Einstein, 'parachor' and molecular volume: Some history and a suggestion

In 2002, the Royal Society commemorated the centenary of young Einstein’s first scientific paper by publishing J. N. Murrell’s analytical comments1 on 'an extraordinarily advanced paper for a recent graduate’. At the end of his comments, Murrell makes an interesting connection between certain additive constants calculated by Einstein and 'parachor equivalents'2 that were to be described some two decades after Einstein’s paper

Brain structure could depend on the learning script

The on-line edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA of 8 April 2008, carried an article by Li-Hai Tan, University of Hong Kong and his collaborators on differences in the manifestation of dyslexia among the English and the Chinese. It is said that millions of children worldwide are affected by dyslexia, a learning disability spectrum that can include problems in reading, spelling, writing and pronouncing words that may be carried into adulthood. Its incidence has been estimated to range from 8 to 15% of students world over

Dyslexia and intercultural comparisons

I had raised two interconnected matters in a previous write-up in Current Science. If intensive training in phonics does indeed improve the reading skills of dyslexics (as the experimental work Richards, et al. had shown), would there be lesser incidence of the condition in certain population groups in India since those literate in the major Indian scripts receive intensive phonic training anyway? In what manner can statistics be collected in India so that inter-cultural comparisons can be made with data available in the West

Anisochrony of O-methylene protons of ethyl ester functions and structural factors in the connected chiral entities

(i) Incistrans pairs of cyclic 1,3-dicarboxylic acid ethyl esters thecis-foms exhibit higher O-methylene proton (HA, HB) anisochrony than thetrans-forms; (ii) anisochrony, easily observed in certain decalin-10-carboxylic ethyl esters, ‘disappears’ on one of the rings attaining the possibility of transforming into a ‘twist’ form; (iii) in certain pairs of chiralsecethyl esters and theirtert-methylated analogues anisochrony is higher in the latter, contrary to expectation, while, in certain others, the reverse is observed. Attempted explanations are based on assessments whether H A and H B are or are not in highly different magnetic environments in confomers regarded as preferred. This subsumes the possibility thatXYZC-CO2H A H B Me chiral ethyl acetates differ fromXYZC-CH A H B Me ethanes because intervention by the carboxyl group insulates the prochiral centre and allows anisotropic effects to gain somewhat in importance among mechanisms that discriminate between H A and H B so long as rotamerpopulation inequalities persist. Background information on why rotamer-population inequalities will always persist and on a heuristic that attempts to generalize the effects ofXYZ inXYZC - CU AUB V is provided. Possible effects when connectivity exists between a pair amongX, Y, Z or when specific interactions occur betweenV andX, Y orZ are considered. An interpretation in terms of ‘increasing conformational mobility’ has been suggested for the observed increase in the rate of temperature-dependence of O-methylene anisochrony down a series of chiral ethyl esters

Syn-axial steric and counter-ion coordination factors in the methylation of 6-membered cyclic esters

It was found in an earlier study that one (A) of the four possible configurational isomers of trimethyl 1-methylcyclohexane-1,2,3-tricarboxylate yields, in regiospecific and highly stereospecific manner, trimethyl trans, meso 1,2-dimethylcyclohexane-1,2,3-tricarboxylate on exposure to the methylation condition of treatment with tritylsodium (ether)/methyl iodide. Isomer A changes to isomer C via enolate formation unexpectedly slowly even though what was needed for the transformation was only a ring inversion. Equally unexpectedly, it was found in an independent experiment that an alpha-enolate is not formed at all directly from C on treatment with tritylsodium. The role that coordination of counterion (Na+) may play in the first case and manner in which 1,3-syn axial steric effect may operate in the second was sought to be tested by employing methyl 9-ethoxycarbonyl- and methyl 9-methyl trans-decalin-2-carboxylates as test systems having no possibility of ring-inversion. The 9-methyl system, analogue of C, did not form an alpha-enolate ion, as expected. On the other hand, the 9-ester, analogue of A, readily formed an enolate that does not undergo methylation under conditions when A does. It did undergo the reaction, practically non-stereoselectively however, when the strong de-coordinating agent hexamethyl phosphoric triamide was added before the addition of methyl iodide

Syntheses of the trans,meso- and racemic C11 acids, degradation products of diterpene acids

Syntheses of the isomers of the C11 acid, 1(a),3(a)- dimethylcyclohexane-1 (e),2(e),3(e)-tricarboxylic acid (A) and 1(a),3(e)-dimethylcyclohexane-1(e),2(e),3(a)-tricarboxylic acid (B), the latter by two different routes, are reported. Two of the four possible isomers of the precursor triester, trimethyl 1-methylcyclohexane-1,2,3-tricarboxylate, on individual methylation followed by hydrolysis, gave the trans,meso-acid (A), identified by comparison with an authentic sample, and the cis,trans-form (B) whose structure and configuration were proved by comparison with a specimen obtained by the unambiguous and highly stereoselective second synthesis. This demonstrated that methylation of the triester isomers occurs stereospecifically and exclusively at C-3. In the second sequence, it has been possible to assign definite conformations to four key intermediates and the final product, directly from n.m.r. spectra, from changes in these spectra accompanying specific steps, and from chemical evidence. Comparison of the n.m.r. spectra of the isomeric triesters (A) and (B) has provided unequivocal proof of the accepted trans,meso configuration for the abietic acid degradation product (A)

Dialkyl (3-Aryl- 1,2,4-oxadiazol-5-yl)phosphonates: Synthesis and Thermal Behavior-Evidence for Monomeric Alkyl Metaphosphate

Dialkyl (3-aryl-l,2,4-oxadiazol-5-yl)phosphonate6sa -h have been obtained by 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition of arenenitrile oxides 5a-f to dialkyl phosphorocyanidates (4a and 4b) in yields ranging between 30% and 58%. A standardized method for obtaining cyanidates 4a and 4b has been established. The diethyl thiophosphorocyanidate (4c) is less reactive than 4a and 4b, only the 3-(4'-nitrophenyl) derivative 6i being obtainable. While the IR and NMFt spectra of 6a-i were unexceptional, their UV spectra showed evidence of conjugative interaction in high degrees between the phosphonate and heterocyclic moieties as well as a varying conjugative interaction between the heterocyclic and aryl moieties. The oxadiazoles 6a-h are thermally labile and yield trialkyl phosphates 7 as the only identifiable products. A mechanism based on the intermediacy of monomeric alkyl metaphosphate 11 in the formation of trialkyl phosphate was postulated, and supportive evidence in the form of trapping the metaphosphate with acetophenone has been obtained

On the conformations of isomeric trimethyl -methylcyclohexane-1,2,3-tricarboxylates

A study has been made of the stereochemistry of three of the four possible configurational isomers of trimethyl 1-methylcyclohexane-1,2,3-tricarboxylate. Two of the isomers undergo highly stereoselective methylation at the 3-position; the third cannot be methylated under similar conditions. Conformations have been suggested for these three isomers on the basis of n.m.r. results. It is thought that axial ester groups at the 1-position in the first two solvate the axial protons at the 3-position and facilitate their removal by trityl anion, while in the third, which has an axial methyl at the 1-position, the effect is not possible and the anion is not formed. The role of A(1.3) strain in causing the high stereoselectivity and position-specificity in the two cases where alkylation does take place and the reasons for slow inversion at the anion centre at position 3 in one of them are discussed