AT-CuAAC Synthesis of Mechanically Interlocked Oligonucleotides.

We present a simple strategy for the synthesis of main chain oligonucleotide rotaxanes with precise control over the position of the macrocycle. The novel DNA-based rotaxanes were analyzed to assess the effect of the mechanical bond on their properties.

A [3]Rotaxane Host Selects Between Stereoisomers.

What has it got in its pockets? A new approach to the selective binding and reporting of stereoisomers using mechanical bonding to produce a well-defined three-dimensional binding pocket was recently reported by Beer and co-workers. The highly stereoselective binding of stereoisomers by the reported [3]rotaxane suggest that the use of the mechanical bond to engineer a binding pocket has great potential for the development of stereoselective hosts.

Chelating Rotaxane Ligands as Fluorescent Sensors for Metal Ions.

Although metal-ion-binding interlocked molecules have been under intense investigation for over three decades, their application as scaffolds for the development of sensors for metal ions remains underexplored. In this work, we demonstrate the potential of simple rotaxanes as metal-ion-responsive ligand scaffolds through the development of a proof-of-concept selective sensor for Zn2+ .

A Fluorescent Ditopic Rotaxane Ion-Pair Host.

We report a rotaxane based on a simple urea motif that binds Cl- selectively as a separated ion pair with H+ and reports the anion binding event through a fluorescence switch-on response. The host selectively binds Cl- over more basic anions, which deprotonate the framework, and less basic anions, which bind more weakly. The mechanical bond also imparts size selectivity to the ditopic host.

Stereoselective Synthesis of Mechanically Planar Chiral Rotaxanes.

Chiral interlocked molecules in which the mechanical bond provides the sole stereogenic unit are typically produced with no control over the mechanical stereochemistry. Here we report a stereoselective approach to mechanically planar chiral rotaxanes in up to 98:2 d.r. using a readily available α-amino acid-derived azide. Symmetrization of the covalent stereocenter yields a rotaxane in which the mechanical bond provides the only stereogenic element.

An Auxiliary Approach for the Stereoselective Synthesis of Topologically Chiral Catenanes.

Catenanes, molecules in which two rings are threaded through one another like links in a chain, can form as two structures related like an object and its mirror image but otherwise identical if the individual rings lack bilateral symmetry. These structures are described as "topologically chiral" because, unlike most chiral molecules, it is not possible to convert one mirror-image form to the other under the rules of mathematical topology. Although intriguing and discussed as early as 1961, to date all methods of accessing molecules containing only this topological stereogenic element require the separation of the mirror-image forms via chiral stationary phase high-performance liquid chromatography, which has limited their investigation to date. Here, we present a simple method that uses a readily available source of chiral information to allow the stereoselective synthesis of topologically chiral catenanes.

The Iccare web server: an attempt to merge sequence and mapping information for plant and animal species.

The Iccare web server, http://genopole.toulouse.inra.fr/bioinfo/Iccare, provides a simple yet efficient tool for crude EST (expressed sequence tag) annotation specifically dedicated to comparative mapping approaches. Iccare uses all the EST and mRNA sequences from public databases for an organism of interest (query species) and compares them to all the transcripts of one reference organism (Homo sapiens or Arabidopsis thaliana). The results are displayed according to the location of the genes on the chromosomes of the reference organism. Gene structure information and sequence similarities are combined in a graphical representation in order to pinpoint the nature of the transcript query sequence. The user can subsequently design primers or probes for the purpose of physical or genetic mapping. In addition to the query organisms already available in Iccare, users can perform a tailor-made search with their own sequences against the animal or plant reference organism genes.

Deuteration enhances catalyst lifetime in palladium-catalysed alcohol oxidation.

The catalyst palladium/2,9-CD3-phenanthroline has a 1.8 times higher turnover number than its non-deuterated counterpart in the aerobic alcohol oxidation of methyl glucoside and allows the regioselective oxidation with dioxygen as the terminal oxidant.