Expression ofAscaris suum malic enzyme in a mutantEscherichia coli allows production of succinic acid from glucose

Applied Biochemistry and Biotechnology - The malic enzyme gene ofAscaris suum was cloned into the vector pTRC99a in two forms encoding alternative arnino-termini. The resulting plasmids, pMEAl and...     

Collision-induced and infrared multiphoton dissociation studies on M(acetone)2 + (M=Al,Fe, Co,Cu, ScO) in the gas phase

In this paper we report an extension of our earlier study on the structure of Alfacetone)₂ ⁺ Collision-induced dissociation (CID) on MfacetoneXacetone-d₆)⁺ for M = Al, Fe, Co, and Cu yields primarily, if not exclusively, nearly equal amounts of acetone and acetone-d₆. Likewise, infrared multiphoton dissociation (IRMPD) at 10.6 μm yields, exclusively, nearly equal losses of the labeled and unlabeled acetones. These results suggest that the two acetone ligands bind in an equivalent fashion. Sc⁺ was also studied, which proved to be the most interesting. Sc⁺ reacts with acetone to form primarily ScO⁺, which undergoes higher order reactions leading to several products including ScO(acetone)₂ ⁺. IRMPD on this ion produces ScO(acetone-d₆)(CD₂CO)⁺, while its perdeuterated analog also produces ScO(acetone-d₆)⁺ in addition to ScO(acetone-d₆(CD₂CO)⁺. The IRMPD results are supplemented by studying the primary and higher order reactions of Sc⁺ with acetone, as well as the CID of ScO(acetone)₂ ⁺. Finally, a qualitative assessment of the infrared photodissociation cross sections is given. It is found that the relative photodissociation cross sections follow the orders Co(acetone-d₆)₂ ⁺ > Co(acetone)(acetone-d₆) > Co(acetone)₂ ⁺ and Co(acetone-d₆)⁺ > Co(acetone)⁺.     

Monolayers as models for supported catalysts: zirconium phosphonate films containing manganese(III) porphyrins

Organized monolayer films of a manganese tetraphenylporphyrin have been prepared and used as supported oxidation catalysts. Manganese 5,10,15,20-tetrakis(tetrafluorophenyl-4'-octadecyloxyphosphonic acid) porphyrin (1) has been immobilized as a monolayer film by a combination of Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) and self-assembled monolayer techniques that use zirconium phosphonate linkages to bind the molecule to the surface. Analysis by FTIR, XPS, UV-vis and polarized optical spectroscopy show that the films consist of noninteracting molecules effectively anchored and oriented nearly parallel to the surface. The monolayer films are stable to the solvent and temperature conditions needed to explore organic oxidations. The activity of films of 1 toward the epoxidation of cyclooctene using iodosylbenzene as the oxidant was compared to that of Manganese 5,10,15,20-tetrakis(pentafluorophenyl) porphyrin (2) and 1 under equivalent homogeneous conditions. The immobilized porphyrin 1 shows an enhanced activity relative to either homogeneous reaction. The main difference between 1 and 2 is the four alkyl phosphonate arms in 1 designed to incorporate the porphyrin within the films. The increased activity of immobilized 1 is a combination of the porphyrin structure, which prohibits the formation of mu-oxo dimers even in solution, and a change in conformation when anchored to the surface. The study demonstrates that careful monolayer studies can provide useful models for the design and study of supported molecular catalyst systems.     

Fine characterization of the ethylene and ethane sorption in poly(amide 12-block-tetramethylenoxide) copolymer/AgBF4 membranes

Ethylene/ethane sorption characteristics were determined for dry Pebax™ (poly(amide 12-block-tetramethylenoxide) copolymer)/AgBF₄ membranes by using an electronic microbalance. The membranes containing 0.7 and 22 wt.% AgBF₄ showed a dual-mode sorption isotherm. The ethane isotherms for all the membranes were of the Henry-type, which is the normal sorption for gases in rubbery polymers. The abnormal presence of Langmuir sorption sites only for ethylene in the rubbery copolymer, never reported sofar, is attributed to the silver-based specific complexation sites. The silver salt which dissolved in limited amounts in the rubbery copolymer had a much smaller Langmuir sorption capacity than the salt that crystallized in the copolymer. The sorption kinetics indicate that the crystallized salt did adsorb slowly ethylene according to a zeroth-order kinetics, but not ethane. The gas uptake kinetics resulting from a step of the pressure surrounding the copolymer exhibited one stage for ethane but two stages for ethylene. For the latter, there was first a fast Fickian sorption stage, then a drift of the zeroth-order sorption of ethylene on salt crystals, which contributes for a large part to the total uptake. The zeroth-order sorption suggests that the sorbed ethylene amount in the second-stage is independent of the crystal-surface coverage. The value of the Fickian diffusion coefficient calculated by fitting the kinetics with a solution of the second Fick’s law was 5 × 10⁻¹² m²/s for both ethylene (the first stage) and ethane, and is typical for small organic compounds in a rubbery material.     

The de novo design of median molecules within a property range of interest

Summary In this paper an application is presented of the median molecule workflow to the de novo design of novel molecular entities with a property profile of interest. Median molecules are structures that are optimised to be similar to a set of existing molecules of interest as an approach for lead exploration and hopping. An overview of this workflow is provided together with an example of an instance using the similarity to camphor and menthol as objectives. The methodology of the experiments is defined and the workflow is applied to designing novel molecules for two physical property datasets: mean molecular polarisability and aqueous solubility. This paper concludes with a discussion of the characteristics of this method.     

The iron phosphate K3Fe5(PO4)6

The crystal structure of tripotassium pentairon hexaphosphate has been determined by single‐crystal X‐ray diffraction. The structure contains one Fe atom on a center of symmetry, one K, two Fe and two P atoms on twofold axes, and one Fe, two P and one K atom in general positions. The K₃Fe₅(PO₄)₆ structure consists of a complex three‐dimensional framework of corner‐sharing between iron polyhedra, and corner‐ and edge‐sharing between PO₄ tetrahedra and iron polyhedra (FeO₅ and FeO₆). This linkage between iron and phosphorus forms intersecting channels containing the K atoms.     

Synthesis and H-NMR complexation studies of alkalimetal bithioxanthylidene crown ether complexes

Two synthetic routes to a novel class of sterically overcrowded alkenes, bithioxanthylidene crown ethers 1, are described. The ¹H spin-lattice relaxation times (T₁) of the crown ethers as well as those of the corresponding complexes with Li⁺, Na⁺, K⁺, Rb⁺ and Cs⁺ in CDCl₃ were measured and the results were interpreted in terms of complexation affinities.     

Synthesis and characterisation of a series of alkylmagnesium amide and related oxygen-contaminated "alkoxy" compounds

Synthesised either by an unusual tert-butyl metathesis between tert-butyllithium and a n,s-butylmagnesium amide or by reaction of an alkyl Grignard reagent and a sodium amide, five tert-butylmagnesium amides, Bu(t)MgDBA (5)(DBA=dibenzylamide), Bu(t)MgDA (6)(DA=diisopropylamide), Bu(t)MgHMDS (7)(HMDS=1,1,1,3,3,3-hexamethyldisilazide), Bu(t)MgTMP (8)(TMP=2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidide) and Bu(t)MgNCy2 (9)(cy=cyclohexyl) have been isolated as crystalline solids. All five amides have been characterised by X-ray crystallography and solution NMR spectroscopic studies. The former studies reveal a common dimeric molecular structure with amido bridges in a planar (MgN)2 ring and terminal Bu(t) ligands on the Mg atoms. Also described is the dodecameric primary amide [Bu(n)MgN(H)Dipp]12 (10a) and its monomeric solvate Bu(n)MgN(H)Dipp.TMEDA (10b)(Dipp=2,6-diisopropylphenyl; TMEDA=N,N,N',N'-tetramethylethylenediamine). The crystal structures of the oxo-insertion products Bu(t)MgOBu(t).THF (11), Bu(t)Mg(mu-OBu(t))(mu-TMP)MgTMP (12) and Mg(OBu(n))HMDS.solv [solv=THF (13a) or Et2O (13b)], made fortuitously during the course of this work, are also presented.