2,3‐Butanediol (BDO) is a bio‐derived building block available from biomass through biochemical methods in high titers (>120 g L−1) making it an attractive target for production and further upgrading to chemical products and fuels such as sustainable aviation fuel. A key challenge to enable the adoption of BDO as a precursor is the effective separation and isolation of this molecule from the fermentation broth. 2,3‐Butanediol has a boiling point higher than that of water (177°C), and as a consequence, separation via distillation methods is an energy‐intensive and therefore costly approach. We have improved the BDO separation through conversion to a 1,3‐dioxolane directly in fermentation broth via reaction with bio‐derived aldehydes catalyzed by a solid acid catalyst. The resulting dioxolane phase separates from the fermentation broth, allowing for easy decantation and isolation in >90% isolated yield. Isolated dioxolane can be used directly as a compression iginition fuel, trans‐acetalized to recover high‐purity BDO or used directly in a catalytic process as a BDO synthon to produce methyl ethyl ketone with aldehyde recovery in near quantitative yield.

The compatibility of 17 elastomers with two dioxolane molecules was assessed by volume change and hardness measurements. Each molecule was blended with diesel in concentrations of 0, 10, 20 and 30 wt.%. The elastomers included two fluorocarbons, six acrylonitrile butadiene rubbers (NBRs), and one each of fluorosilicone, chloroprene rubber (CR), polyurethane, styrene butadiene rubber (SBR), hydrogenated NBR (HNBR), a blend of NBR and PVC (OZO), epichlorohydrin/ ethylene oxide (ECO), ethylene propylene diene monomer (EPDM), and silicone. Specimens of each elastomer were immersed in the test fuels for a period of 4 weeks and measured for property change. Afterwards they were dried at 60°C for 20 h and remeasured. The results showed that the dioxolanes were suitable with many of the elastomers and that the performances were essentially the same for both molecules. The dioxolanes were found to either have negligible impact beyond neat diesel or they produced a small increase in swell. This minimal impact is attributed to the fact that the solubility parameters (especially those associated with polarity and hydrogen bonding) of the dioxolanes are similar to those of diesel. As a result, little change in solubility and hence swell occurred when dioxolane was added to the diesel.

We report a critical advance in the generation and characterization of peptoid hetero-oligomers. A library of sub-monomers with amine and carboxylate side-chains are combined in different sequences using microwave-assisted synthesis. Their sequence-structure propensity is confirmed by circular dichroism, and conformer subtypes are enumerated by NMR. Biasing the ψ-angle backbone to trans (180°) in Monte Carlo modelling favors i to i + 3 naphthyl-naphthyl stacking, and matches experimental ensemble distributions. Taken together, high-yield synthesis of heterooligomers and NMR with structure prediction enables rapid determination of sequences that induce secondary structural propensities for predictive design of hydrophilic peptidomimetic foldamers and their future libraries.

Biocompatible nanoparticles composed of poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) are used as drug and vaccine delivery systems because of their tunability in size and sustained release of cargo molecules. While the use of toxic stabilizers such as polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) limit the utility of PLGA, stabilizer-free PLGA nanoparticles are rarely used because they can be challenging to prepare. Here, we developed a tunable, stabilizer-free PLGA nanoparticle formulation capable of encapsulating plasmid DNA and demonstrated the formation of an elastin-like polymer PLGA hybrid nanoparticle with exceptional stability and biocompatibility. A suite of PLGAs were fabricated using solvent evaporation methods and assessed for particle size and stability in water. We find that under physiological conditions (PBS at 37˚C), the most stable PLGA formulation (P4) was found to contain a greater L:G ratio (65:35), lower MW, and carboxyl terminus. Subsequent experiments determined P4 nanoparticles were as stable as those made with PVA, yet significantly less cytotoxic. Variation in particle size was achieved through altering PLGA stoichiometry while maintaining the ability to encapsulate DNA and were modified with elastin-like polymers for increased immune tolerance. Overall, a useful method for tunable, stabilizer-free PLGA nanoparticle formulation was developed for use in drug and vaccine delivery, and immune targeting.

Protein-ligand conjugations are usually carried out in aqueous media in order to mimic the environment within which the conjugates will be used. In this work, we focus on the conjugation of amphiphilic variants of elastin-like polypeptide (ELP), short elastin (sEL), to poorly water-soluble compounds like OPPVs ( p-phenylenevinylene oligomers), triarylamines, and polypyridine-metal complexes. These conjugations are problematic when carried out in aqueous phase because hydrophobic ligands tend to avoid exposure to water, which in turn causes the ligand to self-aggregate and/or interact noncovalently with hydrophobic regions of the amphiphile. Ultimately, this behavior leads to low conjugation efficiency and contamination with strong noncovalent "conjugates". After exploring the solubility of sEL in various organic solvents, we have established an efficient conjugation methodology for obtaining covalent conjugates virtually free of contaminating noncovalent complexes. When conjugating carboxylated ligands to the amphiphile amines, we demonstrate that even when only one amine (the N-terminus) is present, its derivatization is 98% efficient. When conjugating amine moieties to the amphiphile carboxyls (a problematic configuration), protein multimerization is avoided, 98-100% of the protein is conjugated, and the unreacted ligand is recovered in pure form. Our syntheses occur in "one pot", and our purification procedure is a simple workup utilizing a combination of water and organic solvent extractions. This conjugation methodology might provide a solution to problems arising from solubility mismatch of protein and ligand, and it is likely to be widely applied for modification of recombinant amphiphiles used for drug delivery (PEG-antibodies, polymer-enzymes, food proteins), cell adhesion (collagen, hydrophobins), synthesis of nanostructures (peptides), and engineering of biocompatible optoelectronics (biological polymers), to cite a few.

Thermolysis of a coumarin trichloroacetimidate yields a single rearrangement product. The proposed mechanism is a pseudopericyclic allowed (Woodward-Hoffman forbidden) [3,5]-sigmatropic rearrangement to form the corresponding amide followed by a sigmatropic [1,5]-hydrogen migration. Transition state calculations at the B3LYP/6-31G(d,p) level support this mechanism and suggest the selectivity is influenced by the stability of the intermediates.

The Woodward-Hoffmann rules predict whether concerted pericyclic reactions are allowed or forbidden based on the number of electrons involved and whether the cyclic orbital overlap involves suprafacial or antarafacial orbital overlap. Pseudopericyclic reactions constitute a third class of reactions in which orthogonal orbitals make them orbital symmetry allowed, regardless of the number of electrons involved in the reaction. Based on the recent report of eight-centered ester rearrangements, it is predicted that the isoelectronic eight-centered rearrangements of imidates would also be allowed. We now report that these rearrangements occur, and indeed, an eight-centered rearrangement is slightly favored in at least one case over the well-known six-centered Overman rearrangements, in a trichloroacetimidoylcyclohexadienone, a molecular system where both rearrangements are possible.

An efficient Pd-catalyzed Suzuki cross-coupling reaction of sterically crowded 4-chlorocoumarin derivatives with air- and moisture-stable potassium organotrifluoroborates is developed. This methodology has been used to generate a series of novel alkyl, aryl, and vinyl substituted coumarin derivatives in good to excellent yields. The twisted conformation of the vinyl groups in the X-ray crystal structures of (2-oxo-4-vinyl-2H-chromen-3-yl)methyl acetate (2) and (2-oxo-4-vinyl-2H-chromen-3-yl)methyl 2,2,2-trichloroacetimidate (3), along with the atropisomerism of 3-(hydroxymethyl)-4-(2-methoxyphenyl)-2H-chromen-2-one (1d), are evidence of the steric crowding in these adducts.

Flash vacuum pyrolysis studies of substituted 6-acetoxy-2,4-cyclohexadienones (3 and 10) from 300 to 500 °C provide strong experimental evidence that direct [3,5]-sigmatropic rearrangements in these molecules are favored over the more familiar [3,3]-sigmatropic rearrangements. The preference holds when the results are extrapolated to 0.0% conversion, indicating that this is a concerted process. Pyrolysis of 6,6-diacetoxy-2-methyl-2,4-cyclohexadienone (9) at 350 °C gives a modest yield of the initial [3,5]-sigmatropic rearrangement product, 2,6-diacetoxy-6-methyl-2,4-cyclohexadienone (11). Qualitative arguments and electronic structure theory calculations are in agreement that the lowest energy pathway for each [3,5]-sigmatropic rearrangement is via an allowed, concerted pseudopericyclic transition state. The crystal structures of compounds 3, 9, and 10 prefigure these transition states. The selectivity for the [3,5] products increases with an increasing temperature. This unexpected selectivity is explained by a concerted, intramolecular, and pseudopericyclic transition state (TS-5) that forms a tetrahedral interemediate (ortho-acid ester 4'), followed by similar ring openings to isomeric phenols, which shifts the equilibrium toward the phenols from the [3,5] (but not the [3,3]) products.

Multicomponent reactions are one of the most interesting concepts in modern synthetic chemistry and, as shown in this critical review, they provide an attractive entry into pyrrole derivatives, which are very important heterocycles from many points of view including medicinal and pharmaceutical chemistry and materials science (97 references).

Microwave-assisted three-component reaction has been established for the regioselective synthesis of benzo[f]azulen-1-ones. The reaction was performed in aqueous media under microwave irradiation by using readily available and inexpensive starting materials. A total of 38 examples were examined to show a broad substrate scope and good overall yields (70-89%). The present new synthesis shows attractive green chemistry characteristics, such as the use of water as reaction media, concise one-pot conditions, short reaction periods (7-24 min), easy work-up/purification, and reduced waste production without the use of any strong acids or metal promoters. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The asymmetric catalytic Strecker reaction of achiral N-phosphonyl imines with Et2AlCN has been established. Both free amino alcohols and BINOLs have been proven to be effective catalysts to afford excellent enantioselectivities and yields. The N-phosphonyl group can be readily cleaved under mild conditions and enable purification of crude products by simple washing with hexane. The cleaved N,N-dialkyl diamine auxiliary can be recovered quantitatively via n-BuOH extraction. The scope for both N-phosphonyl imines and catalysts was vastly studied for this new catalytic system.

The new asymmetric catalytic Strecker reaction of achiral N-phosphonyl imines has been established. Excellent enantioselectivity (95.2-99.7% ee) and yields (89-97%) have been achieved by using primary free natural amino acids as catalysts and Et(2)AlCN as nucleophile. This work also presents the novel use of nonvolatile and inexpensive Et(2)AlCN in asymmetric catalysis. The N-phosphonyl protecting group enabled simple product purification to be achieved simply by washing the crude products with hexane, which is defined as the GAP chemistry (GAP: Group-Assistant-Purification). It can also be readily cleaved and recycled under mild condition to give a quantitative recovery of N,N'-bis(naphthalen-1-ylmethyl)ethane-1,2-diamine. A new mechanism was proposed for this reaction and was supported by experimental observations.