ABSTRACT
Thapsigargin (Tg) is a potent SERCA pump inhibitor with the potential to treat cancer and COVID-19. We have extended the scope of the asymmetric allenic Pauson-Khand reaction to furan-tethered allene-ynes, a stereoconvergent transformation affording the 5,7,5-ring system of Tg in good yields and high enantioselectivity. Computational studies of the oxidative cyclization step show that the furan and chloroacetate groups contribute to this high selectivity.
Subject(s)
Rhodium/chemistry , Thapsigargin/analogs & derivatives , Thapsigargin/chemistry , Catalysis , Chloroacetates/chemistry , Cyclization , Furans/chemistry , Models, Molecular , Molecular Structure , Stereoisomerism , Thapsia/chemistry , COVID-19 Drug TreatmentABSTRACT
As SARS-CoV-2 is spreading rapidly around the globe, adopting proper actions for confronting and protecting against this virus is an essential and unmet task. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) promoting molecules such as peroxides are detrimental to many viruses, including coronaviruses. In this paper, metal decorated single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) were evaluated for hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) adsorption for potential use for designing viral inactivation surfaces. We employed first-principles methods based on the density functional theory (DFT) to investigate the capture of an individual H2O2 molecule on pristine and metal (Pt, Pd, Ni, Cu, Rh, or Ru) decorated SWCNTs. Although the single H2O2 molecule is weakly physisorbed on pristine SWCNT, a significant improvement on its adsorption energy was found by utilizing metal functionalized SWCNT as the adsorbent. It was revealed that Rh-SWCNT and Ru-SWCNT systems demonstrate outstanding performance for H2O2 adsorption. Furthermore, we discovered through calculations that Pt- and Cu-decorated SWNCT-H2O2 systems show high potential for filters for virus removal and inactivation with a very long shelf-life (2.2 × 1012 and 1.9 × 108 years, respectively). The strong adsorption of metal decorated SWCNTs and the long shelf-life of these nanomaterials suggest they are exceptional candidates for designing personal protection equipment against viruses.