Publications by authors named "Alexandre Yokochi"

Hydrocarbon processing using plasmas has tremendous potential, yet there still exist many uncertainties pertaining to practical operation over long durations. Previously, it has been demonstrated that a nonthermal plasma operating in a DC glow regime can transform methane into C2 species (acetylene, ethylene, ethane) in a microreactor. Using a DC glow regime in a microchannel reactor allows for lower power consumption, at the expense of greater consequence of fouling.

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Although plastic is considered an indispensable commodity, plastic pollution is a major concern around the world due to its rapid accumulation rate, complexity, and lack of management. Some political policies, such as the Chinese import ban on plastic waste, force us to think about a long-term solution to eliminate plastic wastes. Converting waste plastics into liquid and gaseous fuels is considered a promising technique to eliminate the harm to the environment and decrease the dependence on fossil fuels, and recycling waste plastic by converting it into monomers is another effective solution to the plastic pollution problem.

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Divalent nickel (Ni(2+)), Cu(II)EDTA, methyl orange, and dichromate were used to investigate diffusion from hydrated silica sol-gel monoliths. The objective was to examine diffusion of compounds on a size regime relevant to supporting biological components encapsulated within silica gel prepared in a biologically compatible process space with no post-gelation treatments. With an initial sample set, gels prepared from tetraethoxysilane were explored in a factorial design with Ni(2+) as the tracer, varying water content during hydrolysis, acid catalyst present during hydrolysis, and the final concentration of silica.

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Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) has been reported to participate in Michael addition reactions in vitro to form vitamin C conjugates with alpha,beta-unsaturated aldehydes, such as acrolein. This study shows evidence for the formation and metabolism of the vitamin C conjugate of acrolein (AscACR) in cultured human monocytic THP-1 cells exposed to acrolein diacetate. By using (18)O and (13)C labeling in combination with liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry, AscACR was shown to undergo hydrolytic conversion of the ascorbyl lactone into an intermediate carboxylic acid.

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Tanikolide seco-acid 2 and tanikolide dimer 3, the latter a novel and selective SIRT2 inhibitor, were isolated from the Madagascar marine cyanobacterium Lyngbya majuscula. The structure of 2, isolated as the pure R enantiomer, was elucidated by X-ray experiment in conjunction with NMR and optical rotation data, whereas the depside molecular structure of 3 was initially thought to be a meso compound as established by NMR, MS, and chiral HPLC analyses. Subsequent total synthesis of the three tanikolide dimer stereoisomers 4, 5, and ent-5, followed by chiral GC-MS comparisons with the natural product, showed it to be exclusively the R,R-isomer 5.

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Brine shrimp toxicity and TLC analysis guided the isolation of five new and biologically active meroditerpenoids [2beta,3alpha-epitaondiol (1), flabellinol (2), flabellinone (3), stypotriolaldehyde (4), and stypohydroperoxide (5)] along with five known compounds from the marine brown alga Stypopodium flabelliforme collected in Papua New Guinea. The planar structures of compounds 1-5 were determined by extensive spectroscopic analysis (1D and 2D NMR, LRMS, HRMS, IR, and UV), while relative configuration was determined by 1D and 2D NOE experiments. X-ray crystallography confirmed the relative configuration of 2beta,3alpha-epitaondiol (1), and the modified Mosher's ester method was used to establish its absolute configuration.

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Solvolysis of asymmetric homoallylic triflates bearing a terminal stannyl substituent gives disubstituted cyclopropanes and bicyclopropanes bearing differentiated termini in high enantiopurity.

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A vanadium-catalyzed method for the oxidation of prochiral aryl, allylic selenides with tandem [2,3] sigmatropic rearrangement has been developed. This protocol has been screened on a series of substrates to test for its generality and effectiveness. The applicability of this methodology to the synthesis of enantiomerically enriched allylic alcohols has been studied on a series of chiral oxazole-containing systems with a diastereomeric ratio (d.

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The efficient synthesis of the C(19)-C(26) subunit of amphidinolide B(1) and B(2) has been completed using a boron-mediated aldol reaction. The synthesis of the C(19)-C(26) subunit of amphidinolide B(3) has also been accomplished through an unexpected anti aldol reaction using a titanium-mediated process. In addition, the first reported examples of a stereochemical discrepancy between the Evans' boron-mediated oxazolidinone and the Crimmins' titanium-mediated oxazolidinethione aldol reactions are disclosed.

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Hectochlorin (1) was isolated from marine isolates of Lyngbya majuscula collected from Hector Bay, Jamaica, and Boca del Drago Beach, Bocas del Toro, Panama. The planar structure was deduced by one- and two-dimensional NMR spectroscopy. X-ray crystallography was used to determine the absolute stereochemistry of hectochlorin as 2S,3S,14S,22S.

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