Biofilms are often associated with human bacterial infections, and the natural tolerance of biofilms to antibiotics challenges treatment. Compounds with antibiofilm activity could become useful adjuncts to antibiotic therapy. We used norspermidine, a natural trigger for biofilm disassembly in the developmental cycle of Bacillus subtilis , to develop guanidine and biguanide compounds with up to...

We report the biomimetic synthesis of polyethylene glycol (PEG) grafted silica nanoplates templated by double hydrophilic PEG-b-poly-L-lysine diblock copolymers. The silica nanoplates can be re-dispersed in PEG selective solvents. The sizes of silica nanoplates can be tuned from a few hundred nanometers to tens of micrometers.

An efficient method using silver oxide-mediated oxidation for the synthesis of ortho-quinone methides has been developed and applied to the biomimetic syntheses of novel trimeric natural products, (±)-schefflone and tocopherol trimers. Further studies of the critical trimerization as well as substrate scope and limitations are also reported.

Transformation of 1-t-Boc-4-methoxyindole-3-glucosinolate under acidic conditions yielded the potent phytoalexin rapalexin A, providing its first biomimetic synthesis via Lossen type rearrangement, while a novel 1-thioimidocarbonyl-β-d-glucopyranose heterocyclic system was obtained under basic conditions via Neber type rearrangement.

Here we report a peptide directed synthesis of co-shell nanocables by sequential guide formation of silica insulating shells on metallic gold nanoribbons which is significant since it demonstrated the ability to fabricate a functional nano-electronic component using a biomimetic method.

A novel protocol for the synthesis of tetrasubstituted olefins through a biomimetic approach has been explored. Both mono- and diarylations were performed under ambient oxygen pressure, giving a range of highly hindered tetrasubstituted alkenes. For diarylation of disubstituted substrates, it was demonstrated that the second arylation is the rate-limiting step of the overall transformation.