Sustainable formulation polymers for home, beauty and personal care: challenges and opportunities.

As society moves towards a net-zero future, the need to adopt more sustainable polymers is well understood, and as well as plastics, less visible formulation polymers should also be included within this shift. As researchers, industries and consumers move towards more sustainable products there is a clear need to define what sustainability means in fast moving consumer goods and how it can be considered at the design stage. In this perspective key challenges in achieving sustainable formulation polymers are highlighted, and opportunities to overcome them are presented.

Discovery and SAR of 2-arylbenzotriazoles and 2-arylindazoles as potential treatments for Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

Families of 2-arylbenzotriazoles and 2-arylindazoles that show positive effects in screens predictive of endogenous utrophin upregulation have been identified. Synthesis and structure-activity relationships are described leading to compounds with attractive in vitro profiles.

Discovery of 2-arylbenzoxazoles as upregulators of utrophin production for the treatment of Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

A series of novel 2-arylbenzoxazoles that upregulate the production of utrophin in murine H2K cells, as assessed using a luciferase reporter linked assay, have been identified. This compound class appears to hold considerable promise as a potential treatment for Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Following the delineation of structure-activity relationships in the series, a number of potent upregulators were identified, and preliminary ADME evaluation is described.

Doubly diastereoselective conjugate addition of homochiral lithium amides to homochiral alpha,beta-unsaturated esters containing cis- and trans-dioxolane units.

As part of a long-term goal directed towards the ab initio asymmetric synthesis of unnatural amino sugars, the doubly diastereoselective conjugate addition reactions of the antipodes of lithium N-benzyl-N-(alpha-methylbenzyl)amide to a range of homochiral alpha,beta-unsaturated esters containing cis- and trans-dioxolane units was investigated. These reactions resulted in "matching" and "mismatching" effects. In the "matched" cases a single diastereoisomer of the corresponding beta-amino ester (containing three contiguous stereocentres) is produced.

Asymmetric synthesis of beta-amino-gamma-substituted-gamma-butyrolactones: double diastereoselective conjugate addition of homochiral lithium amides to homochiral alpha,beta-unsaturated esters.

Chiral alpha,beta-unsaturated esters, containing a single, gamma-stereogenic centre, show modest levels of substrate control upon conjugate addition of lithium dibenzylamide. Double diastereoselective conjugate additions of homochiral lithium N-benzyl-N-(alpha-methylbenzyl)amide to the homochiral alpha,beta-unsaturated esters display "matching" and "mismatching" effects. In each case, however, these additions proceed under the dominant stereocontrol of the lithium amide to give the corresponding beta-amino esters in high de.

A comparative electrochemical study of diffusion in room temperature ionic liquid solvents versus acetonitrile.

Measurements on the diffusion coefficient of the neutral molecule N,N,N',N'-tetramethyl-para-phenylenediamine and the radical cation and dication generated by its one- and two-electron oxidation, respectively, are reported over the range 298-348 K in both acetonitrile and four room temperature ionic liquids (RTILs). Data were collected using single and double potential step chronoamperometry at a gold disk electrode of micrometer dimension, and analysed via fitting to the appropriate analytical expression or, where necessary, to simulation. The variation of diffusion coefficient with temperature was found to occur in an Arrhenius-type manner for all combinations of solute and solvent.

Cyclic beta-amino acid derivatives: synthesis via lithium amide promoted tandem asymmetric conjugate addition-cyclisation reactions.

The product distribution upon conjugate addition of homochiral lithium N-benzyl-N-alpha-methylbenzylamide to dimethyl-(E,E)-nona-2,7-dienedioate can be controlled to give either the cyclic 1,2-anti-1,6-anti-beta-amino ester (derived from conjugate addition and intramolecular enolate cyclisation) or the acyclic bis-beta-amino ester derivative (derived from double conjugate addition) in high de. The introduction of a protected nitrogen functionality into the diester skeleton facilitates, after conjugate addition and intramolecular enolate cyclisation, the asymmetric construction of piperidines in high de; variation in the N-protecting group indicates that the highest stereoselectivity is observed with alpha-branched N-substituents. Tandem conjugate addition-aldol reactions can also be achieved stereoselectively, with lithium amide conjugate addition to epsilon- and zeta-oxo-alpha,beta-unsaturated esters giving the corresponding five and six membered cyclic beta-amino esters in high de.

N-acyl-5,5-dimethyloxazolidin-2-ones as latent aldehyde equivalents.

A study of the properties of N-hydrocinnamoyl- derivatives of 5,5-dimethyloxazolidin-2-one, 4,4-dimethyloxazolidin-2-one and oxazolidin-2-one upon hydride reduction with DIBAL-H demonstrates that the 5,5-dimethyl-group is essential for inhibition of endocyclic nucleophilic attack. For instance, treatment of N-hydrocinnamoyl-5,5-dimethyloxazolidin-2-one with DIBAL-H results in the selective formation of the stable N-1'-hydroxyalkyl derivative which may be regarded as a masked hydrocinnamaldehyde equivalent, as treatment under basic conditions affords the parent aldehyde in excellent yield. Treatment of N-hydrocinnamoyl-4,4-dimethyloxazolidin-2-one with DIBAL-H under identical conditions affords a complex mixture of products, including the formate ester product of endocyclic cleavage.