3-(1-Ethylamino-ethylidene)-1-methyl-pyrrolidine-2,4-dione was obtained as an unexpected product in a three-step synthesis starting with o-nitrobenzoyl sarcosine, acetoacetanilide and ethylamine. The compound showed moderate antibacterial activity against S. aureus E. coli.

In the title compound, C(18)H(18)O(4), the 1,3-dioxane ring adopts a distorted envelope conformation with the C atom common to the cyclo-hexane ring forming the flap. In the crystal, inversion dimers linked by pairs of C-H⋯O hydrogen bonds occur.

A series of N-[(4-arylpiperazin-1-yl)-alkyl]-2-azaspiro[4.5]decane-1,3-dione derivatives were synthesized and evaluated for their anticonvulsant and neurotoxic properties. The main modifications to that series of compounds consisted in the introduction of an aromatic area to the cyclohexane ring as a flexible fragment with conformational freedom (1a-h), or as a rigidified skeleton (2a-h). Excep...

The localization and some characteristics of mouse adrenal C19-steroid 5fi-reductase were determined by the incubation of subcellular fractions of mouse adrenal tissue with [7a-3H]androst-4-ene-3,17-dione. This enzyme was present only in the soluble fraction and was NADPH-dependent, although a small activity in the presence ofNADH was also detected. The soluble fraction also contained 3 a-, 3,6...