The properties and characteristics of calix
arenes are described, as well as their capacity to form amphiphilic assemblies by means of the design of synthetic macrocycles with a hydrophilic head and ...a hydrophobic tail. Their interaction with various substances of interest in pharmacy, engineering, and medicine is also described. In particular, the role of the calix
arenes in the detection of dopamine, the design of vesicles and liposomes employed in the manufacture of systems of controlled release drugs used in the treatment of cancer, and their role in improving the solubility of testosterone and anthelmintic drugs and the biocompatibility of biomaterials useful for the manufacture of synthetic organs is emphasized. The versatility of these macrocycles, able to vary in size, shape, functional groups, and hydrophobicity and to recognize various biomolecules and molecules with biological activity without causing cytotoxicity is highlighted.
The synthesis of phenyl-resorcinarenes and pyrogallolarenes is known to produce a conformational mixture of cone and chair isomers. Depending on the synthesis conditions the composition of the ...conformational mixture is variable; however, the cone conformer is the greatest proportion of phenyl-resorcin4arenes and chair conformer of pyrogallol4arenes. The experimental evidence suggests that phenyl-substituted resorcinarene and pyrogallolarene exist as a dynamic boat in solution.
A methodology was implemented for purifying peptides in one chromatographic run via solid-phase extraction (SPE), reverse phase mode (RP), and gradient elution, obtaining high-purity products with ...good yields. Crude peptides were analyzed by reverse phase high performance liquid chromatography and a new mathematical model based on its retention time was developed in order to predict the percentage of organic modifier in which the peptide will elute in RP-SPE. This information was used for designing the elution program of each molecule. It was possible to purify peptides with different physicochemical properties, showing that this method is versatile and requires low solvent consumption, making it the least polluting one. Reverse phase-SPE can easily be routinely implemented. It is an alternative to enrich and purified synthetic or natural molecules.
A new example of the reactivity of enals with benzoylnitromethane was studied in a Michael-Michael-Aldol-Dehydration quadruple organocascade reaction. The reaction unexpectedly yielded a ...tetrasubstituted cyclohexene carbaldehyde with excellent enantiomeric excess when crotonaldehyde was used as the Michael-acceptor, whereas using (E)-Hex-2-enal as the Michael-acceptor formed a cyclic hemiacetal by steering the reaction into the intramolecular formation of the same intermediate via a Michael-Heterocyclization domino reaction.
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is one of the top ten threats to public health, as reported by the World Health Organization (WHO). One of the causes of the growing AMR problem is the lack of new ...therapies and/or treatment agents; consequently, many infectious diseases could become uncontrollable. The need to discover new antimicrobial agents that are alternatives to the existing ones and that allow mitigating this problem has increased, due to the rapid and global expansion of AMR. Within this context, both antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) and cyclic macromolecules, such as resorcinarenes, have been proposed as alternatives to combat AMR. Resorcinarenes present multiple copies of antibacterial compounds in their structure. These conjugate molecules have exhibited antifungal and antibacterial properties and have also been used in anti-inflammatory, antineoplastic, and cardiovascular therapies, as well as being useful in drug and gene delivery systems. In this study, it was proposed to obtain conjugates that contain four copies of AMP sequences over a resorcinarene core. Specifically, obtaining (peptide)
-resorcinarene conjugates derived from LfcinB (20-25): RRWQWR and BF (32-34): RLLR was explored. First, the synthesis routes that allowed obtaining: (a) alkynyl-resorcinarenes and (b) peptides functionalized with the azide group were established. These precursors were used to generate (c) (peptide)
-resorcinarene conjugates by azide-alkyne cycloaddition CuAAC, a kind of click chemistry. Finally, the conjugates' biological activity was evaluated: antimicrobial activity against reference strains and clinical isolates of bacteria and fungi, and the cytotoxic activity over erythrocytes, fibroblast, MCF-7, and HeLa cell lines. Our results allowed establishing a new synthetic route, based on click chemistry, for obtaining macromolecules derived from resorcinarenes functionalized with peptides. Moreover, it was possible to identify promising antimicrobial chimeric molecules that may lead to advances in the development of new therapeutic agents.
Apparent molal volumes, apparent isentropic compressibilities and solvation numbers of two sodium sulfonateresorcin4arenes, Na4BRA and Na4SRA in aqueous and DMSO solutions, were determined from ...density and speed of sound measurements, over the temperature range (278.15 to 308.15) K, at 5K intervals. The dependence of the volumes on the molality was correlated to the Redlich-Rosenfeld-Meyer equation for aqueous solutions and the Masson type equation for DMSO solutions. The parameters derived from these equations were interpreted according to hydrophobic and hydrophilic hydration and the ion-ion interactions. The standard (infinite dilution) partial molar properties and their dependence on the temperature were determined. In addition, the transfer properties of the ions from DMSO to water were evaluated. The properties calculated are discussed in terms of solute-solvent and solute-solute interactions.
•The standard (infinite dilution) molar properties were determined.•Two sulfonateresorcin4arenes were studied in water and DMSO.•The dependence of the standard molar properties with temperature was studied.