A prediction model using 2-propanol and 2-butanone in urine distinguishes breast cancer.

Safe and noninvasive methods for breast cancer screening with improved accuracy are urgently needed. Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in biological samples such as breath and blood have been investigated as noninvasive novel markers of cancer. We investigated volatile organic compounds in urine to assess their potential for the detection of breast cancer. One hundred and ten women with biopsy-proven breast cancer and 177 healthy volunteers were enrolled. The subjects were divided into two groups: a training set and an external validation set. Urine samples were collected and analyzed by gas chromatography and mass spectrometry. A predictive model was constructed by multivariate analysis, and the sensitivity and specificity of the model were confirmed using both a training set and an external set with reproducibility tests. The training set included 60 breast cancer patients (age 34-88 years, mean 60.3) and 60 healthy controls (age 34-81 years, mean 58.7). The external validation set included 50 breast cancer patients (age 35-85 years, mean 58.8) and 117 healthy controls (age 18-84 years, mean 51.2). One hundred and ninety-one compounds detected in at least 80% of the samples from the training set were used for further analysis. The predictive model that best-detected breast cancer at various clinical stages was constructed using a combination of two of the compounds, 2-propanol and 2-butanone. The sensitivity and specificity in the training set were 93.3% and 83.3%, respectively. Triplicated reproducibility tests were performed by randomly choosing ten samples from each group, and the results showed a matching rate of 100% for the breast cancer patient group and 90% for the healthy control group. Our prediction model using two VOCs is a useful complement to the current diagnostic tools. Further studies inclusive of benign tumors and non-breast malignancies are warranted.

Indium-catalyzed annulation of 3-aryl- and 3-heteroarylindoles with propargyl ethers: synthesis and photoluminescent properties of aryl- and heteroaryl[c]carbazoles.

Treatment of 3-aryl- and 3-heteroarylindoles with propargyl ethers under indium catalysis successfully provided aryl- and heteroaryl[c]carbazoles, which were found to be more efficient emitters compared with the corresponding [a]-analogs.

Indium-catalyzed annulation of 2-aryl- and 2-heteroarylindoles with propargyl ethers: concise synthesis and photophysical properties of diverse aryl- and heteroaryl-annulated[a]carbazoles.

Treatment of 2-aryl- and 2-heteroarylindoles with propargyl ethers in the presence of a catalytic amount of indium nonafluorobutanesulfonate [In(ONf)(3)] gave aryl- and heteroaryl-annulated[a]carbazoles in good yields. The synthetically attractive feature is reflected by its applicability to a wide range of 2-aryl- and 2-heteroarylindoles. In the annulation reaction, propargyl ethers act as C3 sources (HC[triple bond]C-CH(2)OR). Among these, two carbon atoms are incorporated into the product as members of a newly constructed aromatic ring and the remaining carbon atom forms a methyl group on the aromatic ring, where the methyl group is always located next to the C3 position of the indole nucleus. The methyl group can be easily removed through SeO(2) oxidation followed by decarbonylation with RhCl(CO)(PPh(3))(2)-Ph(2)P(CH(2))(3)PPh(2) as a catalyst. The new annulation strategy is applicable also to symmetrical dimers such as bithiophene and bifuran derivatives. Mechanistic studies suggest that the first step is addition reaction initiated by regioselective nucleophilic attack of the C3 of 2-aryl- and 2-heteroarylindoles to the internal carbon atom of the C[triple bond]C bond in propargyl ethers. The next stage is ring-closing S(N)2 process kicking out the alkoxy group and then aromatization via a 1,3-hydrogen shift is the final step. The two carbon-carbon bond-forming reactions achieved in one-pot contribute largely to the reduction in the number of steps for the synthesis of aryl- and heteroaryl-annulated[a]carbazoles. Furthermore, utilization of the Fischer indole synthesis for efficient supply of the substrates, 2-aryl- and 2-heteroarylindoles, is another important factor shortening the overall process. The development of the annulation with a wide substrate scope provided a unique opportunity to evaluate photophysical properties of a series of aryl- and heteroaryl-annulated[a]carbazoles. Almost all the compounds evaluated in this study were found to emit purple to green light in the visible region. Some interesting structure-property correlations are also described.