Diaminotrehalose-capped β-cyclodextrin, a new member of hemispherodextrins: Synthesis, thermodynamic and spectroscopic characterization and its exploitation in chiral electrokinetic chromatography

Chiral separation of terbutaline and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs by using a new lysine-bridged hemispherodextrin in capillary electrophoresis

A method for the separation of a mixture of terbutaline and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs was developed using capillary electrophoresis with a new hemispherodextrin, ad hoc designed, the lysine - bridged hemispherodextrin (THLYSH). The use of lysine residues to bridge the trehalose capping unit moiety to the cyclodextrin cavity gives rise to a receptor with two long chains with amine nitrogen atoms, whose charge can be easily tuned as a function of the solution pH. The new hemispherodextrin was accurately characterised by ESI-MS and NMR spectroscopy, also highlighting its protonation behaviour. Circular dichroism and ESR spectroscopy measurements were also carried out to test its inclusion ability towards anthraquinone-3-sulfonate and its metal coordination ability towards copper(II) ion, respectively. Analogously to the other hemispherodextrins, the main skill of this new derivative lies in its chiral selector properties, as shown by the separation of the enantiomeric pairs of terbutaline and ibuprofen, flurbiprofen, suprofen and tiaprofenic acid by capillary electrophoresis. The focused use of the solution equilibria involved in the separations made it possible to understand the phenomena occurring in solution, and to finely tune the charge status of the receptor. In this way the chiral separation of the racemic mixture was successfully obtained, even if the receptor was individually used, differently by the other hemispherodextrins previously studied whose chiral separation capabilities are present only if used as binary mixtures.

Trehalose-8-hydroxyquinoline conjugates as antioxidant modulators of Aβ aggregation

The conjugation of trehalose with 8-hydroxyquinoline induces synergistic effects that lead to good antiaggregant ability. The difunctionalization of trehalose produces a better-performing antiaggregant compound.

Copper(II)-chelating homocarnosine glycoconjugate as a new multifunctional compound

Homocarnosine is an endogenous dipeptide distributed in cerebral regions and cerebrospinal fluid. Homocarnosine may serve as an antioxidant, free radical scavenger, neurotransmitter, buffering system and metal chelating agent, especially for copper(II) and zinc(II). The homeostasis of homocarnosine is regulated by carnosinases; the serum-circulating isoform of these metallodipeptidases partially hydrolyses homocarnosine in the blood. The enzyme activity is also inhibited by homocarnosine itself in a dose-dependent manner. We synthesized a new multifunctional homocarnosine derivative with trehalose, a disaccharide that possesses several beneficial properties, among which the inhibition of protein aggregation (i.e. Aβ amyloid and polyglutamine proteins) involved in widespread neurodegenerative disorders. We studied the copper(II) binding features of the new conjugate by means of potentiometric and spectroscopic techniques (UV-visible and circular dichroism) and the superoxide dismutase-like activity of the copper(II) complexes with homocarnosine and its trehalose conjugate was evaluated. The inhibitory effect of the new homocarnosine derivative on the carnosinase activity and its effects on Aβ aggregation were also investigated.