Representation of activity coefficients of fundamental biochemicals in water by the UNIFAC model

The assignment of UNIFAC parameters has been newly examined to represent the activity coefficients of fundamental biochemicals in aqueous solutions containing sugars, imino acids, urea, amino acid salts, inorganic salts, and sugar salts.

In this work, several new groups have been introduced to represent the activity coefficients for many biochemicals with better accuracy. For sugars, a portion containing asymmetric carbon atoms in an aldohexose molecule was defined as a new group for many stereoisomers. In the case of electrolytes like amino acid salts, the Pitzer-Debye-Hückel term was added to the UNIFAC equation to take the long-range electrostatic interaction into account.

All new interaction parameters for the fundamental biochemicals have been determined from osmotic coefficient as well as activity coefficient data reported in the literature. The new parameters provided good calculated results for these biochemicals.

In addition, the activity coefficient data for the ternary systems water/amino acid/urea and water/amino acid/sucrose were used to determine the interaction parameters between the constituent groups of an amino acid and those of the second solute, urea or sucrose. The correlated results for the system containing urea were in satisfactory agreement with the literature data.     

Viscosities and apparent molar volumes of some amino acids in water and in 6M guanidine hydrochloride at 25°C

Apparent molar volumes and viscosity B- and D- coefficients of amino acids glycine, valine, proline, serine and arginine have been determined in water and in aqueous 6M guanidine hydrochloride (GuHCl) solution at 25°C. Transfer volumes and transfer viscosity B-coefficients were evaluated for the amino acids studied in going from water to 6M GuHCl. These transfer properties which were all positive were interpreted in terms of strong interactions of GuHCl molecules with the charged centers of amino acid molecules. A comparison of results obtained in this work for GuHCl and those obtained from literature for urea has shown that GuHCl has stronger interactions than urea with amino acids. This finding explained the previous experimental observations on GuHCl being a stronger denaturing agent than urea for proteins.     

Enthalpies of Solution of Some L-α-amino Acids in Aqueous Solutions of Urea at 298.15 K

The standard molar enthalpies of solution of glycine, L-α-alanine, L-α-valine and L-α-leucine in aqueous solutions of urea at 298.15 K were determined by calorimetry. The results obtained were used to calculate the heterogeneous enthalpic interaction coefficients between the zwitterions of the L-α-amino acids and a molecule of urea in water. The values of the resultant enthalpic interaction coefficients are interpreted in terms of the effects of the hydrophobic alkyl groups on the interactions between the zwitterions of the L-α-amino acids and a polar molecule of urea in aqueous solutions. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

甘氨酸在尿素、甲脲及二甲脲水溶液中的体积性质

用精密数字密度计测定了甘氨酸在不同质量分数的尿素、甲脲和二甲脲水溶液中的密度,计算了甘氨酸的极限偏摩尔体积、迁移偏摩尔体积、理论水化数和体积作用系数,讨论了溶剂组成变化对甘氨酸迁移偏摩尔体积和理论水化数的影响.结果表明,甘氨酸与尿素及烷脲分子间的相互作用主要以1:1的形式为主.尿素、甲脲、二甲脲分子与氨基酸荷电中心的直接相互作用,削弱了两性离子带电中心对周围水分子的电致收缩效应,造成了理论水化数随溶液浓度的增加而减小.     

Thermodynamic Studies of Amino Acid–Denaturant Interactions in Aqueous Solutions at 298.15 K

As proteins and other biomolecules consisting of amino acid residues require external additives for their dissolution and recrystallization, it is important to have information about how such additives interact with amino acids. Therefore we have studied the interactions of simple model amino acids with the additives urea and guanidine hydrochloride in aqueous solutions at 298.15 K, using vapor pressure osmometry. During the measurements, the concentration of urea was fixed as ∼2 mol⋅kg⁻¹ and that of guanidine hydrochloride was fixed as ∼1 mol⋅kg⁻¹ whereas the concentrations of amino acids were varied. The experimental water activity data were processed to get the individual activity coefficients of all the three components in the ternary mixture. Further, the activity coefficients were used to get the excess Gibbs energies of solutions and Gibbs energies for transfer of either amino acids from water to aqueous denaturant solutions or denaturant from water to aqueous amino acid solutions. An application of the McMillan-Mayer theory of solutions through virial expansion of transfer Gibbs energies was made to get pair and triplet interaction parameter whose sign and magnitude yielded information about amino acid–denaturant interactions, relative to their interactions with water. The pair interaction parameters have been further used to obtain salting constants and in turn the thermodynamic equilibrium constant values for the amino acid–denaturant mixing process in aqueous solutions at 298.15 K. The results have been explained in terms of hydrophobic hydration, hydrophobic interactions and amino acid–denaturant binding.     

甘氨酸、L-丙氨酸和L-丝氨酸在尿素水溶液中的体积性质

蛋白质的折叠与解折叠、稳定性、变性行为和酶的活性等都受到环境中其它各种物质影响.作为蛋白质模型分子,氨基酸在混合溶液中的热力学研究近年来引起了广泛重视.尿素在生物体系中的独特地位主要表现在:它是水结构的破坏者,同时又是许多球状蛋白的变性剂.然而,尿素对球状蛋白的变性作用尚未达成共识.     

三种氨基酸在尿素水溶液中的体积性质

精密密度法详细测定甘氨酸、L-丙氨酸、L-丝氨酸在尿素水溶液中的表观摩尔体积,计算了三种氨基酸从水到尿素水溶液的迁移偏摩尔体积,结合前期的氨基酸从水到尿素水溶液的迁移焓,探讨尿素水溶液的结构特点及其对氨基酸与尿素在水溶液中相互作用的影响。结果表明,尿素分子在水溶液中自缔合,引起溶剂结构的变化并削弱其与氨基酸分子的结构相互作用,造成氨基酸从水到尿素水溶液的迁移偏摩尔体积和迁移焓随尿素浓度的增加而出现多个变化点,这一效应随着氨基酸疏水性的增强而增大,表明氨基酸的疏水性越强,其与尿素相互作用引起的去水化作用越明显。     

Heterogeneous interaction between zwitterions of some l-α-amino acids and ethanol molecule in water at 298.15 K

Dissolution enthalpies of l-α-aminobutyric acid, l-α-isoleucine, l-α-serine, l-α-threonine and l-α-cysteine in water and aqueous ethanol solutions have been measured by calorimetry at a temperature of 298.15 K. The obtained results were used to calculate the enthalpic heterogeneous pair interaction coefficients between zwitterions of amino acids and a molecule of ethanol in water. These values were interpreted in the terms of the hydrophobic or hydrophilic effects of the side chains of amino acids on their interactions with a polar molecule of ethanol in water.     

Chiral recognition in aqueous solutions: On the role of urea in hydrophilic and hydrophobic interactions of unsubstituted α-amino acids

Calorimetric and nuclear relaxation time measurements were carried out at 25°C on concentrated aqueous solutions of urea containing the L and D forms of the following -aminoacids: alanine, -aminobutyric acid, norvaline, and norleucine. Glycine was also studied under the same experimental conditions. The enthalpic interaction coefficients were rationalized according to the preferential configuration model. The trends of the homochiral coefficients at increasing concentration of urea underline an interaction mechanism not different from that occurring in water. Chiral recognition is the quantity more affected by the nature of the solvent. Among the amino acids studied, only norleucine presents this effect, which vanishes at the highest concentrations of urea because the attenuated electrostatic interactions cannot impose preferential configurations.     

Correlation and prediction the activity coefficients and solubility of amino acids and simple peptide in aqueous solution using the modified local composition model

In this work, the modified Wilson model was used to obtain the activity coefficients of amino acids and simple peptides in non-electrolyte aqueous solutions. The Wilson model was modified using the new local mole fraction proposed by Zhao et al. and non-random case for the reference state. The binary interaction parameters (BIP) of the modified Wilson model for amino acid–water pairs were obtained using the experimental data of the activity coefficients for amino acids available in the literature. The modified Wilson model was also used to correlate the solubility of amino acids in water and the values of Δh/R, Δs/R, and Δg/R of the solutions studied were reported. The results obtained showed that the modified Wilson model can accurately correlate the activity coefficients as well as the solubility of amino acids and simple peptides in aqueous solutions. Also the modified Wilson model was coupled with the Pazuki–Rohani model to correlate the mean ionic activity coefficients of electrolytes in aqueous amino acid solutions. The results showed that the proposed model can accurately correlate the activity coefficients of the electrolytes in aqueous amino acid solution.     

Thermodynamics of interactions between zwitterions of several l-α-amino acids and ethanol in aqueous solution

Dissolution enthalpies of l-α-alanine, l-α-valine and l-α-leucine in aqueous ethanol solutions have been measured by calorimetry at 298.15 K. The results obtained were used to calculate the enthalpic heterogeneous pair interaction coefficients between zwitterions of amino acids and a molecule of ethanol in water.     

Aryl Crown Ethers Based on d-Glucose Scaffold – Highly Selective Receptors of Amino Acid Ester Hydrochlorides

Amino acids are important biomolecules with a broad scope of applications in chemical and biological sciences. Their functions and properties depend on their absolute configuration. Therefore, methods for chiral recognition and separation of amino acids are highly sought after. For the purposes of diagnostic and medicinal applications chiral recognition of amino acids in water is particularly relevant. However synthetic receptors for enantioselective binding of amino acids in aqueous media are rare. Recently we reported a d -glucose-based crown ether for chiral recognition of amino acid esters in water. We achieved enantioselectivities towards amino acids with hydrophobic sidechains which were among the highest ever reported for a small molecule receptor. The binding affinities were however moderate. Herein we disclose analogs of that receptor, containing aryl functionalities in the crown ether fragment. The new receptors show considerably improved binding affinities for amino acid ester hydrochlorides in water, while retaining high enantio- or chemoselectivities.     

Dielectric spectroscopy in the GHz region on fully hydrated zwitterionic amino acids

The complex dielectric permittivity of eight different amino acids in water solutions was determined in the frequency range from 0.2 to 20 GHz at room temperature, trying to span the whole range of solubility in each case. Two relaxations were observed at room temperature in this frequency range, which can be mainly assigned to the rotation of amino acids in the aqueous environment, and the reorientational motion of water molecules, respectively. Although the amino acids have a charged (zwitterionic) nature with huge dipole moments, the tendency towards dipolar alignment seems to be very weak, over the investigated concentration ranges. For these small bio-molecules, water screens solute-solute interactions and amino acids remain typically as isolated hydrated monomers. The dielectric results were used to estimate the number of water molecules restrained by each solute molecule. Finally, the comparison between the amino acid relaxation times made it possible to discuss the relationship between rotational dynamics and the structure and hydrodynamic coupling of the amino acid studied.     

水溶液中八种氨基酸与尿素的焓相互作用

用LKB-2277精密微热量计测定了298.15K时甘氨酸、L-丙氨酸、L-丝氨酸、L-脯氨酸、L-羟脯氨酸、L-蛋氨酸、L-苏氨酸和L-缬氨酸分别与尿素在水溶液中的混合过程焓变,根据McMillan-Mayer理论关联得到各组焓作用系数,并运用基团贡献法探讨了不同氨基酸与尿素分子的相互作用机制。结果表明,氨基酸的两性离子部分及α-碳上的非极性脂肪侧基、极性的羟基侧基和五元吡咯环侧基等对焓对作用系数具有不同的贡献。     

Interaction of urea with amino acids: implications for urea-induced protein denaturation

The molecular mechanism of urea-induced protein denaturation is not yet fully understood. Mainly two opposing mechanisms are controversially discussed, according to which either hydrophobic, or polar interactions are the dominant driving force. To resolve this question, we have investigated the interactions between urea and all 20 amino acids by comprehensive molecular dynamics simulations of 22 tripeptides. Calculation of atomic contact frequencies between the amino acids and solvent molecules revealed a clear profile of solvation preferences by either water or urea. Almost all amino acids showed preference for contacts with urea molecules, whereas charged and polar amino acids were found to have slight preferences for contact with water molecules. Particularly strong preference for contacts to urea were seen for aromatic and apolar side-chains, as well as for the protein backbone of all amino acids. Further, protein-urea hydrogen bonds were found to be significantly weaker than protein-water or water-water hydrogen bonds. Our results suggest that hydrophobic interactions are the dominant driving force, while hydrogen bonds between urea and the protein backbone contribute markedly to the overall energetics by avoiding unfavorable unsatisfied hydrogen bond sites on the backbone. In summary, we suggest a combined mechanism that unifies the two current and seemingly opposing views.     

The Suitability of Water Molecule Models for Constructing the Equivalent Potential of Water for the Electronic Structures of Proteins

An equivalent potential of water is needed to calculate the electronic structure of a protein in solution. The previous continuous medium model of water is not suitable. By using dipole, the equivalent potentials of water for the electronic structures of fifteen amino acids have been constructed. In this paper, two water molecule models, the SPC model and TIP4P-FQ models, made up of three point charges, are tested for constructing the equivalent potential of water for the electronic structures of alanine, histidine and serine. At least for these three amino acids, neither the original water molecule model nor the adjusted one is better than the dipole in constructing the equivalent potential of water for the electronic structure of an individual amino acid.     

用氨基酸加和法计算多肽的脂水分配系数

Based on amino acid addition model, a set of hydrophobicity contributions of amino acids was obtained from the multivariate linear regression analysis of peptides' octanol/water partition coefficients. Multivariate regression was performed on a training set of 219 peptides including dipeptides to pentapeptides which we compose 21 natural amino acids. The correlation coefficients for the whole set fitting are 0. 978 and 0- 974, for log P and log D respectively. In addition, a new test method -evolution test-for regression analysis was discussed. The result of evolution test for amino acid addition model shows the advantage of this new test method.     

氨基酸从水到尿素水溶液中的迁移焓研究

用微量量热法测定甘氨酸、L-丙氨酸、L-丝氨酸在水和尿素水溶液中的溶解焓, 计算得到氨基酸从水到尿素水溶液的迁移焓, 并根据水合结构相互作用模型予以讨论. 结果表明, 氨基酸两性离子与尿素分子的静电作用以及两性离子头部与尿素分子的结构相互作用对氨基酸迁移焓有负贡献, 氨基酸侧链与尿素分子的结构相互作用依其亲水性或疏水性分别对迁移焓有负贡献或正贡献. 在实验浓度范围(0～13 mol/kg)内, 三种氨基酸的迁移焓总体上随尿素浓度的增加而下降, 其大小依次为L-丝氨酸＜甘氨酸＜L-丙氨酸, 氨基酸迁移焓的差异反映了溶质-溶剂结构相互作用的变化.     

用氨基酸加和法计算多肽的脂水分配系数

在药物设计中,化合物的流水性是值得考虑的一种重要的性质．目前常使用化合物在正辛醇和水两相间的分配系数的对数值（logP）来度量其流水性．仅从化合物的结构出发来预测其脂水分配系数具有重要的意义,已有多种计算方法见诸报导’‘,“．对于普通的有机化合物,它们能给出较好的结果．多肽是一类具有重要生物功能的化合物．在药物设计中,多肽也是常用的物系．目前预测一般有机化合物脂水分配系数的方法对于多肽尚不能给出满意的结果．鉴于多肽类化合物特殊的重要性,专门发展一种方法来预测多肽的脂水分配系数也是十分必要的．在这方…     

手性不对称脲氨基醇的合成

L-氨基酸甲酯盐酸盐与三光气和苯胺反应合成了手性不对称脲氨基酸甲酯(2),2经NaBH4还原得到8个手性不对称脲氨基醇,其结构经1H NMR,IR和MS确证。