Hydrogen-bond-directed highly stereoselective synthesis of Z-enamides via Pd-catalyzed oxidative amidation of conjugated olefins

An efficient procedure for the preparation of Z-enamides has been developed, involving the reaction of primary amides with conjugated olefins using a Pd/Cu cocatalyst system. It was found that certain additives, such as phosphine oxides and phosphonates, increase the efficiency of the reaction in nonpolar solvents under an oxygen atmosphere, thus producing a variety of Z-enamides in high yields with excellent stereoselectivity under Wacker-type conditions. The oxidative amidation reaction has a broad substrate scope, allowing alkyl, aryl, and vinyl amides to react with olefins conjugated with ester, amide, phosphonate, and ketone groups. The notable preference for the formation of Z-enamides is presumably due to the presence of an intramolecular hydrogen bond between the amido proton and the carbonyl oxygen. The energy difference between two plausible sigma-alkylamidopalladium intermediates, leading to Z- and E-isomeric enamide products, respectively, was calculated to be 4.18 kcal/mol. The beta-hydride elimination step is assumed to be a stereochemistry-determining step in the overall oxidative amidation process, with the energy level for the transition state leading to the Z-enamide being 5.35 kcal/mol lower than that leading to the E-isomer. The efficiency of photoisomerization between Z- and E-enamides was observed to be largely dependent on the substrates' substituents, and certain E-enamides could be obtained in synthetically useful yields by photoirradiation of Z-isomers. Synthetic application of the present method was successfully demonstrated by a direct formal synthesis of cis-CJ-15,801.

Unusual ferromagnetic couplings in single end-to-end azide-bridged cobalt(II) and nickel(II) chain systems

Two new one-dimensional single azide-bridged metal(II) compounds [[M(5-methylpyrazole)4(N3)]n](ClO4)n(H2O)n [M = Co (1a), Ni (2a)] were prepared by treating an M(II) ion with stoichiometric amount of sodium azide in the presence of four equivalents of the 3(5)-methylpyrazole ligand. The isostructural compounds 1a and 2a crystallize in the monoclinic space group P2(1)/n. The azide bridging ligands have a unique end-to-end coordination mode that brings two neighboring metal centers into a cis-position with respect to the azide unit to form single end-to-end azide-bridged cobalt(II) and nickel(II) chains. The two neighboring metal atoms at inversion centers adopt octahedral environments with four equatorial 3(5)-methylpyrazole ligands and two axial azide bridges. Two adjacent equatorial least-squares planes form dihedral angles of 60.5 degrees and 60.6 degrees for Co and Ni, respectively. In addition, the metal-azide-metal units form large M-N3-M torsion angles, which are magnetically important geometrical parameters, of 71.6 degrees for M=Co and 75.7 degrees for M=Ni. It should also be noted that the M-N-N angles associated with end-to-end azide group, another magnetically important structural parameter, fall into the experimentally observed range of 120-140 degrees as 128.3(3) and 147.8(3) degrees for cobalt species and 128.4(2) and 146.1(3) degrees for nickel species; these values deviate from the theoretical value of around 164 degrees at which the incidental orthogonality is achieved under the torsion angle of 0 degrees. The compounds 1a and 2a have unique magnetic properties of ferromagnetism, zero-field splitting, and spin canting. The MO calculations indicate that the quasiorthogonality between the magnetic orbitals of metal ions and the p atomic orbitals of the bridging azide is possible in the observed structures and leads to the ferromagnetism. The spin canting related to the perturbation of ferromagnetism arises from the magnetic anisotropy and antisymmetric interactions judged by the structural parameters of the zero-field splitting and the tilted MN4 planes in a chain. The enhancement of magnetic interactions was accomplished by dehydrating the chain compounds to afford two soft magnets with critical temperature T(C) and coercive field of 2 K and 35 G for 1b and 2.3 K and 20 G for 2b, respectively.

Breast tomosynthesis and digital mammography: a comparison of diagnostic accuracy

OBJECTIVE

Our aim was to compare the ability of radiologists to detect breast cancers using one-view breast tomosynthesis (BT) and two-view digital mammography (DM) in an enriched population of diseased patients and benign and/or healthy patients.

METHODS

All participants gave informed consent. The BT and DM examinations were performed with about the same average glandular dose to the breast. The study population comprised patients with subtle signs of malignancy seen on DM and/or ultrasonography. Ground truth was established by pathology, needle biopsy and/or by 1-year follow-up by mammography, which retrospectively resulted in 89 diseased breasts (1 breast per patient) with 95 malignant lesions and 96 healthy or benign breasts. Two experienced radiologists, who were not participants in the study, determined the locations of the malignant lesions. Five radiologists, experienced in mammography, interpreted the cases independently in a free-response study. The data were analysed by the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) and jackknife alternative free-response ROC (JAFROC) methods, regarding both readers and cases as random effects.

RESULTS

The diagnostic accuracy of BT was significantly better than that of DM (JAFROC: p=0.0031, ROC: p=0.0415). The average sensitivity of BT was higher than that of DM (∼90% vs ∼79%; 95% confidence interval of difference: 0.036, 0.108) while the average false-positive fraction was not significantly different (95% confidence interval of difference: -0.117, 0.010).

CONCLUSION

The diagnostic accuracy of BT was superior to DM in an enriched population.

Synthetic utility of ammonium salts in a Cu-catalyzed three-component reaction as a facile coupling partner

Ammonium salts were found to be a convenient and inexpensive reagent in the Cu-catalyzed three-component reaction with terminal alkynes and sulfonyl or phosphoryl azides leading to N-unprotected amidines. Thus obtained amidines bearing 2-bromobenzenesulfonyl moiety were efficiently cyclized by the Cu-catalyzed intramolecular N-arylation to give an important pharmacophore skeleton of 2H-1,2,4-benzothiadiazine 1,1-dioxides. Conveniently, two tandem catalytic procedures could be readily operated in one pot.

o-Carborane-assisted Lewis acidity enhancement of triarylboranes

The introduction of an o-carborane cage into the triarylborane significantly enhances the Lewis acidity of the boron atom leading to large increase in fluoride ion affinity.

CD44-deficient mice exhibit enhanced hepatitis after concanavalin A injection: evidence for involvement of CD44 in activation-induced cell death

Administration of Con A induces severe injury to hepatocytes in mice and is considered to be a model for human hepatitis. In the current study, we investigated the role of CD44 in Con A-induced hepatitis. Intravenous administration of Con A (20 mg/kg) caused 100% mortality in C57BL/6 CD44-knockout (KO) mice, although it was not lethal in C57BL/6 CD44 wild-type (WT) mice. Administration of lower doses of Con A (12 mg/kg body weight) into CD44 WT mice induced hepatitis as evident from increased plasma aspartate aminotransferase levels accompanied by active infiltration of mononuclear cells and neutrophils, and significant induction of apoptosis in the liver. Interestingly, CD44 KO mice injected with similar doses of Con A exhibited more severe acute suppurative hepatitis. Transfer of spleen cells from Con A-injected CD44 KO mice into CD44 WT mice induced higher levels of hepatitis when compared with transfer of similar cells from CD44 WT mice into CD44 WT mice. The increased hepatitis seen in CD44 KO mice was accompanied by increased production of cytokines such as TNF-alpha, IL-2 and IFN-gamma, but not Fas or Fas ligand. The increased susceptibility of CD44 KO mice to hepatitis correlated with the observation that T cells from CD44 KO mice were more resistant to activation-induced cell death when compared with the CD44 WT mice. Together, these data demonstrate that activated T cells use CD44 to undergo apoptosis, and dysregulation in this pathway could lead to increased pathogenesis in a number of diseases, including hepatitis.

One-Dimensional Octacyanomolybdate-Based Cu(II)−Mo(V) Bimetallic Assembly with a Novel Rope-Ladder Chain Structure

A new type of one-dimensional cyanide-bridged Cu(II)--Mo(V) bimetallic assembly, [Cu(cyclam)](3)[Mo(CN)(8)](2)x5H(2)O (cyclam = 1,4,8,11-tetraazacyclotetradecane), was prepared by self-assembling Mo(CN)(8)(3)(-) and Cu(cyclam)(2+) ions in a 2:3 stoichiometric ratio. The overall molecular view is delineated as a novel rope-ladder chain structure. It displays a dominant ferromagnetic behavior within a pentanuclear Cu(3)Mo(2) unit (J(p) = 3.88 cm(-)(1)). Interunit ferromagnetic interactions (J(c) = -0.03 cm(-)(1)) through a longer magnetic pathway of Cu--Mo and weak antiferromagnetic couplings (zJ' = -0.46 cm(-)(1)) resulting from interchain interactions are obtained.

High-Dimensional Manganese(II) Compounds with Noncovalent and/or Covalent Bonds Derived from Flexible Ligands: Self-Assembly and Structural Transformation

A hydrogen- and covalent-bonded 3D array, [Mn(bpe)(H(2)O)(4)](n)()(ClO(4))(2)(n)()(bpe)(4)(n)()(H(2)O)(2)(n)() (2) [bpe = 1,2-bis(4-pyridyl)ethane], a covalent-bonded 3D network, [Mn(bpe)(1.5)(H(2)O)(tp)](n)()(H(2)O)(n)() (3) [tp = terephthalate], and a covalent-bonded 2D sheet, [Mn(bpe)(N(3))(2)](n)() (4), have been synthesized and characterized by spectroscopic data and single-crystal X-ray diffraction studies. Complex 2 contains two types of packing bpe molecules: One type of bpe molecules (=N31-bpe and symmetry-related bpe) run along the chain direction, and the other type of bpe molecules (=N11-bpe and N21-bpe) are slanted to the chain linked by bridging bpe (=N1-bpe). The chain is coupled with hydrogen bonds via N31-bpe, while hydrogen bonds through packing bpe molecules of N11- and N21-bpe sew the chains, leading to a 3D interlocking network structure. The bpe ligands in 3 have an anti conformation for the bridging bpe and a gauche conformation for the capping bpe with a dihedral angle between the two pyridyl rings of 44.5 degrees. The tp ligand acts as a linker of three metal ions through the unidentate and bridging modes, leading to the formation of a 2D layer. The final molecular dimensionality in 3 is determined from adding bpe ligands to the 2D sheet connected by tp ligands, resulting in a covalent-bonded 3D array where the bridging bpe ligands link the tp-bridged layers. The manganese(II) center in 4 consists of four equatorial azido nitrogen atoms and two axial bpe nitrogen atoms. The one-dimensional chains formed by two azido bridging ligands are interconnected by bpe ligands, each of which has two pyridyl rings with a dihedral angle of 67 degrees, leading to a two-dimensional sheet. Variable-temperature magnetic susceptibility data of 2 and 4 have been fitted to the infinite-chain model (H = -J summation operatorS(A)(i)().S(A)(i)()(+1)) derived by Fisher under the molecular field approximation (J '). Obtained exchange parameters are J = -0.083 cm(-)(1), g = 2.0 for 2 and J = -12.5 cm(-)(1), g = 2.0, J ' = 1.3 cm(-)(1) for 4. In the case of 3, the magnetic nature was interpreted by the dimer model (H = -JS(1).S(2)), affording parameters J = -0.96 cm(-)(1), g = 1.99, J ' = -0.005 cm(-)(1). MO calculations on a hypothetical dimeric unit (NH(3))(5)Mn-bpe-Mn(NH(3))(5) are discussed to evaluate the magnetic nature for the bpe-bridged system 4.

An estrogen-binding protein and endogenous ligand in Saccharomyces cerevisiae: possible hormone receptor system

A protein macromolecule in the cytosol of the unicellular eukaryotic yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae selectively binds the vertebrate estrogen hormone 17 beta-estradiol with high affinity. Lipid extracts of the yeast cells or the conditioned growth medium yield a substance that can bind competitively to the tritiated estradiol-binding sites in the yeast and to mammalian estrogen receptors. These findings suggest that the binding protein may be a primitive hormone receptor and that the lipid-extractable substance represents the endogenous ligand.

Evidence for estradiol-induced apoptosis and dysregulated T cell maturation in the thymus

In an attempt to delineate the immunological alterations that may occur following treatment with estrogen, groups of C57BL/6 mice were treated with 75mg/kg body weight of beta-estradiol-17-valerate (E2) or the vehicle. The thymus from these mice were harvested on days 1, 4 and 7 following treatment. The thymocytes from E2-treated mice when cultured in vitro for 24h, showed increased levels of apoptosis when compared to controls. The apoptosis was demonstrable by both TUNEL assay and AnnexinV/propidium iodide (PI) staining. Also, thymic atrophy and increased apoptosis of thymocytes when cultured in vitro were seen when lower doses of E2 (5mg/kg) were administered. The thymus from E2-treated mice on days 4 and 7 also showed a decrease in the percentage of CD4(+)CD8(+) (DP) T cells and an increase in the percentage of CD4(-)CD8(-) (DN), CD4(+) and CD8(+) T cells. However, the total cellularity of all T cell subsets in the thymus was decreased following E2 treatment. Earlier studies from our laboratory and elsewhere have demonstrated that in thymocytes undergoing apoptosis, there is increased expression of surface markers including CD3, alphabetaTCR and CD44 with a simultaneous decrease in the expression of J11d. Similar changes were observed in thymocytes from mice on days 4 and 7 following E2 treatment. These data therefore confirmed that the thymocytes were indeed undergoing apoptosis following E2 treatment. Together, our studies suggest for the first time that estrogen may induce thymic atrophy by triggering apoptosis.

Novel Chlorotitanium Complexes Containing Chiral Tridentate Schiff Base Ligands for Ring-Opening Polymerization of Lactide

The selective synthesis of tri- and dichlorotitanium species containing chiral tridentate Schiff base ligands, derived from (1R,2S)-(-)-1-aminoindanol, was achieved by changing the solvent. Single-crystal X-ray analyses reveal that chlorotitanium complexes are monomeric and octahedral with the meridional occupation of the Schiff base. Although the chlorotitanium complexes lack typical initiating groups such as alkoxides or amides, they are effective catalysts for the controlled ring-opening polymerization of L-lactide (L-LA) as shown by the linearity of the molecular weight vs [L-LA]/[Ti] ratio plot as well as very narrow polydispersity index values.

Conjugated enynes as a new type of substrates for olefin metathesis

[reaction: see text] It has been demonstrated for the first time that conjugated enynes can be employed as a facile substrate in olefin metathesis with the use of a bispyridine-substituted ruthenium benzylidene catalyst. Cross-metathesis of the enynes with alkenes turns out to proceed with preferential formation of (Z)-isomers over (E)-isomers up to >25:1 in moderate to good yields. The intramolecular version of conjugated enynes affords novel butadienyl cycloalkenes, which are a highly useful synthetic building blocks, in acceptable yields.

Notable Coordination Effects of 2-Pyridinesulfonamides Leading to Efficient Aziridination and Selective Aziridine Ring Opening

[reaction: see text] We have developed, on the basis of a chelation-strategy, an efficient copper-catalyzed aziridination protocol with the use of 5-methyl-2-pyridinesulfonamide and PhI(OAc)(2). The reaction proceeds smoothly under mild conditions to give aziridines in moderate to good yields in the absence of external ligands or bases. The coordination-assisted approach offers the additional benefits that efficient deprotection of the N-substituent and selective aziridine ring-opening are effectively achieved.