New water-soluble chitin derivative with high antibacterial properties for potential application in active food coatings.

The synthesis of new chitin derivatives through ultrasound-assisted treatment of the chitin with 1-azido-3-chloropropan-2-ol under Green Chemistry conditions is described. This is the first example of ultrasound-assisted polymer analogues transformation of chitin unaccompanied by noticeable backbone degradation or deacetylation. The obtained water-soluble azido chitin derivatives are characterized by high antibacterial activity, which is comparable with that of commercial antibiotics ampicillin and gentamicin. At the same time, they were demonstrated almost identical in vitro toxicity as unmodified chitin and chitosan. The antibacterial activity of the obtained polymers is mainly provided by azido moiety in their macromolecules. The conjugation of azido moiety to chitin backbone strongly diminishes the toxicity of the azido pharmacophore, but preserves its antibacterial properties. The most potent chitin derivative was used for the film coating of Ricotta cheese samples. This food coating proved to be efficient for the prolongation of shelf life of Ricotta cheese.

Ultrasound and click chemistry lead to a new chitin chelator. Its Pd(II) complex is a recyclable catalyst for the Sonogashira reaction in water.

For the first time the possibility of chitin use as an accessible and easily-modifiable support for an efficient Pd(II) catalyst has been demonstrated. The modification of chitin avoiding a noticeable chain scission or deacetylation, is achieved by sonochemical alkylation with 1-azido-3-chloropropan-2-ol followed by a convenient azido-alkyne click reaction. The obtained polymer represents an extremely rare case of the chitin derivative soluble both in water and organic solvents. The treatment of that derivative with imino-isonitrile Pd(II) complex solution yielded a chitin-supported Pd(II) complex. The latter could be obtained as a powder or as uniform nanoparticles in different size ranges. The nanoparticles with a hydrodynamic diameter of 30 nm were shown to be the most efficient form of catalyst for the copper- and phosphine-free Sonogashira cross-coupling in water.

New water-soluble derivatives of chitin and their based nanoparticles: Antibacterial and catalytic activity.

A facile route towards new chitin derivatives with both catalytical and biological activities is proposed in the course of methodology development aimed at the design of polyfunctional materials on the basis of renewable and accessible natural polysaccharides. Ultrasound-promoted and Cu(I)-catalyzed azido-alkyne click cycloaddition of the propargylic ester of nicotinic acid and its N-methylated analogue to the azido chitin derivative allowed us to obtain previously unknown non-toxic water-soluble derivatives of chitin. The obtained polymers and their based nanoparticles demonstrated a high antibacterial activity in vitro, which is comparable or even superior to that of commercial antibiotics ampicillin and gentamicin. New derivatives of chitin were also shown to be highly efficient and reusable (at least for 10 times) green catalysts for the aldol reaction in water. The catalysts can be easily separated from the reaction mixture by their precipitation with ethanol. The results obtained highlight prospects of further studies on chitin's application in the rational design of novel functional materials with valuable properties.

Raise the anchor! Synthesis, X-ray and NMR characterization of 1,3,5-triazinanes with an axial tert-butyl group.

N-t-Bu-N',N''-Disulfonamide-1,3,5-triazinanes were synthesized and characterized by X-ray single crystal structure analysis. In the course of the X-ray structure elucidation, the first solid experimental evidence of the axial position of the tert-butyl group in unconstrained hexahydro-1,3,5-triazacyclohexanes was obtained. Dynamic low-temperature NMR analysis allowed to fully investigate a rare case of crystallization-driven unanchoring of the tert-butyl group in the chair conformation of saturated six-membered cycles. DFT calculations show that the use of explicit solvent molecules is necessary to explain the equatorial position of the t-Bu group in solution. Otherwise, the axial conformer is the thermodynamically stable isomer.

Mimics of Pincer Ligands: An Accessible Phosphine-Free N-(Pyrimidin-2-yl)-1,2-azole-3-carboxamide Framework for Binuclear Pd(II) Complexes and High-Turnover Catalysis in Water.

We report for the first time cyclic phosphine-free "head to tail" N,N,N pincer-like (pincer complexes mimicking) N-(pyrimidin-2-yl)-1,2-azole-3-carboxamide Pd(II) complexes with deprotonated amide groups as high-turnover catalysts (TON up to 106, TOF up to 1.2 × 107 h-1) for cross-coupling reactions on the background of up to quantitative yields under Green Chemistry conditions. The potency of the described catalyst family representatives was demonstrated in Suzuki-Miyaura, Mizoroki-Heck, and Sonogashira reactions on industrially practical examples. Corresponding ligands could be synthesized based on readily available reagents through simple chemical transformations. Within the complex structures, a highly unusual 1,3,5,7-tetraza-2,6-dipalladocane frame could be observed.

The influence of heterocyclic compound-PAMAM dendrimer complexes on evoked electrical responses in slices of hypoxic brain tissue.

We used complexes between a fourth generation polyamidoamine (PAMAM) dendrimer and one of two heterocyclic compounds - 1-(6-hydroxyhexyl)-3-(5-phenyl-isoxazole-3-yl)-urea or 5-phenyl-isoxazole-3-carboxylic acid - to reduce oxygen consumption in transverse slices of the hippocampus taken from 4-week old male rats. In vitro electrophysiological experiments revealed that the inhibitory effect of the hypoxic state on the evoked responses was enhanced in the presence of the complexes. The data were analyzed in terms of the potential antitumor effects of these complexes.