Comprehensive Study of the Enhanced Reactivity of Turbo-Grignard Reagents.

Since its introduction in 2004, Knochel's so called Turbo-Grignard reagents revolutionized the usage of Grignard reagents. Through the simple addition of LiCl to a magnesium alkyl an outstanding increase in reactivity can be achieved. Though the exact composition of the reactive species remained mysterious, the reactive mixture itself is readily used not only in synthesis but also found its way into more distant fields like material science. To unravel this mystery, we combined single-crystal X-ray diffraction with in-solution NMR-spectroscopy and closed our investigations with quantum chemical calculations. Using such a variety of methods, we have gained insight into and an explanation for the extraordinary reactivity of this extremely convenient reagent by determining the structure of the first bimetallic reactive species [t-Bu2 Mg ⋅ LiCl ⋅ 4 thf] with two tert-butyl anions at the magnesium center and incorporated lithium chloride.

Poly(2-oxazoline)-Antibiotic Conjugates with Penicillins.

The conjugation of antibiotics with polymers is rarely done, but it might be a promising alternative to low-molecular-weight derivatization. The two penicillins penicillin G (PenG) and penicillin V (PenV) were attached to the end groups of different water-soluble poly(2-oxazoline)s (POx) via their carboxylic acid function. This ester group was shown to be more stable against hydrolysis than the ß-lactam ring of the penicillins. The conjugates are still antimicrobially active and up to 20 times more stable against penicillinase catalyzed hydrolysis. The antibiotic activity of the conjugates against Staphylococcus aureus in the presence of penicillinase is up to 350 times higher compared with the free antibiotics. Conjugates with a second antimicrobial function, a dodecyltrimethylammonium group (DDA-X), at the starting end of the PenG and PenV POx conjugates are more antimicrobially active than the conjugates without DDA-X and show high activity in the presence of penicillinase. For example, the conjugates DDA-X-PEtOx-PenG and DDA-X-PEtOx-PenV are 200 to 350 times more active against S. aureus in the presence of penicillinase and almost as effective as the penicillinase stable cloxacollin (Clox) under these conditions. These conjugates show even greater activity compared to cloxacollin without this enzyme present. Further, both conjugates kill Escherichia coli more effectively than PenG and Clox.

Introducing Stereogenic Centers to Group XIV Metallatranes.

The syntheses of the novel amino alcohols NH(CH2CMe2OH)2(CMe2CH2OH) (1) and N(CH2CMe2OH)(CMe2CH2OH)(CH2CH2OH) (2) as well as the stannatranes N(CH2CMe2O)(CMe2CH2O)(CH2CH2O)SnX (3, X = Ot-Bu), N(CH2CMe2O)3SnOC(O)C9H13O2, 4, and germatranes N(CH2CMe2O)(CMe2CH2O)(CH2CH2O)GeX (5, X = OEt; 6, X = Br) are reported. The compounds were characterized by 1H, 13C (1-6), 119Sn (3, 4), and 15N (2, 3, 5) NMR and IR spectroscopy, electrospray ionization mass spectrometry, and single crystal X-ray diffraction analysis. Graphset analyses were performed for compounds 1 and 2. Detailed NMR spectroscopic studies including variable temperature 1H (3, 5, 6) and 119Sn (3, 4) DOSY experiments reveal the stannatrane 3 being involved in a monomer-dimer equilibrium. Both the stannatranes 3 and 4 as well as the germatranes 5 and 6 show Λ â‡Œ Δ isomerization of the atrane cages in solution.

Crystal structures, Hirshfeld atom refinements and Hirshfeld surface analyses of tris-(4,5-di-hydro-furan-2-yl)methyl-silane and tris-(4,5-di-hydro-furan-2-yl)phenyl-silane.

The title compounds, C13H18O3Si (1) and C18H20O3Si (2), represent functional-izable di-hydro-furan-ylsilanes, which permit substitution by a variety of nucleophiles. The crystal structures of 1 and 2 display weak inter-molecular C-H⋯O hydrogen-bonding inter-actions (qu-anti-fied by Hirshfeld surface analysis), leading to a two-dimensional supra-molecular network for 1 and a one-dimensional supra-molecular network for 2. The crystal structures of 1 and 2 were refined both on the basis of the independent atom model (IAM) and the Hirshfeld atom refinement (HAR) approach, and the results are comparatively discussed.

Temperature and pressure limits of guanosine monophosphate self-assemblies.

Guanosine monophosphate, among the nucleotides, has the unique property to self-associate and form nanoscale cylinders consisting of hydrogen-bonded G-quartet disks, which are stacked on top of one another. Such self-assemblies describe not only the basic structural motif of G-quadruplexes formed by, e.g., telomeric DNA sequences, but are also interesting targets for supramolecular chemistry and nanotechnology. The G-quartet stacks serve as an excellent model to understand the fundamentals of their molecular self-association and to unveil their application spectrum. However, the thermodynamic stability of such self-assemblies over an extended temperature and pressure range is largely unexplored. Here, we report a combined FTIR and NMR study on the temperature and pressure stability of G-quartet stacks formed by disodium guanosine 5'-monophosphate (Na25'-GMP). We found that under abyssal conditions, where temperatures as low as 5 °C and pressures up to 1 kbar are reached, the self-association of Na25'-GMP is most favoured. Beyond those conditions, the G-quartet stacks dissociate laterally into monomer stacks without significantly changing the longitudinal dimension. Among the tested alkali cations, K+ is the most efficient one to elevate the temperature as well as the pressure limits of GMP self-assembly.