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This article contests in detail the use that Eric Santner makes of the writings of Claude Lefort, Merleau-Ponty and Ernest Kantorowicz. Santner conceives of modernity as being haunted by, or one might almost say, poisoned by the Royal Remnants, the body of the king circulating in society as "too muchness." He uses Merleau-Ponty's concept of the flesh in order to orchestrate his profoundly anti-modern position. I contend that he has grossly misinterpreted the philosophy of Merleau-Ponty, as well as the work of Claude Lefort, in order to elaborate a post-secular position which ends up being a form of an apology for the Trump administration. This is effected through his denegation of the categories of political philosophy and his substitution for them with concepts taken from marketing. My article ends by contesting the notion of messianism, with or without a messiah, which has become current in certain forms of contemporary philosophy and reflecting on the role of messianism in American political culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polynucleotides, DNA and RNA (mRNA and non‐coding RNAs) are critically involved in the molecular pathways of disease. Small molecule binding interactions with polynucleotides can modify functional polynucleotide topologies and/or their interactions with proteins. Current approaches to library design (lead‐like or fragment‐like libraries) are based on protein‐ligand interactions and often include careful consideration of the 3‐dimensional orientation of binding motifs and exclude π‐rich compounds (polyfused aromatics) to avoid off‐target R/DNA interactions. In contrast to proteins, where π,π‐interactions are weak, polynucleotides can form strong π,π‐interactions with suitable π‐rich ligands. To assist in designing a polynucleotide‐biased library, a scaffold‐divergent synthesis approach to polyfused aromatic scaffolds has been undertaken. Initial screening hits that form moderately stable polynucleotide‐ligand‐protein ternary complexes can be further optimized through judicious incorporation of substituents on the scaffold to increase protein‐ligand interactions. An example of this approach is given for topoisomerase‐1 (TOP1), generating a novel TOP1 inhibitory chemotype. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A convenient method is developed for synthesizing 2-bromo-3-aroyl-benzo[b]furans from readily accessible precursors. The 2-bromo group is used as a versatile synthetic handle in both palladium-mediated couplings and direct nucleophilic substitutions to provide access to a wide range of 2-substituted-3-aroyl-benzo[b]furans.