Asymmetric Rhodium‐Catalyzed Addition of Thiols to Allenes: Synthesis of Branched Allylic Thioethers and Sulfones

A highly regio‐ and enantioselective hydrothiolation of terminal allenes, a reaction which fulfills the criteria of atom economy, is reported. Applying two chiral rhodium catalyst systems, a wide variety of thiols and allenes could be coupled. Oxidation gave access to the corresponding allylic sulfones in essentially enantiomerically pure form. The reaction tolerates a variety of functional groups and labeling experiments gave first insights into the reaction mechanism of this new methodology.     

Structural Characterization of O‐ and C‐Glycosylating Variants of the Landomycin Glycosyltransferase LanGT2

The structures of the O‐glycosyltransferase LanGT2 and the engineered, C? C bond‐forming variant LanGT2S8Ac show how the replacement of a single loop can change the functionality of the enzyme. Crystal structures of the enzymes in complex with a nonhydrolyzable nucleotide‐sugar analogue revealed that there is a conformational transition to create the binding sites for the aglycon substrate. This induced‐fit transition was explored by molecular docking experiments with various aglycon substrates.     

Highly Stereoselective Synthesis of Natural‐Product‐Like Hybrids by an Organocatalytic/Multicomponent Reaction Sequence

In an endeavor to provide an efficient route to natural product hybrids, described herein is an efficient, highly stereoselective, one‐pot process comprising an organocatalytic conjugate addition of 1,3‐dicarbonyls to α,β‐unsaturated aldehydes followed by an intramolecular isocyanide‐based multicomponent reaction. This approach enables the rapid assembly of complex natural product hybrids including up to four different molecular fragments, such as hydroquinolinone, chromene, piperidine, peptide, lipid, and glycoside moieties. The strategy combines the stereocontrol of organocatalysis with the diversity‐generating character of multicomponent reactions, thus leading to structurally unique peptidomimetics integrating heterocyclic, lipidic, and sugar moieties.     

Rhodium‐Catalyzed Hydroformylation of 1,1‐Disubstituted Allenes Employing the Self‐Assembling 6‐DPPon System

A rhodium‐catalyzed hydroformylation of 1,1‐disubstituted allenes is reported. Using a Rh^I/6‐DPPon catalyst system, one can obtain β,γ‐unsaturated aldehydes in high regio‐ and chemoselectivity. The Z‐configured product is formed with up to >95 % selectivity when unsymmetrically 1,1‐disubstituted allenes are submitted to the reaction conditions. This is the first time that these interesting building blocks are accessible by hydroformylation of allenes. The utility of this methodology is demonstrated by further transformations of one of the obtained products.     

Fragment‐Based De Novo Design Reveals a Small‐Molecule Inhibitor of Helicobacter Pylori HtrA

Sustained identification of innovative chemical entities is key for the success of chemical biology and drug discovery. We report the fragment‐based, computer‐assisted de novo design of a small molecule inhibiting Helicobacter pylori HtrA protease. Molecular binding of the designed compound to HtrA was confirmed through biophysical methods, supporting its functional activity in vitro. Hit expansion led to the identification of the currently best‐in‐class HtrA inhibitor. The results obtained reinforce the validity of ligand‐based de novo design and binding‐kinetics‐guided optimization for the efficient discovery of pioneering lead structures and prototyping drug‐like chemical probes with tailored bioactivity.     

Engineering Rieske Non‐Heme Iron Oxygenases for the Asymmetric Dihydroxylation of Alkenes

The asymmetric dihydroxylation of olefins is of special interest due to the facile transformation of the chiral diol products into valuable derivatives. Rieske non‐heme iron oxygenases (ROs) represent promising biocatalysts for this reaction as they can be engineered to efficiently catalyze the selective mono‐ and dihydroxylation of various olefins. The introduction of a single point mutation improved selectivities (≥95 %) and conversions (>99 %) towards selected alkenes. By modifying the size of one active site amino acid side chain, we were able to modulate the regio‐ and stereoselectivity of these enzymes. For distinct substrates, mutants displayed altered regioselectivities or even favored opposite enantiomers compared to the wild‐type ROs, offering a sustainable approach for the oxyfunctionalization of a wide variety of structurally different olefins.     

Existence,Non-existence,and Uniqueness for a Heat Equation with Exponential Nonlinearity in ℝ2

We consider a semilinear heat equation with exponential nonlinearity in ?². We prove that local solutions do not exist for certain data in the Orlicz space exp L ²(?²), even though a small data global existence result holds in the same space exp L ²(?²). Moreover, some suitable subclass of exp L ²(?²) for local existence and uniqueness is proposed.

     

Towards a microchannel‐based X‐ray detector with two‐dimensional spatial and time resolution and high dynamic range

X‐ray detectors that combine two‐dimensional spatial resolution with a high time resolution are needed in numerous applications of synchrotron radiation. Most detectors with this combination of capabilities are based on semiconductor technology and are therefore limited in size. Furthermore, the time resolution is often realised through rapid time‐gating of the acquisition, followed by a slower readout. Here, a detector technology is realised based on relatively inexpensive microchannel plates that uses GHz waveform sampling for a millimeter‐scale spatial resolution and better than 100 ps time resolution. The technology is capable of continuous streaming of time‐ and location‐tagged events at rates greater than 10⁷ events per cm². Time‐gating can be used for improved dynamic range.