Project description:Naphthalene and its alkyl-substituted derivatives are among the most abundant polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in environmental and human exposure studies, yet their developmental toxicity and mode of action remain poorly understood due to challenges in testing of semi-volatile compounds. This study developed a vial based high through-put method to effectively assess the activity of naphthalenes and a set of 24 alkyl-substituted naphthalenes. Early life stage zebrafish were exposed to a concentration series of each chemical (0-50 µM) in rotating sealed glass vials to minimize volatilization. Benchmark concentration (BMC50) values were calculated for morphological endpoints and lowest effect levels were determined for behavioral effects. The data were assessed for evidence of a narcotic mode of action using body burden measurements for select chemicals and logKow modeling. Targeted transcriptomics at a single concentration and timepoint as well as in silico molecular docking were conducted to generate mode of action hypothesis. The vial method enabled detection of highly variable developmental toxicity not previously observed using standard 96-well plate exposures. LogKow and body burden were poor predictors of toxicity, suggesting a non-narcotic mode of action. Transcriptomic analysis revealed a limited but notable set of differentially expressed genes, with evidence for the disruption of glucocorticoid signaling pathways. Molecular docking identified potential protein targets (e.g., CYP1A2, NT5E, FOLR1) that may mediate observed effects. This study demonstrates the importance of appropriate exposure methods for semi-volatile compounds, reveals structure-dependent toxicity among alkyl-substituted naphthalenes, and provides a foundation for further mechanistic studies and improved risk assessment of alkyl-substituted PAHs.
Project description:A series of S-alkyl substituted thioglycolurils was prepared through the alkylation of corresponding thioglycolurils with halogenoalkanes and tested for their fungicidal activity against six phytopathogenic fungi from different taxonomic classes: Venturia inaequalis, Rhizoctonia solani, Fusarium oxysporum, Fusarium moniliforme, Bipolaris sorokiniana, and Sclerotinia sclerotiorum, and two pathogenic yeasts: Candida albicans and Cryptococcus neoformans var. grubii. A number of S-alkyl substituted thioglycolurils exhibited high activity against Venturia inaequalis and Rhizoctonia solani (85-100% mycelium growth inhibition), and moderate activity against other phytopathogens. S-Ethyl substituted thioglycolurils possessed a high activity against Candida albicans. Additionally, the hemolytic and cytotoxic properties of promising derivatives were determined using human red blood cells and human embryonic kidney cells, respectively. Two S-ethyl derivatives possessed both low cytotoxicity against normal human cells and high fungicidal activity against Candida albicans.
Project description:The reaction of 3-substituted indoles with dehydroalanine (Dha) derivatives under Lewis acid-mediated conditions has been investigated. The formation of 2-substituted tryptophans is proposed to occur through a selective alkylative dearomatization-cyclization followed by C3- to C2-alkyl migration and rearomatization.
Project description:This report details a general and enantioselective means for the synthesis of alkyl-substituted aziridines. This protocol offers a direct route for the synthesis of alkyl-substituted chiral aziridines from achiral starting materials. Readily accessed allylic hydroxylamine esters undergo copper hydride-catalyzed intramolecular hydroamination with a high degree of regio- and enantiocontrol to afford the aziridine products in good to excellent yields in highly enantioenriched form. The utility of the products derived from this method is further demonstrated through derivatization of the chiral aziridine products to obtain a diverse array of functionalized enantioenriched amines.
Project description:A Brønsted base-catalyzed reaction of nitroalkanes with alkyl electrophiles provides indole heterocycles substituted at C3 bearing a sec-alkyl group with good enantioselectivity (up to 90% ee). Denitration by hydrogenolysis provides a product with equally high ee. An indolenine intermediate is implicated in the addition step, and surprisingly, water cosolvent was found to have a beneficial effect in this step, leading to a one-pot protocol for elimination/enantioselective addition using PBAM, a bis(amidine) chiral nonracemic base.
Project description:Stereoselective methods for the synthesis of tetrahydro-ß-carbolines are of significant interest due to the broad spectrum of biological activity of the target molecules. In the plant kingdom, strictosidine synthases catalyze the C-C coupling through a Pictet-Spengler reaction of tryptamine and secologanin to exclusively form the (S)-configured tetrahydro-ß-carboline (S)-strictosidine. Investigating the biocatalytic Pictet-Spengler reaction of tryptamine with small-molecular-weight aliphatic aldehydes revealed that the strictosidine synthases give unexpectedly access to the (R)-configured product. Developing an efficient expression method for the enzyme allowed the preparative transformation of various aldehydes, giving the products with up to >98 % ee. With this tool in hand, a chemoenzymatic two-step synthesis of (R)-harmicine was achieved, giving (R)-harmicine in 67 % overall yield in optically pure form.
Project description:Field-effect transistors (FETs) were fabricated with a thin film of 3,10-ditetradecylpicene, picene-(C14H29)2, formed using either a thermal deposition or a deposition from solution (solution process). All FETs showed p-channel normally-off characteristics. The field-effect mobility, μ, in a picene-(C14H29)2 thin-film FET with PbZr0.52Ti0.48O3 (PZT) gate dielectric reached ~21 cm2 V(-1) s(-1), which is the highest μ value recorded for organic thin-film FETs; the average μ value (<μ>) evaluated from twelve FET devices was 14(4) cm2 V(-1) s(-1). The <μ> values for picene-(C14H29)2 thin-film FETs with other gate dielectrics such as SiO2, Ta2O5, ZrO2 and HfO2 were greater than 5 cm2 V(-1) s(-1), and the lowest absolute threshold voltage, |Vth|, (5.2 V) was recorded with a PZT gate dielectric; the average |Vth| for PZT gate dielectric is 7(1) V. The solution-processed picene-(C14H29)2 FET was also fabricated with an SiO2 gate dielectric, yielding μ=3.4×10(-2) cm2 V(-1) s(-1). These results verify the effectiveness of picene-(C14H29)2 for electronics applications.
Project description:Several 2-anilino- and 2-benzylamino-3-deaza-6-oxopurines [3-deazaguanines] and selected 8-methyl and 8-aza analogs have been synthesized. 7-Substituted N(2)-(3-ethyl-4-methylphenyl)-3-deazaguanines were potent and selective inhibitors of Gram+ bacterial DNA polymerase (pol) IIIC, and 7-substituted N(2)-(3,4-dichlorobenzyl)-3-deazaguanines were potent inhibitors of both pol IIIC and pol IIIE from Gram+ bacteria, but weakly inhibited pol IIIE from Gram- bacteria. Potent enzyme inhibitors in both classes inhibited the growth of Gram+ bacteria (MICs 2.5-10μg/ml), and were inactive against the Gram- organism Escherichia coli. Several derivatives had moderate protective activity in Staphylococcus aureus-infected mice.
Project description:6-chloro-5-ethyl-, n-propyl- and isopropyluracils 5a-c were efficiently prepared from the corresponding 5-alkybarbituric acids 3a-c via treatment with phosphorus oxychloride and N,N-dimethylaniline to yield the corresponding 5-alkyl-2,4,6-trichloro-pyrimidines 4a-c, which were selectively hydrolyzed by heating in 10% aqueous sodium hydroxide for 30 minutes. The reaction of compounds 5a-c with 1-substituted piperazines yielded the corresponding 5-alkyl-6-(4-substituted-1-piperazinyl)uracils 6a-j. The target 8-alkyltetrazolo[1,5-f]pyrimidine-5,7(3H,6H)-diones 7a-c were prepared via the reaction of 5a-c with sodium azide. Compounds 6a-j and 7a-c were tested for in vitro activities against a panel of Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria and the yeast-like pathogenic fungus Candida albicans. Compound 6h displayed potent broad-spectrum antibacterial activity, while compound 6b showed moderate activity against the Gram-positive bacteria. All the tested compounds were practically inactive against Candida albicans.