Dominique Harakat

Palladium-Catalyzed Allylic Acyloxylation of Terminal Alkenes in the Presence of a Base

The efficiency and the selectivity of the Pd-catalyzed oxidation, in carboxylic acids, of terminal alkenes are strongly improved in the presence of a base. The methodology is particularly well adapted for the oxidation of homoallylic alcohols, for which the resulting acyloxylated products are obtained selectively as E-isomers in fair to good yields.

Thiocarbonyl compounds as regulating reagent in the radical addition of tertiary amines with alkenes using photoelectron transfer conditions

The efficiency of the photoinduced radical addition of tertiary amines to olefinic double bonds is significantly enhanced and the stereoselectivity is influenced when thiocarbonyl compounds are added to the reaction mixture.

Triterpenoid saponins from the fruits of Caryocar villosum.

Fourteen new triterpenoid saponins (1-14) were isolated from the methanol extract of the fruits of Caryocar villosum along with 10 known saponins. Their structures were established on the basis of extensive NMR (1H, 13C, COSY, TOCSY, ROESY, HSQC, and HMBC) and ESIMS studies. The toxicity of the methanolic extracts of the peel and the pulp of fruits and the crude saponin fraction of the peel was assessed using the Artemia salina test. The antimicrobial activities of caryocarosides IV-21 (14), II-1 (16), III-1 (17), and IV-9 (20) and of saponin 23 were also studied in vitro on Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Mycobacterium smegmatis, and Enterococcus faecalis bacteria.

Steroidal saponins from the leaves of Agave macroacantha

A new monodesmosidic spirostanol saponin, along with three known saponins was isolated from Agave macroacantha Zucc leaves. The structure of the new saponin was established as hecogenin-3-O-alpha-L-rhamnopyranosyl (1-->4) beta-D-xylopyranosyl (1-->3)[beta-D-glucopyranosyl (1-->2)] beta-D-glucopyranosyl (1-->4) beta-D-galactopyranoside. The (1)H and (13)C resonances of the four compounds were assigned using a combination of 1D and 2D NMR techniques including (1)H, (13)C, COSY, TOCSY, ROESY, HSQC and HMBC NMR and confirmed by mass spectrometry.

Acylated flavonol glycosides from the flower of Elaeagnus angustifolia L.

Seven acylated flavonol glycosides named elaeagnosides A-G, in addition to seven known flavonoids were isolated from the flowers of Elaeagnus angustifolia. Their structures were elucidated by different spectroscopic methods including 1D, 2D NMR experiments and HR-ESI-MS analysis. In order to identify natural antioxidant and tyrosinase inhibitor agents, the abilities of these flavonoids to scavenge the 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl radical (DPPH) and to inhibit tyrosinase activity were evaluated. Results revealed that two of these compounds had significant anti-oxidant effect and one compound showed weak tyrosinase-inhibitory activity compared with kojic acid, quercetin, or ascorbic acid, which were used as positive control.

Studies on the titanium-catalyzed cyclopropanation of nitriles.

The Ti-mediated reaction of Grignard reagents with nitriles was investigated with sub-stoichiometric amounts of titanium isopropoxide. Cyanoesters were converted to spirocyclopropanelactams in good yields using as low as 0.05 eq of Ti(O(i)Pr)4. Under similar conditions, cyanocarbonates led to spirocyclopropane oxazolidinones and/or aminocyclopropylcarbinols. A very short synthesis of the naturally occurring aminocyclopropanecarboxylic acid illustrates the usefulness of this methodology.

Triterpenoid saponins from the roots of Gypsophila trichotoma Wender.

Eleven triterpenoid saponins were isolated from the roots of Gypsophila trichotoma Wender. (G. trichotoma Wender. var. trichotoma) (Caryophyllaceae), together with one known compound. The structures were established on the basis of extensive NMR analysis ((1)H, (13)C NMR, COSY, TOCSY, ROESY, HSQC, and HMBC), completed by analysis of HR-ESI-MS and ESI-MS(n). The saponins have the commonly found gypsogenin as the aglycone substituted at C-3 with trisaccharide and at C-28 with oligosaccharide through a fucose residue, as saponins isolated from Gypsophila perfoliata L. originated from China. The oligosaccharide attached to C-28 is substituted with acetyl and (or) sulfate groups. Тhe cytotoxicity of the saponin extract from G. trichotoma was evaluated against a rat alveolar macrophage-like cell line NR8383 and human leukemia cell lines U937 and BV-173. The synergistic effect of the aminoacyl saponins, previously isolated from G. trichotoma, was tested for its ability to enhance the cytotoxicity of the targeted toxin in HER14 cells.

Intensified extraction of ionized natural products by ion pair centrifugal partition extraction

The potential of centrifugal partition extraction (CPE) combined with the ion-pair (IP) extraction mode to simultaneously extract and purify natural ionized saponins from licorice is presented in this work. The design of the instrument, a new laboratory-scale Fast Centrifugal Partition Extractor (FCPE300(®)), has evolved from centrifugal partition chromatography (CPC) columns, but with less cells of larger volume. Some hydrodynamic characteristics of the FCPE300(®) were highlighted by investigating the retention of the stationary phase under different flow rate conditions and for different biphasic solvent systems. A method based on the ion-pair extraction mode was developed to extract glycyrrhizin (GL), a biologically active ionic saponin naturally present in licorice (Glycyrrhiza glabra L., Fabaceae) roots. The extraction of GL was performed at a flow rate of 20 mL/min in the descending mode by using the biphasic solvent system ethyl acetate/n-butanol/water in the proportions 3/2/5 (v/v/v). Trioctylmethylammonium with chloride as a counter-ion (Al336(®)) was used as the anion extractant in the organic stationary phase and iodide, with potassium as counter-ion, was used as the displacer in the aqueous mobile phase. From 20 g of a crude extract of licorice roots, 2.2g of GL were recovered after 70 min, for a total process duration of 90 min. The combination of the centrifugal partition extractor with the ion-pair extraction mode (IP-CPE) offers promising perspectives for industrial applications in the field of natural product isolation or for the fractionation of natural complex mixtures.

Triterpenoids from Salvia argentea var. aurasiaca (Pomel) Batt. & Trab. and their chemotaxonomic significance

Ten triterpenoids were isolated from the exudate of Salvia argentea L. var. aurasiaca (Pomel) Batt. & Trab. Their structures were elucidated by 1D and 2D NMR and HRESIMS analyses as 11α-methoxyurs-12-ene-1β,3β,15α-triol (1), urs-12-ene-1β,3β,11α,15α-tetraol (2), 11α-methoxyurs-12-ene-1β,3β-diol (3), 1β,3β,15α-trihydroxy-11α-methoxyurs-12-en-28-al (4), 1β,3β,15α-trihydroxyurs-12-en-28-al (5), urs-12-ene-1β,3β,15α,28-tetraol (6), 11α-methoxyurs-12-ene-1β,3β,28-triol (7), 13β,28-epoxyurs-12-ene-1β,3β-diol (8), urs-12-ene-3β,7β,15α,28-tetraol (9) and olean-12-ene-3β,7β,15α,28-tetraol (10). A chemotaxonomic survey of the triterpenoids of Salvia species show that triterpenoids from the exudate of S. argentea var. aurasiaca (Pomel) Batt. & Trab., provide some features, such as hydroxylation at C-15, and hydroxylation at C-7. On this basis, S. argentea L. var. aurasiaca (Pomel) Batt. & Trab., is quite different from S. argentea L.

Low Catalyst Loadings for the Production of Carboxylic Acids from Polysaccharides and Hydrogen Peroxide

The oxidation of starch, xylans, potato flesh and wheat flour by H(2)O(2), in the presence of MSO(4) (M=Cu, Fe) as catalyst, led to depolymerization, and formation of solutions containing polyhydroxycarboxylic acids. Some of these oxidized compounds facilitate the process, leading to efficient transformations even with very low amounts of catalyst.