Halides as versatile anions in asymmetric anion-binding organocatalysis

• Lukas Schifferer,
• Martin Stinglhamer,
• Kirandeep Kaur and
• Olga García Macheño

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 2270–2286, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.145

• challenging to design small molecule catalysts that resemble anion-binding properties of enzymes. Hence, a major challenge of small organic receptors to mimic nature’s capability of binding to the targeted anions resides in the supramolecular properties of enzymes and co-factors to form exact matching binding

• receptors have often proven more efficient [9][12]. A breakthrough in the field of anion binding towards its application in catalysis was achieved with the findings that neutral (thio)urea derivatives are potent anion receptors due to their ability to bind anions of various topologies, including the

• spherical halides [10]. The key to hydrogen bonding of the halide anion resides in the polarized N–H bonds of these (thio)urea units, which have since served as a benchmark in the design and development of anion receptor catalysts [12][13][14]. Consequently, other synthetic anion receptors have been

Progress and challenges in the synthesis of sequence controlled polysaccharides

• Giulio Fittolani,
• Theodore Tyrikos-Ergas,
• Denisa Vargová,
• Manishkumar A. Chaube and
• Martina Delbianco

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 1981–2025, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.129

• controlled size and substitution pattern are highly desirable, because DP and FA affect the physicochemical properties of the COS [218][219]. A size-dependent immune recognition was verified in plant chitin receptors as well as in toll-like receptors (TLR2) [220]. Moreover, the PA can tune the biological

On the application of 3d metals for C–H activation toward bioactive compounds: The key step for the synthesis of silver bullets

• Renato L. Carvalho,
• Amanda S. de Miranda,
• Mateus P. Nunes,
• Roberto S. Gomes,
• Guilherme A. M. Jardim and
• Eufrânio N. da Silva Júnior

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 1849–1938, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.126

• ). These bicyclic structures may present unique biological activities including neuroprotective properties (15), as it was recently reported by Joubert and co-workers [58], as well as acting as agonists of nicotinic receptors (16) [59], representing an alternative option for the treatment of cigarette

Natural products in the predatory defence of the filamentous fungal pathogen Aspergillus fumigatus

• Jana M. Boysen,
• Nauman Saeed and
• Falk Hillmann

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 1814–1827, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.124

• -melanin. Additionally, the surfactant protein D (SP-D), a soluble C-type lectin receptor (CLR), is also able to recognise DHN-melanin and opsonize it to increase the immune response. However, MelLec receptors are only present on some endothelial and myeloid cells [156][157]. Fumigaclavines Fumigaclavine C

Chemical approaches to discover the full potential of peptide nucleic acids in biomedical applications

• Nikita Brodyagin,
• Martins Katkevics,
• Venubabu Kotikam,
• Christopher A. Ryan and
• Eriks Rozners

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 1641–1688, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.116

Cascade intramolecular Prins/Friedel–Crafts cyclization for the synthesis of 4-aryltetralin-2-ols and 5-aryltetrahydro-5H-benzo[7]annulen-7-ols

• Jie Zheng,
• Shuyu Meng and
• Quanrui Wang

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 1481–1489, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.104

• therapeutic potential. In addition, trans-4-phenyl-N,N-dimethyl-2-aminotetralin (trans-H2-PAT, 4, Figure 1) [6] has been determined to modulate tyrosine hydroxylase activity and dopamine synthesis in rodent forebrain and is also a ligand binding to histamine H1 receptors, and thus is a potentially useful

Iodine-catalyzed electrophilic substitution of indoles: Synthesis of (un)symmetrical diindolylmethanes with a quaternary carbon center

• Thanigaimalai Pillaiyar,
• Masoud Sedaghati,
• Andhika B. Mahardhika,
• Lukas L. Wendt and
• Christa E. Müller

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 1464–1475, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.102

• , and scalability to obtain gram amounts for biological studies. Selected compounds were found to display affinity for cannabinoid receptors, which are promising drug targets for the treatment of inflammatory and neurodegenerative diseases. Keywords: alkylation of indole; anti-inflammatory; binding

• affinity; cannabinoid receptors; diindolylmethane; unsymmetrical 3,3'-diindolylmethane; Introduction Diindolylmethanes (DIMs) represent an important class of indole alkaloids, that are constituents of pharmaceuticals [1][2][3][4][5][6][7] and agrochemicals [8][9]. DIM derivatives possess a variety of

• studies for their affinities towards cannabinoid CB1 and CB2 receptors. Results and Discussion Optimization of the reaction The reaction conditions were optimized using 2,2,2-trifluoro-1-(5-methoxy-1H-indol-3-yl)-1-phenylethan-1-ol (1a, 5 mmol) and 1H-indole (2a, 5 mmol) as model substrates (Table 1). At

Design, synthesis and photophysical properties of novel star-shaped truxene-based heterocycles utilizing ring-closing metathesis, Clauson–Kaas, Van Leusen and Ullmann-type reactions as key tools

• Shakeel Alvi and
• Rashid Ali

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 1374–1384, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.96

• -containing five-membered aromatic pyrrole scaffold will continue to play a significant role in the development of novel anionic receptors [33][34]. Therefore, as outlined in Scheme 2, our synthetic strategy towards the construction of the target pyrrole-based truxene derivative 6 initiated with the acid

Antiviral therapy in shrimp through plant virus VLP containing VP28 dsRNA against WSSV

• Santiago Ramos-Carreño,
• Ivone Giffard-Mena,
• Jose N. Zamudio-Ocadiz,
• Alfredo Nuñez-Rivera,
• Ricardo Valencia-Yañez,
• Jaime Ruiz-Garcia,
• Maria Teresa Viana and
• Ruben D. Cadena-Nava

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 1360–1373, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.95

• ]. Also, the CCMV VLPs are resistant to enzyme degradation through the digestive tract [32][33][34]. It is to be kept in mind that possibly the shrimp’s virus, in contrast to CCMV VLP’s, needs specific receptors to be internalized in the shrimp cells. For these reasons, CCMV VLPs show quite an advantage

Beyond ribose and phosphate: Selected nucleic acid modifications for structure–function investigations and therapeutic applications

• Christopher Liczner,
• Kieran Duke,
• Gabrielle Juneau,
• Martin Egli and
• Christopher J. Wilds

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 908–931, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.76

• , replication, splicing and other fundamental processes in biological information transfer. More specifically, they can affect chemical and thermodynamic stability, folding, secondary and tertiary structure, activity and interactions between nucleic acids, proteins and receptors. Particularly, as far as

• production of proteins, enzymes and receptors that may be inhibited by small-molecule and antibody therapeutics. However, native RNA oligonucleotides do not possess sufficient metabolic stability for in vivo applications. Therefore, chemical modification is absolutely essential to re-engineer RNA into a

Enhanced target cell specificity and uptake of lipid nanoparticles using RNA aptamers and peptides

• Roslyn M. Ray,
• Anders Højgaard Hansen,
• Maria Taskova,
• Bernhard Jandl,
• Jonas Hansen,
• Citra Soemardy,
• Kevin V. Morris and
• Kira Astakhova

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 891–907, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.75

• potential of compounds [43]. To assess the specific uptake of the G-3 aptamer, we used TZM-bLs. TZM-bL is a HeLa-derived cell line that was engineered to express CD4 and CCR5 receptors on the cell surface [44]. HeLa cells were used as a negative control. To investigate the specific uptake of the A-1 aptamer

• complexation with cluster of differentiation 4 (CD4) and CCR5 or C-X-C motif chemokine receptor 4 (CXCR4) host cell surface receptors [35]. As such, gp160 expression on the host cell surface receptor may not be as adept at facilitating cell entry via receptor-mediated endocytosis. Although in 2009, Zhou et al

• also be due to differences in target receptor expression in the cell types and/or differences in the affinity and specificity of these aptamers for the target receptors and/or differences in the mechanisms of uptake. Finally, the formulation procedure also likely influences the ability of the aptamers

Effective microwave-assisted approach to 1,2,3-triazolobenzodiazepinones via tandem Ugi reaction/catalyst-free intramolecular azide–alkyne cycloaddition

• Maryna O. Mazur,
• Oleksii S. Zhelavskyi,
• Eugene M. Zviagin,
• Svitlana V. Shishkina,
• Vladimir I. Musatov,
• Maksim A. Kolosov,
• Elena H. Shvets,
• Anna Yu. Andryushchenko and
• Valentyn A. Chebanov

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 678–687, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.57

• of 1,2,4-triazolobenzodiazepines is the treatment of central nervous system (CNS) disorders. Such drugs as alprazolam and estazolam are used as anxiolytic agents, whereas adinazolam is known as an antidepressant [3]. Benzodiazepine molecules are ligands for GABA-receptors and act as positive

1,2,3-Triazoles as leaving groups: S_NAr reactions of 2,6-bistriazolylpurines with O- and C-nucleophiles

• Dace Cīrule,
• Irina Novosjolova,
• Ērika Bizdēna and
• Māris Turks

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 410–419, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.37

• 6-O-analogues are less common [61]. Azolylpurine derivatives are important due to their potential as drug candidates. They can be used as agonists and antagonists of adenosine receptors [58][64][65][66] and against Mycobacterium tuberculosis [60]. They also show useful fluorescent properties [11][67

1,2,3-Triazoles as leaving groups in S_NAr–Arbuzov reactions: synthesis of C6-phosphonated purine derivatives

• Kārlis-Ēriks Kriķis,
• Irina Novosjolova,
• Anatoly Mishnev and
• Māris Turks

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 193–202, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.19

• activity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis and also as agonists and antagonists of adenosine receptors [18]. In 2013, we developed an efficient approach for the synthesis of ribo- and arabino-2,6-bistriazolylpurine nucleosides and showed that the triazolyl ring in the C6 position of purine acts as a good

Supramolecular polymerization of sulfated dendritic peptide amphiphiles into multivalent L-selectin binders

• David Straßburger,
• Svenja Herziger,
• Katharina Huth,
• Moritz Urschbach,
• Rainer Haag and
• Pol Besenius

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 97–104, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.10

• achieved. As specific biological interactions strongly rely on the receptor–ligand interplays, we are interested in investigating the targeting of isolated receptors by supramolecular polymers built from peptide amphiphiles decorated with suitable ligand structures. The well-known L-selectin described

Chiral anion recognition using calix[4]arene-based ureido receptors in a 1,3-alternate conformation

• Tereza Horáčková,
• Jan Budka,
• Vaclav Eigner,
• Wen-Sheng Chung,
• Petra Cuřínová and
• Pavel Lhoták

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2020, 16, 2999–3007, doi:10.3762/bjoc.16.249

• of calix[4]arene immobilised in the 1,3-alternate conformation led to a system possessing a preorganised ureido cavity hemmed with chiral alkyl units in the near proximity. As shown by the 1H NMR titration experiments, these compounds can be used as receptors for chiral anions in DMSO-d6. The chiral

• for N-acetyl-ʟ-phenylalaninate. The structures of some receptors were confirmed by single crystal X-ray analysis. Keywords: anion recognition; calixarene; chiral receptor; complexation; enantiodiscrimination; Introduction The recognition and complexation of anions has become undoubtedly one of the

• have gradually been revealed and are well recognised to date. Consequently, given the importance of anions in many areas of everyday life, including, e.g., biology, medicine, environmental pollution issues, or industrial processes, the design and development of novel artificial receptors/sensors for

Selected peptide-based fluorescent probes for biological applications

• Debabrata Maity

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2020, 16, 2971–2982, doi:10.3762/bjoc.16.247

• fluorescence techniques have attracted immense interest. Synthetic peptide-based fluorescent probes are advantageous over protein-based sensors, since they are synthetically accessible, more stable, and can be easily modified in a site-specific manner for selective biological applications. Peptide receptors

• -aminobutyric acid associate with membrane-bound protein receptors and trigger changes in receptor shape and activity with subsequent signaling across the membrane. Noncovalent H-bonding and van der Waals interactions are the basis for the selective molecular recognition between a G-coupled protein receptor and

• a bound glutamate molecule [4]. Peptides often work as signaling molecules or hormones, such as small neuropetide endorphins, produced by the central nervous system to relieve stress or enhance pleasure. They produce signaling cascades in the brain by interacting with opiate receptors. Sometimes

UV resonance Raman spectroscopy of the supramolecular ligand guanidiniocarbonyl indole (GCI) with 244 nm laser excitation

• Tim Holtum,
• Vikas Kumar,
• Daniel Sebena,
• Jens Voskuhl and
• Sebastian Schlücker

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2020, 16, 2911–2919, doi:10.3762/bjoc.16.240

• -covalent interactions namely hydrogen bonds, van der Waals, and/or hydrophobic interactions [1][2][3][4][5]. In this context, Schmuck and co-workers have introduced a class of synthetic receptors based on the guanidiniocarbonyl pyrrole (GCP) moiety (cf. Figure 1 top right) as a carboxylate binding site

• supramolecular ligands: guanidiniocarbonyl pyrrole (GCP) and guanidiniocarbonyl indole (GCI). The latter class of artificial carboxylate receptors is a potential next generation binder based on the GCI motif which maintains the good carboxylate binding properties of GCP. GCI comprises an indole ring instead of a

• receptor. The vibrational assignment of these modes is important for the binding study of GCI receptors because we hypothesize that they are all involved in the complexation with carboxylates. Finally, we employed UVRR spectroscopy at 244 nm excitation to observe the binding events of GCI-based receptors

Encrypting messages with artificial bacterial receptors

• Pragati Kishore Prasad,
• Naama Lahav-Mankovski,
• Leila Motiei and
• David Margulies

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2020, 16, 2749–2756, doi:10.3762/bjoc.16.225

• receptors is described. We show that the binding of DNA-based artificial receptors to E. coli expressing His-tagged outer membrane protein C (His-OmpC) induces a Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) between the dyes, which results in the generation of a unique fluorescence fingerprint. Because the

• information protection at the molecular level. Keywords: artificial receptors; cell surface modification; fluorescent probes; molecular cryptography; Introduction In living cells, information is processed and transferred via a series of recognition and signaling events, which normally begin by the binding

• of cell-surface receptors to extracellular signals, such as small molecules or proteins. In recent years, there has been considerable interest in modifying cells with artificial receptors, as a means to provide them with new properties [1]. We have recently reported a method for decorating His-tagged

Selective recognition of ATP by multivalent nano-assemblies of bisimidazolium amphiphiles through “turn-on” fluorescence response

• Rakesh Biswas,
• Surya Ghosh,
• Shubhra Kanti Bhaumik and
• Supratim Banerjee

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2020, 16, 2728–2738, doi:10.3762/bjoc.16.223

• Rakesh Biswas Surya Ghosh Shubhra Kanti Bhaumik Supratim Banerjee Department of Chemical Sciences, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Kolkata, Mohanpur-741246, Nadia, India 10.3762/bjoc.16.223 Abstract Bisimidazolium receptors, tagged with chromophoric pyrene at one end and linked

• the receptor with their complementary binding partners in the target analyte [15]. One of the ways to design multivalent systems is to connect the receptors through covalent linkages. Conjugated polymers and conjugated polymer electrolytes are prominent examples of covalently constructed multivalent

• [36][37][38], conjugated polymers [39][40][41][42], quantum dots [43][44] and sensors based on organic receptors such as imidazolium, ammonium, guanidinium [45][46][47][48][49][50][51][52], etc. have also been developed. Imidazolium based synthetic receptors typically utilize a combination of

Optical detection of di- and triphosphate anions with mixed monolayer-protected gold nanoparticles containing zinc(II)–dipicolylamine complexes

• Lena Reinke,
• Julia Bartl,
• Marcus Koch and
• Stefan Kubik

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2020, 16, 2687–2700, doi:10.3762/bjoc.16.219

• other serves to dilute the receptor units on the surface to such an extent that analyte binding to units residing on the same nanoparticle becomes unlikely. The number of receptors should still be high enough to allow nanoparticle crosslinking to benefit from multivalent interactions [19][20][21]. The

• solution, potentially giving rise to highly selective receptors if the two binding sites are arranged at a distance that allows for binding a diphosphate, but not a larger triphosphate anion. The peptide and cyclopeptide-derived receptors introduced by Jolliffe are examples [26] along with a range of

• receptors based on other scaffolds [22][23][24][25]. To test whether this binding motif induces AuNP crosslinking, we synthesized nanoparticles containing peripheral zinc(II)–DPA complexes together with a solubilizing triethylene glycol-based ligand in different ratios and studied their interaction with

Thermodynamic and electrochemical study of tailor-made crown ethers for redox-switchable (pseudo)rotaxanes

• Henrik Hupatz,
• Marius Gaedke,
• Hendrik V. Schröder,
• Julia Beerhues,
• Arto Valkonen,
• Fabian Klautzsch,
• Sebastian Müller,
• Felix Witte,
• Kari Rissanen,
• Biprajit Sarkar and
• Christoph A. Schalley

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2020, 16, 2576–2588, doi:10.3762/bjoc.16.209

• made towards switchable macrocyclic receptors, in which crown ethers are functionalized with a stimuli-responsive unit [14][15]. These studies were mainly motivated by a biomimetic approach and included examples such as crown ethers incorporating photo-responsive azobenzene [15][16] or redox-active

Water-soluble host–guest complexes between fullerenes and a sugar-functionalized tribenzotriquinacene assembling to microspheres

• Si-Yuan Liu,
• Xin-Rui Wang,
• Man-Ping Li,
• Wen-Rong Xu and
• Dietmar Kuck

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2020, 16, 2551–2561, doi:10.3762/bjoc.16.207

• shallow cavity of the parent TBTQ hydrocarbons, thus allowing for the inclusion of large guest molecules, such as the fullerenes. Several TBTQ derivatives with extended cavities have been developed by us and other groups. Volkmer et al. designed a series of novel TBTQ-based receptors, 1–3, and studied

How and why plants and human N-glycans are different: Insight from molecular dynamics into the “glycoblocks” architecture of complex carbohydrates

• Carl A. Fogarty,
• Aoife M. Harbison,
• Amy R. Dugdale and
• Elisa Fadda

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2020, 16, 2046–2056, doi:10.3762/bjoc.16.171

• , implicated in protein folding and structural stability, and mediating interactions with receptors and with the environment. All N-glycans share a common core from which linear or branched arms stem from, with functionalization specific to different species and to the cells’ health and disease state. This

• of the N-glycan and its structural dynamics, therefore its selective recognition by lectin receptors and antibodies. The atomistic-level of detail information that the MD simulations provide us with, highlights that the effects of different functionalizations, in terms of monosaccharide types and

Design, synthesis and application of carbazole macrocycles in anion sensors

• Alo Rüütel,
• Ville Yrjänä,
• Sandip A. Kadam,
• Indrek Saar,
• Mihkel Ilisson,
• Astrid Darnell,
• Kristjan Haav,
• Tõiv Haljasorg,
• Lauri Toom,
• Johan Bobacka and
• Ivo Leito

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2020, 16, 1901–1914, doi:10.3762/bjoc.16.157

• sensor development, the results obtained in this work emphasize the importance of evaluating the binding behavior of receptors in real sensor membranes. Keywords: anion sensors; carboxylates; ionophores; macrocycles; sensor prototype; Introduction In 2013, Otto S. Wolfbeis asked the supramolecular

• recognition elements of chemical sensors. However, the research typically ended with demonstration of the ability of analyte binding. Rarely have the receptors found their way into functioning chemical sensor prototypes. The reason for this is that the step from a well-binding receptor to a sensor prototype

• moiety fulfils several key design requirements. At least four hydrogen bonding sites (N–H groups) are available and positioned in a favourable geometry for carboxylates. Additional hydrogen-bond-donor (HBD) groups can be added with substituents. The solubility of such receptors can be tuned using