New organosilyl derivatives of the Dawson polyoxometalate [alpha2-P2W17O61(RSi)2O]6-: synthesis and mass spectrometric investigation.

In the field of functionalized polyoxometalates, organosilyl derivatives of polyoxotungstate constitute a special class of hybrid organic-inorganic system. The first organosilyl derivative of the monovacant Dawson heteropolyoxotungstate [alpha2-P2W17O61]10- was obtained by three different methods. The use of two organosilanes as reagents enabled the preparation of the functionalized polyoxometalate [alpha2-P2W17O61(RSi)2O]6- in good yield. Electrospray (ESI-MS) and matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight (MALDI-TOF) mass spectrometry, and 183W, 31P, and 29Si NMR spectroscopy were used to characterize the composite systems. In several cases, ESI-MS analyses generated reduction processes which were compared to those related to [PMo11VO40]4-, the highly reducible Keggin polyoxometalate.

Lycopanerols I-L, four new tetraterpenoid ethers from Botryococcus braunii.

Four new tetraterpenoid ethers, lycopanerols I-L (5-8), were isolated from a culture of a strain of the green microalga Botryococcus braunii (L race). The structures were determined by means of spectral analyses and chemical degradation. The relative stereochemistry of these ethers was established by ROESY NMR. A biogenetic relationship is proposed between lycopanerols and lycopadiene (1), the acyclic diunsaturated tetraterpene hydrocarbon synthesized by the alga.