No abstract

The discovery of the involvement of nitric oxide (NO) in several physiological and pathophysiological processes launched a spectacular increase in studies in areas such as chemistry, biochemistry, and pharmacology. As a consequence, the development of NO donors or scavengers for regulation of its concentration and bioavailability in vivo is required. In this sense, ruthenium nitrosyl ammines and aliphatic tetraazamacrocyles have attracted a lot of attention due to their unique chemical properties. These complexes are water soluble and stable in solution, not to mention that they can deliver NO when photochemically or chemically activated by the reduction of the coordinated nitrosonium (NO+). The tuning of the energies of the charge transfer bands, the redox potential, and the specific rate constants of NO liberation, in both solution and matrices, is desirable for the achievement of selective NO delivery to biological targets, hence making the ruthenium ammines and aliphatic tetraazamacrocyles a quite versatile platform for biological application purposes. These ruthenium nitrosyls have shown to be active in firing neurons in mouse hippocampus, performing redox reactions in mitochondria, acting in blood pressure control, exhibiting cytotoxic activities against trypanosomatids (T.cruzi and L.major) and tumor cells. This tailoring approach is explored here, being heavily supported by the accumulated knowledge on the chemistry and photochemistry of ruthenium complexes, which allows NO donors/scavengers systems to be custom made designed.

Described are the selectivities observed for reactions of lignin model compounds with modifications of the copper-doped porous metal oxide (CuPMO) system previously shown to be a catalyst for lignin disassembly in supercritical methanol (Matson et al., J. Amer. Chem. Soc. 2011, 133, 14090–14097). The models studied are benzyl phenyl ether, 2-phenylethyl phenyl ether, diphenyl ether, biphenyl, and 2,3-dihydrobenzofuran, which are respective mimetics of the α-O-4, β-O-4, 4-O-5, 5-5, and β-5 linkages characteristic of lignin. Also, briefly investigated as a substrate is poplar organosolv lignin. The catalyst modifications included added samarium­(III) (both homogeneous and heterogeneous) or formic acid. The highest activity for the hydrogenolysis of aryl ether linkages was noted for catalysts with Sm­(III) incorporated into the solid matrix of the PMO structure. In contrast, simply adding Sm3+ salts to the solution suppressed the hydrogenolysis activity. Added formic acid suppressed aryl ether hydrogenolysis, presumably by neutralizing base sites on the PMO surface but at the same time improved the selectivity toward aromatic products. Acetic acid induced similar reactivity changes. While these materials were variously successful in catalyzing the hydrogenolysis of the different ethers, there was very little activity toward the cleavage of the 5-5 and β-5 C-C bonds that represent a small, but significant, percentage of the linkages between monolignol units in lignins.

The conversion of biomass-derived levulinic acid (LA) into gamma-valerolactone (GVL) using formic acid (FA) and Fe3(CO)12 as the catalyst precursor was achieved in 92% yield. To mimic a biorefinery setting, crude liquor (containing 20% LA) from the acid hydrolysis of sugarcane biomass in a pilot plant facility was directly converted into GVL in good yield (50%), without the need for isolating LA.

A one-pot alkylation-halogenation of ketosulfoxonium ylides in the presence of alkyl halides is described. The method furnishes several gem-difunctionalized haloketones (an alkyl and F, Cl, Br, or I) in good yields. Replacing alkyl halides with a mixture of electrophilic halogen species and various halide anions led to gem-dihalogenated ketones containing a combination of the same or two different halogens. Kinetic isotopic effects as well as reaction kinetic experiments give insight to the mechanism of these reactions.

Folate is shown to react with singlet-excited state of riboflavin in a diffusion controlled reaction and with triplet-excited state of riboflavin in a somewhat slower reaction with (3)k(q) = 4.8 × 10(8) L mol(-1) s(-1) in aqueous phosphate buffer at pH 7.4, ionic strength of 0.2 mol L(-1), and 25°C. Singlet quenching is assigned as photo-induced reductive electron transfer from ground state folate to singlet-excited riboflavin, while triplet quenching is assigned as one-electron transfer rather than hydrogen atom transfer from folate to triplet-excited riboflavin, as the reaction quantum yield, φ = 0.32, is hardly influenced by solvent change from water to deuterium oxide, φ = 0.37. Cyclic voltammetry showed an irreversible two-electron anodic process for folate, E = 1.14 V versus NHE at a scan-rate of 50 mV s(-1), which appears to be kinetically controlled by the heterogeneous electron transfer from the substrates to the electrode. Main products of folate photooxidation sensitized by riboflavin were pterin-6-carboxylic acid and p-aminobenzoyl-L-glutamic acid as shown by liquid chromatographic ion-trap mass spectrometry (LC-IT-MS).

No abstract

The synthesis of several pyrrolidones (PYR), including a highly complex tetracyclic one (40‐91% yields), is described employing an inexpensive iron catalyst and aqueous solutions of biomass‐derived levulinic acid (LA) and formic acid (FA). The method is broad since it works with many structurally different amines. Considering that all produced LA from a real biorefinery facility will most probably be further derivatized directly from the hydrolysed biomass in aqueous solutions (without isolation), this method furnishes many advantages when compared to previous ones that employ different solvents or neat LA.