Robert R. Fayzullin

Chiral drug timolol maleate as a continuous solid solution: Thermochemical and single crystal X-ray evidence

Thermochemical properties of binary mixtures of the popular chiral drug timolol maleate (TM) were investigated by differential scanning calorimetry. It was found that there are no eutectic points on the melting phase diagram, and the enantiomeric components form a continual set of solid solutions over a wide concentration range. The crystal structure of heterochiral racemic TM is essentially isostructural with that of the homochiral (S)-TM, having close cell parameters but containing a crystallographic inversion centre. The crystal structure of the homochiral TM contains two symmetry independent molecules in the unit cell. These molecules have different conformations but are approximate mirror images of each other in the crystal lattice. Within the homochiral crystals only one site of two changes its nature in the heterochiral crystals. The solid solution of TM could be treated as the solid solution of a regular racemic compound and a pure enantiomer.

Crystal structure and phase behavior of the tolyl glycerol ethers. From the conglomerate former to the chirality-driven nanogelator

According to differential scanning calorimetry data ortho-, meta-, and para-tolyl glycerol ethers 1–3 form thermodynamically most stable crystal phases during solution crystallization. For all members of the series the crystal phases formed during melt crystallization have different thermodynamic characteristics from those of the stable ones. Binary melting diagrams were constructed for the stable solid phases; on this basis it was found that 1 is prone to spontaneous resolution, and 2 and 3 form stable solid racemic compounds, the Gibbs energy of formation for which are found to be −2.70 and −2.43 kJ mol−1. Solution grown single crystals of 1–3 were investigated by an X-ray diffraction method. The principal supramolecular crystal formative motifs were revealed: 1D columns for 1 and scal-2, 2D bilayers having developed a 2D system of intermolecular hydrogen bonds (IMHB) for rac-2 and rac-3, and 2D bilayer having 1D spiral IMHB organization for scal-3. The possible reasons preventing the solid racemic compound formation in the case of 1, and the spontaneous resolution manifestation in the cases of 2 and 3 are disclosed. It was demonstrated that, from the whole family of tolyl glycerol ethers, only scal-3 samples are capable of supramolecular gels formation. This property is connected with the peculiarities of the scalemic 3 crystal packing.

Solubility and Some Crystallization Properties of Conglomerate Forming Chiral Drug Guaifenesin in Water

The solubility of 3-(2-methoxyphenoxy)-propane-1,2-diol, the well-known chiral drug guaifenesin 1, in water has been investigated by means of polythermal and isothermal approaches. It was found that the solubilities of racemic and enantiomeric diols rac- and (R)-1 depend strongly on temperature. The ternary phase diagram of the guaifenesin enantiomers in water in the temperature range between 10°C and 40°C was constructed. Clear evidence was obtained that rac-1 crystallizes as a stable conglomerate. The Meyerhoffer coefficient for the guaifenesin-water system is more than two and strongly depends on temperature. Neither crystalline hydrates nor polymorphs were detected within the range of conditions covered. Metastable zone width data with regard to primary nucleation were also collected for rac-1 and (R)-1. On the basis of the knowledge acquired, the resolution of racemic guaifenesin by preferential crystallization from solution could be realized successfully.

Intramolecular non-covalent interactions as a strategy towards controlled photoluminescence in copper(I) complexes

In this work, we describe a new strategy for designing photoluminescent Cu(I) complexes. At its core are simple cyclophane inspired N-donor ligands featuring intramolecular interactions between aromatic units within a single molecule. Variation of the steric bulk inflicted a change in intramolecular stacking distances that in turn affected the emission colour of copper(I) complexes tunable in a 0.5 eV range from green to red. As the interactions driving emission are confined to the single molecule, no intermolecular aggregation is required to enable photoluminescence in solution, pristine crystals, or solution-cast polymer films. A crystallographic study provides a link between the spatial proximity of the aromatic rings of the ligands (ranging from 3.349 to 3.731 A) and the enhancement of emission efficiency, which increases dramatically from 0.02 to 0.78 at 296 K as the ring spacing contracts. Photophysical and theoretical analyses confirm the involvement of intramolecular interactions in the formation of the emissive state and describe the observed phenomena at the molecular level.

Lariat ethers in the chiral recognition of amino acid esters:electrospray ionization mass spectrometry investigation

The ability of the crown ethers (1–4), containing the ortho- or para- methoxyphenoxy-methyl substituents in their structure, to chiral recognition in reference to amino acid esters has been investigated by electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS). The method allows registering the diastereomeric complexes between the studied crowns as hosts and the protonated alanine, phenylglycine and phenylalanine methyl esters as guests in the gas phase. ESI-MS experiments using isotopically labeled guests provide robust and reproducible results, indicating a moderate degree of chiral discrimination in the series of the studied crown ethers. ESI-MS experiments using achiral amine as a reference yielded the results comparable with the previous method. It has been found that (S)-enantiomers of the crowns bind predominately (S)-enantiomers of the amino acid esters, and vice-versa. It has been shown that the chiral ortho-substituted crown (S)-1 demonstrates the more pronounced values for chiral discrimination as compared with the para-substituted crown (S)-2. This fact indicates the interrelationship between the chiral recognition and the lariat nature of crown 1. Increasing the size of the cavity and the presence of a flat aromatic moiety in crowns 3 and 4 strengthens their complexing ability, simultaneously weakening the enantioselectivity of the complexation.

Comparative analysis of interactions of some lariat crown ethers and their unsubstituted analogues with alkali metal salts in the gas phase by MALDI mass spectrometry

In this work, interactions of some crown ethers, including lariat ethers bearing a side-arm methoxyphenoxymethyl substituent, with alkali metal salts were studied by matrix assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry. Peaks of cationized molecules [M + Cat]+, sandwich complexes [2M + Cat]+, [3M + Cat]+ ions, and cluster ions [2M + 2Cat + An]+ and [2M + 3Cat + 2An]+ were observed in the mass spectra; herein M is a crown ether molecule, Cat is an alkali metal cation, and An is a monobasic acid anion. The results were compared with previously obtained data for 15-crown-5, [ortho]- and [para]-methoxyphenoxymethyl-15-crown-5 ether mixtures with sodium salts. The conclusions made before, that an increase in the shielding degree of the cation in complexes with lariat ethers led to a significant decrease in the peak intensity of cluster ions [2M + 2Cat + An]+, were confirmed. For potential lariat ethers the absence or only trace amounts of such cluster ions along with the presence of an intense cluster ion peak in the mass spectrum for an unsubstituted analogue can serve a test for the involvement of the lateral fragment of the crown ether in complex formation, i.e., the lariat effect.

Mass spectrometric investigation of the side-arm lariat effect of ortho- and para-methoxyphenoxymethyl-15-crown-5 in the gas phase

Mixtures of unsubstituted 15-crown-5 and its analogues containing ortho- and para-methoxyphenoxymethyl substituents with sodium salts were investigated by matrix assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) mass spectrometry. Peaks of cationized molecules [M+Na]+ and cluster ions [2M+2Na+An]+, where M is the crown ether molecule and An is monobasic acid anion, were observed in the mass spectra. It was shown that an increase of the shielding degree of the sodium cation in complexes with crown ethers, i.e., the lariat effect, led to a significant decrease in the intensity of peaks of the cluster ions.

Adamantyl thioureas as soluble epoxide hydrolase inhibitors

A series of inhibitors of the soluble epoxide hydrolase (sEH) containing one or two thiourea groups has been developed. Inhibition potency of the described compounds ranges from 50 μM to 7.2 nM. 1,7-(Heptamethylene)bis[(adamant-1-yl)thiourea] (6f) was found to be the most potent sEH inhibitor, among the thioureas tested. The inhibitory activity of the thioureas against the human sEH is closer to the value of activity against rat sEH rather than murine sEH. While being less active, thioureas are up to 7-fold more soluble than ureas, which makes them more bioavailable and thus promising as sEH inhibitors.

Synthesis and some features of phase behavior of chiral p-alkoxyphenyl glycerol ethers

A series of (S)-3-(4-alkoxyphenoxy)propane-1,2-diols was prepared with the enantiomeric excess 86–92% by Sharpless asymmetric dihydroxylation of 1-alkoxy-4-allyloxybenzenes with an AD-mix-β mixture. R-Enantiomers with enantiomeric excess 97–99% and racemic samples were obtained by reaction of sodium p-substituted phenolates with (R)- and rac-3-chloropropane-1,2-diol. The phase behavior of racemates and scalemates in the produced homolog series of glycerol aryl ethers with hydrocarbon substituents of various length was examined by means of thermomicroscopy. The higher memberes of the homolog series of both racemic and scalemic diols undergo at heating an enantiotropic phase transition to a smectic liquid crystal phase.

Structural aspects of partial solid solution formation: two crystalline modifications of a chiral derivative of 1,5-dihydro-2H-pyrrol-2-one under consideration

The purposeful change of crystallization conditions for rac-3-chloro-5-hydroxy-1-(4-methylbenzyl)-4-[(4-methylphenyl)sulfanyl]-1,5-dihydro-2H-pyrrol-2-one 1 leads to two different crystal modifications, namely, a racemic compound in the triclinic space group P with Z′ = 1 (α-1) and a partial solid solution based on a racemic compound in the monoclinic space group P21 with Z′ = 4 (β-1). The first modification, α-1, is characterized by a higher density of the molecular packing in the crystal, while the second one, β-1, by a stronger system of hydrogen bonds and the presence of positional and substitutional disorder simultaneously. The analysis of the crystal structure of modifications α and β allowed us to define some structural aspects of the partial solid solution formation. Namely, the tendency to build a stronger hydrogen bond system enables the solution of enantiomers of 1 to be formed in the crystalline phase, whereas the propensity of the molecules to adopt a more favorable transoid conformation limits the solubility of the minor enantiomer.