The first tellurium-containing analogues of the rosamine and rhodamine dyes were prepared by the addition of Grignard or organolithium reagents to telluroxanthone precursors. The 125Te spectra of both the dyes and the telluroxanthone precursors are reported. One derivative was characterized by X-ray crystallography and was found to have a nearly planar telluroxanthylium core with a 9-aryl substituent held nearly orthogonal to the core. Density functional theory (DFT) and time-dependent DFT (TDDFT) calculations were performed to analyze the trends for the excitation wavelengths observed experimentally. The computations indicated that participation of the heteroatom lone pair orbitals is responsible for this trend.

Rhodium-catalyzed decomposition of aryldiazoacetates in the presence of pyrroles or furans results in mono- or biscyclopropanation of the heterocycle, but with opposite enantioinduction. In the absence of sterically encumbering groups, the cyclopropanation of furan occurs with initial bond formation at the 2-position. If this pathway is sterically blocked, cyclopropanation can occur with initial bond formation at the 3-position of the furan ring; in this case, the cyclopropanation reaction takes place on the opposite face of the heterocycle, and the opposite enantioinduction is observed. Upon extension of this methodology to benzofurans, a highly enantioselective monocyclopropanation reaction occurs to furnish a product derived from initial bond formation at the 2-position of the benzofuran. When this reaction pathway is inhibited by sterically encumbering substituents on the benzofuran, no cyclopropanation of the furan ring is observed, and instead, double cyclopropanation of the benzene ring occurs. Double cyclopropanation of the benzene ring was also observed in reactions with indoles.

The multidrug resistance efflux pump P-glycoprotein (Pgp) couples drug export to ATP binding and hydrolysis. Details regarding drug trajectory, as well as the molecular basis for coupling, remain unknown. Nearly all drugs exported by Pgp have been assayed for competitive behavior with rhodamine123 transport at a canonical "R" drug binding site. Tetramethylrosamine (TMR) displays a relatively high affinity for Pgp when compared to other rhodamines. Here, we present the construction and characterization of a library of compounds based upon the TMR scaffold and use this set to assess the determinants of drug binding to the "R" site of Pgp. This set contained modifications in (1) the number, location, and conformational mobility of hydrogen-bond acceptors; (2) the heteroatom in the xanthylium core; and (3) the size of the substituent in the 9-position of the xanthylium core. Relative specificity for coupling to the distal ATP catalytic site was assessed by ATPase stimulation. We found marked ( approximately 1000-fold) variation in the ATPase specificity constant within the library of TMR analogues. Using established methods involving ADP-Vi trapping by wild-type Pgp and ATP binding by catalytic carboxylate mutant Pgp, these effects can be extended to ATP hydrolysis transition-state stabilization and ATP occlusion at a single site. These data support the idea that drugs trigger the engagement of ATP catalytic site residues necessary for hydrolysis. Further, the nature of the drug binding site and coupling mechanism may be dissected by variation of a drug-like scaffold. These studies may facilitate development of novel competitive inhibitors at the "R" drug site.

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