Biomimetic Peptide Catalytic Bond-Forming Utilizing a Mild Brønsted Acid

Since the global peptide drug market demand has been predicted to increase, highly efficient and inexpensive mass scale peptides are required. However, the production process raises questions about the cost of energy input, scale-up production, raw materials, and solvents treatment. This paper introduces 2 methods for the 2–4 mer oligopeptides bond formation for batch reaction utilizing 50–100 mol% of a mild Brønsted acid under the mild condition. One of the methods has been capably adapted to flow synthesis at room temperature using organic solvents with boiling points below 100 °C. The method applies the tert-butoxycarbonyl amino methoxy group, forming the desired dipeptide without solvent at mild temperatures. Furthermore, the conversion of the carboxylic acid leaving the group to phenyl ester promotes peptide bond formation, and the reaction were applied to di, tri, and tetrapeptide bond formation in excellent yield without notable racemization at ambient temperature (up to >99 % yield and 99 : 1 dr). Finally, this study proposes this new production method to overcome the limited scale-up production by reaction device scale: liquid phase biomimetic catalytic peptide flow synthesis utilizing a mild Brønsted acid.     

Photothermal Oxidation of Cinnamyl Alcohol with Hydrogen Peroxide Catalyzed by Gold Nanoparticle/Antimony-Doped Tin Oxide Nanocrystals

Gold nanoparticles with different mean sizes were formed on antimony-doped tin oxide nanocrystals by the temperature-varied deposition-precipitation method (Au/ATO NCs). Au/ATO NCs possess strong absorption in the near-infrared region due to Drude excitation in addition to the localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) of AuNPs around 530 nm. Au/ATO NCs show thermally activated catalytic activity for the oxidation of cinnamyl alcohol to cinnamaldehyde by hydrogen peroxide. The catalytic activity increases with a decrease in the mean Au particle size (d_Au) at 5.3 nm≤d_Au≤8.2 nm. Light irradiation (λ_ex >660 nm, ∼0.5 sun) of Au/ATO NCs increases the rate of reaction by more than twice with ∼95 % selectivity. Kinetic analyses indicated that the striking enhancement of the reaction stems from the rise in the temperature near the catalyst surface of ∼30 K due to the photothermal effect of the ATO NCs.     

Selective Halogenation Using an Aniline Catalyst

Electrophilic halogenation is used to produce a wide variety of halogenated compounds. Previously reported methods have been developed mainly using a reagent‐based approach. Unfortunately, a suitable “catalytic” process for halogen transfer reactions has yet to be achieved. In this study, arylamines have been found to generate an N‐halo arylamine intermediate, which acts as a highly reactive but selective catalytic electrophilic halogen source. A wide variety of heteroaromatic and aromatic compounds are halogenated using commercially available N‐halosuccinimides, for example, NCS, NBS, and NIS, with good to excellent yields and with very high selectivity. In the case of unactivated double bonds, allylic chlorides are obtained under chlorination conditions, whereas bromocyclization occurs for polyolefin. The reactivity of the catalyst can be tuned by varying the electronic properties of the arene moiety of catalyst.     

Selective Michael Reaction Controlled by Supersilyl Protecting Group

Selective Michael reaction of organolithium reagents to supersilyl methacrylate is reported. The method was able to control a single and double Michael addition. The successful termination of the process using the supersilyl protecting group allows for the controlled, chemoselective, and diastereoselective Michael reaction.     

In vivo time‐resolved X‐ray fluorescence mapping measurements of Egeria densa immersed in Cr(VI) aqueous solution

In vivo time‐resolved Cr and Ca X‐ray fluorescence (XRF) mapping measurements were performed in a laboratory over a period of 69 days on a living common aquatic plant Egeria densa that was immersed in 5 mM K₂CrO₄ aqueous solution. The time and spatial resolution for each time‐resolved XRF map were ~1.6 days and 1 × 1 mm², respectively. The obtained XRF maps exhibited characteristic localized Cr and Ca areas where the XRF signals were especially strong (‘hot spots’), and this indicated the necessity of preliminary millimeter‐resolution surveying in XRF microscopy. Ca hot spots were detected prior to Cr(VI) immersion and nearly disappeared after immersion in deionized water for 2 weeks and the Cr(VI) solution for 1 week. After these immersions, a Cr hot spot was formed at approximately the same location of the missing Ca hot spot, which suggests that the original Ca‐accumulated regions were substituted for the isolation of Cr species when they were introduced. The sizes and intensity distributions of the Cr hot spots were sensitive to the Cr(VI) exposure approximately 1 week prior to each XRF measurement. This sensitivity suggests potential applications of E. densa as a Cr(VI) biomonitor in aquatic environments. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Reorganization energy of supramolecular donor–acceptor dyad of octaethylporphyrin isomers and axial-coordinated acceptor: Experimental and computational study

The internal reorganization energy (λ_V) of photoinduced electron transfer (ET) in the supramolecular donor–acceptor dyads of 2,3,7,8,12,13,17,18-octaethylporphinatozinc(II) (ZnOEP) and electron acceptor ligands was compared with those of structural isomers, 2,3,7,8,11,12,17,18-octaethylhemiporphycenatozinc(II) (ZnHPc) and 2,3,6,7,12,13,16,17-octaethylporphycenatozinc(II) (ZnPcn). First, ET process of the supramolecular donor–acceptor dyads of ZnOEP was investigated by means of the transient absorption spectroscopy mainly. The formation of supramolecular dyads was confirmed by absorption spectral change, from which the association constant was estimated. The ET process was confirmed by the observation of radical cation of ZnOEP during the laser flash photolysis. The ET rates of these dyads are in the order of ZnOEP > ZnHPc > ZnPcn, when the driving forces for ET are similar to each other. From the free energy dependence of ET rates, the λ_V values of OEP and its isomers were estimated. The estimated λ_V value was in the order of ZnOEP < ZnHPc < ZnPcn. This tendency was reproduced by calculation at B3LYP/6-31G(d) and BHandHLYP/6-31G(d) levels. The origin of this tendency was discussed on the basis of the structural change during the ET process.