Isolation, X-ray crystal structure and theoretical calculations of the new compound 8-Eepicordatin and identification of others terpenes and steroids from the bark and leaves of Croton palanostigma Klotzsch

Estudos fitoquímicos com as cascas do caule e com as folhas de Croton palanostigma Klotzsch (Euphorbiaceae) levaram ao isolamento do novo diterpeno clerodânico 8-epicordatina (2), além de éster metílico do ácido 12-oxohardwickiico (3), aparisthmano, cordatina (1), ácido ent-trachiloban-18-óico, óxido de ent-13-epimanoila, óxido de ent-3-oxo-13-epimanoila, óxido de ent-3β-hidroxi-13-epimanoila, sitosterol, estigmasterol, estigmastan-3-ona, 6β-hidroxiestigmast-4-en-3-ona, 6β-hidroxiestigmasta-4,22-dien-3-ona, estigmast-4-en-3-ona, estigmasta-4,22-dien-3-ona, ácido 3-O-acetilaleuritolico, 11α-hidroxiurs-12-en-3-ona, α-amirenona, 24-metilenocicloartenona e lupenona. Estas substâncias foram isoladas através de procedimentos fitoquímicos usuais e suas estruturas foram deduzidas por estudos espectroscópicos, incluindo experimentos em 2D. Adicionalmente, a estrutura cristalina de 8-epicordatina (2) foi determinada por difração de raios-X. Cálculos teóricos de RMN ao nível B3PW91/DGDZVP foram usados para confirmação dos assinalamentos dos deslocamentos químicos dos hidrogênios H-7α e H-7β de 8-epicordatina.

Estudo químico e biológico dos fungos endofílicos associados com a espécie vegetal Alibertia macrophylla (Rubiaceae)

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Solubility and release modulation effect of sulfamerazine ternary complexes with cyclodextrins and meglumine

This study investigated the effect on solubility and release of ternary complexes of sulfamerazine (SMR) with beta-(beta CD), methyl-(M beta CD) and hydroxypropyl-P-cyclodextrin (HP beta CD) using meglumine (MEG) as the ternary component. The combination of MEG with M beta CD resulted the best approach, with an increased effect (29-fold) of the aqueous solubility of SMR. The mode of inclusion was supported by 2D NMR, which indicated that real ternary complexes were formed between SMR, MEG and M beta CD or HP beta CD. Solid state analysis was performed using Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT IR), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), which demonstrated that different interactions occurred among SMR, MEG and M beta CD or HP beta CD in the ternary lyophilized systems. The ternary complexes with beta CD and M beta CD produced an additional retention effect on the release of SMR compared to the corresponding binary complexes, implying that they were clearly superior in terms of solubility and release modulation. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Jatrophidin I, a cyclic peptide from Brazilian Jatropha curcas L.: Isolation, characterization, conformational studies and biological activity

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Structural and Interaction Studies of Bacterial Polysaccharides by NMR Spectroscopy

An introduction to bacterial polysaccharides and the methods for structural determination are described in the first two parts of the thesis. In a structural elucidation of bacterial polysaccharides NMR experiments are important as is component analysis. A short description of immunochemical methods such as enzyme immunoassays is included. Two NMR techniques used for interaction studies, trNOE and STD NMR, are also discussed. The third part of the thesis discusses and summarizes the results from the included papers. The structures of the exopolysaccharides produced by two lactic acid bacteria are determined by one- and two dimensional NMR experiments. One is a heteropolysaccharide produced by Streptococcus thermophilus and the other a homopolysaccharide produced by Propionibacterium freudenreichii. The structure of an acidic polysaccharide from a marine bacterium with two serine residues in the repeating unit is also investigated. The structural and immunological relationship between two O-antigenic polysaccharides from Escherichia coli strain 180/C3 and O5 is discussed and investigated. Finally, interaction studies of an octasaccharide derived from the Salmonella enteritidis O-antigen and a bacteriophage are described which were performed with NMR experiments.

Synthese und Charakterisierung neuer funktionalisierter Mono- und Bis-tetrahydropyrrolo[3,4-b]carbazole als potentielle DNA-Liganden

Synthese und Charakterisierung neuer funktionalisierter Mono- und Bis-tetrahydro-pyrrolo[3,4-b]carbazole als potentielle DNA-Liganden In der Carbazol-Chemie sollen neue anellierte Verbindungen mit potentieller DNA-Affinität und damit verbundener Antitumoraktivität entwickelt werden. Auf molekularer Ebene sind DNA-Interkalation oder DNA-Rinnenbindung zu erwarten. Darauf aufbauend wurden in Anlehnung an literaturbekannte Cytostatika Mono- und Bis-tetrahydropyrrolo[3,4-b]carbazole synthetisiert, die zur Entwicklung neuer Leitstrukturen bzw. -substanzen beitragen können.In der vorliegenden Arbeit wurde als synthetische Schlüsselreaktion die in unserem Arbeitkreis etablierte Indol-2,3-chinodimethan-Diels-Alder-Reaktion mit geeigneten cyclischen Mono- und Bismaleinimiden als Dienophilen weiterführend genutzt. Auf Grund des Aufbaus von künftigen Struktur-Wirkungsbeziehungen wurden variable Linker zwischen die beiden zu verbindenden Pyrrolotetrahydrocarbazole eingeführt. Diese waren aliphatischer und diamidischer Natur. Diamidische Strukturelemente wurden im Hinblick auf die Entwicklung neuer Peptidomimetika eingeführt. Deren Synthese gelang zum einen über die gemischte Säureanhydrid-Methode und zum anderen über die Azolid-Methode. Die Struktursicherung der als Cycloaddukte erhaltenen Tetrahydrocarbazole erfolgte mittels Standardverfahren (1D-, 2D-NMR-, IR-Spektroskopie und Massenspektrometrie).Enantiomere bzw. Diastereomere chiraler Wirkstoffe unterscheiden sich stark in ihren pharmakologischen Eigenschaften, deshalb müssen Verfahren entwickelt werden, um diese Substanzen gegebenenfalls auch in enantiomerenreiner Form darstellen zu können. Die Racemate der Monotetrahydrocarbazole und die Racemate sowie die dazu diastereomeren meso-Formen der Bistetrahydrocarbazole, die bei der Reaktion entstehen, konnten erstmals mittels chiraler HPLC analytisch getrennt werden.In einer der Synthese ergänzten theoretischen Studie wurde Computer-Molecular-Modelling zur Problematik der Diels-Alder-Reaktion durchgeführt, außerdem wurden kraftfeld-mechanische Berechnungen zur Konformationsanalyse der 'einfachen' Monotetrahydro-carbazole herangezogen und darauf aufbauend schließlich einfache DNA-Docking-Experimente zur ersten Abschätzung des DNA-Binde-Verhaltens der synthetisierten Verbindungen vorgenommen.

13C NMR of a single molecule magnet: analysis of pseudocontact shifts and residual dipolar couplings

Paramagnetic triple decker complexes of lanthanides are promising Single Molecule Magnets (SMMs), with many potential uses. Some of them show preferable relaxation behavior, which enables the recording of well resolved NMR spectra. These axially symmetric complexes are also strongly magnetically anisotropic, and this property can be described with the axial component of the magnetic susceptibility tensor, χa. For triple decker complexes with phthalocyanine based ligands, the Fermi˗contact contribution is small. Hence, together with the axial symmetry, the experimental chemical shifts in 1H and 13C NMR spectra can be modeled easily by considering pseudocontact and orbital shifts alone. This results in the determination of the χa value, which is also responsible for molecular alignment and consequently for the observation of residual dipolar couplings (RDCs). A detailed analysis of the experimental 1H-13C and 1H-1H couplings revealed that contributions from RDCs (positive and negative) and from dynamic frequency shifts (negative for all observed couplings) have to be considered. Whilst the pseudocontact shifts depend on the average positions of 1H and 13C nuclei relative to the lanthanide ions, the RDCs are related to the mobility of nuclei they correspond to. This phenomenon allows for the measurement of the internal mobility of the various groups in the SMMs.

Die Vielseitigkeit von Carbazol in pi-konjugierten Materialien: Makrozyklen, Doppelstrang-Strukturen und Donor-Akzeptor-Copolymere

In dieser Arbeit wurden die vielfältigen Anwendungsmöglichkeiten von Carbazol-reichen Verbindungen in unterschiedlichen Architekturen von pi-konjugierten Materialien untersucht. Die Darstellung der Makrozyklen in Kapitel 1 erfolgte über eine templatunterstützte Synthese, da die ausschließlich über ihre para-Position verknüpften Einheiten einen Zugang über ihre Geometrie nicht erlaubten. Cyclododeca-2,7-fluoren wurde als zyklische Modellverbindung für die zahlreichen bekannten linearen Oligo- und Polyfluorene dargestellt, um den Einfluss der Ringstruktur auf die optischen Eigenschaften dieser blau emittierenden Verbindungen zu untersuchen. Motiviert von den geringen Ausbeuten bei der Zyklisierung des Rings unter Yamamoto-Bedingungen wurde nach einer alternativen Kupplungsreaktion gesucht, die den Zugang zu größeren Substanzmengen erlaubt. Die Einführung von terminalen Ethinylgruppen an die zu verknüpfenden Bausteine erlaubte über die Glaser-Eglinton-Reaktion nicht nur eine Verbesserung der Reaktionsausbeute um den Faktor 10, sondern gleichzeitig auch die Erweiterung des Durchmessers auf rund 5 nm. Demonstriert wurde dies anhand der Darstellung von Cyclo[tetrakis(2,7-diethinyltriscarbazol)] und Cyclo[tetrakis(2,7-diethinyltrisfluoren)].rnDer zweite Abschnitt der Dissertation befasste sich mit ausgedehnten zweidimensionalen Strukturen, zu denen auch mehrsträngige Polymere zählen. Für die Darstellung eines Doppelstrang-Polymers mit hoher Periodizität in den beiden in regelmäßigen Abständen verknüpften Strängen wurde ein neues Konzept entwickelt, dass den Zugang zu solchen Verbindungen erlauben sollte. Dieses basierte auf einem vierfach funktionalisierten Carbazol-Makromonomer. Die Polymerisationen wurden in zwei Schritten über Glaser-Eglinton-Reaktionen durchgeführt. Um unkontrollierte Kupplungen zu vermeiden, wurden zwei der vier reaktiven Positionen am Monomer zunächst über Schutzgruppen maskiert und nach der ersten Polymerisation wieder aktiviert. Neben diesem Ansatz über oxidative Ethinylkupplungen wurde auch eine Organometall-Variante mit einem Platin-Komplex im Polymerrückgrat vorgestellt. rnIm dritten Kapitel wurde die Darstellung von Donor-Akzeptor-Polymeren mit niedriger Bandlücke für den Einsatz in organischen Solarzellen besprochen. Im Gegensatz zu den bisherigen Ansätzen in der Literatur wurden hier ganz gezielt Donor- und Akzeptor-Einheiten mit einer Länge von mindestens 1,5 nm synthetisiert und kombiniert, um zu untersuchen, welche Auswirkungen der Einsatz solcher Makromonomere auf die Eigenschaften der Materialien hat. Dabei bestand der Akzeptor-Baustein in drei Polymeren aus Bis[2,7-di-(4,4,5,5-tetramethyl-1,3,2-dioxaborolan-2-yl)-9,9,18,18-tetraoctylindeno[1,2-b]-yl]-indeno[1,2-b]fluoren-12,15-dion, während die Donor-Stärke durch den Übergang von einem reinen leiterverbrückten Carbazol-Monomer über eine gemischte Carbazol-Thiophen-Einheit hin zu einem reinen Thiophen-Precursor variiert wurde. Dabei zeigte das Polymer mit Thiophen als Donor den höchsten Zellwirkungsgrad von 0,41 %.rn

Hundertneunundzwanzig Xe NMR for investigations of complex and dynamic systems

In this work, the remarkable versatility and usefulness of applications of Xe-129 NMR experiments is further extended. The application of Xe-129 NMR spectroscopy to very different system is studied, including dynamic and static, solid and liquid, porous and non-porous systems. Using the large non-equilibrium polarization created by hyperpolarization of Xe-129, time-resolved NMR measurements can be used for the online-monitoring of dynamic systems. In the first part of this work, several improvements for medical applications of hyperpolarized Xe-129 are achieved and their feasibility shown experimentally. A large gain in speed and reproducibility of the accumulation process of Xe-129 as ice and an enhancement of the usable polarization in any experiment requiring prior accumulation are achieved. An enhancement of the longitudinal relaxation time of Xe-129 is realized by admixture of a buffer gas during the storage of hyperpolarized Xe-129. Pursuing the efforts of simplifying the accumulation process and enhancing the storage time of hyperpolarized Xe-129 will allow for a wider use of the hyperpolarized gas in (medical) MRI experiments. Concerning the use of hyperpolarized Xe-129 in MRI, the influence of the diffusion coefficient of the gas on parameters of the image contrast is experimentally demonstrated here by admixture of a buffer gas and thus changing the diffusion coefficient. In the second part of this work, a polymer system with unique features is probed by Xe-129 NMR spectroscopy, proving the method to be a valuable tool for the characterization of the anisotropic properties of semicrystalline, syndiotactic polystyrene films. The polymer films contain hollow cavities or channels with sizes in the sub-nanometer range, allowing for adsorption of Xe-129 and subsequent NMR measurements. Despite the use of a ’real-world’ system, the transfer of the anisotropic properties from the material to adsorbed Xe-129 atoms is shown, which was previously only known for fully crystalline materials. The anisotropic behavior towards atomar guests inside the polymer films is proven here for the first time for one of the phases. For the polymer phase containing nanochannels, the dominance of interactions between Xe-129 atoms in the channels compared to interactions between Xe atoms and the channel walls are proven by measurements of a powder sample of the polymer material and experiments including the rotation of the films in the external magnetic field as well as temperature-dependent measurements. The characterization of ’real-world’ systems showing very high degrees of anisotropy by Xe-129 are deemed to be very valuable in future applications. In the last part of this work, a new method for the online monitoring of chemical reactions has been proposed and its feasibility and validity are experimentally proven. The chemical shift dependence of dissolved Xe-129 on the composition of a reaction mixture is used for the online monitoring of free-radical miniemulsion polymerization reactions. Xe-129 NMR spectroscopy provides an excellent method for the online monitoring of polymerization reactions, due to the simplicity of the Xe-129 NMR spectra and the simple relationship between the Xe-129 chemical shift and the reaction conversion. The results of the time-resolved Xe-129 NMR measurements are compared to those from calorimetric measurements, showing a good qualitative agreement. The applicability of the new method to reactions other than polymerization reactions is investigated by the online monitoring of an enzymatic reaction in a miniemulsion. The successful combination of the large sensitivity of Xe-129, the NMR signal enhancements due to hyperpolarization, and the solubility of Xe-129 gives access to the large new field of investigations of chemical reaction kinetics in dynamic and complex systems like miniemulsions.

Advanced morphological 3D magnetic resonance observation of cartilage repair tissue (MOCART) scoring using a new isotropic 3D proton-density, turbo spin echo sequence with variable flip angle distribution (PD-SPACE) compared to an isotropic 3D steady-state free precession sequence (True-FISP) and standard 2D sequences

To evaluate a new isotropic 3D proton-density, turbo-spin-echo sequence with variable flip-angle distribution (PD-SPACE) sequence compared to an isotropic 3D true-fast-imaging with steady-state-precession (True-FISP) sequence and 2D standard MR sequences with regard to the new 3D magnetic resonance observation of cartilage repair tissue (MOCART) score.

Reconstruction of patient-specific 3D bone surface from 2D calibrated fluoroscopic images and point distribution model

Reconstruction of patient-specific 3D bone surface from 2D calibrated fluoroscopic images and a point distribution model is discussed. We present a 2D/3D reconstruction scheme combining statistical extrapolation and regularized shape deformation with an iterative image-to-model correspondence establishing algorithm, and show its application to reconstruct the surface of proximal femur. The image-to-model correspondence is established using a non-rigid 2D point matching process, which iteratively uses a symmetric injective nearest-neighbor mapping operator and 2D thin-plate splines based deformation to find a fraction of best matched 2D point pairs between features detected from the fluoroscopic images and those extracted from the 3D model. The obtained 2D point pairs are then used to set up a set of 3D point pairs such that we turn a 2D/3D reconstruction problem to a 3D/3D one. We designed and conducted experiments on 11 cadaveric femurs to validate the present reconstruction scheme. An average mean reconstruction error of 1.2 mm was found when two fluoroscopic images were used for each bone. It decreased to 1.0 mm when three fluoroscopic images were used.

Synthesis and cellular characterization of novel isoxazolo- and thiazolohydrazinylidene-chroman-2,4-diones on cancer and non-cancer cell growth and death

Coumarins are extensively studied anticoagulants that exert additional effects such as anticancerogenic and even anti-inflammatory. In order to find new drugs with anticancer activities, we report here the synthesis and the structural analysis of new coumarin derivatives which combine the coumarin core and five member heterocycles in hydrazinylidene-chroman-2,4-diones. The derivatives were prepared by derivatization of the appropriate heterocyclic amines which were used as electrophiles to attack the coumarin ring. The structures were characterized by spectroscopic techniques including IR, NMR, 2D-NMR and MS. These derivatives were further characterized especially in terms of a potential cytotoxic and apoptogenic effect in several cancer cell lines including the breast and prostate cancer cell lines MCF-7, MDA-MB-231, PC-3, LNCaP, and the monocytic leukemia cell line U937. Cell viability was determined after 48 h and 72 h of treatment with the novel compounds by MTT assay and the 50% inhibitory concentrations (EC50 values) were determined. Out of the 8 novel compounds screened for reduced cell viability, 4c, 4d and 4e were found to be the most promising and effective ones having EC50 values that were several fold reduced when compared to the reference substance 4-hydroxycoumarin. However, the effects were cancer cell line dependent. The breast cancer MDA-MB-231 cells, the prostate cancer LNCaP cells, and U937 cells were most sensitive, MCF-7 cells were less sensitive, and PC-3 cells were more resistant. Reduced cell viability was accompanied by increased apoptosis as shown by PARP-1 cleavage and reduced activity of the survival protein kinase Akt. In summary, this study has identified three novel coumarin derivatives that in comparison to 4-hydroxycoumarin have a higher efficiency to reduce cancer cell viability and trigger apoptosis and therefore may represent interesting novel drug candidates

2D and 3D crystallization of a bacterial homologue of human vitamin C membrane transport proteins

Most organisms are able to synthesize vitamin C whereas humans are not. In order to contribute to the elucidation of the molecular working mechanism of vitamin C transport through biological membranes, we cloned, overexpressed, purified, functionally characterized, and 2D- and 3D-crystallized a bacterial protein (UraDp) with 29% of amino acid sequence identity to the human sodium-dependent vitamin C transporter 1 (SVCT1). Ligand-binding experiments by scintillation proximity assay revealed that uracil is a substrate preferably bound to UraDp. For structural analysis, we report on the production of tubular 2D crystals and present a first projection structure of UraDp from negatively stained tubes. On the other hand the successful growth of UraDp 3D crystals and their crystallographic analysis is described. These 3D crystals, which diffract X-rays to 4.2Å resolution, pave the way towards the high-resolution crystal structure of a bacterial homologue with high amino acid sequence identity to human SVCT1.

Lupane triterpenes from the leaves of the tropical rain forest tree Hopea odorata Roxb. and their cytotoxic activities, supplementary information

Chromatographic fractionation of the cytotoxic n-hexane extract of Hopea odorata Roxb. leaves led to the isolation of eight lupane triterpenes, which constitutes the first report of lupane-type triterpenes from this plant source. Furthermore, 3,30-dioxolup-20(29)-en-28-oic acid (6) was isolated for the first time from a natural source. Their structures were determined on the basis of spectroscopic methods, including 2D NMR analysis, and by comparison of their spectral data with literature values. Complete NMR assignments of the 1H and 13C NMR data were achieved for all compounds. Finally, the cytotoxic activities of the isolated compounds against four human cell lines (PC3, MDA-MB-231, HT-29 and HCT116) was also reported.

MRI and Bidimensional relaxometry sequences for macro and microstructure assessment in food models.

Physico-chemical and organoleptic characteristics of food depend largely on the microscopic level distribution of gases and water, and connectivity and mobility through the pores. Microstructural characterization of food can be accomplished by Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and Nuclear Magnetic Spectroscopy (NMR) combined with the application of methods of dissemination and multidimensional relaxometry. In this work, funded by the EC Project InsideFood, several artificial food models, based on foams and gels were studied using MRI and 2D relaxometry. Two different kinds of foams were used: a sugarless and a sugar foam. Then, a half of a syringe was filled with the sugarless foam and the other half with the sugar foam. Then, MRI and NMR experiments were performed and the sample evolution was observed along 3 days in order to quantify macrostructural changes through proton density images and microstructural ones using T1T2 maps, using an inversion CPMG sequence. On the proton density images it may be seen that after 16 hours it was possible to differentiate the macrostructural changes, as the apparition of free water due to a syneresis phenomenon. On the interface it can be seen a brighter area after 16 hours, due to the occurrence of free water. Moreover, thanks to the bidimensional relaxometry (T1-T2) it was possible to differentiate among microscopic changes. Differences between the pores size can be observed as well as the microstructure evolution after 30.5 hours, as a consequence differences are shown on free water redistribution through larger pores and capillarity phenomena between both foams.