As part of an ongoing project aimed at developing vaccine candidates against Cryptococcus neoformans the preparation of tri- and tetrasaccharide thioglycoside building blocks, to be used in construction of structurally defined part structures of C. neoformans GXM capsular polysaccharide, was investigated. Using a naphthalenylmethyl (NAP) ether as a temporary protecting group and trichloroacetim...

S-Benzylhomocysteine, containing isotopic atoms, has proved to be a key intermediate in the synthesis of labeled methionine and related compounds (1). The need of the optically active isomers of these tagged compounds for various metabolic investigations has prompted us to work out a method for the resolution of S-benzylhomocysteine which would be particularly suitable for small quantities of S...

Photocatalytic oxidation of benzyl alcohols in aqueous suspensions of rhodium ion-modified titanium(iv) oxide (Rh(3+)/TiO2) in the presence of O2 under irradiation of visible light was examined. In the photocatalytic oxidation of benzyl alcohol, benzaldehyde was obtained in a high yield (97%) with >99% conversion of benzyl alcohol. Rh(3+)/TiO2 photocatalysts having various physical properties w...

The nucleotide sequence of the structural gene for benzyl alcohol dehydrogenase encoded by TOL plasmid pWWO of Pseudomonas putida has been determined. Benzyl alcohol dehydrogenase is a member of the long-chain zinc alcohol dehydrogenase family and, like other alcohol dehydrogenases of this family, contains two zinc atoms per subunit. Benzyl alcohol dehydrogenase, while sharing 31% identical res...

BACKGROUND Nine novel uracil analogues were synthesized and evaluated as inhibitors of HIV-1. METHODS Key structural modifications included replacement of the 6-chloro group of 1-benzyl-6-chloro-3-(3,5-dimethylbenzyl)uracil by other functional groups or N(1)-alkylation of 3-(3,5-dimethylbenzyl)-5-fluorouracil. RESULTS These compounds showed only micromolar potency against HIV-1 in MT-4, tho...

Pharmacodynamic tolerance is believed to involve homeostatic mechanisms initiated to restore normal neural function. Drosophila exposed to a sedating dose of an organic solvent, such as benzyl alcohol or ethanol, acquire tolerance to subsequent sedation by that solvent. The slo gene encodes BK-type Ca(2+)-activated K(+) channels and has been linked to alcohol- and organic solvent-induced behavi...

Treatment of O-benzyl protected S-glucosyl phosphorothioates with 1,3,5-trimethoxybenzene in the presence of iodine or boron trifluoride etherate led to appropriate aryl C-Dglucosides. The reaction of O-benzyl and O-acetyl-protected phosphorothioates of monosaccharides with allyltrimethylsilane, using boron trifluoride etherate as activator, gave mainly or exclusively, the corresponding 3-(α-Dg...

Two efficient and practical methods of synthesis of the C-10 substituent of DV-7751 (1), a novel quinolone carboxylic acid, were established. The first method utilizes an optical resolution of racemic 8-amino-6-benzyl-6-azaspiro[3.4]octane (13), while the second employs an enantioselective microbial reduction of 6-benzyl-5,8-dioxo-6-azaspiro[3.4]octane (8b). The enantiomeric excess of (S)-8-ami...