3D Extracellular Matrix Mimics: Fundamental Concepts and Role of Materials Chemistry to Influence Stem Cell Fate.

Synthetic 3D extracellular matrices (ECMs) find application in cell studies, regenerative medicine, and drug discovery. While cells cultured in a monolayer may exhibit unnatural behavior and develop very different phenotypes and genotypes than in vivo, great efforts in materials chemistry have been devoted to reproducing in vitro behavior in in vivo cell microenvironments. This requires fine-tuning the biochemical and structural actors in synthetic ECMs. This review will present the fundamentals of the ECM, cover the chemical and structural features of the scaffolds used to generate ECM mimics, discuss the nature of the signaling biomolecules required and exploited to generate bioresponsive cell microenvironments able to induce a specific cell fate, and highlight the synthetic strategies involved in creating functional 3D ECM mimics.

Visible Light Promoted Metal- and Photocatalyst-Free Synthesis of Allylarenes.

The metal- and photocatalyst-free synthesis of substituted allylarenes has been carried out under visible light driven conditions. The process was based on the photogeneration of aryl radicals from arylazo sulfones and their ensuing reaction with allyl sulfones. The developed procedure was very efficient when using substrates bearing electron-withdrawing groups, and allowed for the preparation of α-benzyl styrenes and 2-benzyl acrylates in good yields.

A New One-Pot Synthesis of Quinoline-2-carboxylates under Heterogeneous Conditions.

Quinoline-2-carboxylates are an important subclass of quinoline derivatives largely present in a variety of biologically active molecules, as well as useful ligands in metal-catalyzed reactions. Herein, we present a new one-pot protocol for synthesizing this class of derivatives starting from ß-nitroacrylates and 2-aminobenzaldehydes. In order to optimize the protocol, we investigated several reaction conditions, obtaining the best results using the 2-tert-Butylimino-2-diethylamino-1,3-dimethylperhydro-1,3,2-diazaphosphorine (BEMP) as solid base, in acetonitrile. Finally, we demonstrated the generality of our approach over several substrates which led to synthesize a plethora of functionalized quinolines-2-carboxylate derivatives in good overall yields.

Glycans in nanomedicine, impact and perspectives.

Glycans have been selected by nature for both structural and 'recognition' purposes. Taking inspiration from nature, nanomedicine exploits glycans not only as structural constituents of nanoparticles and nanostructured biomaterials but also as selective interactors of such glyco-nanotools. Surface glycosylation of nanoparticles finds application in targeting specific cells, whereas recent findings give evidence that the glycan content of cell microenvironment is able to induce the cell fate. This review will highlight the role of glycans in nanomedicine, schematizing the different uses and roles in drug-delivery systems and in biomaterials for regenerative medicine.

Design considerations for chiral frustrated Lewis pairs: B/N FLPs derived from 3,5-bicyclic aryl piperidines.

Herein, 3,5-bicyclic aryl piperidines are derivatized to generate chiral B/N FLPs. Initially, the twofold symmetric amine C6H2F2(C5H8NiPr) 1 was converted in a series of synthetic steps to the styrene-derivative C6HF2(C5H8NiPr)(CH[double bond, length as m-dash]CH2) 4. Efforts to hydroborate the vinyl fragment proved challenging as a result of the strongly basic nitrogen, although the species C6HF2(C5H8N(H)iPr)(CH2CH2B(OH)(C6F5)2) 5 was crystallographically characterized. Modification of the system was achieved by conversion of the amine C6H2F2(C5H8NH) 6 to C6HF2(C5H8NPh)(CH[double bond, length as m-dash]CH2) 9. Hydroboration of 9 with 9-BBN or HB(C6F5)2 gave C6HF2(C5H8NPh)(CH2CH2BBN) 10 or C6HF2(C5H8NPh)(CH2CH2B(C6F5)2) 11, respectively. The latter species was derivatized by complexation of PPh3 to give C6HF2(C5H8NPh)(CH2CH2B(C6F5)2)(PPh3) 12. The Lewis acidities of 10 and 11 were assessed by the Gutman-Beckett test and by computations of the FIA and GEI. While 10 did not effect HD scrambling or hydrogenation of N-phenylbenzylimine, 11 was effective in HD scrambling. Despite this, no reduction of N-t-butylbenzylimine or N-phenylbenzylimine was achieved. These data demonstrate that 10 lacks the threshold combination of Lewis acidity and basicity to activate H2, while 11 lacks the steric demands about boron to preclude classical Lewis acid-base bond formation with imine substrates.