Design of a highly selective quenched activity-based probe and its application in dual color imaging studies of cathepsin S activity localization.

The cysteine cathepsins are a group of 11 proteases whose function was originally believed to be the degradation of endocytosed material with a high degree of redundancy. However, it has become clear that these enzymes are also important regulators of both health and disease. Thus, selective tools that can discriminate between members of this highly related class of enzymes will be critical to further delineate the unique biological functions of individual cathepsins. Here we present the design and synthesis of a near-infrared quenched activity-based probe (qABP) that selectively targets cathepsin S which is highly expressed in immune cells. Importantly, this high degree of selectivity is retained both in vitro and in vivo. In combination with a new green-fluorescent pan-reactive cysteine cathepsin qABP we performed dual color labeling studies in bone marrow-derived immune cells and identified vesicles containing exclusively cathepsin S activity. This observation demonstrates the value of our complementary cathepsin probes and provides evidence for the existence of specific localization of cathepsin S activity in dendritic cells.

Racemization free protocol for the synthesis of N-tert-butanesulfinyl ketimines.

A general and robust racemization-free protocol for the synthesis of a variety of N-tert-butanesulfinyl ketimines is reported. Reaction progress was monitored by (1)H NMR using the nonperturbing internal standard diglyme, and ketimines were formed in good to high yields in either THF or CPME (cyclopentyl methyl ether) as solvent with heating to reflux.

High stereoselectivity in chelation-controlled intermolecular Heck reactions with aryl chlorides, vinyl chlorides and vinyl triflates.

Highly stereoselective chelation-controlled Pd(0)-catalyzed beta-arylations and beta-vinylations of a five-membered chiral, pyrrolidine-based vinyl ether were achieved using aryl- and vinyl chlorides as substrates, yielding quaternary 2-aryl/vinyl-2-methyl cyclopentanones in 89-96% ee under neutral reaction conditions.

Selective terminal heck arylation of vinyl ethers with aryl chlorides: a combined experimental-computational approach including synthesis of betaxolol.

Reaction conditions have been developed for palladium-catalyzed terminal (beta-) arylation of acyclic vinyl ethers with high regioselectivity using inexpensive aryl chlorides as starting materials and the P(t-Bu)3 releasing preligand [(t-Bu3)PH]BF4 as the key additive. This swift and straightforward protocol exploits non-inert conditions and controlled microwave heating to minimize handling and processing times and uses aqueous DMF or environmentally friendly PEG-200 as the reaction medium. The selectivity for linear beta-product in PEG-200 is slightly higher than in aqueous DMF. DFT calculations support a ligand-driven selectivity rationale, where the electronic and steric influence of bulky P(t-Bu)3 ligand provides improved beta-selectivity in the essential insertion step also with electron-rich aryl chlorides. A tentative computational rationalization of the improved selectivity in non-methylated PEG is discussed. Finally the synthetic methodology was used to provide efficient access to linear p-[2-(cyclopropylmethoxy)ethyl] phenol from p-nitrophenyl chloride, a key intermediate in the synthesis of the beta-adrenergic blocking agent Betaxolol.

A rapid microwave protocol for Heck vinylation of aryl chlorides under air.

In modern high-throughput chemistry, the overall workflow is a crucial factor and much work is devoted to speeding up the process of chemistry development. Since automated microwave-based synthesizers are known to streamline the compound production and to accelerate slow organic transformations, this technology was implemented for Heck reactions with sluggish aryl chlorides. Furthermore, homogeneous palladium-catalyzed Heck vinylations of aryl chlorides can be performed under air under optimized conditions. Based on this finding, controlled microwave heating was utilized to accelerate model reactions down to 30 min employing a mixture of ionic liquid and 1,4-dioxane as solvent.