Transthyretin(TTR),a plasma protein with a tetramer structure,could form amyloid fibril associated with several human diseases through the dissociation of tetramer and the misfolding of monomer.These amyloidogenesis can be inhibited by small molecules which bind to the central channel of TTR.A number of small molecules like 2-arylbenzoxazoles(ABZ)analogues are proposed as promising therapeutic strategy to treat amyloidosis.In this work,comparative molecular field analysis(CoMFA)and comparative molecular similarity indices analysis(CoMSIA)three-dimensional quantitative structure-activity relationship(3D-QSAR)and docking studies were performed on series of 2-arylbenzoxazoles(ABZ)and linker-Y analogues to investigate the inhibitory activities of TTR amyloidogenesis at atomic level.Significant correlation coefficients for ABZ series(CoMFA,r2=0.877,q2=0.431;CoMSIA,r2=0.836,q2=0.447)and those for linker-Y series(CoMFA,r2=0.828,q2=0.522;CoMSIA,r2=0.800,q2=0.493)were obtained,and the generated models were validated using test sets.In addition,docking studies on 6 compounds binding to TTR were performed to analyze the forward or reverse binding mode and interactions between molecules and TTR.These results from 3D-QSAR and docking studies have great significance for designing novel TTR amyloidogenesis inhibitors in the future.
In this paper, we used density functional theory(DFT) computations to study the mechanisms of the hydroacylation reaction of an aldehyde with an alkene catalyzed by Wilkinson's catalyst and an organic catalyst 2-amino-3-picoline in cationic and neutral systems. An aldehyde's hydroacylation includes three stages: the C–H activation to form rhodium hydride(stage I), the alkene insertion into the Rh–H bond to give the Rh-alkyl complex(stage II), and the C–C bond formation(stage III). Possible pathways for the hydroacylation originated from the trans and cis isomers of the catalytic cycle. In this paper, we discussed the neutral and cationic pathways. The rate-determining step is the C–H activation step in neutral system but the reductive elimination step in the cationic system. Meanwhile, the alkyl group migration-phosphine ligand coordination pathway is more favorable than the phosphine ligand coordination-alkyl group migration pathway in the C–C formation stage. Furthermore, the calculated results imply that an electron-withdrawing group may decrease the energy barrier of the C–H activation in the benzaldehyde hydroacylation.
