The crystallization behavior of proline and its role in asymmetric organocatalysis.
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Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to Richard M Kellogg.
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The resolution of racemates through their diastereomeric salts can be positively affected by the addition of small amounts of suitable nucleation inhibitors. This discovery is a logical extension of "Dutch Resolution", in which equimolar amounts of resolving agents that are members of the same family (i.e., structurally related) are used. We conducted a systematic search for nucleation inhibitors of the resolving agent 1-phenylethylamine. A wide range of amines that bear possible family resemblances to 1-phenylethylamine was investigated. It was found that (R)-1-phenylbutylamine is a good inhibitor of (R)-1-phenylethylamine. Results of turbidity measurements showed that, for the model case of mandelic acid resolution, the chief effect of this inhibitor was to widen the metastable zone for the more soluble diastereomer. This observation is in accordance with previous experience. Further scouting for possible family members revealed a wide variation in the effectiveness of inhibitors, dependent on their structure. By far the most effective inhibitors are bifunctional 1-phenylethylamine and/or 1-phenylbutylamine analogues. The effect of racemic inhibitors was found to approach that of enantiomerically pure inhibitors of the same absolute configuration of the 1-phenylethylamine used for resolution. The most effective inhibitors were tested for the resolution of a structural variety of racemates, and were shown to be broadly applicable.
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A new class of efficient hydrogelators has been developed by a simple modification of the peripheral substituents of cyclohexane bis-urea organogelators with hydrophilic hydroxy or amino functionalities. These bis-urea hydrogelators were synthesised in two or three steps using an alternative procedure to the common isocyanate method. Gelation was obtained with organic solvents, water and strongly basic aqueous solutions like 25% ammonia. Hydrogelation was found to depend on a delicate balance between the hydrophobicity of the alkyl chains, hydrophilicity of the terminal substituents and the enantiomeric purity of the compound. The hydrogels consisted of a network of fibers, in which all urea groups are involved in intermolecular hydrogen bonding. Most likely, gelation is driven by hydrophobic interactions of the methylene units, whereas hydrogen bond formation between the urea groups provides the necessary anisotropy of the aggregation and the high thermal stability of the gels.
In nature, key molecular processes such as communication, replication, and enzyme catalysis all rely on a delicate balance between molecular and supramolecular chirality. Here we report the design, synthesis, and operation of a reversible, photoresponsive, self-assembling molecular system in which molecular and supramolecular chirality communicate. It shows exceptional stereoselectivity upon aggregation of the molecules during gel formation with the solvent. This chirality is locked by photochemical switching, a process that is subsequently used to induce an inverted chiral supramolecular assembly as revealed by circular dichroism spectroscopy. The optical switching between different chiral aggregated states and the interplay of molecular and supramolecular chirality offer attractive new prospects for the development of molecular memory systems and smart functional materials.
We are developing all-synthetic model cofactor-protein complexes in order to define the parameters controlling non-natural cofactor activity. The long-term objective is to establish the theoretical and practical basis for designing novel enzymes. A non-heme pentadentate ligand (N4Py) is being developed as a template for the site-specific attachment of a designed four-helix bundle. Previously, we attached two unprotected peptides via CH(2)Cl handles to N4Py. In the presence of hydrogen peroxide, the iron(II) complex of this ligand (2a) generates an Fe(III)OOH intermediate (3a) that can oxidize a wide variety of organic compounds. Here, we describe the synthesis of 27, a N4Py derivative in which four three-carbon spacers have been introduced, and show that four copies of an unprotected, single-cysteine peptide can be coupled via a thioether linkage to the ligand. In addition, a divergent synthesis route to tetrabromide ligand 1b has also been developed, providing the opportunity to prepare alternative pentadentate ligands efficiently by four cross-coupling reactions on a single molecule. Also, two of the four bromides of 1b can be selectively addressed by magnesium-bromide exchange.
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