Haruto Fujioka

A NEW SYNTHETIC ROUTE TO THE 1-OXYGENATED CARBAZOLE ALKALOIDS, MUKONINE AND CLAUSINE E (CLAUZOLINE I)

A new synthesis of the 1-oxygenated 1,3-disubstituted carbazole alkaloids, mukonine (la) and clausine (If) is described. The construction of the carbazole framework is based on an allene-mediated electrocyclic reaction involving the indole 2,3-bond. The 1,3-disubstituted 1-oxygenated carbazoles la and If are derived from the 1,2,3-trisubstituted carbazole.

Antioxidant effects of the highly-substituted carbazole alkaloids and their related carbazoles.

Antioxidant activities of 3-oxygenated and 3,4-dioxygenated carbazole alkaloids and their related carbazoles were comprehensively evaluated. In all assay systems, the 3,8-dihydroxycarbazoles carbazomadurin A (2) and B (3), and their synthetic precursors 2a and 3a exhibited higher antioxidant activities than the 3-monohydroxycarbazoles carazostatin (1), and the synthetic precursors 4a and 4b of carquinostatin A (4). In particular, 2a and 3a exhibited strong scavenging activities due to the reducing ability of formyl group at the C-5 position of carbazoles. The results suggest that these compounds could serve as useful clues for designing and developing novel antioxidants.

A novel thiol-affinity micropipette tip method using zinc(II)-cyclen-attached agarose beads for enrichment of cysteine-containing molecules

Cysteine-containing biomolecules are attractive targets in the study of thiol biology. Here we introduce a novel method for the selective enrichment of thiol-containing molecules using a thiol-capture zinc(II) complex of 1,4,7,10-tetraazacyclododecane (Zn(2+)-cyclen). Recognition of N-acetylcysteine amide by Zn(2+)-cyclen has been studied by potentiometric pH titration, revealing formation of a 1:1 thiolate-bound Zn(2+)-cyclen complex with a large thiolate-affinity constant of 10(6.2)M(-1) at 25°C and I=0.10M (NaCl). The Zn(2+)-bound thiolate anion is unexpectedly stable in aqueous solution at pH 7.8 under atmospheric conditions for a few days. These findings have contributed to the development of a convenient method for separation of thiol compounds by using a micropipette tip. A 200μL micropipette tip containing 10μL of hydrophilic cross-linked agarose beads attached to Zn(2+)-cyclen moieties was prepared. All steps for thiol-affinity separation (binding, washing, and eluting) are conducted using aqueous buffers at room temperature. The entire separation protocol requires less than 15min per sample. We demonstrate practical example separations of cysteine-containing molecules. This micropipette tip method would be used preferentially as an alternative to existing tools for reliable enrichment of thiol-containing molecules.

A new ditopic receptor molecule for ionic guest molecules

A new ditopic host molecule (3), composed of the macromonocyclic 1,4,7,10,13,16-hexa-azacyclo-octadecane (1) and the macrocyclic polyether benzo-15-crown-5 (2) covalently linked, forms stable 1 : 1 complexes with zwitterionic molecules such as amino acids, peptides, and dopamine in aqueous solution at neutral pH.