A promising camptothecin derivative: Semisynthesis, antitumor activity and intestinal permeability.

Oral administration of camptothecin (CPT) derivatives and other antitumoral agents is being actively developed in order to improve the quality of life of patients with cancer. Though several lipophilic derivatives of CPT have shown interesting oral bioavailability in preclinical and clinical studies, only Topotecan has been approved for this route of administration. Semisynthesis, antitumor activity, biological inhibition mechanism, and in situ intestinal permeability of 9, 10-[1,3]-Dioxinocamptothecin (CDiox), an unexplored CPT derivative, have been studied in this paper. The hexacyclic analog was as effective as Topotecan and CPT in different tumor cell lines, showing an expected similar apoptosis cell mechanism and high ability to inhibit DNA synthesis in HeLa, Caco-2, A375 and MDA-MB-231 cell lines. Furthermore, in vitro and in situ pharmacokinetics transport values obtained for CDiox displayed more favorable absorption profile than CPT and Topotecan.

Synthesis, characterization, and framework heteroatom localization in ITQ-21.

ITQ-21 has been synthesized in a wide range of compositions. By rationally modifying the synthesis variables and zeolite composition, it is possible to fine-tune the crystallite size from nanocrystals (<80 nm) up to microns and to avoid the competition of other phases such as CIT-5, SSZ-24, or a laminar phase that can also be synthesized with the same organic structure directing agent. By means of XRD and (19)F MAS NMR, Ge and Si have been localized among the different crystallographic positions, and it is shown that Ge preferentially occupies T1 positions at the D4R cages, avoiding formation of Ge-O-Ge pairs. However, at high Ge loadings (Si/Ge = 1.7), a new (19)F MAS NMR signal at -14 ppm has been observed and assigned to the presence of Ge-O-Ge in Ge-rich D4R cages. Energetic configurations obtained by theoretical calculations fully agree with experimental observations, with the following increasing order in energy for Ge substitution: T1 < T2 < Ge-O-Ge in T1 < T3.

ITQ-15: the first ultralarge pore zeolite with a bi-directional pore system formed by intersecting 14- and 12-ring channels, and its catalytic implications.

The pore topology of ITQ-15 zeolite consists of an ultra-large 14-ring channel that is intersected perpendicularly by a 12-ring pore; acid sites have been introduced in its framework and this unique structure shows advantages over unidirectional ultralarge pore zeolites for diffusing and reacting large molecules.

Incommensurate modulation in the microporous silica SSZ-24.

A detailed investigation of the structure of microporous silica, SSZ-24, is presented. It is shown by X-ray powder diffraction and (29)Si MAS NMR experiments that the structure deviates from the previously proposed AlPO(4)-5-type structure. At room temperature, electron diffraction (ED) patterns exhibit extra diffraction spots, which can be attributed to an incommensurate structural modulation along the c axis. This in turn results in a pleat pattern in real space with two different intervals arranged aperiodically along the c axis, as observed with high-resolution electron microscopy (HREM). The modulated structure may easily turn into a disordered one through excessive electron irradiation or heat-treatment. In order to understand the origin of the modulation, soft phonon-modes of the ideal premodulated structure were analyzed by the use of the rigid-unit-mode model. The distribution of soft modes in reciprocal space might correspond roughly to diffuse streaks that could be observed in the diffraction patterns at higher temperatures. It was found that several phonon branches soften at specific wave vectors, which are incommensurate with respect to the original period and might be responsible for the modulation. We present a simple analytic treatment to deduce the wave vectors and associated displacement eigenvectors for the incommensurate soft-modes.

SSZ-23: An Odd Zeolite with Pore Openings of Seven and Nine Tetrahedral Atoms.

Single-crystal X-ray diffraction with synchrotron radiation enabled the structure of microcrystalline SSZ-23 (see drawing on the right), the first zeolite with channels bounded by seven- and nine-membered rings, to be solved.