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Highlights • Endometrial mesonephric-like adenocarcinoma (MLA) is a rare and aggressive subtype of epithelial endometrial cancer. • KRAS mutations are characteristic in patients with endometrial MLA. • We report two cases of KRAS-mutated endometrial MLA with excellent and durable responses to lenvatinib and pembrolizumab. • Tumors with KRAS mutations may be particularly sensitive to lenvatinib, but this warrants further study.

Enantiomeric separation of two aromatic α-substituted alanine esters was achieved on two commercially available polysaccharide-based chiral stationary phases (CSPs): amylose tris(3,5-dimethylphenylcarbamate) (ADMPC) and cellulose tris(3,5-dimethylphenylcarbamate) (CDMPC). The interactions between enantiomeric analytes and the CSPs were investigated using chromatographic methods and vibration circular dichroism (VCD). The two analytes differ on the aromatic portion of the molecules where one analyte has a π-acceptor aromatic ring (1) while the other has a π-donor aromatic ring (2). When an ADMPC CSP was employed, an increase in the polarity of the mobile phase leads to a reversal of the elution order for the two enantiomers of 1. The elution order of compound 2 was not affected by the polarity of the mobile phase. In order to gain an understanding of these phenomena, the enantiomeric separation of 1 and 2 was also performed on the CDMPC CSP. Interestingly, no reversal of elution order was observed upon the chromatographic separation of both pairs of enantiomers of compounds 1 and 2 upon increasing the solvent polarity when a CDMPC CSP was utilized. To understand the underlying mechanism governing these chiral separations, VCD was applied to study the structure of the ADMPC and CDMPC polymers and their conformational behaviors under chromatographic conditions. For the first time the conformations of the side chains of both polymers were revealed based on the VCD spectra along with DFT calculations. Furthermore, the interactions between the two analytes and the two CSPs were directly probed by VCD. By comparing the spectral differences of the two CSPs in the presence of the two analytes, the detailed interactions involving different functional groups associated with the chiral recognition were elucidated and thus explained the unusual reversal of elution order associated with increasing solvent polarity.

A fast enantiomeric separation of a chiral aromatic amine was achieved, using ultra high pressure liquid chromatography and highly sulfated beta-cyclodextrin (S-beta-CD) as a chiral additive in the mobile phase. The stationary phase consisted of a core-shell support with a particle size of 2.7mum. Under these conditions the base-line separation was obtained within 2.5min. The influence of the concentration of the additive, along with the thermodynamics of the separation, was studied. Vibrational circular dichroism (VCD) spectroscopy was applied to assess the absolute configuration of the two enantiomeric analytes, as well as the interaction of these enantiomers with the S-beta-CD. The VCD results revealed that S-beta-CD undergoes a temperature-induced conformational change. Further, VCD experiments indicate that the interactions of the two enantiomers with the S-beta-CD occur through an inclusion of the aromatic part of the analyte, as well as through electrostatic interaction between the protonated amine and the sulfate groups located at the narrow part of the S-beta-CD. Molecular mechanics calculations performed according to the VCD results are consistent with experimental data, providing further evidence of these interactions.

An efficient and chromatography-free approach for synthesis of a new class of LFA-1 inhibitors was developed. A copper(I) chloride-promoted intramolecular cyclization of thiohydantoins 7a–b serves as a key step to highly functionalized bicyclic guanidines 5a–b, that were subsequently converted to 1H-imidazo[1,2-a]imidazol-2-one LFA-1 inhibitors. This process has been successfully implemented in the pilot plant to produce multikilogram quantities of LFA-1 inhibitors such as 1a–b.