Toshihide Maki

First chemo- and stereoselective reduction of imines using trichlorosilane activated with N-formylpyrrolidine derivatives

Abstract Trichlorosilane activated with N -formylpyrrolidine derivatives was found to be an effective reagent for reduction of imines to amines. The reagent showed much higher selectivity toward imino groups than carbonyl groups. The reduction of imines using trichlorosilane activated with optically active N -formylproline derivatives gave enantiomerically enriched amines in moderate optical yields (up to 66% ee).

Regioselective Protection of Sugars Catalyzed by Dimethyltin Dichloride

The first catalytic process for protection of hydroxyl groups in sugars has been developed. Highly regioselective protection was accomplished along with high chemical yield. The regioselectivity of the benzoylation was realized as an intrinsic character of sugars based on a stereorelationship among their hydroxyl groups. Furthermore, complete protection of alpha-methyl glucoside and beta-methyl xyloside was accomplished.

Catalytic activation of trichlorosilane for efficient and stereoselective reduction of ketones

Abstract Some kinds of N-formyl cyclic amine derivatives were found to be effective activators for trichlorosilane to reduce ketones. Namely, a catalytic amount of these activators were sufficient to complete the reduction of ketones with trichlorosilane, and the reduction of ketones by trichlorosilane with optically active activators gave enantiomerically enriched sec-alcohols in some extent of optical yields (up to 51% ee).

An ultrasensitive and highly selective determination method for quinones by high-performance liquid chromatography with photochemically initiated luminol chemiluminescence

Quinones are a class of compounds of substantial toxicological and pharmacological interest. An ultrasensitive and highly selective chemiluminescence (CL) method was newly developed for the determination of quinones based on the utility of photochemically initiated luminol CL. The method involved ultraviolet (UV) irradiation of quinones to generate reactive oxygen species (ROS) through the unique photosensitization reaction accompanied with the photolytical generation of 3,6-dihydroxyphthalic acid (DHPA) from quinones. The photoproducts were detected by luminol CL reaction. Interestingly, it was noticed that DHPA had enhancement effect for the luminol CL. The generation of the enhancer (DHPA) in association with the oxidant (ROS) in the photochemical reaction greatly increases the sensitivity and selectivity of the proposed luminol CL method. In order to elucidate the type of ROS produced by the photosensitizaion reaction in relation to the proposed CL reaction, we investigated the quenching effect of selective ROS scavengers in the luminol CL. Although several ROS were generated, superoxide anion was the most effective ROS for the generated CL. Moreover, the enhancement mechanism of DHPA for luminol CL was confirmed. The enhancement was found to be through the formation of stabilized semiquinone anion radical that provided long-lived CL. The generation of the semiquinone radical was confirmed by electron spin resonance technique. Furthermore, we developed an HPLC method with on-line photochemical reaction followed by the proposed CL detection for the determination of four quinones. A luminol analogue, L-012, was used for its high sensitivity. The detection limits for quinones obtained with the proposed method (S/N=3) were in the range 1.5-24 fmol that were 10-1000 times more sensitive compared with the previous methods. Finally, the developed HPLC-CL system was successfully applied for the determination of quinones in airborne particulate samples collected at Nagasaki city.

A Convenient Method for Synthesis of Optically Active Methylphenidate from N-Methoxycarbonylpiperidine by Utilizing Electrochemical Oxidation and Evans Aldol-type Reaction

Abstract A new method to prepare optically active methylphenidate starting from piperidine is described. The method consists of a transformation of N -methoxycarbonylated piperidine to the corresponding α-methoxylated carbamate utilizing electrochemical oxidation followed by the coupling reaction with optically active Evans imides to produce optically active methylphenidate derivatives with high stereoselectivity ( erythro / threo =5.3/94.7, the threo isomer; 99.6%ee).

A new convenient method for selective monobenzoylation of diols

Abstract A new facile method for monoacylation of diols has been developed. A variety of cyclic and acyclic diols, in particular 1,2-diols, was selectively monobenzoylated in good yields by their reaction with benzoyl chloride in the presence of a catalytic amount of dimethyltin dichloride and inorganic bases.

New enantiomerically pure 1,2-dihydropyridine and its use for construction of optically active 2-azabicyclo[2.2.2]octane

Abstract An enantiomerically pure 1,2-dihydropyridine 1 was prepared from l -lysine utilizing anodic oxidation as a key step, and was utilized as a chiral diene synthon of the Diels–Alder reaction. Furthermore, a suitable condition for the Diels–Alder reaction between 1 and N -acryloyloxazolidinone ( 8 ) was exploited. That is, the presence of AlCl 3 efficiently promoted the Diels–Alder reaction to give a cycloadduct with high stereoselectivity, which was converted to an optically active 2-azabicyclo[2.2.2]octane derivative 2 (96.8% ee).

Efficient Oxidation of 1,2-Diols into α-Hydroxyketones Catalyzed by Organotin Compounds

Electrochemical oxidation of 1,2-diols with a catalytic amount of an organotin compound and a bromide ion as mediators has been developed. Various cyclic and acyclic 1,2-diols were oxidized into the corresponding alpha-hydroxyketones in good to excellent yields without C-C bond cleavage. Also, oxidation with the use of chemical oxidants was accomplished in the presence of a catalytic amount of an organotin compound. These reactions could discriminate 1,2-diols from isolated hydoxyl groups or 1,3-diols. In the case of a conformationally restricted cyclic 1,2-diol, the axial hydroxyl group was oxidized exclusively. Mono-, di-, and trialkylated tin compounds were examined as mediators and dialkylated tin compounds showed higher catalytic activity than mono- and trisubstituted ones. Me(2)SnCl(2) was found to be the most suitable mediator for the selective oxidation.

A convenient method for synthesis of optically active 2,3-methanopipecolic acid

Abstract 2,3-Didehydro-1,2-bis(methoxycarbonyl)-6-methoxypiperidine ( 4 ), prepared from l -lysine by using electrochemical oxidation, was cyclopropanated with high diastereoselectivity (96.6% de), and the cyclopropanated product was transformed to optically active 2,3-methanopipecolic acid ( 1 ). In this transformation, the 6-methoxy group of 4 was found to be an effective chiral auxiliary.

Liquid chromatography studies on the pharmacokinetics of phentermine and fenfluramine in brain and blood microdialysates after intraperitoneal administration to rats.

A highly sensitive and simple HPLC method with fluorescence detection for the determination of phentermine (Phen), fenfluramine (Fen) and norfenfluramine (Norf, the active metabolite of Fen) in rat brain and blood microdialysates has been developed. The brain and blood microdialysates were directly subjected to derivatization with 4-(4,5-diphenyl-1H-imidazol-2-yl) benzoyl chloride (DIB-Cl) in the presence of carbonate buffer (0.1 M, pH 9.0) at room temperature. The chromatographic conditions consisted of an ODS column and mobile phase composition of acetonitrile and water (65:35, v/v) with flow rate set at 1.0 ml/min. The detection was performed at excitation and emission wavelengths of 325 and 430 nm, respectively. Under these conditions, the DIB-derivatives of Phen, Fen and Norf were well separated and showed good linearities in the studied ranges (5-2000 nM for Phen and 10-2000 nM for Norf and Fen) with correlation coefficients greater than 0.999. The obtained detection limits were less than 23 fmol on column (for the three compounds) in both brain and blood microdialysates at a signal-to-noise ratio of 3 (S/N=3). The intra- and the inter-assay precisions were lower than 10%. The method coupled with microdialysis was applied for a pharmacokinetic drug-drug interaction study of Phen and Fen following individual and combined intraperitoneal administration to rats. In addition, since the role of protein binding in drug interactions can be quite involved, the method was applied for the determination of total and free Phen and Fen in rat plasma and ultrafiltrate, respectively. The results showed that Fen and/or Norf significantly altered the pharmacokinetic parameters of Phen in both blood and brain but did not alter its protein binding. On the other hand, there was no significant difference in the pharmacokinetics of Fen when administered with Phen.