Chemical Biology Studies on Molecular Diversity of Annonaceous Acetogenins

Annonaceous acetogenins, isolated from the Annonaceae plants, have been attracting worldwide attention in recent years due to their biological activities, especially as growth inhibitors of certain tumor cells [1]. They have been shown to function by blocking complex I in mitochondria [2] as well as ubiquinone-linked NADPH oxidase in the cells of specific tumor cell lines, including some multidrug-resistant ones [3]. These features make these acetogenins excellent leads for the new antitumor…     

New Catalyst for Phosphonylation of C˭X Electrophiles

Abstract

Pyridinium perchlorate is found to be an efficient and recyclable catalyst for the reaction of trialkyl phosphites with various C?X electrophiles (aldehydes, ketones, ketophosphonates, imines, isocyanates, isothiocyanates, activated alkenes) to afford corresponding α-substituted phosphonates in good yields. The main advantages of the new catalyst is strong activity, accessibility, good yields of products, and gentle conditions of reaction.     

Nano-Biodevice for Genomic Medicine and Systems Biology

1　Introduction　　Sincehumangenomesequencinghasbeenal mostcompleted ,humangenomeprojectwillquicklymoveontothepostgenomesequencingera ,includ ingsinglenucleotidepolymorphism (SNP)analysis ,functionalgenomics ,mutationanalysis ,transcrip tomeanalysis ,prot…     

Nano-Biodevice for Genomic Medicine and Systems Biology

Since human genome sequencing has been almost completed, human genome project will quickly move on to the post genome sequencing era, including single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) analysis, functional genomics, mutation analysis, transeriptome analysis, proteome analy-     

Thioethers as Dichotomous Electrophiles for Site-Selective Silylation via C−S Bond Cleavage

The development of aryl alkyl sulfides as dichotomous electrophiles for site-selective silylation via C−S bond cleavage has been achieved. Iron-catalyzed selective cleavage of C(aryl)−S bonds can occur in the presence of β-diketimine ligands, and the cleavage of C(alkyl)−S bonds can be achieved by t-BuONa without the use of transition metals, resulting in the corresponding silylated products in moderate to excellent yields. Mechanistic studies suggest that Fe−Si species may undergo metathesis reactions during the cleavage of C(aryl)−S bonds, while silyl radicals are involved during the cleavage of C(alkyl)−S bonds.     

Mechanisms of Cysteine-Lysine Covalent Linkage—The Role of Reactive Oxygen Species and Competition with Disulfide Bonds**

Recently, a new naturally occurring covalent linkage was characterised, involving a cysteine and a lysine, bridged through an oxygen atom. The latter was dubbed as the NOS bond, reflecting the individual atoms involved in this uncommon bond which finds little parallel in lab chemistry. It is found to form under oxidising conditions and is reversible upon addition of reducing agents. Further studies have identified the bond in crystal structures across a variety of systems and organisms, potentially playing an important role in regulation, cellular defense and replication. Not only that, double NOS bonds have been identified and even found to be competitive in relation to the formation of disulfide bonds. This raises several questions about how this exotic bond comes to be, what are the intermediates involved in its formation and how it competes with other pathways of sulfide oxidation. With this objective in mind, we revisited our first proposed mechanism for the reaction with model electronic structure calculations, adding information about the reactivity with alternative reactive oxygen species and other potential competing products of oxidation. We present a network with more than 30 reactions which provides one of the most encompassing pictures for cysteine oxidation pathways to date.     

γ-Resorcyclic Acid-Based AIEgens for Illuminating Endoplasmic Reticulum**

Endoplasmic reticulum (ER) has emerged as one of the interesting sub-cellular organelles due to its role in myriads of biological phenomena. Subsequently, visualization of the structure-function and dynamics of ER remained a major challenge to understand its involvement in different diseased states including cancer. To illuminate the ER, herein we have designed and synthesized γ-resorcyclic acid-based small molecules, which showed remarkable aggregation-induced emission (AIE) property in water. This AIE property was originated from the dual intramolecular H-bonding leading to the self-assembled 2D aggregation confirmed by pH- and temperature-dependent fluorescence quenching studies as well as scanning electron microscopy. These small molecules illuminated the sub-cellular ER in HeLa cervical cancer cells as well as non-cancerous RPE-1 human retinal epithelial cells within 1 h. These novel small molecules have the potential to light up ER chemical biology in diseased states.     

Covalent Immobilization of β-Glucosidase on Magnetic Particles for Lignocellulose Hydrolysis

β-Glucosidase hydrolyzes cellobiose to glucose and is an important enzyme in the consortium used for hydrolysis of cellulosic and lignocellulosic feedstocks. In the present work, β-glucosidase was covalently immobilized on non-porous magnetic particles to enable re-use of the enzyme. It was found that particles activated with cyanuric chloride and polyglutaraldehyde gave the highest bead-related immobilized enzyme activity when tested with p-nitrophenyl-β-D-glucopyranoside (104.7 and 82.2 U/g particles, respectively). Furthermore, the purified β-glucosidase preparation from Megazyme gave higher bead-related enzyme activities compared to Novozym 188 (79.0 and 9.8 U/g particles, respectively). A significant improvement in thermal stability was observed for immobilized enzyme compared to free enzyme; after 5 h (at 65 °C), 36 % of activity remained for the former, while there was no activity in the latter. The performance and recyclability of immobilized β-glucosidase on more complex substrate (pretreated spruce) was also studied. It was shown that adding immobilized β-glucosidase (16 U/g dry matter) to free cellulases (8 FPU/g dry matter) increased the hydrolysis yield of pretreated spruce from ca. 44 % to ca. 65 %. In addition, it was possible to re-use the immobilized β-glucosidase in the spruce and retain activity for at least four cycles. The immobilized enzyme thus shows promise for lignocellulose hydrolysis.     

Rhamnogalacturonan II: Chemical Synthesis of a Substructure Including α-2,3-Linked Kdo**

The synthesis of a fully deprotected Kdo-containing rhamnogalacturonan II pentasaccharide is described. The strategy relies on the preparation of a suitably protected homogalacturonan tetrasaccharide backbone, through a post-glycosylation oxidation approach, and its stereoselective glycosylation with a Kdo fluoride donor.     

N-Aryl Modification in γ-Lactam: Design and Synthesis of Novel Monocyclic γ-Lactam Derivatives as Inhibitor for Bacterial Propagation

In search of novel γ-lactam antibacterial agents as non-β-lactam mimics of some γ-lactam antibiotics, N-aryl modification in the γ-lactam ring has been made to synthesize compounds 4–8 in two to six steps. Compound 4 was synthesized using the intermolecular Michael addition of diethyl N-(6-coumarinyl)-2-aminomalonate and 3-aryl/(2-heteroaryl)acryloyl chloride followed by intramolecular amidification. Hydrolysis and stereoselective decarboxylation of 4 resulted in the formation of trans- γ-lactam carboxylic acids (5), which on side chain homologation followed by saponification of the intermediate γ-lactam monoester (7) afforded γ-lactam carboxylic derivatives 8. Moderate to good bacterial growth inhibition was observed for some of the synthesized compounds against E. coli and S. aureus.     

Click and Release Chemistry for Activity-Based Purification of β-Lactam Targets

β-Lactams, the cornerstone of antibiotherapy, inhibit multiple and partially redundant targets referred to as transpeptidases or penicillin-binding proteins. These enzymes catalyze the essential cross-linking step of the polymerization of cell wall peptidoglycan. The understanding of the mechanisms of action of β-lactams and of resistance to these drugs requires the development of reliable methods to characterize their targets. Here, we describe an activity-based purification method of β-lactam targets based on click and release chemistry. We synthesized alkyne-carbapenems with suitable properties with respect to the kinetics of acylation of a model target, the Ldt_fm L,D-transpeptidase, the stability of the resulting acylenzyme, and the reactivity of the alkyne for the cycloaddition of an azido probe containing a biotin moiety for affinity purification and a bioorthogonal cleavable linker. The probe provided access to the fluorescent target in a single click and release step.     

Covalent Organic Frameworks(COFs) for Sequestration of99TcO4–

Covalent organic frameworks(COFs), as a class of crystalline porous materials with periodic lattices and porous structures, have received extensive attention in the fields of gas storage and separation, energy storage, catalysis and optoelectronics and so on. However, COFs are still in their infancy in the field of nuclear waste treatment, especially for sequestration of long-live problematic radionuclides, such as ⁹⁹Tc. Battle of decontamination of pertechnetate(TcO₄^–), a main existence of ⁹⁹Tc under aerobic environments, is far from finished. In this review, recent progresses of COFs and some relative materials in the sequestration of pertechnetate, and perspective on surmounting the unmet issues are elucidated.     

Sulfur Ligands. from β-Lactam Antibiotics to Contrast Agents for MRI

Abstract

NMR, IR and semi empirical Molecular Orbital PM3 studies on selected β-lactam antibiotics are reported. The role of sulfur in β-lactam antibiotics is discussed.     

Propane Phosphonic Acid Anhydride: A Mild Reagent for β-Lactam Synthesis

The use of propane phosphonic acid anhydride (T3P) as an acid activating reagent was demonstrated in the syntheses of cis β-lactams from the reactions of a glycine Dane salt and various imines.     

One-Dimensional Covalent Organic Frameworks for the 2e− Oxygen Reduction Reaction

Two-dimensional covalent organic frameworks (2D COFs) are often employed for electrocatalytic systems because of their structural diversity. However, the efficiency of atom utilization is still in need of improvement, because the catalytic centers are located in the basal layers and it is difficult for the electrolytes to access them. Herein, we demonstrate the use of 1D COFs for the 2e⁻ oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). The use of different four-connectivity blocks resulted in the prepared 1D COFs displaying good crystallinity, high surface areas, and excellent chemical stability. The more exposed catalytic sites resulted in the 1D COFs showing large electrochemically active surface areas, 4.8-fold of that of a control 2D COF, and thus enabled catalysis of the ORR with a higher H₂O₂ selectivity of 85.8 % and activity, with a TOF value of 0.051 s⁻¹ at 0.2 V, than a 2D COF (72.9 % and 0.032 s⁻¹). This work paves the way for the development of COFs with low dimensions for electrocatalysis.     

Gas Phase Reactions OF 1,2:5,6-DI-O-Isopropylidene-α-D-Gluco- and Allofuranose with Electrophiles Derived From Acetone

ABSTRACT

In a quadrupole mass spectrometer, under chemical ionization conditions with acetone as the reagent gas, 1,2:5,6-di-O-isopropylidene-β-D-glucofuranose and 1,2:5,6-di-O-isopropylidene-β-D-allofuranose form M+1, M+43, and M+59 ions in the gas phase. In addition, the allo isomer produces M+41 ions. These ions and the corresponding ions derived from isotopomers in which the isopropylidene groups were differentiated by deuterium substitution were separately subjected to collisionally activated dissociation conditions. The different reactivities of these ions were attributed to the ability of the allo structure to hydrogen bond internally and the different sizes of the electrophilic groups which formed adducts with the neutral protected sugar molecules.     

Special Issue for the Chinese Chemical Society＇s 13th National Chemical Dynamics Symposium

Chemical kinetics and reaction dynamics, as a crucial branch of physical chemistry, mostly concerns with the ＂how, why and when＂ of chemical reactions, which is not only an exciting intellectual frontier but also addresses grand societal needs. These two aspects promote rapidly developing a series of experimental techniques, including ultrafast lasers, high resolution mass spectrometry and optical spectroscopy, and crossed molecular beam etc. Thanks to the rapid development of computer sci- ence, nowadays it is possible to calculate the reaction rates of complex reaction systems by advanced statistical kinetic theories based on accurate potential energy surfaces,     

Chemical Mechanical Planarization (CMP) for Microelectronic Applications

Surface planarity is of paramount importance in microelectronics. Chemical Mechanical Polishing (CMP) is the most viable approach to address the planarity issues during the fabrication of advanced semiconductor devices. With the integration of copper as interconnect and low k materials as dielectric, the CMP community is facing an ever increasing demand on reducing defectivity without scarifying production throughput. Key issues in CMP today include reduction of surface defectivity and enh…     

Microfluidic Device： A Miniaturized Platform for Chemical Reactions

Microfluidic devices, as a new miniaturized platform stemming from the field of micro-electromechanical sys-tems, have been used in many disciplines. In the field of chemical reactions, microfluidic device-based microreac-tors have shown great promise in building new chemical technologies and processes with increased speed and reli- ability and reduced sample consumption and cost. This technology has also become a new and effective tool for precise, high-throughput, and automatic analysis of chemical synthesis processes. Compared with conventional chemical laboratory batch methodologies, microfluidic reactors have a number of features, such as high mixing ef- ficiency, short reaction time, high heat-transfer coefficient, small reactant volume, controllable residence time, and high surface-to-volume ratio, among others. Combined with recent advances in microfluidic devices for chemical reactions, this review aims to give an overview of the features and applications of microfluidic devices in the field of chemical synthesis. It also aims to stimulate the development of microfluidic device applications in the field of chemical reactions.