A new (R)-hydroxynitrile lyase from Prunus mume: asymmetric synthesis of cyanohydrins

A new hydroxynitrile lyase (HNL) was isolated from the seed of Japanese apricot (Prunus mume). The enzyme has similar properties with HNL isolated from other Prunus species and is FAD containing enzyme. It accepts a large number of unnatural substrates (benzaldehyde and its variant) for the addition of HCN to produce the corresponding cyanohydrins in excellent optical and chemical yields. A new HPLC based enantioselective assay technique was developed for the enzyme, which promotes the addition of KCN to benzaldehyde in a buffered solution (pH=4.5).     

Preparation and reactions of optically active cyanohydrins using the (R)-hydroxynitrile lyase from Prunus amygdalus

Cyanuration of 2-naphthaldehyde (1) and 5-methyl-2-furaldehyde (2) yielded the racemic 2-hydroxy-2-(β-naphthyl)ethanenitrile (R,S)-3 and 2-hydroxy-2-(5-methyl-2-furyl)ethanenitrile (R,S)-5, respectively. The same reaction can be completed by using acetone cyanohydrin (4) as a transcyanating agent. The optically active (R)-3 and (S)-5 could be respectively obtained by hydrocyanation of 1 and 2 using (R)-hydroxynitrile lyase (R)-PaHNL [EC 4.1.2.10] from almonds (Prunus amygdalus) as a chiral catalyst. Cyanohydrins 3 and 5 in their racemic and optically active forms undergo a number of transformations which involve either the hydroxyl group or the cyanide function. Moreover, derivatization of 3 and 5 with (S)-Naproxen®chloride (S)-14 gave the respective diastereoisomers. The optical activity of (R)-3 and (S)-5 as well as their derivatives were recorded. The postulated structures for the new products were supported with compatible elementary and spectroscopic (IR, ¹H NMR, ¹³C NMR, MS, and single crystal X-Ray crystallography) analyses. The antimicrobial activity of some selected racemic new products and their respective optically active analogues were also undertaken.     

A new electronically deficient atropisomeric diphosphine ligand (S)-CF3O-BiPhep and its application in asymmetric hydrogenation

A new electronically deficient atropisomeric diphosphine ligand (S)-CF₃O-BiPhep was synthesized from 1-bromo-3-(trifluoromethoxy)benzene in high yield. The key steps included oxidative coupling with anhydrous ferric chloride and optical resolution by (+)-DMTA. The ligand afforded high performance for Ir-catalyzed asymmetric hydrogenation of quinolines with ee up to 92% and TON up to 25,000. It was also successfully applied to the Pd-catalyzed asymmetric hydrogenation of simple indoles with ee up to 87% and Rh-catalyzed asymmetric 1,4-addition of phenylboronic acid to 2-cyclohexenone with 97% ee.     

A simple method for carrier-free separation of77Br from metallic selenium

A simple method was developed for separation of bromine from metallic selenium. This method enables easy preparation of⁷⁷Br by proton bombardment of metallic selenium (enriched⁷⁷Se or⁷⁸Se). The method consists of heating the metallic selenium with H₂O to 300°C in a small autoclave for about three hours. The⁷⁷Br is distilled from the obtained solution after the addition of H₂SO₄+K₂Cr₂O₇. The step also removes the arsenic produced together with the selenium.     

Synthesis of chiral mesoporous silica and its potential application to asymmetric separation

Chiral mesoporous silica (CMS) has been successfully synthesized in the presence of basic amino acids; the use of basic amino acids in combination with the chiral anionic surfactant is advantageous for the formation of CMS in terms of uniformity in the twisted morphology. We first demonstrate that thus obtained chiral mesoporous silicas can be used for the enantioselective separation of racemic compounds; the helical rod-shaped CMS is found to be capable of asymmetric separation of racemic N-trifluoroacetylalanine ethyl ester (CF₃CO-Ala-OEt). The left handedness-rich CMS shows asymmetric preferential adsorption of the L isomer and vice versa.     

A simple TLC and HPTLC method for separation of selected steroid drugs

Chromatographic properties of five steroid drugs: cortisone, hydrocortisone, methylprednisolone, prednisolone and norgestrel have been studied by normal-, reversed-phase and hydrophilic neutral cyano-bonded silica stationary phase with five binary mobile phases (acetonitrile-water, acetonitrile-DMSO, acetonitrile-methanol, acetone-petroleum ether, acetone-water) in which the concentration of organic modifier was varied from 0 to 100% (v/v). This study reports the optimization of steroid hormones separation. Chromatographic retention data and possible retention mechanisms are discussed. Separation abilities of mobile and stationary phases were studied using the principal component analysis method. The best separation of methylprednisolone and prednisolone is with a chromatographic system included silica gel as stationary phase and mixture of acetonitrile and DMSO (10:90 v/v). These two anti-inflammatory drugs can be fast separated from norgestrel when CN is used as stationary phase and acetone and water (40:60 v/v) as mobile phase. The highest values of the parameter Δ(ΔG°) and alfa for cortisone and hydrocortisone was observed in case of using CN as stationary phase and water-acetonitryle (40:60 v/v) as mobile phase.      

A simple method for estimating activation energy from derivative thermoanalytical curves and its application to thermal shrinkage of polycarbonate

Activation energy can be estimated by a new simple method, in which logarithm of maximum rate of conversion observed at different heating rates is plotted against reciprocal absolute temperature, because the conversion at the maximum rate is approximately independent of the heating rate. The method is applied to thermal shrinkage of polycarbonate, and the estimated activation energy is in good agreement with those obtained by conventional methods.

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Zusammenfassung Die Schätzung der Aktivierungsenergie kann mittels einer neuen Methode erfolgen, bei welcher der Logarithmus der für verschiedene Aufheizgeschwindigkeiten gemessenen maximalen Konversionsgeschwindigkeit als Funktion der reziproken Temperatur aufgetragen wird, da die Konversion bei der maximalen Geschwindigkeit inetwa unabhängig von der Aufheizgeschwindigkeit ist. Das Verfahren wurde beim thermischen Schrumpfen von Polycarbonat angewendet und die geschätzte Aktivierungsenergie liegt in guter Übereinstimmung mit den in herkömmlichen Verfahren ermittelten Werten.

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Dedicated to Professor Dr. H. J. Seifert on the occasion of his 60^th birthday     

A simple method for fabrication of sole composition nickel hexacyanoferrate modified electrode and its application

Nickel hexacyanoferrate film modified gold electrode was prepared by a simple chemical deposition procedure from a fresh prepared solution containing ferricyanide, Ni²⁺, and sodium nitrate. The resultant films have solo composition and are significantly stable as compared to the electrochemically deposited NiHCF films. For different concentrations of Na⁺ in the solution, the formal potential values of NiHCF shift according to the Nernstian behavior with a slope of 48 mV in the range of 10⁻⁴ to 1.0 M. The NiHCF film was also used for the electrocatalytic oxidation of ascorbic acid. The anodic peak current observed in cyclic voltammetry increased with the ascorbic acid concentration. At a fixed potential under hydrodynamic conditions, the calibration plot was linear over the ascorbic acid concentration range 0.1-12 mM.     

联萘酚手性拆分方法及其用于实验室废水的检测

联萘酚是具有手性的药物中间体,其对映体的拆分和检测具有重要意义.建立一种反相液相色谱手性拆分方法,用于联萘酚对映体的拆分.考察了6种不同手性色谱柱的拆分效果,并进一步对流动相配比、柱温和流速等因素进行了优化.结果表明,CHIRALPAK?IA手性柱对联萘酚对映体有较好的拆分性能,在流动相为甲醇-1％ 乙酸(90:10,...     

A new approach for asymmetric synthesis of (R)-3-methylpyrrolidine alkaloids from (S)-malic acid

Diastereoselective methylation of dimethyl (S)-malate 7, followed by two, three-step reductive de-hydroxylation procedures afforded dimethyl (R)-2-methylsuccinate 11 in 80.2% e.e. and 84.7% e.e., respectively. The latter compound was further transformed into the natural enantiomers of the ant venom alkaloids (R)-leptothoracine 1 and (R)-3-methyl-N-(2-phenylethyl)-pyrrolidine 2.     

A new simple and sensitive fluorometric method for the determination of hydroxyl radical and its application

A simple and sensitive fluorometric method to detect the hydroxyl radical is described. This method employs the reaction between OH and dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) to generate quantitatively formaldehyde, which then reacts with ammonia and 1,3-cyclohexanedione (CHD) at pH 4.5. The product produces the characteristic fluorescence with its excitation and emission wavelength at 400.4 and 452.3 nm, respectively. The quantitative analysis of hydroxyl radical can be done through the determination of the fluorescence intensity. By the developed method, the scavenging abilities of some amino acids and flavonoids on hydroxyl radical are studied.     

Adiabatic multi-step separation method and its application to coupled oscillators

Extension of the adiabatic approach to a multi-step separation method is presented. This method step by step reduces the multi-dimensional Schrödinger equation to the effective equations of lower dimensions. The reduction procedure allows to take advantage of multi-level hierarchy of various physical systems. The multi-step separation method is applied in the calculation of vibrational energies of coupled oscillators. The new method is found to be very effective and accurate.     

A new copper(I)-tetrahydrosalen-catalyzed asymmetric Henry reaction and its extension to the synthesis of (S)-norphenylephrine

A new chiral hydrogenated salen catalyst has been developed for the asymmetric Henry reaction which produces the expected products in moderate to high yields (up to 98 %) with excellent enantioselectivities (up to 96 % ee). A variety of aromatic, heteroaromatic, enal, and aliphatic aldehydes were found to be suitable substrates in the presence of hydrogenated salen 1 f (10 mol %), (CuOTf)(2)C(7)H(8) (5 mol %), and 4 A molecular sieves. This process is air-tolerant and easily manipulated with readily available reagents, and has been successfully extended to the synthesis of (S)-norphenylephrine in 67 % overall yield, starting from commercially available m-hydroxybenzaldehyde. Based on experimental investigations and MM+ calculations, a possible catalytic cycle including a transition state (8 or A) has been proposed to explain the origin of reactivity and asymmetric inductivity.     

Prunus armeniaca hydroxynitrile lyase (ParsHNL)-catalyzed asymmetric synthesis of cyanohydrins from sterically demanding aromatic aldehydes

Herein we report the biocatalytic asymmetric synthesis of cyanohydrins by using a new (R)-HNL from Prunus armeniaca. Several sterically demanding aromatic aldehydes which have never been used as substrates for any known HNLs are employed for the new (R)-HNL from P. armeniaca. The cyanohydrins synthesized are obtained in good chemical yield with excellent enantioselectivities.     

A simple method to fabricate a chitosan-gold nanoparticles film and its application in glucose biosensor

A novel film of chitosan-gold nanoparticles is fabricated by a direct and facile electrochemical deposition method and its application in glucose biosensor is investigated. HAuCl(4) solution is mixed with chitosan and electrochemically reduced to gold nanoparticles, which can be stabilized by chitosan and electrodeposited onto glassy carbon electrode surfaces along with the electrodeposition of chitosan. Then a model enzyme, glucose oxidase (GOD) is immobilized onto the resulting film to construct a glucose biosensor through self-assembly. The resulting modified electrode surfaces are characterized with both AFM and cyclic voltammetry. Effects of chitosan and HAuCl(4) concentration in the mixture together with the deposition time and the applied voltage on the amperometric response of the biosensor are also investigated. The linear range of the glucose biosensor is from 5.0 x 10(-5) approximately 1.30 x 10(-3) M with a Michaelis-Menten constant of 3.5 mM and a detection limit of about 13 microM.     

A simple and universal method for the separation and identification of phospholipid molecular species

One of the major challenges in lipidomics is to obtain as much information about the lipidome as possible. Here, we present a simple yet universal high-performance liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC/MS/MS) method to separate molecular species of all phospholipid classes in one single run. The method is sensitive, robust and allows lipid profiling using full scan mass spectrometry, as well as lipid class specific scanning in positive and negative ionisation mode. This allows high-throughput processing of samples for lipidomics, even if different types of MS analysis are required. Excellent separation of isobaric and even isomeric species is achieved, and original levels of lyso-lipids can be determined without interference from lyso-lipids formed from diacyl species by source fragmentation. As examples of application of this method, more than 400 phospholipid species were identified and quantified in crude phospholipid extracts from rat liver and the parasitic helminth Schistosoma mansoni.     

A simple and sensitive resonance scattering spectral method for determination of hydroxyl radical in Fenton system using rhodamine S and its application to screening the antioxidant

Based on resonance scattering (RS) effect of rhodamine dye association particles, a new resonance scattering method for the determination of hydroxyl free radical from Fenton reaction was developed. In HCl-NaAc buffer solution, the OH of Fenton reaction oxidized the excess I⁻ to I₃⁻. The I₃⁻ combined, respectively, with rhodamine B (RhB), butyl rhodamine B (b-RhB), rhodamine 6G (RhG) and rhodamine S (RhS) to form association particles that exhibit stronger resonance scattering effect at 420 nm and 610 nm. However, the RS peak at about 610 nm was interfered with its synchronous fluorescence peak at 580 nm for RhB, 580 nm for b-RhB, 560 nm for RhG and 560 nm for RhS, respectively. The concentration of H₂O₂ in the range of 0.648-21.6 μmol/L, 0.423-13.0 μmol/L, 0.216-13.0 μmol/L and 0.092-13.0 μmol/L was linear to its resonance scattering intensity at 420 nm. Its detection limit was 0.15 μmol/L, 0.10 μmol/L, 0.092 μmol/L and 0.044 μmol/L, H₂O₂, respectively. This RhS RS method was applied to selection of the antioxidant, with satisfactory results.