Converting an Esterase into an Epoxide Hydrolase

Entering the fold : A common structural motif in hydrolytic enzymes is the α,β‐hydrolase fold. The interconversion of one enzyme into another by introduction of mechanistically important residues is not enough; only substitution of a loop allows epoxide hydrolase activity in the esterase scaffold to be formed (see picture; structure comparison of epoxide hydrolases (green) with the esterase (orange)). The result is an enantioselective chimeric enzyme.

     

Multicut-HDMR with an application to an ionospheric model

A new High Dimensional Model Representation (HDMR) tool, Multicut-HDMR, is introduced and applied to an ionospheric electron density model. HDMR is a general set of quantitative model assessment and analysis tools for improving the efficiency of deducing high-dimensional input-output system behavior. HDMR describes an output [f(x)] in terms of its input variables (x = [x(1), x(2), em leader, x(n)]) via a series of finite, hierarchical, correlated function expansions. Various forms of HDMR are constructed for different purposes such as modeling laboratory or field data, or reproducing a complicated mathematical model. The Cut-HDMR technique, which expresses f(x) with respect to a specified reference point x in the input space, is appropriate when the input space is sampled in an orderly fashion. However, if the desired domain of the input space is too large, the HDMR function expansion may not converge, and Cut-HDMR will be unable to accurately approximate f(x). The new Multicut-HDMR technique addresses this problem through the use of multiple reference points in the input space.     

Synthesis of an isostere of an O-linked glycopeptide

[reaction: see text] A route for the synthesis of an electrophilic, carbocyclic galactose equivalent from D-galactose is described. The strategy utilizes ring-closing metathesis with Grubbs's second-generation catalyst as the key step. The galactose-derived electrophile reacted in an S(N)2 fashion with N-Boc-cysteine methyl ester to provide an alpha-galactosylserine isostere. The method was extended to the synthesis of a glycopeptide isostere.     

Neutralisationstitrationen an der Tantal- und an der Mobelektrode

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Activating an enzyme by an engineered coiled coil switch

We designed a de novo protein based on a circular permutant of RNaseT1, in which the enzymatic activity can be manipulated by engineered peptide binding. The circular permutant of RNaseT1 was obtained by tethering the original C- and N-termini with a GPAG linker and cleaving the molecule between Glu82 and Asn83. This mutant lacked enzymatic activity, due to the destabilization of entire protein structure. We previously reported the construction of ABC-type heterotrimeric coiled coil peptides, in which the A- and B-type peptides cannot form the folded trimeric structure without the C-type peptide. The introduction of the A- and B-type coiled coil peptides to the C- and N-termini of the circular permutant of RNaseT1, respectively, and the subsequent addition of the C-type coiled coil peptide enabled the RNaseT1 domain to refold properly, thus, restoring the enzymatic activity. The formation of the trimeric coiled coil structure should bring the cleaved sites of RNaseT1 close enough to refold the RNaseT1 domain spontaneously.     

Effect of an electric field on an interfacial profile

We consider the interface between two dielectric liquids in an electric field which is parallel to the interface. Using the Ginsburg-Landau model for binary fluids we add a term for the electric field energy and show that near the critical point the effect of the electric field is to change both the interface width and the critical temperature.     

Integration of an electrochemical-based biolithography technique into an AFM system

An ordinary atomic force microscopy (AFM) was functionalized and applied to electrochemically draw micropatterns of biomolecules. To fabricate an electrochemical AFM probe having an electrode at the tip, a metal-coated AFM probe was first insulated with Parylene C, and then the apex of the tip was ground mechanically to expose the electrode. The effective electrode diameter was estimated to be ca. 500 nm. The electrode probe was positioned close to a heparin-coated antibiofouling substrate and used to locally generate hypobromous acid from a dilute Br⁻ solution to render the substrate surface protein-adhesive. In situ topographical imaging after the electrochemical treatment suggested the heparin layer became detached to allow the adsorption of proteins, in this case fibronectin. The diameter of the drawn fibronectin pattern was 2 μm, which is one order of magnitude smaller than we achieved previously using a microdisk electrode (tip diameter 10 μm). Figure AFM configuration integrated with the electrochemical-based surface modification and resultant micropatterns of fluorescence-labeled fibronectin Electronic supplementary material  The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

The first example of an ene reaction between an ester of cyclopropenecarboxylic acid and an alkyne

Methyl cyclopropenecarboxylate (I) enters into the ene reaction with the cyclic acetylene (II), giving vinylcyclopropene (III) with a high yield.Translated from Izvestiya Akademii Nauk SSSR, Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 5, pp. 1229–1230, May, 1991.     

The silver salt of 12-tungstophosphoric acid: an efficient catalyst for the three-component coupling of an aldehyde, an amine and an alkyne

A three-component coupling of an aldehyde, an alkyne and an amine to prepare propargylamines was performed using the silver salt of 12-tungstophosphoric acid (Ag₃PW₁₂O₄₀) as a heterogeneous catalyst under mild reaction conditions in the absence of any co-catalyst. A variety of aldehydes and amines were converted to the corresponding propargylamines demonstrating the versatility of the reaction. The Ag₃PW₁₂O₄₀ (AgTPA) catalyst was recovered quantitatively by a simple filtration and reused several times.     

Electrostatic interaction between an ion-penetrable sphere and an ion-impenetrable sphere

The exact expression for the electrostatic interaction between an ionpenetrable sphere and an ion-impenetrable rigid sphere is derived on the basis of the linearized Poisson-Boltzmann equation without recourse to Derjaguin's approximation.     

Amperometric biosensors employing an insoluble oxidant as an interference-removing agent

A strong oxidant membrane is introduced to amperometric biosensors in order to solve the problem associated with interference from readily oxidizable species. The proposed biosensors are in planar format, and are composed of four components, i.e. a base amperometric transducer, an enzyme layer, a protecting membrane, and an oxidant membrane. In this sensor format, interfering species are removed by an oxidation reaction during their diffusion through the oxidant membrane. The oxidant membrane is introduced by dispensing a mixture of an oxidant and a polymer matrix as dissolved in an organic solvent, and thus, could be easily adapted to mass fabrication of miniature biosensors. In this work, several different reagents are examined as oxidants: BaO₂, CeO₂, MnO₂ and PbO₂. Of these, PbO₂ is shown to yield biosensors with the best performance, in terms of reducing interfering signals. Two different matrix systems are devised for use in formulating oxidant membranes: hydrophilic polyurethane (HPU) and cellulose acetate incorporating poly(ethylene glycol) (CA/PEG). While the CA/PEG-type sensor displays better sensitivity and faster response behavior, the HPU-type is shown to exhibit more pronounced interference-removing ability. The analytical utility of the proposed oxidant membrane is demonstrated by fabricating amperometric glucose and creatinine sensors as the model biosensor systems, and by investigating their response characteristics.     

Adsorption study of an industrial dye by an organic clay

In this study, the adsorption of an industrial dye Supranol Yellow 4GL onto Cetyltrimethylammonium-bentonite (CTAB-bentonite) is investigated. The organobentonite is synthesised by exchanging cetyltrimethylammonium cations (CTAB) with inorganic ions on the surface of bentonite. The adsorption of Supranol Yellow 4GL onto organobentonite is found to be maximum when the concentration of CTAB exchanged is 100% according to the cation exchange capacity of the clay (CEC). The modification of organobentonite is examined using XRD and FTIR techniques. The effect of the process parameters such as: contact time, adsorbate concentration, adsorbent dose, pH and temperature are reported. Nearly 1200 seconds of contact time are found to be sufficient for the adsorption to reach equilibrium. The pseudo second order model is used to describe the kinetic data, and the rate constant is therefore evaluated. The dye adsorption to organobentonite is characterized by monolayer isotherm and caused by adsorption with relatively strong uptake. The Langmuir and Freundlich models adsorption are applied to describe the isotherm equilibrium and to determine its constants. The Langmuir and Freundlich models agree well with the experimental data with a adsorption capacity of 0.5 g of dye per g of organobentonite. A better fixation was obtained at acidic pH. The effect of temperature on the adsorption of dye has been also studied and the thermodynamic parameters ΔH, ΔS, ΔG, were determined. Organobentonite is found to be effective for removing Supranol Yellow 4GL dye from wastewater.     

一种带有芳基双亲双官能度引发剂的合成

双亲聚合物已广泛地应用于许多领域^[1],但其制备困难^[2~4].     

Untersuchungen an festem Dichlorhexoxid: Erste Kristallstrukturbestimmung an einem Chloroxid

Investigations on Solid Dichlorinehexaoxide: The First Crystal Structure Determination of a Chlorine Oxide Cl₂O₆ was synthesized by reaction of ClO₂ with O₂/O₃ mixtures and purified by trap-to-trap condensation. Crystal growth was achieved by sublimation (?5°C→ ?20°C) at p = 10^?4 bar on a cold finger. The crystal structure was solved using diffractometer data (Cc; a = 556.3(2), b = 861.3(3), c = 978.5(3) pm, β = 100.56(5)°; Z = 4; MoKα; ?70°C; 666 independent reflections; 71 variable parameters; R_w = 2,46%). In the solid state Cl₂O₆ is ionically mixed-valent which can be expressed by the formula ClO₂⁺ClO₄^?. The arrangement of the compound anions and cations derives from the CsCl type of structure. Raman and infrared spectra of solid Cl₂O₆ have been recorded and an assignement of the observed spectra is proposed.