A pro-drug of the green tea polyphenol (-)-epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) prevents differentiated SH-SY5Y cells from toxicity induced by 6-hydroxydopamine.

Regular consumption of green tea benefits people in prevention from cardiovascular disorders, obesity as well as neurodegenerative diseases. (-)-Epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) is regarded as the most biologically active catechin in green tea. However, the stability and bioavailability of EGCG are restricted.

Effect of a prodrug of the green tea polyphenol (-)-epigallocatechin-3-gallate on the growth of androgen-independent prostate cancer in vivo.

Epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) is the major and most potent polyphenol compound of green tea that has been shown to have anticancer effects against various types of cancers. In this study, in addition to the EGCG compound, a synthetic derivative, the peracetate of EGCG (EGCG-P), was used to investigate the inhibitory effects on growth of androgen-independent prostate cancer in vivo. The advantage of EGCG-P is that it may act as a prodrug, leading to higher bioavailability than EGCG itself.

Easily accessible benzamide-derived P,O ligands (Bphos) for palladium-catalyzed carbon-nitrogen bond-forming reactions.

Easily accessible benzamide-derived hemilabile phosphine ligands were efficiently prepared through ortho-directed lithiation of the corresponding N,N-diethylbenzamide followed by quenching with chlorodialkylphosphines. These structurally simple hemilabile ligands were found to be highly effective in palladium-catalyzed amination of aryl and heteroaryl chlorides. Various sterically congested and functionalized aryl halide substrates were compatible in these reaction conditions.

A new class of versatile chiral-bridged atropisomeric diphosphine ligands: remarkably efficient ligand syntheses and their applications in highly enantioselective hydrogenation reactions.

A series of chiral diphosphine ligands denoted as PQ-Phos was prepared by atropdiastereoselective Ullmann coupling and ring-closure reactions. The Ullmann coupling reaction of the biaryl diphosphine dioxides is featured by highly efficient central-to-axial chirality transfer with diastereomeric excess >99%. This substrate-directed diastereomeric biaryl coupling reaction is unprecedented for the preparation of chiral diphosphine dioxides, and our method precludes the tedious resolution procedures usually required for preparing enantiomerically pure diphosphine ligands.

Rhodium-catalyzed asymmetric aqueous Pauson-Khand-type reaction.

An interesting rhodium-catalyzed asymmetric aqueous Pauson-Khand-type reaction was developed. A chiral atropisomeric dipyridyldiphosphane ligand was found to be highly effective in this system. This operationally simple protocol allows both catalyst and reactants to be handled under air without precautions.

Synthetic peracetate tea polyphenols as potent proteasome inhibitors and apoptosis inducers in human cancer cells.

It has been suggested that proteasome activity is essential for tumor cell proliferation and drug resistance development. We have previously shown that natural and synthetic ester bond-containing tea polyphenols are selective inhibitors of the chymotrypsin-like activity of the proteasome. The most abundant catechin in green tea is (-)-epigallocatechin-3-gallate [(-)-EGCG], which has been found by many laboratories to exhibit the most potent anticancer activity.

A potential prodrug for a green tea polyphenol proteasome inhibitor: evaluation of the peracetate ester of (-)-epigallocatechin gallate [(-)-EGCG].

Green tea has been shown to have many biological effects, including effects on metabolism, angiogenesis, oxidation, and cell proliferation. Unfortunately, the most abundant green tea polyphenol (-)-epigallocatechin gallate or (-)-EGCG is very unstable in neutral or alkaline medium. This instability leads to a low bioavailability.

Green tea and tea polyphenols in cancer prevention.

The cancer-preventive effects of green tea and its main constituent (-)-epigallocatechin gallate [(-)-EGCG] are widely supported by results from epidemiological, cell culture, animal and clinical studies in the recent decade. In vitro cell culture studies show that tea polyphenols potently induce apoptotic cell death and cell cycle arrest in tumor cells but not in their normal cell counterparts. Green tea polyphenols affect several signal transduction pathways, including growth factor-mediated, the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK)-dependent, and ubiquitin/proteasome degradation pathways.

A simple and highly efficient P,O-type ligand for Suzuki-Miyaura cross-coupling of aryl halides.

A simple and efficient hemilabile-type phosphine ligand, found to be highly effective in Suzuki-Miyaura cross-coupling of aryl chlorides with generally low Pd-catalyst loading (0.05%), was prepared in one step based on an economically attractive approach from commercially available benzamide starting material.