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Cleistanthus collinus leaf extracts are consumed for suicidal purposes in southern India. The boiled decoction is known to be more toxic than the fresh leaf juice. Although several compounds have been isolated and their toxicity tested, controversy remains as to which compounds are responsible for the high level of toxicity of C. collinus. We report herein that cleistanthoside A is the major toxin in the boiled aqueous extract of fresh leaves and causes death in rats in small doses. The toxicity of the boiled extract prepared in the manner described can be attributed entirely to cleistanthoside A. Cleistanthin A could also be isolated from the boiled extract, albeit in trace amounts. As hypotension not responding to vasoconstrictors is the cause of death in patients who have consumed the boiled extract, effects of cleistanthoside A on the determinants of blood pressure, namely, force of cardiac contraction and vascular resistance, were tested in isolated organ experiments. Cleistanthoside A has a direct vasoconstrictor effect; however, it inhibits ventricular contractility. Therefore, the notion that the shock in C. collinus poisoning is of vascular origin must be considered carefully, and the possibility of cardiogenic shock must be studied. We present the crystal structure of cleistanthin A and show the potency of fast NMR methods (NOAH4-BSCN-NUS) in the full spectral assignment of cleistanthoside A as a real-world sample of a natural product. We also compare the results of the NOAH4-BSCN-NUS NMR experiments with conventional NMR methods.

A simple, convenient, transition metal-free one pot synthesis of 3,5-disubstituted-1,2,4-triazoles has been established. The innovation in this reaction is the use of easily available 1,1-diaminoazines as substrates. This method provides the products with wider substrate scope, at an expedited rate, and with relatively better yields in comparison to the reported methods. The reaction mechanism involves an initial intermolecular nucleophilic addition (facilitated by I2) followed by intramolecular nucleophilic cyclization.

The phytochemical study of the CH2Cl2- MeOH (1:1, v/v) extract of the stem bark of Carapa procera DC (Meliaceae) led to the isolation and characterisation of a new natural limonoid 7β-obacunol (6),...

A direct and operationally simple method for the regioselective synthesis of 2-aryl-substituted 2H-indazoles is reported. The Pd-catalyzed reaction between easily available 2-bromobenzyl bromides and arylhydrazines employing Cs2CO3 as the base and t-Bu3PHBF4 as the ligand in DMSO at 120 °C in a sealed tube delivers the 2-substituted-2H-indazoles in a single synthetic step with yields up to 79%. The new method is based on a regioselective intermolecular N-benzylation followed by intramolecular N-arylation and oxidation.

Biological Nitrification Inhibition (BNI) of Brachiaria humidicola has been mainly attributed to the root-exuded fusicoccane-type diterpene brachialactone. We hypothesized, however, that according to the high diversity of fusicoccanes described for plants and microorganisms, BNI of B. humidicola is caused by an assemblage of bioactive fusicoccanes. B. humidicola root exudates were collected hydroponically and compounds isolated by semi-preparative HPLC. Chemical structures were revealed by spectroscopic techniques, including HRMS as well as 1D and 2D NMR. Nitrification inhibiting (NI) potential of isolated compounds was evaluated by a Nitrosomonas europaea based bioassay. Besides the previously described brachialactone (1), root exudates contained 3-epi-brachialactone (2), the C3-epimer of 1 (m/z 334), as well as 16-hydroxy-3-epi-brachialactone (3) with an additional hydroxyl group at C16 (m/z 350) and 3,18-epoxy-9-hydroxy-4,7-seco-brachialactone (4), which is a ring opened brachialactone derivative with a 3,18 epoxide ring and a hydroxyl group at C9 (m/z 332). The 3-epi-brachialactone (2) showed highest NI activity (ED50 ~ 20 μg mL−1, ED80 ~ 40 μg mL−1), followed by compound 4 with intermediate (ED50 ~ 40 μg mL−1), brachialactone (1) with low and compound 3 without activity. In coherence with previous reports on fusicoccanes, stereochemistry at C3 was of high relevance for the biological activity (NI potential) of brachialactones.

The phytochemical study of the CH

A direct and operationally simple method for the regioselective synthesis of 2-aryl-substituted 2

The tautomeric preference of guanylhydrazones towards the azine form induces an unprecedented intramolecular to intermolecular mechanistic switch during the I2-catalyzed oxidative transformation leading to 4,5-disubstituted-3-amino-1,2,4-triazoles in contrast to the reaction of semicarbazones and thiosemicarbazones to form 1,3,4-oxa/thiadiazoles. This intramolecular to intermolecular cyclization shift was established through control experiments and was attributed to the high energy demand (∼22 kcal mol−1) for the azine tautomer to adopt the s-cis conformation which is essential for the intramolecular reaction. An I2 induced protocol for an efficient and straightforward synthesis of 4,5-disubstituted-3-amino-1,2,4-triazoles has been developed via tandem oxidative transformation of guanylhydrazones (in its preferentially existing azine tautomeric form) with distinct advantages such as wide substrate scope, use of substoichiometric amounts of iodine, no requirement of external oxidizing agents, base free reaction conditions, short reaction time and moderate to good yields. The role of silver salt in improving the yield and shortening of reaction time was also highlighted.

The laccase-catalyzed iodination of p-hydroxyarylcarbonyl- and p-hydroxyarylcarboxylic acid derivatives using KI as iodine source and aerial oxygen as the oxidant delivers the corresponding iodophenols in a highly efficient and sustainable manner with yields up to 93% on a preparative scale under mild reaction conditions.

The Cu2O-catalyzed reaction between equimolar amounts of easily available 3-substituted-2-bromo-2-propen-1-ols and dicyclohexyl carbodiimide in DMSO at 100 °C using K3PO4 as the base and in the absence of any additive exclusively delivers substituted 2-iminooxazolidines with yields up to 80%. The highly selective transformation is assumed to start with an intermolecular 1,2-addition, which is followed by an intramolecular N-vinylation. The products can also be obtained in the absence of Cu2O, albeit in lower yields.

The chemical composition of six essential oils (EOs) of Thymus serrulatus and Thymus schimperi from six localities in Ethiopia, namely Ofla, Alamata, Yilmana Densa, Tarmaber, Butajira and Bale was ...

Treatment of 1,3-diaryl-propene-2-one with aminoguanidine under acidic conditions for a short reaction period (1 h) delivers - in accordance with a literature report - the corresponding guanylhydrazones. However, when the reaction time was increased to 12 h, formation of the ring annulated product 4,5-dihydro-1H-pyrazole-1-carboximidamide was observed. This is the first case of ring-chain isomerism in conjugated guanylhydrazones. The acyclic conjugated guanylhydrazone and the corresponding annulated product (4,5-dihydro-1H-pyrazole-1-carboximidamide) could be clearly distinguished by means of UV and NMR spectroscopy. The formation of the ring isomer was further confirmed by single crystal XRD analysis. The time-dependent 1H NMR study indicated the gradual transformation of the open-chain compound into the cyclic one. The mechanistic insights into the formation of these two products were explored using quantum chemical methods which revealed that the ring isomer is thermodynamically more stable than the open-chain isomer by 6–11 kcal/mol and the barrier for cyclization was found to be 31.37 kcal/mol.

Considering their growing attention in the field of medicinal chemistry and drug-discovery research, the facile and convenient approaches towards the preparation of 2-aryl benzoxazole derivatives have been described. The transformation is accomplished by using Fe(III)-catalyzed C–H activation of benzoxazoles with boronic acids to obtain a wide range of C2-arylated benzoxazoles in high yields. The developed method excludes the formation of self-coupling compounds as side products. On the other hand, the synthesis of the products is also achieved via a metal-free domino protocol by the reaction between 1-nitroso-2-naphthol and acetophenones using catalytic amounts of CBr4 in the presence of Cs2CO3 as base. The devised tandem method avoids the use of pre-activated α-haloketones as substrates. Due to their immense impact in marketed drugs and molecules under clinical trial, the described method can be a powerful tool for their synthesis which ­restricts the use of precious metals as catalyst.

Prebiotics are rising in interest in commercial scale productions due to increasing health awareness of consumers. Under bio-economic aspects, sweet and acid whey provide a suitable feed medium for the enzymatic generation of prebiotic lactulose. Since whey has a broad variation in composition, the influence of the feed composition on the concentration of generated lactulose was investigated. The influence of lactose and fructose concentration as well as enzymatic activity of two commercially available β-galactosidases were investigated. The results were evaluated via response surface analysis with a quadratic model containing pairwise interaction terms. The optimal feed composition yielding a theoretical maximal amount of lactulose was determined as 1.28 or 0.74 mol/kg fructose and 0.17 or 0.19 mol/kg lactose with an enzymatic activity of 2.0 or 2.8 μkat/kg for acid (pH 4.4) or sweet (pH 6.6) whey. Furthermore, the major reaction product was isolated and subsequently, the structural identity was elucidated and verified via extensive NMR analysis.

Molekulare SMS zur sicheren Nachrichtenubermittlung – ausergewohnliche Sternmesogene – enzymatische C-H-Insertion durch iridiumhaltiges Porphyrin – Totalsynthese hexacyclischer Daphniphyllum-Alkaloide – organokatalytische asymmetrische Cope-Umlagerung – Photoinduktion mit Elektronen- Relais-Strategie – FeCl3-katalysierte Carbonyl-Olefin-Kreuzmetathese – Psychedelic-NMR-Experiment – oral verfugbares Orphan Drug bei Morbus Fabry.

The laccase-catalyzed reaction between unsubstituted catechol and 2-thioxopyrimidin-4(1H)-ones using aerial O2 as the oxidant delivers novel pyrimidobenzothiazoles with high yields in an aqueous solvent system under mild reaction conditions. With 4-substituted catechols, catechol thioethers are formed exclusively. The synthetic protocols developed provide a sustainable approach for these compound classes. In addition, the cytotoxicity of the products against HepG2 cell line is reported. Most compounds exhibit antiproliferative activities with IC50 values at the micromolar level. A structure–activity relationship study will facilitate the further development of these compounds as cytotoxic agents.

Epilactose (4-O-β-d-galactopyranosyl-d-mannopyranose) is a rare disaccharide derived from lactose (4-O-β-d-galactopyranosyl-d-glucopyranose) and possesses prebiotic properties. Epilactose is needed for biological studies in high amounts and purified form. The purification of epilactose is challenging because it behaves similarly to lactose, the starting substance of the epilactose production process. Epilactose can be produced both chemically and enzymatically, using cellobiose 2-epimerases for the latter. In this study, a process for semi-preparative epilactose purification is presented. Firstly, epilactose was produced in a buffered system using recombinant cellobiose 2-epimerase from Flavobacterium johnsoniae. After the enzymatic conversion, some of the residual lactose was removed by crystallisation at 6 °C for 72 h. Subsequently, the lactose still remaining in the conversion mixture was separated from epilactose by ligand-exchange chromatography. The conditions for the most effective chromatographic separation of lactose and epilactose were determined using a design of experiments approach with surface response methodology. The best conditions led to an epilactose purity of 99 % with a total yield of 51 %.

Substrates bearing both a β-ketoester moiety and a (het)aryl halide structure element were dimerized to 1-naphthols and related products in the presence of catalytic amounts of CuI in isopropanol. The reaction starts with an intermolecular C-arylation, which is followed by an intramolecular condensation. The final aromatization delivers the highly substituted products with yields up to 81%.

A transition metal-free, diastereospecific reaction between substituted (Z)-1,2-dibromo-3-phenyl-2-propenes and substituted catechols using Cs2CO3 as a base at 140 °C for 18 h delivers exclusively substituted (Z)-2-arylidene-2,3-dihydrobenzo[b][1,4]dioxines in yields up to 89%. Experiments as well as quantum chemical calculations support the assumption that the one pot transformation proceeds as an intermolecular O-allylation/intramolecular O-vinylation.

For aerodynamic profile tests on aircraft models, boundary-layer transition detection is of great interest. Under ambient flow conditions the infrared technique (IR) is a well-established image-based method for this purpose. In high Reynolds number tests that are conducted at cryogenic temperatures the IR technique is of only limited suitability. In contrast, the image-based Temperature-Sensitive Paint (TSP) technique is well suited for these conditions. Boundary layer transition detection by means of TSP generally requires an artificial temperature difference between model surface and flow. For wind tunnels operated under cryogenic conditions changing the liquid nitrogen injection rate of the working fluid causing a rapid change of the flow temperature can generate this temperature difference (“temperature-step method”). The drawback of this temperature-step method is that during the change of the flow temperature neither the Reynolds nor the Mach number can be kept constant. To overcome this problem, we have recently published an alternative approach where Carbon Nanotubes (CNT) are used to electrically heat the model surface and thus generate a well-defined temperature difference to visualize laminar-turbulent transition. The combination of CNT and TSP, which we call cntTSP, delivered excellent results in different wind tunnel tests from ambient temperatures down to 100 K. The cntTSP sensor visualizes the surface boundary-layer conditions as temperature distribution based on different heat transfer coefficients in the laminar and turbulent flow. Compared to the temperature-step method the cntTSP approach has the advantage and potential to measure boundary-layer transition in a time-resolved manner, e.g. on wind tunnel models when the wind tunnel is operated in continuous pitch traverse mode, which is desired in order to improve the data productivity of the wind tunnel tests. In this paper, the applicability of cntTSP to a continuous moving model (pitch-traverse or pitch-sweep test) is investigated in the pilot facility of the European Transonic Windtunnel (PETW). The laminar to turbulent boundary-layer transition appearing on a 2D model is visualized and compared between the pitch-traverse and pitch-pause tests.

The copper-catalyzed double intramolecular Ullmann coupling of syn-1,2-bis(2-bromoaryl)ethane-1,2-diols with catalytic amounts of CuII oxinate as the copper source, K3PO4 as a base, and KI as a reductant in aqueous acetonitrile selectively delivers 4b,9b-dihydrobenzofuro[3,2-b]benzofurans in diastereomerically and enantiomerically pure form and yields of up to 90 %. The substrates can be obtained in both diastereomerically and enantiomerically pure form by catalytic dihydroxylation of the corresponding (E)-stilbenes.

Uniseriate linear glandular trichomes occur on stems, leaves and flowering parts of Helianthus species and related taxa. Their metabolic activity and biological function are still poorly understood. A phytochemical study documented the accumulation of bisabolene type sesquiterpenes and flavonoids as the major constituents of the non-volatile metabolome of linear glandular trichomes in the common sunflower, Helianthus annuus. Besides known sesquiterpenes of the glandulone, helibisabonol and heliannuol type, four previously undescribed sesquiterpenes named glandulone D, E, F and helibisabonol C were identified by spectroscopic analysis. In addition, four known nevadensin type flavonoids varying in O-methoxy substitutions were found. None of them has previously been reported from Helianthus annuus.

Fucosylated oligosaccharides present a predominant group of free oligosaccharides found in human milk. Here, a microbial conversion of lactose, D-glucose and L-fucose to fucosylated lacto-N-tetraose by growing Escherichia coli cultures is presented. The recombinant expression of genes encoding for the β1,3-N-acetylglucosaminyltransferase (LgtA) and the β1,3-galactosyltransferase (WbgO) enables the whole-cell biotransformation of lactose to lacto-N-tetraose. By the additional expression of a recombinant GDP-L-fucose salvage pathway together with a bacterial fucosyltransferase, lacto-N-tetraose is further converted into the respective fucosylated compounds. The expression of a gene encoding the α1,2-fucosyltransferase (FutC) in the lacto-N-tetraose producing E. coli strain led to the formation of lacto-N-fucopentaose I, whereas the expression of a gene encoding the α1,4-fucosyltransferase (FucT14) mainly led to the conversion of lacto-N-tetraose to lacto-N-difucohexaose II.

The reaction of 5-substituted 2-nitrosophenols with bromomethyl aryl ketones and related compounds employing K2CO3 as a base in refluxing THF and DMF at 80 °C, respectively, delivers 2-aroylbenzoxazoles in a single step with yields up to 85%. The new method involves an intermolecular nucleophilic substitution followed by intramolecular 1,2-addition and elimination. It allows an efficient and practical access to 2-aroylbenzoxazoles under transition-metal-free conditions.

The botanical classification of the huge genus Drosera remains controversial since long. In the present study, the pattern of major phenolic compounds in ten Drosera species belonging to seven different subgenera and/or sections of the genus was investigated for chemotaxonomic allocation. The composition of flavonoids and ellagic acid derivatives in Drosera adelae, Drosera burmannii, Drosera dielsiana, Drosera hilaris, Drosera montana, Drosera petiolaris, and Drosera pygmaea was elucidated for the first time. The scarce data on these compounds in Drosera binata, Drosera aliciae, and Drosera spatulata were complemented significantly. Detailed LC-DAD-MS, LC-NMR, and offline 1D and 2D NMR analyses resulted in the unambiguous identification of around 40 different substances, three of them (8-hydroxy-luteolin-8-O-arabinopyranoside, tricetin-7-O-xylopyranoside and 8-hydroxytricetin-8-O-arabinopyranoside) being natural products described for the first time. The distribution of the compounds characterized underlines their potential to serve as chemotaxonomic markers in this genus.

Pressure-Sensitive Paint (PSP) applied to the wing surface of a full-span airplane model was tested in the European Transonic Windtunnel (ETW) at cryogenic conditions. To deal with the issues caused by the model deformation between wind-on and reference conditions, a two-gate lifetime-based PSP method was used. The measurements were performed at test conditions in the temperature range from 115K to 296 K, at M = 0.85 and a total pressure up to 345 kPa. The maximum Reynolds number achieved in these tests was 42.5x106. The obtained PSP results successfully visualize the complex pressure distribution on the model wing surface and the quantitative agreement with conventional pressure tap data was good.

The use of 2-halobenzyl tosylates as substrates in copper-catalyzed domino intermolecular substitution/intramolecular arylation processes for the efficient and selective preparation of heterocycles is reported for the first time. Reaction of 2-halobenzyl tosylates with β-ketoesters delivers 4H-chromenes with yields ranging between 59 and 89%. Imidazobenzothiazines are formed with yields up to 82% upon reaction of 2-halobenzyl tosylates with 2-mercaptoimidazoles. When 2-halobenzyl tosylates are reacted with benzamidines the corresponding quinazolines are obtained.

The CuI-catalyzed domino reaction between 1-(2-bromophenyl)methanamines and amidines using K3PO4 as the base, pivalic acid as the additive, and aerial oxygen as the oxidant gives access to substituted quinazolines in a single step with yields in the range between 43 and 90%. It is assumed that the reaction proceeds as a Cu(I)-catalyzed intermolecular N-arylation followed by an intramolecular nucleophilic substitution and a Cu(II)-catalyzed oxidation. The amidines can be replaced with imidates and the reaction can also be run with 1-(2-iodophenyl)methanamine.

Two methods for the synthesis of 3,5-diaryl-1,2,4-triazoles, both domino reactions, are reported. The first procedure, the Cu(OTf)2-catalyzed reaction between two amidines using NaHCO3 as a base, 1,10-phenanthroline as an additive and K3[Fe(CN)6]/atmospheric oxygen as the oxidant, delivers 3,5-diaryl-1,2,4-triazoles with yields up to 68%. The second procedure for the synthesis of 3,5-diaryl-1,2,4-triazoles with yields up to 64% rests on the Cu(OTf)2-catalyzed reaction between two imidates and ammonium carbonate. This method features the formation of three bonds in a single synthetic step.

The laccase-catalyzed reaction between catechols and thiols using aerial oxygen as the oxidant delivers the corresponding catechol thioethers with yields up to 96% under mild reaction conditions.

The three-component reaction of aniline, benzaldehyde, and dienophiles such as 2,3-dihydrofuran, ethyl vinyl ether, 2,3-dihydropyran, and cyclopentadiene can be promoted by ionic liquids like imidazolium salts and guanidinium salts under thermal as well as microwave conditions. The chemical yield as well as the diastereoselectivity of the Povarov reaction strongly depend on the ionic liquid employed. The guanidinium salts can be recycled and reused several times without loss of reactivity.