Probing the molecular determinants of fluorinase specificity.

Molecular determinants of FlA1 fluorinase specificity were probed using 5'-chloro-5'-deoxyadenosine (5'-ClDA) analogs as substrates and FlA1 active site mutants. Modifications at F213 or A279 residues are beneficial towards these modified substrates, including 5'-chloro-5'-deoxy-2-ethynyladenosine, ClDEA (>10-fold activity improvement), and conferred novel activity towards substrates not readily accepted by wild-type FlA1.

Mimics of pramanicin derived from pyroglutamic acid and their antibacterial activity.

Mono and dihydroxypyrrolidinones are readily available by direct oxygenation of a pyroglutamate-derived bicyclic lactam with high diastereoselectivity, and these may be manipulated further in protected or unprotected form by Grignard addition to a pendant Weinreb amide to give acylhydroxypyrrolidinones, which are analogues of the natural product, pramanicin. Preliminary bioassay against S. aureus and E.

Directed Evolution of a Fluorinase for Improved Fluorination Efficiency with a Non-native Substrate.

Fluorinases offer an environmentally friendly alternative for selective fluorination under mild conditions. However, their diversity is limited in nature and they have yet to be engineered through directed evolution. Herein, we report the directed evolution of the fluorinase FlA1 for improved conversion of the non-native substrate 5'-chloro-5'-deoxyadenosine (5'-ClDA) into 5'-fluoro-5'-deoxyadenosine (5'-FDA).

A practical metal-free homolytic aromatic alkylation protocol for the synthesis of 3-(pyrazin-2-yl)bicyclo[1.1.1]pentane-1-carboxylic acid.

As a part of our ongoing synthetic quest to expand the frontiers of contemporary medicinal chemistry, we now report an expedient synthesis of a potentially useful bicyclo[1.1.1]pentane building block, 3-(pyrazin-2-yl)bicyclo[1.

Divergent Synthesis of Dihydroxanthene-Hemicyanine Fused Near-Infrared Fluorophores through the Late-Stage Amination of a Bifunctional Precursor.

A late-stage amination of a bifunctional dihydroxanthene (DHX) scaffold is reported to access a wide variety of new near-infrared (NIR) chromophores/fluorophores. The divergent approach allows the coupling of aliphatic and aromatic amines and readily provides molecular diversity shedding light on the structure-fluorescence relationship of this emerging class of NIR fluorophores.

The relative bioavailability of 2 prototype fixed-dose combination formulations for amlodipine and rosuvastatin in healthy white and Chinese subjects.

A fixed-dose combination (FDC) may improve patient compliance and clinical outcomes in the management of cardiovascular risk in hypertensive and dyslipidemic patients. The study (NCT02075619) evaluated the bioavailability of 2 prototype FDC tablet formulations (FDC1 and FDC2) of amlodipine/rosuvastatin (10 mg/20 mg) compared with coadministered reference tablets. It was a randomized, single-dose, 3-way crossover pilot study in healthy white (n = 12) and Chinese (n = 12) adults.

Antibacterial, electrospun nanofibers of novel poly(sulfobetaine) and poly(sulfabetaine)s.

Polymers capable of forming hydration layers have gained increasing attention due to their ability to form environmentally friendly antifouling surfaces. Zwitterionic polymers are an important class of materials under this category. However, the effectiveness of many zwitterionic polymers for long-term applications is compromised because of their solubility in sea water, poor hydrolytic stability and deteriorating mechanical integrity upon wetting.

Nickel-catalysed cyclopropanation of electron-deficient alkenes with diiodomethane and diethylzinc.

In the presence of a nickel catalyst, the cyclopropanation of electron-deficient alkenes with diiodomethane and diethylzinc is drastically accelerated. A wide range of cyclopropyl ketones, esters and amides can be accessed under these conditions.

A versatile sonication-assisted deposition-reduction method for preparing supported metal catalysts for catalytic applications.

This work aims to develop a rapid and efficient strategy for preparing supported metal catalysts for catalytic applications. The sonication-assisted reduction-precipitation method was employed to prepare the heterogeneous mono- and bi-metallic catalysts for photocatalytic degradation of methyl orange (MO) and preferential oxidation (PROX) of CO in H-rich gas. In general, there are three advantages for the sonication-assisted method as compared with the conventional methods, including high dispersion of metal nanoparticles on the catalyst support, the much higher deposition efficiency (DE) than those of the deposition-precipitation (DP) and co-precipitation (CP) methods, and the very fast preparation, which only lasts 10-20s for the deposition.

Iron(ii) triflate/N-heterocyclic carbene-catalysed cross-coupling of arylmagnesiums with aryl chlorides and tosylates.

In comparison to iron(ii) halides, iron(ii) triflate exhibits a greater resistance towards reduction by p-tolylmagnesium bromide. This knowledge has led to the development of an iron(ii) triflate/N-heterocyclic carbene-catalysed cross-coupling system of aryl Grignard reagents with aryl chlorides and tosylates with high efficiency, even surpassing that of previously reported catalyst systems employing strongly coordinating counterions in some cases.

Radical fluorination powered expedient synthesis of 3-fluorobicyclo[1.1.1]pentan-1-amine.

Exploration of novel chemical space, a modern trend in medicinal chemistry, is heavily reliant on synthetic access to new and interesting building blocks. In this direction, the following work describes an expedient synthesis of one such moiety, 3-fluorobicyclo[1.1.

An efficient synthesis of an exo-enone analogue of LL-Z1640-2 and evaluation of its protein kinase inhibitory activities.

An efficient synthesis of an exo-enone analogue (5) of resorcylic acid lactone (RAL), natural product LL-Z1640-2 (1), has been achieved using a Ni-catalysed regioselective reductive coupling macrocyclisation of an alkyne-aldehyde as a key step. The synthetic route is significantly shorter than those for the natural product and avoids the isomerisation problem of the cis-double bond in the molecule. The preliminary biological evaluation showed that the exo-enone analogue is a potent inhibitor of several important kinases relevant to cancer drug development.

Acid Mediated Ring Closing Metathesis: A Powerful Synthetic Tool Enabling the Synthesis of Clinical Stage Kinase Inhibitors.

The powerful olefin metathesis reaction was employed for the construction of late-phase clinical agents SB1317 and SB1518. In both cases RCM seems to proceed only in the presence of an acid and to predominantly furnish trans isomers. In case of SB1518 it proceeded in the presence of acid HCl, while for SB1317, it mainly proceeds in the presence of TFA (trifluroacetic acid).

Synthesis and in vivo magnetic resonance imaging evaluation of biocompatible branched copolymer nanocontrast agents.

Branched copolymer nanoparticles (D(h) =20-35 nm) possessing 1,4,7, 10-tetraazacyclododecane-N,N',N″,N‴-tetraacetic acid macrocycles within their cores have been synthesized and applied as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) nanosized contrast agents in vivo. These nanoparticles have been generated from novel functional monomers via reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer polymerization. The process is very robust and synthetically straightforward.

Salt-Responsive Polysulfabetaines from Acrylate and Acrylamide Precursors: Robust Stabilization of Metal Nanoparticles in Hyposalinity and Hypersalinity.

Metal nanoparticles (MNps) tend to be influenced by environmental factors such as pH, ionic strength, and temperature, thereby leading to aggregation. Forming stable aqueous dispersions could be one way of addressing the environmental toxicity of MNps. In contrast to the electrolyte-induced aggregation of MNps, novel zwitterionic sulfabetaine polymers reported here act as stabilizers of MNps even under high salinity.

De novo synthesis of phenolic dihydroxanthene near-infrared emitting fluorophores.

We report a flexible de novo synthesis of phenolic dihydroxanthene fluorophores. The synthesis relies on a one-pot formation of an aldehyde intermediate which can be diversified in 60-70% overall yield, providing an efficient access to this family of near-infrared emitting fluorophores.

Expedient synthesis of 3-phenylbicyclo[1.1.1]pentan-1-amine via metal-free homolytic aromatic alkylation of benzene.

Recently, the potential utility of the BCP motif, as a contemporary lead optimization tactic, has generated substantial interest in medicinal chemistry. To facilitate this inquisitiveness, the concomitant development of efficient synthetic protocols is crucial. The following work discloses a new, expedient and versatile approach to one such potentially useful BCP derivative.

An amidation/cyclization approach to the synthesis of N-hydroxyquinolinones and their biological evaluation as potential anti-plasmodial, anti-bacterial, and iron(II)-chelating agents.

A 26-member library of novel N-hydroxyquinolinone derivatives was synthesized by a one-pot Buchwald-type palladium catalyzed amidation and condensation sequence. The design of these rare scaffolds was inspired from N-hydroxypyridones and 2-quinolinones classes of compounds which have been shown to have rich biological activities. The synthesized compounds were evaluated for their anti-plasmodial and anti-bacterial properties.

Design, synthesis and biological evaluation of FLT3 covalent inhibitors with a resorcylic acid core.

A series of simplified ring-opened resorcylic acid lactone (RAL) derivatives were conveniently synthesized to target FLT3 and its mutants either irreversibly or reversibly. Our design of covalent FLT3 inhibitors is based on cis-enone RALs (e.g.

AgONO-assisted direct C-H arylation of heteroarenes with anilines.

A novel copper-catalyzed C-H arylation of heteroarenes with anilines by an in situ diazonium reaction is established by using silver nitrite (AgONO) as an unconventional nitrosating reagent under acid-free conditions. It provides a complementary approach for the C-H arylation of electron-rich heteroarenes with aromatic amines affording a variety of heterobiaryls in moderate to good yields.

Selective Kumada biaryl cross-coupling reaction enabled by an iron(III) alkoxide-N-heterocyclic carbene catalyst system.

A catalyst system comprising Fe2(O(t)Bu)6 and an N-heterocyclic carbene ligand enables efficient syntheses of (hetero)biaryls from the reactions of aryl Grignard reagents with a diverse spectrum of (hetero)aryl chlorides. Amongst the alkoxide and amide counterions investigated, tert-butoxide was the most effective in inhibiting the homocoupling of arylmagnesiums.

A new route to bicyclo[1.1.1]pentan-1-amine from 1-azido-3-iodobicyclo[1.1.1]pentane.

From a medicinal chemistry perspective, bicyclo[1.1.1]pentan-1-amine (1) has served as a unique and important moiety.

Cross-coupling reaction between arylboronic acids and carboranyl iodides catalyzed by graphene oxide (GO)-supported Pd(0) recyclable nanoparticles for the synthesis of carboranylaryl ketones.

Well-dispersed palladium(0) nanoparticles with small and narrow size distributions were synthesized conveniently on a graphene oxide (GO) surface. The GO-supported nano-Pd(0) was found to be a highly efficient and recyclable catalyst for the carbonylative cross-coupling reaction between arylboronic acids and aryl and carboranyl iodides, respectively. Benzophenone and a series of carboranylaryl ketones, 1-R-2-[C(=O)Ar]-1,2-C2B10H10 (R = H, Me, Ph; Ar = C6H5, C6H4-4-OMe and C6H4-4-F), were synthesized and fully characterized.

Cascade fluorofunctionalisation of 2,3-unsubstituted indoles by means of electrophilic fluorination.

Cascade fluorofunctionalisation of 2,3-unsubstituted indoles featuring the formation of C-C, C-F and C-O bonds via electrophilic fluorination using N-fluorobenzenesulfonimide is described. The use of an O-nucleophile tethered to the nitrogen of indoles enables the synthesis of polycyclic fluorinated indoline derivatives from simple precursors in 40-63% yields.