOx is a low activity enzyme (10–20 U/mg) requiring high amounts of enzyme to obtain an amperometric biosensor signal, in the clinically useful range <1 mM sarcosine, especially since the K_m is >10 mM. An amperometric biosensor model was fitted to experimental data to investigate dynamic range. mSOx constructs were designed with 6H (6×histidine) and R5 (silaffin) peptide tags and compared with native mSOx. Glutaraldehyde (GA) cross‐linked proteins retained ～5 % activity for mSOx and mSOx‐6H and only 0.5 % for mSOx‐R5. In contrast R5 catalysed biosilification on (3‐mercaptopropyl) trimethoxysilane (MPTMS) and tetramethyl orthosilicate (TMOS) particles created a ‘self‐immobilisation’ matrix retaining 40 % and 76 % activity respectively. The TMOS matrix produced a thick layer (>500 μm) on a glassy carbon electrode with a mediated current due to sarcosine in the clinical range for sarcosinemia (0–1 mM). The mSOx‐R5 fusion protein was also used to catalyse biosilification in the presence of creatinase and creatininase, entrapping all three enzymes. A mediated GC enzyme linked current was obtained with dynamic range available for creatinine determination of 0.1–2 mM for an enzyme layer ～800 nm.