Just say NO to biofilms: NO-donors are used to disperse a bacterial biofilm so that co-administered antibiotics will kill the more susceptible unattached cells. The chemically stable cephalosporin-3'-diazeniumdiolate NO-donor prodrug is activated by bacterial β-lactamases and facilitates this two-step biofilm erradication.

Remarkably high and regular enantioselectivities are obtained in Friedel-Crafts alkylation reactions involving alpha'-hydroxy enone templates and Cu(II)-bis(oxazoline) complexes as catalysts. The simple elaboration of adducts provides a route to enantioenriched aldehydes, carboxylic acids, and ketones containing the pyrrole and indole frameworks.

Use of biofilm dispersing NO-donor compounds in combination with antibiotics has emerged as a promising new strategy for treating drug-resistant bacterial biofilm infections. This paper details the synthesis and preliminary evaluation of six cephalosporin-3'-diazeniumdiolates as biofilm-targeted NO-donor prodrugs. Each of the compounds is shown to selectively release NO following reaction with the bacteria-specific enzyme β-lactamase and to trigger dispersion of Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilms in vitro.

Kampf gegen Biofilme: Mit NO‐Donoren lässt sich ein bakterieller Biofilm dispergieren, und damit können mitverabreichte Antibiotika die empfindlicheren freien Zellen töten. Das chemisch stabile Cephalosporin‐3′‐diazeniumdiolat‐NO‐Donor‐Pharmakon (siehe Schema) wird durch bakterielle β‐Lactamasen aktiviert und erleichtert diese zweistufige Biofilmentfernung.

The utilization of oxygen vacancies (OVs) in sodium ion batteries (SIBs) is expected to enhance performance, but as yet it has rarely been reported. Taking the MoO3−x nanosheet anode as an example, for the first time we demonstrate the benefits of OVs on SIB performance. Moreover, the benefits at deep‐discharge conditions can be further promoted by an ultrathin Al2O3 coating. A series of measurements show that the OVs increase the electric conductivity and Na‐ion diffusion coefficient, and the promotion from ultrathin coating lies in the effective reduction of cycling‐induced solid‐electrolyte interphase. The coated nanosheets exhibited high reversible capacity and great rate capability with the capacities of 283.9 (50 mA g−1) and 179.3 mAh g−1 (1 A g−1) after 100 cycles. This work may not only arouse future attention on OVs for sodium energy storage, but also open up new possibilities for designing strategies to utilize defects in other energy storage systems.

Enantioselective syntheses O 0031Highly Enantioselective Friedel-Crafts Alkylations of Pyrroles and Indoles with α'-Hydroxy Enones under Cu(II)-Simple Bis(oxazoline) Catalysis. -Copper complexes (I) are found to be efficient catalysts for the title reaction. The formation of dialkylation products can be suppressed by lowering the reaction temperature and increasing the amount of heteroarene. The potential of the present method is demonstrated by elaboration of the resulting adducts through oxidative cleavage ot the ketol moiety, leading to aldehydes, ketones and carboxylic acids. -(PALOMO*, C.; OIARBIDE, M.; KARDAK, B. G.; GARCIA, J. M.; LINDEN, A.; J.

Addition reactions O 0060Copper-Catalyzed Enantioselective Conjugate Addition of Dialkylzinc Reagents to α'-Oxy Enones. -The method constitutes an advanced entry to enantioenriched β-branched carboxylic acids and aldehydes with a broad R2Zn and functional group tolerance. -(GARCIA, J. M.; GONZALEZ, A.; KARDAK, B. G.; ODRIOZOLA, J. M.; OIARBIDE, M.; RAZKIN, J.; PALOMO*, C.; Chem. Eur.

Highly Enantioselective Friedel-Crafts Alkylations of Pyrroles and Indoles with a¢-Hydroxy Enones under Cu(II)-Simple Bis(oxazoline) Catalysis J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2005, 127, 4154-4155.