Allylation of Lactol in Water.

We developed a water-promoted cross-coupling of 3-hydroxyisobenzofuran-1(3)-ones and allylic boronates under biocompatible conditions. This approach facilitates the synthesis of diverse 3-allylic phthalides with high yields and exceptional selectivity in a metal-free manner. The versatility and practicality of this protocol underscore its significant potential for drug development and applications in medicinal chemistry.

Uracil-Cu(i) catalyst: allylation of cyclopropanols with Morita-Baylis-Hillman alcohols under water-tolerant conditions.

Inspired by the high affinity of copper with DNA and RNA, a uracil-copper catalytic system was developed to promote ring-opening allylation of cyclopropanols with allylic alcohols under water-tolerant conditions. A new C-OH bond-breaking model can well resolve the trade-off between the need for acidic activators for C(allyl)-OH bond cleavage and the demand for strong basic conditions for generating homoenolates. Therefore, Morita-Baylis-Hillman alcohols, rather than their pre-activated versions, could be incorporated directly into dehydrative cross-coupling with cyclopropanols delivering water as the only by-product.

Sulfination of Unactivated Allylic Alcohols via Sulfinate-Sulfone Rearrangement.

A dehydrative cross-coupling of unactivated allylic alcohols with sulfinic acids was achieved under catalyst-free conditions. This reaction proceeded via allyl sulfination and concomitant allyl sulfinate-sulfone rearrangement. Various allylic sulfones could be obtained in good to excellent yields with water as the only byproduct.

Blood transcriptomic biomarkers of alcohol consumption and cardiovascular disease risk factors: the Framingham Heart Study.

Background: The relations of alcohol consumption and gene expression remain to be elucidated.

Materials And Methods: We examined cross-sectional associations between alcohol consumption and whole blood derived gene expression levels and between alcohol-associated genes and obesity, hypertension, and diabetes in 5531 Framingham Heart Study (FHS) participants.

Results: We identified 25 alcohol-associated genes.

Comparison of mitochondrial DNA sequences from whole blood and lymphoblastoid cell lines.

Lymphoblastoid cell lines (LCLs) provide an unlimited source of genomic DNA for genetic studies. Here, we compared mtDNA sequence variants, heteroplasmic or homplasmic, between LCL (sequenced by mitoRCA-seq method) and whole blood samples (sequenced through whole genome sequencing approach) of the same 130 participants in the Framingham Heart Study. We applied harmonization of sequence coverages and consistent quality control to mtDNA sequences.