D-Fructose-6-phosphate aldolase-catalyzed one-pot synthesis of iminocyclitols

A one-pot chemoenzymatic method for the synthesis of a variety of new iminocyclitols from readily available, non-phosphorylated donor substrates has been developed. The method utilizes the recently discovered fructose-6-phosphate aldolase (FSA), which is functionally distinct from known aldolases in its tolerance of different donor substrates as well as acceptor substrates. Kinetic studies were performed with dihydroxyacetone (DHA), the presumed endogenous substrate for FSA, as well as hydroxy acetone (HA) and 1-hydroxy-2-butanone (HB) as donor substrates, in each case using glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate as acceptor substrate. Remarkably, FSA used the three donor substrates with equal efficiency, with kcat/KMvalues of 33, 75, and 20 M-1 s-1, respectively. This level of donor substrate tolerance is unprecedented for an aldolase. Furthermore, DHA, HA, and HB were accepted as donors in FSA-catalyzed aldol reactions with a variety of azido- and Cbz-amino aldehyde acceptors. The broad substrate tolerance of FSA and the ability to circumvent the need for phosphorylated substrates allowed for one-pot synthesis of a number of known and novel iminocyclitols in good yields, and in a very concise fashion. New iminocyclitols were assayed as inhibitors against a panel of glycosidases. Compounds 15 and 16 were specific alpha-mannosidase inhibitors, and 24 and 26 were potent and selective inhibitors of beta-N-acetylglucosaminidases in the submicromolar range. Facile access to these compounds makes them attractive core structures for further inhibitor optimization.     

Controlling 3(10)-helix and alpha-helix of short peptides in the solid state

L-Leu hexapeptide containing alpha-aminoisobutyric acid (Aib) forms a right-handed (P) 3(10)-helix, whereas that containing cyclic alpha,alpha-disubstituted amino acid Ac(5)c(dOM) assumes a right-handed (P) alpha-helix in the solid state.     

The d (3)Pi(g)-c (3)Sigma(u) (+) band system of C2

A two-dimensional fluorescence (excitation/emission) spectrum of C2 produced in an acetylene discharge was used to identify and separate emission bands from the d (3)Pi(g)<--c (3)Sigma(u) (+) and d (3)Pi(g)<--a (3)Pi(u) excitations. Rotationally resolved excitation spectra of the (4<--1), (5<--1), (5<--2), and (7<--3) bands in the d (3)Pi(g)<--c (3)Sigma(u) (+) system of C2 were observed by laser-induced fluorescence spectroscopy. The molecular constants of each vibrational level, determined from rotational analysis, were used to calculate the spectroscopic constants of the c (3)Sigma(u) (+) state. The principal molecular constants for the c (3)Sigma(u) (+) state are B(e)=1.9319(19) cm(-1), alpha(e)=0.018 55(69) cm(-1), omega(e)=2061.9 cm(-1), omega(e)x(e)=14.84 cm(-1), and T(0)(c-a)=8662.925(3) cm(-1). We report also the first experimental observations of dispersed fluorescence from the d (3)Pi(g) state to the c (3)Sigma(u) (+) state, namely, d (3)Pi(g)(v=3)-->c (3)Sigma(u) (+)(v=0,1).     

An Extension of Sums of Squares Relaxations to Polynomial Optimization Problems Over Symmetric Cones

This paper is based on a recent work by Kojima which extended sums of squares relaxations of polynomial optimization problems to polynomial semidefinite programs. Let and be a finite dimensional real vector space and a symmetric cone embedded in ; examples of and include a pair of the N-dimensional Euclidean space and its nonnegative orthant, a pair of the N-dimensional Euclidean space and N-dimensional second-order cones, and a pair of the space of m × m real symmetric (or complex Hermitian) matrices and the cone of their positive semidefinite matrices. Sums of squares relaxations are further extended to a polynomial optimization problem over , i.e., a minimization of a real valued polynomial a(x) in the n-dimensional real variable vector x over a compact feasible region , where b(x) denotes an - valued polynomial in x. It is shown under a certain moderate assumption on the -valued polynomial b(x) that optimal values of a sequence of sums of squares relaxations of the problem, which are converted into a sequence of semidefinite programs when they are numerically solved, converge to the optimal value of the problem. Research supported by Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research on Priority Areas 16016234.     

Chain polymerization of diacetylene compound multilayer films on the topmost surface initiated by a scanning tunneling microscope tip

Chain polymerizations of diacetylene compound multilayer films on graphite substrates were examined with a scanning tunneling microscope (STM) at the liquid/solid interface of the phenyloctane solution. The first layer grew very quickly into many small domains. This was followed by the slow formation of the piled up layers into much larger domains. Chain polymerization on the topmost surface layer could be initiated by applying a pulsed voltage between the STM tip and the substrate, usually producing a long polymer of submicrometer length. In contrast, polymerizations on the underlying layer were never observed. This can be explained by a conformation model in which the polymer backbone is lifted up.     

Organocatalytic, enantioselective intramolecular [6+2] cycloaddition reaction for the formation of tricyclopentanoids and insight on its mechanism from a computational study

Diphenylprolinol silyl ether was found to be an effective organocatalyst for promoting the asymmetric, catalytic, intramolecular [6 + 2] cycloaddition reactions of fulvenes substituted at the exocyclic 6-position with a δ-formylalkyl group to afford synthetically useful linear triquinane derivatives in good yields and excellent enantioselectivities. The cis-fused triquinane derivatives were obtained exclusively; the trans-fused isomers were not detected among the reaction products. The intramolecular [6 + 2] cycloaddition occurs between the fulvene functionality (6π) and the enamine double bond (2π) generated from the formyl group in the substrates and the diphenylprolinol silyl ether. The absolute configuration of the reaction products was determined by vibrational circular dichroism. The reaction mechanism was investigated using molecular orbital calculations, B3LYP and MP2 geometry optimizations, and subsequent single-point energy evaluations on model reaction sequences. These calculations revealed the following: (i) The intermolecular [6 + 2] cycloaddition of a fulvene and an enamine double bond proceeds in a stepwise mechanism via a zwitterionic intermediate. (ii) On the other hand, the intramolecular [6 + 2] cycloaddition leading to the cis-fused triquinane skeleton proceeds in a concerted mechanism via a highly asynchronous transition state. (iii) The fulvene functionality and the enamine double bond adopt the gauche-syn conformation during the C-C bond formation processes in the [6 + 2] cycloaddition. (iv) The energy profiles calculated for the intramolecular reaction explain the observed exclusive formation of the cis-fused triquinane derivatives in the [6 + 2] cycloaddition reactions. The reasons for the enantioselectivity seen in these [6 + 2] cycloaddition reactions are also discussed.     

Aziridinofullerene: a versatile platform for functionalized fullerenes

An aziridine moiety on the fullerene core can serve as an acid-triggered reacting template for the controlled synthesis of a range of functionalized fullerenes that are otherwise difficult to synthesize in an efficient and selective manner. A copper-catalyzed aziridination of C(60) for the practical synthesis of aziridinofullerene 1 and acid-catalyzed reactions of 1 with mono- and bifunctional nucleophiles as well as alkynes are described. The rapid generation of structural diversity in a single chemical operation using the common platform 1 is notable.     

BaFeO3: a ferromagnetic iron oxide

Magnetic attraction: The cubic perovskite BaFeO(3) (see picture, Ba?blue, Fe?brown, O?white), which is obtained by a low-temperature reaction using ozone as an oxidant, exhibits ferromagnetism with a fairly large moment of 3.5?μ(B) per Fe ion above a small critical field of approximately 0.3?T. This specific ferromagnetism is attributed to the enhancement of O→Fe charge transfer that arises from deepening of the Fe(4+) d levels.     

Surface-enhanced ATR-IR spectroscopy with interface-grown plasmonic gold-island films near the percolation threshold

Flat nano-island films prepared by wet-chemical deposition were investigated with attenuated total reflection infrared (ATR-IR) spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) in order to analyze the correlation between film morphology and optical properties. Here we choose Au as representative coinage metal (Au, Ag, Cu) that shows strong structure-dependent surface-enhanced infrared absorption (SEIRA). Infrared spectra of octadecanethiol monolayers on films of different stages of morphologic development show effects that are characteristic for SEIRA, such as enhanced vibrational signals, Fano-type line shape, and adsorbate induced baseline shifts. Their extent was found to be strongly dependent on the structural details and the strongest enhancement occurs at the percolation threshold of the two-dimensional island system. Also films beyond percolation show significant enhancement due to residual nanoholes that are acting as hotspots.