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Chemical ligation of peptides is increasingly used to generate proteins not readily accessible by recombinant approaches. However, a robust method to ligate "difficult" peptides remains to be developed. Here, we report an enhanced native chemical ligation strategy mediated by peptide conjugation in trifluoroacetic acid (TFA). The conjugation between a carboxyl-terminal peptide thiosalicylaldehyde thioester and a 1,3-dithiol-containing peptide in TFA proceeds rapidly to form a thioacetal-linked intermediate, which is readily converted into the desired native amide bond product through simple postligation treatment. The effectiveness and practicality of the method was demonstrated by the successful synthesis of several challenging proteins, including the SARS-CoV-2 transmembrane Envelope (E) protein and nanobodies. Because of the ability of TFA to dissolve virtually all peptides and prevent the formation of unreactive peptide structures, the method is expected to open new opportunities for synthesizing all families of proteins, particularly those with aggregable or colloidal peptide segments.

To discover an efficient and convenient method to synthesize C2-arylacylated benzothiazoles as potential drug scaffolds, a novel [bis(trifluoroacetoxy)iodo]benzene(PIFA)/KOH synergistically promoted direct ring-opening C2-arylacylation reaction of 2H -benzothiazoles with aryl methyl ketones has been developed. Various substrates were tolerated under optimized conditions affording the C2-arylacylation products in 70-95% yields for 38 examples. A plausible mechanism was also proposed based on a series of controlled experiments.

The precise operation of molecular motion for constructing complicated mechanically interlocked molecules has received considerable attention and is still an energetic field of supramolecular chemistry. Herein, we reported the construction of two tris[2]pseudorotaxanes metallacycles with acid-base controllable molecular motion through self-sorting strategy and host-guest interaction. Firstly, two hexagonal Pt(II) metallacycles M1 and M2 decorated with different host-guest recognition sites have been constructed via coordination-driven self-assembly strategy. The binding of metallacycles M1 and M2 with dibenzo-24-crown-8 (DB24C8) to form tris[2]pseudorotaxanes complexes TPRM1 and TPRM2 have been investigated. Furthermore, by taking advantage of the strong binding affinity between the protonated metallacycle M2 and DB24C8, the addition of trifluoroacetic acid (TFA) as a stimulus successfully induces an acid-activated motion switching of DB24C8 between the discrete metallacycles M1 and M2 . This research not only affords a highly efficient way to construct stimuli-responsive smart supramolecular systems but also offers prospects for precisely control multicomponent cooperative motion.

The structure of an ornithine (Orn)-free Gramicidin S (GS) analogue, cyclo(Val-Nle-Leu-D-Phe-Pro) 2 (NGS), was studied. Its circular dichroism (CD) spectrum showed that NGS has a structure similar to GS, though the value of [θ] indicated smaller β-turn and sheet populations. This is probably because the Nle side chain could not form intramolecular hydrogen bonds stabilizing the sheet structure. The chemical shift perturbation of αH and J NH-αH were similar in GS and NGS. Three independent NGS molecules formed intramolecular β-sheet structures in crystal. The turn structures of D-Phe-Pro moieties were classed as type II' β-turns, but one part was unclassed. The molecules were arranged in a twisting manner, which resulted in the formation of a helical sheet. Similar structural characteristics were observed previously in a Leu-type, Orn-free GS analogue and in GS trifluoroacetic acid salt.

A tripodal, squaramide-based ion-pair receptor 1 was synthesized in a modular fashion, and 1 H NMR and UV-vis studies revealed its ability to interact more efficiently with anions with the assistance of cations. The reference tripodal anion receptor 2 , lacking a crown ether unit, was found to lose the enhancement in anion binding induced by presence of cations. Besides the ability to bind anions in enhanced manner by the "single armed" ion-pair receptor 3 , the lack of multiple and prearranged binding sites resulted in its much lower affinity towards anions than in the case of tripodal receptors. Unlike with receptors 2 or 3 , the high affinity of 1 towards salts opens up the possibility of extracting extremely hydrophilic sulfate anions from aqueous to organic phase. The disparity in receptor 1 binding modes towards monovalent anions and divalent sulfates assures its selectivity towards sulfates over other lipophilic salts upon liquid-liquid extraction (LLE) and enables the Hofmeister bias to be overcome. By changing the extraction conditions from LLE to SLE (solid-liquid extraction), a switch of selectivity from sulfates to acetates was achieved. X-ray measurements support the ability of anion binding by cooperation of the arms of receptor 1 together with simultaneous binding of cations., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Fast enantiomeric separation of amino acids was studied by liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (LC/MS) on a chiral crown ether stationary phase. A chiral crown ether bonded silica column (3 mm internal diameter (i.d.), 5 cm long) packed with 3 μm particles was employed instead of a 15 cm column packed with 5 μm particles used in our previous study. In addition, the extra-column variance, becoming more serious for smaller columns, was reduced by replacing 0.127 mm i.d. post-column tubes with shorter, smaller-diameter (0.0635 mm i.d.) tubes. The results demonstrated the benefits of using shorter columns packed with smaller particles and the reduction of the extra-column band broadening for fast enantiomeric separation. Finally, the enantiomeric separation of 18 pairs of proteinogenic amino acids was achieved within 2 min with a resolution (Rs) > 1.5 for each pair using an isocratic mobile phase of acetonitrile/water/trifluoroacetic acid (ACN/W/TFA) = 96/4/0.5, and a flow rate 1.2 mL/min at 30°C. This is the highest throughput method for simultaneous chiral separation of all proteinogenic amino acids except proline to date., (Copyright © 2020 The Society for Biotechnology, Japan. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Herein, we report the successful syntheses of scarcely represented indole-based heterocycles which have a structural connection with biologically active natural-like molecules. The selective oxidation of indoline nucleus to indole, hydrolysis of ester and carbamoyl residues followed by decarboxylation with concomitant aromatization of the pyridazine ring starting from tetrahydro-1 H -pyridazino[3,4- b ]indole derivatives lead to fused indole-pyridazine compounds. On the other hand, non-fused indole-pyrazol-5-one scaffolds are easily prepared by subjecting the same C2,C3-fused indoline tetrahydropyridazines to treatment with trifluoroacetic acid (TFA). These methods feature mild conditions, easy operation, high yields in most cases avoiding the chromatographic purification, and broad substrate scope. Interestingly, the formation of indole linked pyrazol-5-one system serves as a good example of the application of the umpolung strategy in the synthesis of C3-alkylated indoles.

The interaction between lanthanide diphthalocyanine complexes, LnPc 2 (Ln = Nd, Sm, Eu, Gd, Yb, Lu; Pc = C 32 H 16 N 8 , phthalocyanine ligand) and trifluoroacetic acid (TFA) was investigated in benzene, and the stability of the resulting molecular system was assessed based on spectral (UV-Vis) and kinetic measurements. Structural Density Functional Theory (DFT) calculations provided interesting data regarding the nature of the bonding and allowed estimating the interaction energy between the LnPc 2 and TFA species. Conjugates are created between the LnPc 2 and TFA molecules via hydrogen bonds of moderate strength (>N∙∙H··) at the meso - -bridges of the Pc moieties, which renders the sandwich system to flatten. Attachment of TFA is followed by rearrangement of electronic density within the chromophore system of the macrocycles manifested in considerable changes in their UV-Vis spectra and consequently the color of the studied solutions (from green to orange). The LnPc 2 @TFA conjugates including Nd, Sm, Eu, and Gd appeared evidently less photostable when exposed to UV radiation than the related mother compounds, whereas in the case of Yb and Lu derivatives some TFA-prompted stabilizing effect was noticed. The conjugates displayed the capacity for singlet oxygen generation in contrast to the LnPc 2 s itself. Photon upconversion through sensitized triplet-triplet annihilation was demonstrated by the TFA conjugates of Nd, Sm, Eu, and Gd.

This paper describes the development and validation of a high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC-UV) method for the simultaneous quantitative determination of artemether and lumefantrine in fixed dose combination tablets. Chromatographic quantitation was carried out on a C-18 column Mediterrania Sea 18 (250×4.6 mm i.d.; 5 µm particle size) using a mobile phase consisting of 80:20 v/v mixture of acetonitrile and 0.05 % trifluoroacetic acid with final pH adjusted to 2.35 at flow rate of 1 ml/minute. The eluents was detected using photo diode array detector at wavelength of 210nm for artemether and 286 nm for lumefantrine. The retention times were ~5.8 mins for artemether and ~7.3 mins for lumefantrine. The newly developed method was validated and was found linear (r2 >0.99), precise (R.S.D. <2.0%), accurate, specific and robust. The artemether contents in the tablet formulation varied from 99.026 % to 99.347%, while lumefantrine contents were 99.546-99.728 %.

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the primary cause of blindness in advanced countries. Repeated intravitreal delivery of anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) agents has represented an important advancement for the therapy of wet AMD with significative results in terms of blindness prevention and partial vision restore. Nonetheless, some patients are not responsive or do not attain significant visual improvement, intravitreal injection may cause serious complications and important side effects have been reported for the prolonged block of VEGF-A. In order to evaluate new anti-angiogenic strategies, we focused our attention on VEGF receptor 1 (VEGFR1) developing a specific VEGFR-1 antagonist, a tetrameric tripeptide named inhibitor of VEGFR 1 (iVR1). We have evaluated its anti-angiogenic activity in the preclinical model of AMD, the laser-induced choroid neovascularization (CNV). iVR1 is able to potently inhibit CNV when delivered by intravitreal injection. Surprisingly, it is able to significantly reduce CNV also when delivered by gavage. Our data show that the specific block of VEGFR1 in vivo represents a valid alternative to the block of VEGF-A and that the inhibition of the pathological neovascularization at ocular level is also possible by systemic delivery of compounds not targeting VEGF-A.

Polyalanine (poly-A) sequences with tightly packed antiparallel β sheet (AP-β) structures are frequently observed in silk fibers and serve as a key contributor to the exceptionally high-fiber tensile strength. In general, the poly-A sequence embedded in the amorphous glycine-rich regions has different lengths depending on the fiber type from spiders or wild silkworms. In this paper, the packing structures of AP-β alanine oligomers with different lengths were studied using 13 C solid-state NMR as a model of the poly-A sequences. These included alanine oligomers with and without the protection groups (i.e., 9-fluorenylmethoxycarbonyl and polyethylene glycol groups at the N- and C-terminals, respectively). The fractions of the packing structures as well as the conformations were determined by deconvolution analyses of the methyl NMR peaks. Trifluoroacetic acid was used to promote the staggered packing structures, and the line shapes changed significantly for oligomers without the protected groups but only slightly for oligomers with the protected groups. Through NMR analysis of the 3- 13 C singly labeled alanine heptamer and refined crystal structure of the staggered packing units, a possible mechanism of the staggered packing formation is proposed for the AP-β alanine heptamer.

Bisindolyl alkaloids represent a large family of natural and synthetic products that display various biological activities. Among the bisindole compounds, 6,7,12,13-tetrahydro-5 H -cyclohepta[2,1- b :3,4- b' ]diindoles have received little attention. Only two methods have been developed for the construction of the 6,7,12,13-tetrahydro-5 H -cyclohepta[2,1- b :3,4- b' ]diindole scaffold thus far, including the classical Fischer indole synthesis conducted by reacting indole-fused cycloheptanone and hydrazines, and the condensation reaction to build the seven-membered ring. Here, we report for the first time a new route to synthesize 6,7,12,13-tetrahydro-5 H -cyclohepta[2,1- b :3,4- b' ]diindoles through intramolecular oxidative coupling of 1,3-di(1 H -indol-3-yl)propanes in the presence of PIFA, DDQ and TMSCl with moderate to excellent yields.

Quinoxaline-based novel acid-responsive probe Q1 was designed on the basis of a conjugated donor-acceptor (D-A) subunit. Q1 shows colorimetric and fluorometric changes through protonation and deprotonation in dichloromethane. With the addition of the trifluoroacetic acid (TFA), UV-vis absorption spectral changes in peak intensity of Q1 was observed. Moreover, the appearance of a new peaks at 284 nm 434 nm in absorption spectra with the addition of TFA indicating protonation of quinoxaline nitrogen and form Q1.H⁺ and Q1.2H⁺ . The emission spectra display appearance of new emission peak at 515 nm. The optical property variations were supported by time resolved fluorescence studies. The energy band gap was calculated by employing cyclic voltammetry and density functional calculations. Upon addition of triethylamine (TEA) the fluorescence emission spectral changes of Q1 are found to be reversible. Q1 shows color changes from blue to green in basic and acidic medium, respectively. The paper strip test was developed for making Q1 a colorimetric and fluorometric indicator.

A novel and convenient one-pot sequential cascade method for the preparation of 2-trifluoromethylquinazolin-4(3 H)-ones is described. Trifluoroacetic acid (TFA) was employed as inexpensive and readily available CF 3 source, which in the presence of T3P was condensed with a variety of anthranilic acids and amines to provide the products in up to 75% yield. The protocol was proved to be robust on 80 g scale, and the synthetic versatility of the prepared quinazolinon-4-ones was demonstrated by derivatization to further useful building blocks.

Aim: Electromembrane extraction (EME) of weakly basic benzodiazepines was investigated (-1.47 < pKa < 5.01)., Materials & Methods: 96-well EME was performed with strongly acidic conditions in the acceptor solution using 250-mM trifluoroacetic acid to maximize ionization., Results & Conclusion: Recoveries more than 80% were obtained for analytes with pKa > 2, whereas EME was less efficient for substances with pKa < 2. The latter was trapped in the supported liquid membrane due to less acidic pH conditions in the acceptor solution close to the supported liquid membrane. EME followed by UHPLC-MS/MS analysis was evaluated from human plasma, and the results were in compliance with EMA guidelines. Both electrokinetic migration and passive diffusion contributed to mass transfer when performing EME of weakly basic analytes.

We describe the synthesis and the structural characterization of new H₂L(CF₃CO₂)₂ ( 1 ) and H₂L(Ph₂PO₄)₂ ( 2 ) compounds containing the diprotonated form (H₂L 2+ ) of the tetrazine-based molecule 3,6-di(pyridin-4-yl)-1,2,4,5-tetrazine. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis of single crystals of these compounds showed that H₂L 2+ displays similar binding properties toward both anions when salt bridge interactions are taken into account. Nevertheless, the different shapes, sizes and functionalities of trifluoroacetate and diphenyl phosphate anions define quite different organization patterns leading to the peculiar crystal lattices of 1 and 2 . These three-dimensional (3D) architectures are self-assembled by a variety of non-covalent forces, among which prominent roles are played by fluorine-π (in 1 ) and anion-π (in 2 ) interactions., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Polyphenols are natural compounds showing a variety of health-promoting effects. Unfortunately, due to low lipid solubility, their applications in the pharmaceutical, food, and cosmetic industries are limited. With the aim of obtaining novel lipophilic derivatives, the present study reports the synthesis of a series of phenethyl trifluoroacetate esters containing up to two hydroxyl groups in the aromatic ring. Experimental logP values confirmed a greater lipophilicity of the novel compounds compared to the parent compounds. The radical scavenging capacity of all phenethyl trifluoroacetate esters was evaluated by in vitro assays (ABTS, DPPH) and in cultured cells (L6 myoblasts and THP-1 leukemic monocytes) using 2',7'-dichlorodihydrofluorescein diacetate. These data revealed that the esters showed a good antioxidant effect that was strictly dependent on the grade of hydroxylation of the phenyl ring. The lack of toxicity, evaluated by the MTT assay and proliferation curves, makes these trifluoroacetates attractive derivatives for pharmaceutical, food, and cosmetic applications., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Prenylated flavonols are known as phytoestrogen and have good bioactivties. However, their abundances in nature are pretty low. It is required to find an efficient synthesis technique. Icariin is a prenylated flavonol glycoside with low cost. It can be used to synthesize different prenylated flavonols. A combination of cellulase and trifluoacetic acid hydrolysis could effectively remove rhamnose and glucose from icariin. Icaritin, anhydroicaritin and wushanicaritin were the leading prenylated flavonol products. Their affinities to estrogen receptors α and β were predicted by docking study. The weak affinity of wushanicaritin indicated that prenyl hydroxylation impaired its affinity to estrogen receptor β. The prenyl cyclization led to a loss of affinity to both receptors. The interactions between icaritin and ligand binding cavity of estrogen receptor β were simulated. π-π stacking and hydrophobic forces were predicted to be the dominant interactions positioning icaritin, which induced the helix (H12) forming an activated conformation.

Chemical analysis of an Australian coastal marine sediment-derived fungus, Phomopsis sp. (CMB-M0042F), yielded the known cytochalasins J (1) and H (2), together with five new analogues, cytochalasins J 1 -J 3 (3-5) and H 1 and H 2 (6 and 7). Structures of 1-7 were assigned on the basis of detailed spectroscopic analysis, chemical interconversion, and biosynthetic and mechanistic considerations. Of note, 1 and 2 proved to be highly sensitive to acid-mediated transformation, with 1 affording 3-5 and 2 affording 6 and 7. Whereas 1, 2, 4, and 5 were detected as natural products in crude culture extracts, 3, 6, and 7 were designated as acid-mediated handling artifacts. We propose novel stereo- and regiospecific intramolecular cycloadditions, under tight functional group control, that facilitate selective conversion of 1 and 2 to the rare 5/6/6/7/5- and 5/6/5/8-fused heterocycles 5 and 7, respectively. Knowledge of acid sensitivity within the cytochalasin family provides a valuable cautionary lesson that has the potential to inform our analysis of past and future investigations into this structure class and inspire novel biomimetic transformations leading to new chemical diversity.

Trifluoroacetic acid (TFA) in the atmosphere is produced by degradation of hydrochlorofluorocarbons and hydrofluorocarbons. In recent years, TFA has attracted global attention because of increased environmental concentrations, biological toxicity and accumulation in aqueous environments. This study focused on the mechanisms underlying the adsorption of TFA by particulate matter to identify the appropriate descriptive model for this process and thus improve estimation of TFA adsorption in future environmental monitoring. Onsite gas and particle phase sampling in Beijing, China, and subsequent measurement of TFA concentrations indicated that the TFA concentration in the gas phase (1396 ± 225 pg m -3 ) was much higher than that in the particle phase (62 ± 8 pg m -3 ) and that monthly concentrations varied seasonally with temperature. Based on the field results and analysis, an adsorption experiment of TFA on soot was then conducted at three different temperatures (293, 303, and 313 K) to provide parameters for kinetic and thermodynamic modelling. The proportion of atmospheric TFA concentration in the gas phase increased with temperature, indicating that temperature affected the phase distribution of TFA. The subsequent kinetic and thermodynamic modelling showed that the adsorption of TFA by soot could be described well by the Bangham kinetic model. The adsorption was controlled by diffusion, and the key mechanism was physical adsorption. The adsorption behavior can be well described by the Langmuir isotherm model. The calculated thermodynamic parameters ΔG° (-2.34, -1.25, and -0.15 kJ mol -1  at 293, 303, and 313 K, respectively), ΔH° (-34.34 kJ mol -1 ), and ΔS° (-109.22 J mol -1  K -1 ) for TFA adsorption by soot were negative, indicating that adsorption was a spontaneous, exothermic process., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

There is an ongoing debate as to how urea denatures proteins in solution. Using a combination of neutron scattering and computer simulation of a model peptide, KGPGK, it was found that the ionic strength and pH have a significant impact on the urea-peptide interaction. From the work presented here, it appears that urea first and foremost decreases the charge-based interactions in solution, such as the TFA-TFA association, before interacting with the peptide backbone via hydrogen bonds. This gives insight into the pH and salt concentration dependency of urea-caused protein denaturation and might unify direct and indirect theories of urea-induced protein denaturation. The observed differences between MD and neutron and X-ray diffraction data might show that MD, in this particular case, underestimates the influence of charged fluorinated solutes.

The gem-diol moieties of organic compounds are rarely isolated or even studied in the solid state. Here, liquid- and solid-state NMR, together with single-crystal X-ray diffraction studies, were used to show different strategies to favor the gem-diol or carbonyl moieties and to isolate hemiacetal structures in formylpyridine and vitamin-B 6 -related compounds. The change in position of the carbonyl group in pyridine compounds had a clear and direct effect on the hydration, which was enhanced by trifluoroacetic acid addition. Because of their biochemical importance, vitamin-B 6 -related compounds were studied with emphasis on the elucidation of the gem-diol, cyclic hemiacetal or carbonyl structures that can be obtained in different experimental conditions. In particular, new racemic mixtures for the cyclic hemiacetal structure from pyridoxal are reported in trifluoroacetate and hydrochloride derivatives.

We have investigated the capability of nanoparticle-assisted laser desorption ionization mass spectrometry (NP-LDI MS), matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization (MALDI) MS, and gas cluster ion beam secondary ion mass spectrometry (GCIB SIMS) to provide maximum information available in lipid analysis and imaging of mouse brain tissue. The use of Au nanoparticles deposited as a matrix for NP-LDI MS is compared to MALDI and SIMS analysis of mouse brain tissue and allows selective detection and imaging of groups of lipid molecular ion species localizing in the white matter differently from those observed using conventional MALDI with improved imaging potential. We demonstrate that high-energy (40 keV) GCIB SIMS can act as a semi-soft ionization method to extend the useful mass range of SIMS imaging to analyze and image intact lipids in biological samples, closing the gap between conventional SIMS and MALDI techniques. The GCIB SIMS allowed the detection of more intact lipid compounds in the mouse brain compared to MALDI with regular organic matrices. The 40 keV GCIB SIMS also produced peaks observed in the NP-LDI analysis, and these peaks were strongly enhanced in intensity by exposure of the sample to trifluororacetic acid (TFA) vapor prior to analysis. These MS techniques for imaging of different types of lipids create a potential overlap and cross point that can enhance the information for imaging lipids in biological tissue sections. Graphical abstract Schematic of mass spectral imaging of a mouse brain tissue using GCIB-SIMS and MALDI techniques., Competing Interests: Compliance with ethical standards The authors claim that there are no conflicts of interest. The brain samples used in this study were from excess tissue of mouse brains that were used in a separate study, and no animals were sacrificed for this work. The original brain samples were supplied by Oxford University, and all institutional agreements for this original work were obtained.

5,10-Bistrifluoromethyl substituted β-octamethylporphyrins were synthesized via a scrambling side reaction of a dipyrromethane precursor in the presence of a large excess of trifluoroacetic acid. Compared with the trans-analogs, the cis-analogs of meso-trifluoromethyl β-octaalkylporphyrin showed more red-shifted absorption bands. These meso-trifluoromethyl derivatives of β-octaalkylporphyrins underwent smooth metalation, similar to other common porphyrins, however, the corresponding zinc complexes underwent a type of solvolysis, whereby the trifluoromethyl groups were converted into methoxycarbonyl groups by the methanol used as solvent. UV-visible absorption spectra and X-ray crystal structure analyses revealed that the presence of a methoxycarbonyl substituent did not influence the deformation of the molecular framework and its absorption properties; this is because the methoxycarbonyl has a planar and perpendicular geometry, as opposed to the relatively bulky trifluoromethyl substituent.

Thioglycosides are available donors in glycosylation due to the stability of the anomeric C-S bond under general reaction conditions of protection and deprotection, and offer orthogonality in their activation. We report now that the hypervalent iodine effectively induced glycosylation reaction of thioglycosides with various alcohols. This method features a high efficiency, completion in a short time, and proceeding under very mild conditions.

As the main substances responsible for immunomodulatory activity, saccharides can be used as quality indicators for Astragalus root (RA). Saccharide content is commonly determined by ultraviolet spectroscopy, which lacks species specificity and has not been applied in the Chinese Pharmacopoeia. Monosaccharide mapping based on trifluoroacetic acid (TFA) hydrolysis can be used for quantitative analysis of saccharide compositions. In addition, species specificity can be evaluated by analysis of the mapping characteristics. In this study, monosaccharide mapping of soluble saccharides in the cytoplasm and polysaccharides in the cell wall of 24 batches of RA samples with different growth patterns were obtained based on TFA hydrolysis followed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Results indicated that the mapping and the molar ratios of saccharide compositions of the cultured and natural RA samples were different for both cytoplasm and cell wall. For example, the molar ratio of mannose and arabinose was more than 3.5:1 in cytoplasm in cultured RA, whereas the ratio was less than 3.5:1 in natural RA. This research not only lays a foundation for screening indicators for RA, but also provided new ways of evaluating the quality of Chinese medicinal materials in which saccharides are the main bioactive substances.

Trapping of arynes with various nucleophiles provides a range of heteroatom-functionalized arene derivatives, but the corresponding reaction with water does not provide phenol derivatives. Silver trifluroacetate (AgO₂CCF₃) can nicely solve this problem. It was found that in typical organic solvent, AgO₂CCF₃ readily reacts with arynes to generate trifluoroacetoxy organosilver arene intermediate, which, upon treating with silica gel, provides phenolic products. This protocol can be extended to the synthesis of α-halofunctionalized phenol derivatives by simply adding NBS (N-bromosuccinimides) or NIS (N-iodosuccinimides) to the reaction along with silver trifluroacetate, which provided α-bromo or α-iodophenol derivatives in good yield. However, the similar reactions with NCS (N-chlorosuccinimides) afforded only the protonated product instead of the expected α-chlorophenols derivatives. Interestingly, substrates containing silyl substituents on 1,3-diynes resulted in α-halotrifluoroacetates rather than their hydrolyzed product. Additionally, trapping the same arynes with other oxygen-based nucleophiles containing silver counter cation, along with NXS (N-halosuccinimides), generated α-halooxyfunctionalized products.

2,6-Diiodobodipy-styrylbodipy dyads were prepared to study the competing intersystem crossing (ISC) and the fluorescence-resonance-energy-transfer (FRET), and its effect on the photophysical property of the dyads. In the dyads, 2,6-diiodobodipy moiety was used as singlet energy donor and the spin converter for triplet state formation, whereas the styrylbodipy was used as singlet and triplet energy acceptors, thus the competition between the ISC and FRET processes is established. The photophysical properties were studied with steady-state UV-vis absorption and fluorescence spectroscopy, electrochemical characterization, and femto/nanosecond time-resolved transient absorption spectroscopies. FRET was confirmed with steady state fluorescence quenching and fluorescence excitation spectra and ultrafast transient absorption spectroscopy (kFRET = 5.0 × 10(10) s(-1)). The singlet oxygen quantum yield (ΦΔ = 0.19) of the dyad was reduced as compared with that of the reference spin converter (2,6-diiodobodipy, ΦΔ = 0.85), thus the ISC was substantially inhibited by FRET. Photoinduced intramolecular electron transfer (ET) was studied by electrochemical data and fluorescence quenching. Intermolecular triplet energy transfer was studied with nanosecond transient absorption spectroscopy as an efficient (ΦTTET = 92%) and fast process (kTTET = 5.2 × 10(4) s(-1)). These results are useful for designing organic triplet photosensitizers and for the study of the photophysical properties.

Fendiline, an effective anti-anginal drug for the treatment of coronary heart diseases, and its sixteen analogues were resolved on a CSP based on (+)-(18-crown-6)-2,3,11,12-tetracarboxylic acid. Fendiline was resolved quite well with the separation factor (α) of 1.25 and resolution (RS) of 1.55 when a mobile phase consisting of methanol-acetonitrile-trifluoroacetic acid-triethylamine at a ratio of 80/20/0.1/0.5 (v/v/v/v) was used. The comparison of the chromatographic behaviors for the resolution of fendiline and its analogues indicated that the 3,3-diphenylpropyl group bonded to the secondary amino group of fendiline is important in the chiral recognition and the difference in the steric bulkiness between the phenyl group and the methyl group at the chiral center of fendiline is also important in the chiral recognition.

Patterns in the observed catalysis of decarboxylation reactions required us to conclude that these reactions involve initial hydration of the carboxylate and subsequent loss of bicarbonate. This raises the important and general question of why CO2 is not formed directly. Reaction profiles for the direct decarboxylation of trichloroacetate were generated with DFT calculations and show no significant barrier to the recombination of the incipient trichloromethide and CO2. In contrast, cleavage of the C-C bond from the hydrated intermediate shows a substantial barrier to recombination that allows separation of the products. The free energy of the transition state for C-C bond cleavage following hydration is higher than the free energy for formation of the hydrate and is comparable to the free energy of activation for direct decarboxylation. Thus, we conclude that the advantage of the hydrolytic pathway is that it provides a means to overcome the problems of separation and solvation that hinder the direct loss of CO2. The resulting concepts are readily extended to explicating the mechanisms of processes in enzymic catalysis as well as providing a basis for producing C-C bonds by the addition of derivatives of carbanions to carbonates.

A metal-free oxidative cycloaddition reaction of substituted benzamides and alkynes has been developed for the synthesis of isoquinolones by using bis(trifluoracetoxy)iodobenzene (PIFA) and trifluoroacetic acid (TFA). Under mild conditions, a wide variety of isoquinolones were conveniently prepared via oxidative annulation of simple N-methoxybenzamide and diarylacetylene or aryl/alkyl acetylene derivatives in yields up to 87%.

A detailed computational study of possible reaction paths for methanesulfonic and triflic acid mediated polyhydroxyalkylation reaction between resorcinol and trifluoracetone accompanied by cyclodehydration to give 9H-xanthene containing polymers has been carried out at M06-2X/6-311+G level of theory. A cluster solvation model was used for the calculations. The calculations revealed that the most kinetically favorable reaction path involves the cyclodehydration occurring during the polymer forming step. In this case 9H-xanthene formation is promoted by the activated phenyl ring in Wheland intermediate assisting the aromatic nucleophilic substitution of OH group which leads to the cyclization. It has been demonstrated that the inability of methanesulfonic acid to catalyze the formation of 9H-xanthene containing polymers is due to the very high barrier of the rate limiting step of the polymer forming reaction and not the cyclodehydration process.

Investigation of the degradation kinetics of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) has been carried out to calculate rate constants of the main elementary reactions using the multichannel Rice-Ramsperger-Kassel-Marcus theory and canonical variational transition state theory with small-curvature tunneling correction over a temperature range of 200~500 K. The Arrhenius equations of rate constants of elementary reactions are fitted. The decarboxylation is role step in the degradation mechanism of PFOA. For the perfluorinated carboxylic acids from perfluorooctanoic acid to trifluoroacetic acid, the quantitative structure-activity relationship of the decarboxylation was analyzed with the genetic function approximation method and the structure-activity model was constructed. The main parameters governing rate constants of the decarboxylation reaction from the eight-carbon chain to the two-carbon chain were obtained. As the structure-activity model shows, the bond length and energy of C1-C2 (RC1-C2 and EC1-C2) are positively correlated to rate constants, while the volume (V), the energy difference between EHOMO and ELUMO (ΔE), and the net atomic charges on atom C2 (QC2) are negatively correlated.

First-principle-based electronic structure calculations were carried out on microhydrated trifluoroacetic acid clusters (CF3COOH, tfa) to understand its molecular level interaction with water and subsequent ionic dissociation to form CF3COO(-) ion. From several geometrical inputs, the global minimum energy structure of hydrated cluster, tfa · nH2O (n = 1-7), was obtained adopting dispersion-corrected density functional, namely, ωB97X-D, and a set of correlated atomic basis function, aug-cc-pVDZ. It was predicted that tfa requires at least six H2O molecules to dissociate. Energy parameters of these hydrated clusters were improved by applying MP2 as well as CCSD(T) methods. A linear variation was observed for calculated solvent stabilization energy profile with the number of solvent H2O molecules present in the hydrated cluster. However, the calculated interaction energy profile showed the characteristic feature indicating the formation of contact ion-pair on the addition of six H2O molecules to tfa. On the basis of energy decomposition analysis, it was observed that the major interaction between tfa and H2O molecules was of electrostatic nature. On successive addition of water molecules, the electrostatic component of the interaction between solute and solvent molecules depicted a sudden increase when moving from penta- to hexahydrated cluster. This observed nature of energy profile coincided with the formation of hydronium ion in the case of hexahydrated cluster. The formation of H3O(+) was manifested in simulated IR spectra of tfa·6H2O and tfa · 7H2O clusters. A large red shift in IR peak positions corresponding to O-H stretching of tfa was predicted on microhydration.

The biologically important 1,2,4-triazolo[1,5-a]pyridines were readily synthesized from N-(pyridin-2-yl)benzimidamides via phenyliodine bis(trifluoroacetate)-mediated intramolecular annulation. This novel strategy allows for the convenient construction of a 1,2,4-triazolo[1,5-a]pyridine skeleton through direct metal-free oxidative N-N bond formation, featuring a short reaction time and high reaction yields.

Boron tris(trifluoroacetate) is identified as the first effective catalyst for the homoallyl- and homocrotylboration of aldehydes by cyclopropylcarbinylboronates. NMR spectroscopic studies and theoretical calculations of key intermediates and transition states both suggest that a ligand-exchange mechanism, akin to our previously reported PhBCl2-promoted homoallylations, is operative. Our experimental and theoretical results also suggest that the catalytic activity of boron tris(trifluoroacetate) might originate from more facile catalytic turnover of the trifluoroacetate ligands (in agreement with DFT calculations) or from a lower propensity for formation of off-pathway reservoir intermediates (as observed by (1)H NMR). This work shows that carboxylates are viable catalytic ligands for homoallyl- and homocrotylations of carbonyl compounds and opens the door to the development of catalytic asymmetric versions of this transformation.

Remote amide bonds in simple N-acyl amino acid amide or peptide derivatives 1 can be surprisingly unstable hydrolytically, affording, in solution, variable amounts of 3 under mild acidic conditions, such as trifluoroacetic acid/water mixtures at room temperature. This observation has important implications for the synthesis of this class of compounds, which includes N-terminal-acylated peptides. We describe the factors contributing to this instability and how to predict and control it. The instability is a function of the remote acyl group, R(2)CO, four bonds away from the site of hydrolysis. Electron-rich acyl R(2) groups accelerate this reaction. In the case of acyl groups derived from substituted aromatic carboxylic acids, the acceleration is predictable from the substituent's Hammett σ value. N-Acyl dipeptides are also hydrolyzed under typical cleavage conditions. This suggests that unwanted peptide truncation may occur during synthesis or prolonged standing in solution when dipeptides or longer peptides are acylated on the N-terminus with electron-rich aromatic groups. When amide hydrolysis is an undesired secondary reaction, as can be the case in the trifluoroacetic acid-catalyzed cleavage of amino acid amide or peptide derivatives 1 from solid-phase resins, conditions are provided to minimize that hydrolysis.

Ca(CF3CO2)2 efficiently catalyzed the selective ring-opening of epoxides by amines leading to the synthesis of β-aminoalcohols. The reaction works well with various aromatic and aliphatic amines under solvent-free conditions. Corresponding β-aminoalcohols were obtained in excellent yields with high regioselectivity. The catalyst was easily prepared by reaction of CaH2 in trifluoroacetic acid.

Direct dehydrogenative coupling between the linear ter- and quaternaphthalenes and substituted benzenes was achieved under the Kita conditions using the hypervalent PIFA/BF3 reagent. Products resulting from either the double arylation of the naphthalenic substrate or the formal dimerizative arylation have been prepared. For example, in the latter mode, ternaphthalene was converted into a series of linear octiarenes (counting the capping Ar). The process represents an alternative to the cross-coupling methodologies employed in related syntheses and proceeds via a selective functionalization of six relatively inert aromatic CH bonds.

A new liquid chromatographic method has been developed for the chiral separation of the enantiomers of mandelic acid and their derivatives 2-chloromandelic acid, 4-hydroxymandelic acid, 4-methoxymandelic acid, and 3,4,5-trismethoxymandelic acid. The enantiomers were separated by a CHIRALPAK(®) IC (250 mm×4.6 mm, 5 μm). Mandelic acid, 4-methoxymandelic acid, and 3,4,5-trismethoxymandelic acid were baseline resolved (resolution factor (RS)=2.21, RS=2.14, and RS=3.70, respectively). In contrast, the enantioselectivities between CHIRALPAK(®) IC and 2-chloromandelic acid and 4-hydroxymandelic acid investigated were low. By comparing the chromatographs of mandelic acid enantiomers and mandelic acid spiked with (R)-mandelic acid, it was determined that the first effluent was (R)-mandelic acid.

A clean, one-pot synthesis of the biologically important 3-hydroxyquinolin-2(1H)-one compounds has been realized from the readily available N-phenylacetoacetamide derivatives through a PhI(OCOCF3)2-mediated α-hydroxylation and a H2SO4-promoted intramolecular condensation. The hydroxyl group in the generated α-hydroxylated intermediate can be well tolerated in the second H2SO4-promoted cyclization step.

The stereochemical course of the amidopalladation of alkenes has important implications for the development of enantioselective Pd-catalyzed "Wacker-type" oxidative amidation of alkenes. We have recently shown that the addition of base (Na2CO3) can alter the stereochemical course of amidopalladation in the (IMes)Pd(TFA)2(H2O)-catalyzed aerobic oxidative amidation of alkene. In this study, the mechanism of (IMes)Pd(TFA)2(H2O)-catalyzed oxidative heterocyclization of (Z)-4-hexenyltosylamide was investigated in the presence and absence of exogenous base Na2CO3. The results reveal two parallel pathways in the absence of base: a cis-amidopalladation pathway with turnover-limiting deprotonation of the sulfonamide nucleophile and a trans-amidopalladation pathway with turnover-limiting nucleophilic attack of sulfonamide on the coordinated alkene. The addition of base (Na2CO3) lowers the energy barrier associated with the proton transfer, leading to an overall faster turnover rate and exclusive cis-amidopalladation of alkene.

A transition-metal-free synthetic method has been developed for the synthesis of unsymmetrical diaryl chalcogenides (S, Se, and Te) from diaryl dichalcogenides and arenes under oxidative conditions by using potassium persulfate at room temperature. Variously substituted arenes such as anisole, thioanisole, diphenyl ether, phenol, naphthol, di- and trimethoxy benzenes, xylene, mesitylene, N,N-dimethylaniline, bromine-substituted arenes, naphthalene, and diaryl dichalcogenides underwent carbon-chalcogen bond-forming reaction to give unsymmetrical diaryl chalcogenides in trifluoroacetic acid. To understand the mechanistic part of the reaction, a detailed in situ characterization of the intermediates has been carried out by (77)Se NMR spectroscopy by using diphenyl diselenide as the substrate. (77)Se NMR study suggests that electrophilic species ArE(+) is generated by the reaction of diaryl dichalcogenide with persulfate in trifluoroacetic acid. The electrophilic attack of arylchalcogenium ion on the arene may be responsible for the formation of the aryl-chalcogen bond.

Sulfonated molecules exhibit high water solubility, a property that is valuable for many biological applications but often complicates their synthesis and purification. Here we report a sulfonate protecting group that is resistant to nucleophilic attack but readily removed with trifluoroacetic acid (TFA). The use of this protecting group improved the synthesis of a sulfonated near-IR fluorophore and the mild deprotection conditions allowed isolation of the product without requiring chromatography.

An automated FTIR method for the determination of the base content (BC(pKa)) of oils at rates of > 120 samples/h has been developed. The method uses a 5% solution of trifluoroacetic acid in 1-propanol (TFA/P) added to heptane-diluted oil to react with the base present and measures the ν(COO(-)) absorption of the TFA anion produced, with calibrations devised by gravimetrically adding 1-methylimidazole to a heptane-TFA/P mixture. To minimize spectral interferences, all spectra are transformed to 2(nd) derivative spectra using a gap-segment algorithm. Any solvent displacement effects resulting from sample miscibility are spectrally accounted for by measurement of the changes in the 1-propanol overtone band at 1936 cm(-1). A variety of oils were analyzed for BC(0.5), expressed as mEq base/g oil as well as converted to base number (BN) units (mg KOH/g oil) to facilitate direct comparison with ASTM D2896 and ASTM D974 results for the same samples. Linear relationships were obtained between FTIR and D2896 and D974, with the ASTM methods producing higher BN values by factors of ~1.5 and ~1.3, respectively. Thus, the FTIR BC method correlates well with ASTM potentiometric procedures and, with its much higher throughput, promises to be a useful alternative means of rapidly determining reserve alkalinity in commercial oil condition monitoring laboratories.

Direct benzoylation of the two hydroxyl groups on chitosan was achieved using a phosphoryl mixed anhydride system, derived from trifluoroacetic anhydride (TFAA), benzoic acids (BAs), and phosphoric acid (PA). The reaction is operated as a one pot process under mild conditions that does not require neither an inert atmosphere nor dry solvents. The structures of the synthesized compounds were confirmed by NMR and IR spectroscopy. Solubility tests on the products revealed that they were soluble in organic solvents such as N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF), dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO), and acetone. In the meantime, a morphological study by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) evidently indicated that the chitosan benzoates underwent significant structural changes after the benzoylation.

Phenylselenyl benzylcarbanion stabilized by an (S)-2-p-tolylsulfinyl group evolves in a highly stereoselective way in the reactions with (S)-N-(p-tolylsulfinyl)imines at -98 °C affording diastereomerically pure 1,2-selenoamino derivatives in good yields. The syn or anti relationship of the obtained compounds depends on the alkyl or aryl character of the imine. They are easily transformed into enantiomerically pure (1R,2S)-1-aryl[or (1S,2S)-1-alkyl]-2-(phenylseleno)-2-phenylethylamines by reaction with t-BuLi and subsequent methanolysis of the generated sulfinamide derivatives with TFA.

Ganoderma lucidum and Ganoderma sinense, known as Lingzhi in Chinese, are commonly used Chinese medicines with excellent beneficial health effects. Triterpenes and polysaccharides are usually considered as their main active components. However, the content of triterpenes differs significantly between the two species of Ganoderma. To date, a careful comparison of polysaccharides from the two species of Ganoderma has not been performed. In this study, polysaccharides from fruiting bodies of two species of Lingzhi collected from different regions of China were analyzed and compared based on HPSEC-ELSD and HPSEC-MALLS-RI analyses, as well as enzymatic digestion and HPTLC of acid hydrolysates. The results indicated that both the HPSEC-ELSD profiles and the molecular weights of the polysaccharides were similar. Enzymatic digestion showed that polysaccharides from all samples of Lingzhi could be hydrolyzed by pectinase and dextranase. HPTLC profiles of their TFA hydrolysates colored with different reagents and their monosaccharides composition were also similar.

The use of perfluorinated anhydrides coupled with perfluoroalcohols for the derivatization of cannabinoids has been well documented. Derivatization is used in the detection of cannabinoids using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) with both electron impact ionization (EI) and negative chemical ionization (NCI). During method development for the analysis of cannabinoids in biological samples using GC-MS in EI and NCI mode, it was observed that when Δ(9)-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD) were derivatized with trifluoroacetic anhydride (TFAA), the resultant derivatives produced the same retention times and mass spectra. This was not observed with the trimethylsilyl (TMS) derivatives of THC and CBD. This complication is due to the conversion of CBD to THC under acidic conditions. The work here highlights the unsuitability of the derivatizing reagent TFAA for the detection of THC and CBD. For the analysis of case samples, even if only THC is of interest, the presence of CBD cannot be excluded, and other derivatization techniques should be used.

A reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) method was developed for the simultaneous determination of nine food additives, i.e., acesulfame, saccharin, caffeine, aspartame, benzoic acid, sorbic acid, stevioside, dehydroacetic acid and neotame in red wine. The effects of ion-suppressors, i.e., trifluoroacetic acid (TFA) and ammonium acetate (AmAc) on retention behavior of nine food additives in RP-HPLC separation were discussed in detail. The relationships between retention factors of solutes and volume percent of ion-suppressors in the mobile-phase systems of acetonitrile-TFA aqueous solution and acetonitrile-TFA-AmAc aqueous solution were quantitatively established, respectively. The results showed that the ion suppressors had not only an ion suppression effect, but also an organic modification effect on the acidic analytes. The baseline separation of nine food additives was completed by a gradient elution with acetonitrile-TFA(0.01%, v/v)-AmAc(2.5 mmol L(-1)) aqueous solution as the mobile phase. The recoveries were between 80.2 - 99.5% for all analytes with RSDs in the range of 1.5 - 8.9%. The linearities were in the range of 0.2 - 100.0 mg L(-1) with determination coefficients (r(2)) higher than 0.9991 for all analytes. The limits of quantification (LOQs) were between 0.53 - 0.99 mg L(-1). The applicability of the proposed method to detect and quantify food additives has been demonstrated in the analysis of 30 real samples.