The quest and design of new brassinosteroids analogs is a matter of current interest. Herein, the effect of short alkyl side chains and the configuration at C22 on the growth-promoting activity of a series of new brassinosteroid 24-norcholan-type analogs have been evaluated by the rice leaf inclination test using brassinolide as positive control. The highest activities were found for triol 3 with a C22(S) configuration and monobenzoylated derivatives. A docking study of these compounds into the active site of the Brassinosteroid Insensitive 1(BRI1)–ligand–BRI1-Associated Receptor Kinase 1 (BAK1) complex was performed using AutoDock Vina, and protein–ligand contacts were analyzed using LigPlot+. The results suggest that the hydrophobic interactions of ligands with the receptor BRI1LRR and hydrogen bonding with BAK1 in the complex are important for ligand recognition. For monobenzoylated derivatives, the absence of the hydrophobic end in the alkyl chain seems to be compensated by the benzoyl group. Thus, it would be interesting to determine if this result depends on the nature of the substituent group. Finally, mixtures of S/R triols 3/4 exhibit activities that are comparable or even better than those found for brassinolide. Thus, these compounds are potential candidates for application in agriculture to improve the growth and yield of plants against various types of biotic and abiotic stress.

A facile, efficient and environment-friendly protocol for the synthesis of 6-chloro-5-formyl-1,4-dihydropyridine derivatives has been developed by the convenient ultrasound-mediated reaction of 2(1H)pyridone derivatives with the Vilsmeier-Haack reagent. This method provides several advantages over current reaction methodologies including a simpler work-up procedure, shorter reaction times and higher yields.

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A set of five new aromatic poly(imide)s (PIs) incorporating pendant acyclic alkyl moieties were synthesized. The difference among them was the length and bulkiness of the pendant group, which comprises of linear alkyl chains from three to six carbon atoms, and a tert-butyl moiety. The effect of the side group length on the physical, thermal, mechanical, and gas transport properties was analyzed. All PIs exhibited low to moderate molecular weights (Mn ranged between 27.930–58.970 Da, and Mw ranged between 41.760–81.310 Da), good solubility in aprotic polar solvents, except for PI-t-4, which had a tert-butyl moiety and was soluble even in chloroform. This behaviour was probably due to the most significant bulkiness of the side group that increased the interchain distance, which was corroborated by the X-ray technique (PI-t-4 showed two d-spacing values: 5.1 and 14.3 Å). Pure gas permeabilities for several gases were reported (PI-3 (Barrer): He(52); H2(46); O2(5.4); N2(1.2); CH4(1.1); CO2(23); PI-t-4 (Barrer): He(139); H2(136); O2(16.7); N2(3.3); CH4(2.3); CO2(75); PI-5 (Barrer): He(44); H2(42); O2(5.9); N2(1.4); CH4(1.2); CO2(27); PI-6 (Barrer): He(45); H2(43); O2(6.7); N2(1.7); CH4(1.7); CO2(32)). Consistent higher volume in the side group was shown to yield the highest gas permeability. All poly(imide)s exhibited high thermal stability with 10% weight loss degradation temperature between 448–468 °C and glass transition temperature between 240–270 °C. The values associated to the tensile strength (45–87 MPa), elongation at break (3.2–11.98%), and tensile modulus (1.43–2.19 GPa) were those expected for aromatic poly(imide)s.

This work reports the synthesis of six new polyimides obtained by the reaction of two novel diamine monomers: methyl 4‐(3,5‐diaminobenzamido)benzoate and dimethyl 5‐(3,5‐diaminobenzamido)isophthalate, bearing one or two methyl ester groups in their phenyl rings, respectively, with three known dianhydrides, 4,4′‐(hexafluoroisopropylidene) diphatalic anhydride (6FDA), 4,4′‐(dimethylsilanediyl) dipthalic anhydride (SiDA) and 4,4′‐oxydiphthalic anhydride (ODPA). The polyimides were synthesized using the “two‐step” method, which first involves forming a poly(amic acid) precursor that is subsequently cyclodehydrated to form the imide linkage. The yields were higher than 95% in all cases, and the structural characterization was performed by spectroscopic techniques like FT‐IR, 1H, 13C, and 29Si NMR. In addition, the effect on the solubility in common organic solvents and thermal and gas transport properties of these polyimides were studied as a function of the nature of the respective side group and the dianhydride used.