Palladium-catalyzed borylation and Suzuki coupling (BSC) to obtain beta-substituted dehydroamino acid derivatives

Several benzo[b]thienyldehydroamino acids were prepared by one pot palladium-catalyzed borylation and Suzuki coupling (BSC) from bromobenzo[b]thiophenes containing EDG (OMe or Me), as the component to be borylated with pinacolborane, and pure stereoisomers of beta-bromodehydroamino acid derivatives. To our knowledge it is the first time that the BSC reaction involves a non aromatic system.Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia - POCTI/1999/QUI/32689, SFRH/BD/4709/2001

Sonogashira cross-couplings of dehydroamino acid derivatives and phenylacetylenes

Several phenylacetylenes were coupled under Sonogashira cross coupling conditions with the methyl esters of N-(tert-butoxycarbonyl)-(E)-beta-bromo or beta, beta-dibromodehydroalanine to give respectively beta-substituted or beta,beta-bis-substituted dehydroalanines. The beta-substituted dehydroalanines were obtained in good to high yields (60-90%) under the usual Sonogashira conditions (1 equiv. of the phenylacetylene, 1 mol% Pd(PPh3)4, 2 mol% CuI 18 equiv. NEt3 in acetonitrile, 24h at rt) with maintenance of the stereochemistry. The beta,beta-bis-substituted dehydroalanines were in turn obtained in moderate to good yields (44-63%) requiring modified Sonogashira conditions (4 equiv. of the phenylacetylene,10 mol% PdCl2(PPh3)2, 20 mol% CuI, 1.4 equiv. Cs2CO3, 2h at reflux of acetonitrile). In the latter reactions some phenylacetylene dimer and the (E)-isomer of the mono substituted coupled products were also isolated in some extent. The Sonogashira products which were obtained from the 4-bromophenylacetylene were reacted with functionalized benzo[b]thiophenes under C-C or C-N palladium-catalyzed cross-coupling conditions. Preliminary fluorescence studies were performed for mono and disubstituted 4-aminophenylacetylenic dehydroamino acids and for the benzo[b]thiophene derivatives. The results showed that some of the dehydroalanines prepared can be used as fluorescent probes.Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia - POCTI/99/QUI/32689, SFRH/BD/4709/2001

Nanoliposomes for encapsulation and delivery of the potential antitumoral methyl 6-methoxy-3-(4-methoxyphenyl)-1H-indole-2-carboxylate

[Excerpt] Nanoliposomes are new technological developments for the encapsulation and delivery of bioactive agents. Because of their biocompatibility and biodegradability, along with their size, nanoliposomes have potential applications in a vast range of fields, including nanotherapy. Nanoliposomes are able to enhance the performance of bioactive agents by improving their bioavailability, in vitro and in vivo stability, as well as preventing their unwanted interactions with other molecules [1]. Nanoliposomes may contain, in addition to phospholipids, other molecules such as cholesterol (Ch) which is an important component of most natural membranes. The incorporation of Ch can increase stability by modulating the fluidity of the lipid bilayer preventing crystallization of the phospholipid acyl chains and providing steric hindrance to their movement. Further advances in liposome research found that polyethylene glycol (PEG), which is inert in the body, allows longer circulatory life of the drug delivery system [2]. [...]This work was funded by FCT-Portugal and FEDER through CFUM, CQ-UM, Project PTDC/QUI/81238/2006 (cofinanced by FCT and by program FEDER/COMPETE, ref. FCOMP-01-0124-FEDER-007467) and Post-doc. grant of A.S. Abreu (SFRH/BPD/24548/2005)

Studies of encapsulation of a new potential antitumoral indole derivative in nanoliposomes for drug delivery applications

This work was funded by FCT-Portugal and FEDER through CFUM, CQ-UM, Project PTDC/QUI/81238/2006 and Post-doc. grant of A.S. Abreu (SFRH/BPD/ /24548/2005)

Studies of encapsulation of new antitumoral fluorescent compounds in nanoliposomes for drug delivery purposes

This work was funded by Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT-Portugal) through CFUM, CQ-UM, Project PTDC/QUI/81238/2006 and Post-doc. grant of A.S. Abreu (SFRH/BPD/24548/2005)

Fluorescence studies of 2-quinolinones and coumarins including peptide derivatives in solution and in lipid membranes

Photophysical properties of 2-quinolinones and coumarins, including peptide derivatives, were determined. Fluorescence emission and anisotropy measurements of compounds incorporated in lipid vesicles were performed. Our studies indicate that these compounds may be used as fluorescent probes for peptides and lipid membranes.Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) and FEDER for financial support to the Research Centres, CFUM [PEst-C/FIS/UI0607/2011 (F-COMP-01-0124-FEDER022711)] and CQ/UM [PEst-C/QUI/UI0686/2011 (FCOMP-01-0124-FEDER-022716)] and to the research project PTDC/QUI/81238/2006 (FCOMP01-0124-FEDER-007467). A.S. Abreu also thanks her post-doctoral grant (SFRH/BPD/24548/2005) to FCT, POPH-QREN, FSE

Synthesis of fluorescent indoles from pyrenyldehydroamino acid derivatives

Acknowledgments: To FCT (Portugal) and FEDER financial support through CQ-UM and CFUM, project POCI/QUI/59407/2004 and post-Doc grant (SFRH/BPD/24548/2005) of A.S.A.

MINEO Southern Europe environment test site : contamination impact mapping and modelling : final Report

Relatório final do projeto MINEO: Assessing and monitoring the environmental impact of mining activities in Europe using advanced Earth Observation techniques. Project funded by the European Community under the “Information Society Technology” Programme (1998-2002)ABSTRACT: Under the framework of the MINEO project, the abandoned S.Domingos mining area as been selected as representative of Southern Europe Environment to test methods and tools for assessing and monitoring the environmental impact of mining activities using hyperspectral data and other relevant data sets. The S.Domingos mining area, is characterised by a long-term mining activity, since pre-roman times till the 1960’s, and is included in the group of Volcanogenic Massive Sulphide deposits of the Iberian Pyrite Belt. The orebody contained Cu, and also Zn and Pb. Several facilities were developed for mining works and ore transportation, covering an area of 50km2, facilitating dispersion of related pollutants. The main environmental problems can be summarised as related to waste material and their pollutant content (Zn, Pb, Sb, Cu, As, Hg and Cd), acid waters (minimum pH value of 1.7) and associated dispersion, as well as landscape disruption. Hyperspectral images were able to identify mineralogical/chemical dispersion of waste material related to Acid Mine Drainage (AMD) following two approaches: one related to AMD waste material field spectra and the other based on AMD minerals, using standard spectral libraries. The processing techniques used were mainly based on the Spectral Angle Mapper classifier and Mixture Tunned Matched Filtering. Globally, both mapping results obtained, either in AMD waste material either in AMD minerals, were able to detect mineralogical/chemical characteristics of imaged ground data, which were validated by field data. The GIS geochemical modelling allowed the determination of effective AMD area of influence, based in water pH values, using geostatistical methods. The Indicator “Collocate-Cokriging” of the water pH using the distance to the highest correlated AMD waste material (mixed sulphur materials from hyperspectral classification) predicts the AMD dispersion in the area related to that material. This methodology achieved good results and could be applied in new areas using waste material hyperspectral image classification for AMD delimitation area.N/