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Daniel B Werz

Publications and source records attributed to Daniel B Werz.

15 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

Bis(tert-butylsulfonyl)ethyne and 1-tert-butylsulfinyl-2-tert-butylsulfonylethyne.

The title compounds are electron-poor ethynes. The structure determination of bis(tert-butylsulfonyl)ethyne, C10H18O4S2, (I), is the first of a bis-sulfonyl-substituted ethyne. The molecule is situated on a crystallographic inversion centre. The S-Csp bond [1.737 (2) A] is the longest of this type reported to date. 1-tert-Butylsulfinyl-2-tert-butylsulfonylethyne, C10H18O3S2, (II), which is basically the same as (I) minus one O atom, crystallizes isomorphous with (I). This results in a nearly equal distribution of the three O atoms over the four possible positions.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2006

Theoretical investigations on chalcogen-chalcogen interactions: what makes these nonbonded interactions bonding?

To understand the intermolecular interactions between chalcogen centers (O, S, Se, Te), quantum chemical calculations on pairs of model systems were carried out. For the oxygen derivatives, one of the components of the supermolecules consists of dimethyl ether, while the second component is either dimethyl ether (1) or ethynyl methyl ether (2) or methyl cyanate (3). The model calculations were also extended to the sulfur (4-6), selenium (7-9), and tellurium congeners (10-12). The MP2/SDB-cc-pVTZ, 6-311G level of theory was used to derive the geometrical parameters and the global energies of the model systems. A detailed analysis based on symmetry adapted perturbation theory (SAPT) reveals that induction and dispersion forces contribute to the bonding in each case. For 1-3 the electrostatic energy also contributes to the intermolecular bonding, but not for 4-12. The NBO analysis reveals that the interaction in the dimers 1-3 is mainly due to weak hydrogen bonding between methyl groups and chalcogen centers. Similar hydrogen bonding is also found in the case of 4 and to a lesser extent in 5 and 7. For the aggregates with heavier centers the chalcogen-chalcogen interaction dominates, and hydrogen bonding only plays a minor role. Electron-withdrawing groups on the chalcogen centers increase the interaction energy and reduce the intermolecular distance dramatically. The one-electron picture of an interaction between the lone pair of the donor and the chalcogen carbon sigma orbital allows a qualitatively correct reproduction of the observed trend.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2005

Carbohydrates as the next frontier in pharmaceutical research.

Synthetic carbohydrates and glycoconjugates are used to study their roles in biological important processes such as inflammation, cell-cell recognition, immunological response, metastasis, and fertilization. The development of an automated oligosaccharide synthesizer greatly accelerates the assembly of complex, naturally occurring carbohydrates as well as chemically modified oligosaccharide structures and promises to have major impact on the field of glycobiology. Tools such as microarrays, surface plasmon resonance spectroscopy, and fluorescent carbohydrate conjugates to map interactions of carbohydrates in biological systems are presented. Case studies of the successful application of carbohydrates as active agents are discussed, for example, fully synthetic oligosaccharide vaccines to combat tropical diseases (e.g., malaria), bacterial infections (e.g., tuberculosis), viral infections such as HIV, and cancer. Aminoglycosides serve as examples of drugs acting through carbohydrate-nucleic-acid interactions, while heparin works by carbohydrate-protein interactions. A general, modular strategy for the complete stereoselective synthesis of defined heparin oligosaccharides is presented. A carbohydrate-functionalized fluorescent polymer has been shown to detect miniscule amounts of bacteria faster than commonly used methods.

AIDS Vaccines↗
PubMed2005

Sterically stabilized cyclopropenonophanes and an electronically stabilized cyclopropenethionophane: syntheses, structural properties, and reactivity.

The syntheses of sterically stabilized cyclopropenonophanes as well as an electronically stabilized cyclopropenethionophane are reported, and their molecular structures in the solid state are elucidated. The sulfur of the CS moiety in cyclopropenethiones was shown to react as a nucleophile. Temperatures of more than 240 degrees C favor the extrusion of CO in the cyclopropenonophane to afford an alpha,alpha'-tetramethyl-substituted cyclodiyne. [reaction: see text]

Journal Article↗
PubMed2005

Automated synthesis of oligosaccharides as a basis for drug discovery.

Carbohydrates present both potential and problems - their biological relevance has been recognized, but problems in procuring sugars rendered them a difficult class of compounds to handle in drug discovery efforts. The development of the first automated solid-phase oligosaccharide synthesizer and other methods to assemble defined oligosaccharides rapidly has fundamentally altered this situation. This review describes how quick access to oligosaccharides has not only contributed to biological, biochemical and biophysical investigations, but also to drug discovery. Particular focus will be placed on the development of carbohydrate-based vaccines, defined heparin oligosaccharides and aminoglycosides that have recently begun to affect drug discovery.

Drug Design↗
PubMed2004

Cyclic tetra- and hexaynes containing 1,4-donor-substituted butadiyne units: synthesis and supramolecular organization.

Cyclic bis(1,3-butadiynes) with sulfur centers placed in the alpha-position to the 1,3-butadiyne units (2(n)) were synthesized by Glaser coupling of the corresponding open chain dithia-alpha,omega-diynes 1(n). In a second protocol we applied a four-component cyclization by reacting alpha,omega-dithiocyanatoalkanes 6(n) or alpha,omega-diselenocyanatoalkanes 7(n) with dilithium-1,3-butadiynide. This concept afforded either the cyclic dimers (S, 2(n); Se, 9(n)) or the cyclic trimers (S, 8(n); Se, 10(n)). Most of the molecular structures of 2(n) and 9(n) adopt chairlike conformations in the solid state. Tubular structures in the solid state with short distances between the chalcogen centers of neighboring stacks were encountered for 2(5), 9(5), 8(4), 10(4), and 10(5). Recrystallization of 10(5) from various polar and nonpolar solvents yielded inclusion of the solvent guest molecules. The solvent-accessible volume was calculated to vary from 19% (n-hexane) to 25% (mesitylene). The elastic properties of our cycles are due to the flexible methylene chains and the easily variable torsional angles between the rigid 1,3-butadiyne rods.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2004

[N]Chalcogena[N]pericyclynes: DFT studies on binaric carbon-chalcogen compounds.

[structure: see text] DFT studies on [N]chalcogena[N]pericyclynes (n = 3-6, 8) demonstrate their relative stability and hence their possible existence as stable species. By minimizing repulsive interactions between the chalcogens' lone pairs, the molecules adopt structures that resemble, in shape, cycloalkanes or elemental chalcogens. [3]Chalcogena[3]pericyclynes may be interconverted with their valence tautomers, benzene derivatives with three fused three-membered rings.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2003

Polyalkynes capped by sulfur and selenium.

The synthesis of sulfur- and selenium-capped polyalkynes with two to four triple bonds was achieved. As starting materials the bis(trimethylsilyl)-protected polyalkynes were used, which were treated with MeLi/LiBr. The reaction of the resulting lithium salts with thiocyanatomethane and selenium/methyl iodide afforded 2(n) and 3(n), respectively. Spectroscopic (PE and UV) and quantum chemical investigations show significant interaction between the chalcogen atoms. The structure of 3(4) was investigated in the solid state, showing relatively short intermolecular Se...Se interactions.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2003

Syntheses and solid state structures of cyclic diynes with two chalcogen centres--a competition between weak interactions.

In this paper we report the synthesis of cyclic diynes of the general formula mX2n. The letters m and n indicate the lengths of chains between two C triple bond C-X units where X indicates S, Se, or Te. The lengths of the bridges vary between m=4-8 and n=2-6. Structural investigations by means of X-ray diffraction reveal for most systems a chair-like conformation in the solid state. For 5S(2)2, 5S(2)3, 7S(2)5, 5Se(2)2 and 5Te(2)3 tubular structures were encountered. These structures can be traced back to weak XX or weak C-Hpi interactions.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2003

A world beyond hydrogen bonds? -Chalcogen-chalcogen interactions yielding tubular structures.

It is shown that tubular structures arise in the solid state through close chalcogen-chalcogen (X...X) contacts. As examples a variety of cyclic systems containing sulfur and selenium centers is presented. Common to all of them are close contacts between the chalcogen centers of neighboring stacks giving rise to a zigzag or ladder-type arrangement. In the case of cyclic systems of ring size 24-33 the resulting tubes are able to include hydrocarbons as guest molecules. For 2,7-ditelluraocta-3,5-diyne (17) the close contacts between the tellurium centers of the acyclic C(2) symmetric building blocks generate a helical arrangement in which n-hexane was included. The favored X...X contacts can be traced back to np(X)-sigma*(X[bond]C) interactions.

Biomimetic Materials↗
PubMed2002

Cyclic tetraselenadiynes: rigid cycles with long-range van der Waals forces between chalcogen centers.

The synthesis of cyclic tetraselenadiynes could be achieved by a stepwise approach. Key steps were the reaction of the lithium salt of trimethylsilylacetylene (1) with alpha,omega-diselenocyanatoalkanes 2(m) (m = 2-5). By treating the bis-lithium salt of the resulting alpha,omega-diselenaalkadiynes 4(m) (m = 2-5) again with 2(n) (n = 2-5) the cyclic tetraselenadiynes 5(m.n) resulted, with methylene chains of length m and n between the SeC triple bond CSe units. The structures of seven ring systems could be investigated in the solid state. These investigations reveal that the molecular structures are determined by the rigid SeC triple bond CSe units, which try to adopt torsion angles of the CH(2)-Se sigma-bonds between 60 degrees and 90 degrees. In the solid state, the systems 5(3.3) and 5(5.5) show columnar structures that can be traced back to close contacts between Se atoms of neighboring rings.

Journal Article↗