Playing the sax: The enantioselective total syntheses of (-)- and (+)-decarbamoyloxysaxitoxin (doSTX) and (+)-saxitoxin (STX) are reported. A new methodology was developed for the synthesis of STXs, featuring discriminative reduction of the nitro group and N-O bond in nitroisoxazolidine. Enantioselective total syntheses of (-)- and (+)-decarbamoyloxysaxitoxin (doSTX) and (+)-saxitoxin (STX) were achieved. The characteristic spiro-fused cyclic guanidine structure of STX was constructed by oxidation at the C4 position with IBX via an alpha-iminium carbonyl intermediate and acid-promoted cyclization of guanidine at the C5 position. A second-generation methodology was developed for the synthesis of STX, featuring discriminative reduction of the nitro group and N-O bond in nitroisoxazolidine. This approach provides efficient access to the key diamine intermediate for STXs.

Skeletal analogues of saxitoxin (STX) that possess a fused-type tricyclic ring system, designated FD-STX, were synthesized as candidate sodium ion channel modulators. Three kinds of FD-STX derivatives 4a-c with different substitution at C13 were synthesized, and their inhibitory activity on sodium ion channels was examined by means of cell-based assay. (-)-FD-STX (4a) and (-)-FD-dcSTX (4b), which showed moderate inhibitory activity, were further evaluated by the use of the patch-clamp method in cells that expressed Na(V)1.4 (a tetrodotoxin-sensitive sodium channel subtype) and Na(V)1.5 (a tetrodotoxin-resistant sodium channel subtype). These compounds showed moderate inhibitory activity towards Na(V)1.4, and weaker inhibitory activity towards Na(V)1.5. Uniquely, however, the inhibition of Na(V)1.5 by (-)-FD-dcSTX (4b) was "irreversible".

Two-dimensional convection rolls are usually stable near the critical Rayleigh number in single component fluids. However, in binary mixtures, it has been reported that the roll patterns become unstable over time and that stagnant domains are transiently formed. The formation of transient stagnant domains (TSD) occurs in systems where one component is more viscous than the other. Meanwhile, the mechanism of the TSD formation has been unclear yet. Here, we use experiments using well-mixed silicone oils and colloidal suspensions to show that the formation of transient stagnant regions is chiefly related to the concentration dependence of the kinematic viscosity rather than spatially averaged properties. Furthermore, we find that the concentration dependence of density is also related to the formation of stagnant regions. The coupling between density, viscosity and concentration fluctuations may play an important role for thermal convection in multi-component mixtures.