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Juan J Vaquero

Publications and source records attributed to Juan J Vaquero.

16 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

First synthesis of biquinoliziniun salts: novel example of a chiral azonia dication.

[Structure: see text] The 1,1'-, 2,2'-, and 3,3'-biquinolizinium dications are described for the first time and were prepared using palladium-catalyzed homocoupling reactions of the corresponding isomeric bromoquinolizinium bromides. Theoretical calculations show 1,1'- and 4,4'-biquinolizinium dications to be chiral molecules, the latter of which has a high energy of formation, a factor that probably precludes its formation.

Models, Molecular↗
PubMed2006

Palladium-mediated functionalization of heteroaromatic cations: comparative study on quinolizinium cations.

An efficient palladium-catalyzed cross-coupling reaction on heteroaromatic cations is described. A comparative study of the Stille and Suzuki reactions shows that only the Stille reaction is able to produce an efficient C-C bond formation between any of the four isomeric bromoquinolizinium bromides and a variety of stannanes. In the presence of the catalysts Pd(PPh3)4 or Pd2(dba)3P(o-Tol)3, vinyl, ethynyl, aryl, and heteroaryl groups are successfully incorporated into the quinolizinium system in satisfactory yields under mild reaction conditions. This procedure represents a marked improvement on the functionalization of this class of heteroaromatic cation.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2006

Enyne ring-closing metathesis on heteroaromatic cations.

Cationic heteroaromatic enynes have been employed as substrates in enyne ring-closing metathesis, under an atmosphere of ethylene and using the Hoveyda-Grubbs catalyst, for the first time; the reaction affords new 1-vinyl- and 2-vinyl-substituted 3,4-dihydroquinolizinium salts, useful precursors for biologically relevant cations based on the quinolinizium system.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2006

Palladium-catalyzed arylation and heteroarylation of azolopyrimidines.

A comparative study of the palladium-catalyzed arylation and heteroarylation of 5-bromoazolopyrimidines shows that aryl and electron-rich heteroaryl boronic acids gave higher yields than those obtained using the corresponding aryl and heteroaryl tributyl stannanes. In contrast, the reaction with electron-poor heteroaryl tributyl stannanes gave better results than the corresponding boronic acids.

Azo Compounds↗
PubMed2006

An improved synthesis of alpha-carbolines under microwave irradiation.

[reaction: see text]. Alpha-carbolines are interesting core structures for designing DNA-interacting small molecules. However, these compounds are not commercially available and their synthetic methods are low yielding or time consuming. The shortest synthetic route, the modified Graebe-Ullmann reaction, has been optimized by using microwave heating in four different types of apparatus to give shorter reaction times and enhanced yields. Optimized conditions enabled the preparation of a small library of alpha-carbolines.

Carbolines↗
PubMed2006

Performance evaluation of the GE healthcare eXplore VISTA dual-ring small-animal PET scanner.

UNLABELLED: We evaluated the performance characteristics of the eXplore VISTA dual-ring small-animal PET scanner, a stationary, ring-type, depth-of-interaction (DOI) correcting system designed to simultaneously maximize sensitivity, resolution, and resolution uniformity over a field of view sufficient to image rodent-sized animals. METHODS: We measured the intrinsic spatial resolution response of the VISTA detector modules, spatial and volume resolution throughout a representative portion of the field of view, and imaged several common resolution phantoms to provide a qualitative picture of resolution performance. We obtained an axial sensitivity profile and measured central point source sensitivity, scatter fractions and noise equivalent count (NEC) rates for rat- and mouse-sized objects using different energy windows, and count rate linearity. In addition, we measured the energy and timing resolution of both of the crystal layers (cerium-doped gadolinium orthosilicate and cerium-doped lutetium-yttrium orthosilicate) that give VISTA machines a DOI compensation capability. We examined the effectiveness of this DOI compensation by comparing spatial resolution measurements with and without the DOI correction enabled. Finally, several animal studies were included to illustrate system performance in the field. RESULTS: Spatial and volume resolutions averaged approximately 1.4 mm and 2.9 mm(3), respectively (with 3-dimensional Fourier rebinning and 2-dimensional filtered backprojection image reconstructions and an energy window of 250-700 keV), along the central axis of the scanner, and the spatial resolution was better than 1.7 mm and 2.1 mm at 1 and 2 cm off the central axis, respectively. Central point source sensitivity measured approximately 4% with peak NEC rates of 126.8 kcps at 455 kBq/mL and 77.1 kcps at 141 kBq/mL for mouse- and rat-sized uniform, cylindric phantoms, respectively. The radial spatial resolution at 2.8 cm off axis with DOI compensation was 2.5 mm but degraded (by 56%) to 3.9 mm without DOI compensation (as would be the case with a geometrically identical scanner without DOI correction capability). CONCLUSION: These results indicate that the VISTA small-animal PET scanner is well suited to imaging rodent-sized animals. The combination of high spatial resolution, resolution uniformity, sensitivity, and count rate performance, made possible in part by the novel use of phoswich detector modules, confers significant technical advantages over machines with similar geometry but without DOI correction capability.

Algorithms↗
PubMed2005

Heterocyclizations with tosylmethyl isocyanide derivatives. A new approach to substituted azolopyrimidines.

An efficient synthesis of substituted azolopyrimidines such as pyrido[3',2':4,5]pyrrolo[1,2-c]pyrimidines, pyrimido[1,6-a]indoles, benzo[4,5]imidazo-[1,2-c]pyrimidines, an imidazo[1,2-c]pyrimidine, and pyrazolo[1,5-c]pyrimidines is described. The method involves the reaction of N-protected bromomethylazoles and tosylmethyl isocyanide (TosMIC) derivatives in nonanhydrous media. The study of the reaction conditions shows that the method is only successful under phase-transfer conditions (CH2Cl2/30% aq NaOH) using benzyltriethylammonium chloride as a catalyst.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2005

ROC evaluation of statistical wavelet-based analysis of brain activation in [15O]-H2O PET scans.

This paper presents and evaluates a wavelet-based statistical analysis of PET images for the detection of brain activation areas. Brain regions showing significant activations were obtained by performing Student's t tests in the wavelet domain, reconstructing the final image from only those wavelet coefficients that passed the statistical test at a given significance level, and discarding artifacts introduced during the reconstruction process. Using Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curves, we have compared this statistical analysis in the wavelet domain to the conventional image-domain Statistical Parametric Mapping (SPM) method. For obtaining an accurate assessment of sensitivity and specificity, we have simulated realistic single subject [15O]-H2O PET studies with different hyperactivation levels of the thalamic region. The results obtained from an ROC analysis show that the wavelet approach outperforms conventional SPM in identifying brain activation patterns. Using the wavelet method, activation areas detected were closer in size and shape to the region actually activated in the reference image.

Algorithms↗
PubMed2004

Pyrrolodiazines. 6. Palladium-catalyzed arylation, heteroarylation, and amination of 3,4-dihydropyrrolo[1,2-a]pyrazines.

The palladium-catalyzed Suzuki cross-coupling reaction of arylboronic acids and 6-bromo- and 6,8-dibromo-3,4-dihydropyrrolo[1,2-a]pyrazines afforded 6-substituted and 6,8-disubstituted 3,4-dihydropyrrolo[1,2-a]pyrazines in good yields. Stille and Negishi coupling reactions have been used to prepare 6-heteroaryl-substituted derivatives in moderate yields by employing heteroaryl halides and 6-metalated 3,4-dihydropyrrolo[1,2-a]pyrazines as reaction partners. A variety of cyclic secondary amines have also been incorporated at position C-6 of 6-bromo-1-phenyl-3,4-dihydropyrrolo[1,2-a]pyrazine in the presence of the palladium catalyst Pd(2)(dba)(3) in conjunction with BINAP as ligand. This amination reaction is one of the few reported examples of such a palladium-catalyzed transformation on a pyrrole ring, although the reaction could not be extended to less nucleophilic amines.

Alkylation↗
PubMed2004

Sonogashira reaction on quinolizium cations.

The four isomeric bromoquinolizium bromides reacted with aryl- and heteroarylacetylenes under Sonogashira conditions. The reactions proceed with moderate-to-high yields to afford aryl- and heteroarylethynyl quinolizium cations. This is the first reported example of the Sonogashira reaction on heteroaromatic cations, and it allowed easy access to potential pi-donor pi-acceptor systems bearing cationic units.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2004

Reaction of bromomethylazoles and tosylmethyl isocyanide. A novel heterocyclization method for the synthesis of the core of marine alkaloids variolins and related azolopyrimidines.

A novel and efficient synthesis of the pyrido[3',2':4,5]pyrrolo[1,2-c]pyrimidine system, the heterocyclic core of the variolin family of marine alkaloids, is described. The route involves the reaction of 3-bromo-2-(bromomethyl)pyrrolo[2,3-b]pyridine and tosylmethyl isocyanide (TosMIC) under phase-transfer conditions. This unprecedented reaction was also used to synthesize a series of new methoxycarbonyl azolopyrimidines by reaction of TosMIC with bromomethylindoles, bromomethylbenzimidazole, and bromomethylpyrazole. Hydrolysis and decarboxylation of 5-bromo-7-methoxycarbonylpyrido[3',2':4,5]pyrrolo[1,2-c]pyrimidine obtained by this heterocyclization process and installation of the pyrimidine moiety in the C5 position open an alternative approach to complete a total synthesis of variolin B.

Alkaloids↗
PubMed2004

Benzo[f]azino[2,1-a]phthalazinium cations: novel DNA intercalating chromophores with antiproliferative activity.

New azaquinolizinium-type cations have been obtained from isochromane. The synthesis was completed over seven steps and included as the key feature an intramolecular Westphal condensation. This first example of the intramolecular process allowed the preparation of benzo[f]pyrido[2,1-a]phthalazinium and benzo[f]quino[2,1-a]phthalazinium salts, which were evaluated as DNA intercalators, DNA topoisomerase I inhibitors, and antiproliferative compounds. Both cationic systems behave as DNA intercalators and exhibit antiproliferative activity. The pentacyclic benzo[f]quino[2,1-a]phthalazinium cations also have an inhibitory effect on the catalytic activity of DNA topoisomerase I, without trapping of cleavage complexes. Structural characterization using density functional theory indicates that the fused ring systems are slightly nonplanar, and additional molecular modeling studies suggest a preferred orientation for the intercalating chromophores within a typical CpG or TpG intercalation site.

Antineoplastic Agents↗
PubMed2004

Method for bias field correction of brain T1-weighted magnetic resonance images minimizing segmentation error.

This work presents a new algorithm (nonuniform intensity correction; NIC) for correction of intensity inhomogeneities in T1-weighted magnetic resonance (MR) images. The bias field and a bias-free image are obtained through an iterative process that uses brain tissue segmentation. The algorithm was validated by means of realistic phantom images and a set of 24 real images. The first evaluation phase was based on a public domain phantom dataset, used previously to assess bias field correction algorithms. NIC performed similar to previously described methods in removing the bias field from phantom images, without introduction of degradation in the absence of intensity inhomogeneity. The real image dataset was used to compare the performance of this new algorithm to that of other widely used methods (N3, SPM'99, and SPM2). This dataset included both low and high bias field images from two different MR scanners of low (0.5 T) and medium (1.5 T) static fields. Using standard quality criteria for determining the goodness of the different methods, NIC achieved the best results, correcting the images of the real MR dataset, enabling its systematic use in images from both low and medium static field MR scanners. A limitation of our method is that it might fail if the bias field is so high that the initial histogram does not show bimodal distribution for white and gray matter.

Algorithms↗
PubMed2003

Westphal reaction in solid-phase.

[reaction: see text]. A library of cycloimonium salts has been prepared through Westphal reaction in solid-phase. By reaction of solid-support-bound azolium or azinium acetates 2, 1,2-diketones 4, and base, cycloimonium salts 5 were synthesized in good to high yield and purities.

Journal Article↗