α-Diazo arylketones are well-known substrates for Wolff rearrangement to phenylacetic acids through a ketene intermediate by either thermal or photochemical activation. Likewise, α-substituted p-hydroxyphenacyl (pHP) esters are substrates for photo-Favorskii rearrangements to phenylacetic acids by a different pathway that purportedly involves a cyclopropanone intermediate. In this paper, we sho...

The application of biocatalysis to the synthesis of chiral molecules is one of the greenest technologies for the replacement of chemical routes due to its environmentally benign reaction conditions and unparalleled chemo-, regio- and stereoselectivities. We have been interested in searching for carbonyl reductase enzymes and assessing their substrate specificity and stereoselectivity. We now re...

Tagetes mendocina (Asteraceae) is a medicinal plant widely used in the Andean provinces of Argentina. Preliminary assays showed free radical scavenging activity in the methanol extract of the aerial parts, measured by the decoloration of a methanolic solution of the 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl radical (DPPH) and scavenging of the superoxide anion. Assay-guided isolation led to 4'-hydroxyaceto...

In this work, pressurized liquid extraction (PLE) of three acetophenones (4-hydroxyacetophenone, baishouwubenzophenone, and 2,4-dihydroxyacetophenone) from Cynanchum bungei (ACB) were investigated. The optimal conditions for extraction of ACB were obtained using a Box-Behnken design, consisting of 17 experimental points, as follows: Ethanol (100%) as the extraction solvent at a temperature of ...

The regio- and stereospecific conversion of prochiral 4-alkylphenols by the covalent flavoprotein vanillyl-alcohol oxidase was investigated. The enzyme was active, with 4-alkylphenols bearing aliphatic side chains of up to seven carbon atoms. Optimal catalytic efficiency occurred with 4-ethylphenol and 4-n-propylphenols. These short-chain 4-alkylphenols are stereoselectively hydroxylated to the...

In a systematic effort to identify a potent anticancer agent, we synthesized 15 oxovanadium(IV) complexes and examined their cytotoxic activity against 14 different human cancer cell lines. The oxovanadium compounds included mono and bis ancillary ligands of 1,10-phenanthroline (phen) [VO(phen), VO(phen)2, VO(Me2-phen), VO (Me2-phen)2, VO(Cl-phen), VO(Cl-phen)2, VO(NO2-phen), VO(NO2-phen)2], 2,...