Can a single oxidant with two spin states masquerade as two different oxidants? A study of the sulfoxidation mechanism by cytochrome p450

Density functional calculations were performed on the sulfoxidation reaction by a model compound I (Cpd I) of cytochrome P450. By contrast to previous alkane hydroxylation studies, which exhibit a dominant low-spin (LS) pathway, the sulfoxidation follows a dominant high-spin (HS) reaction. Thus, competing hydroxylation and sulfoxidation processes as observed for instance by Jones et al. (Volz, T. J.; Rock, D. A.; Jones, J. P. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2002, 124, 9724) are the result of a two-state reactivity scenario, whereby the hydroxylation originates from the LS pathway and the sulfoxidation from the HS pathway. In this manner, two spin states of a single oxidant (Cpd I) can be disguised as two different oxidants. The calculations rule out the possibility that a second oxidant (the ferric peroxide, Cpd 0 species) interferes in the observed results of Jones et al.     

New features in the catalytic cycle of cytochrome P450 during the formation of compound I from compound 0

Density functional theory (DFT) is applied to the dark section of the catalytic cycle of the enzyme cytochrome P450, namely, the formation of the active species, Compound I (Cpd I), from the ferric-hydroperoxide species (Cpd 0) by a protonation-assisted mechanism. The chosen 96-atom model includes the key functionalities deduced from experiment: Asp(251), Thr(252), Glu(366), and the water channels that relay the protons. The DFT model calculations show that (a) Cpd I is not formed spontaneously from Cpd 0 by direct protonation, nor is the process very exothermic. The process is virtually thermoneutral and involves a significant barrier such that formation of Cpd I is not facile on this route. (b) Along the protonation pathway, there exists an intermediate, a protonated Cpd 0, which is a potent oxidant since it is a ferric complex of water oxide. Preliminary quantum mechanical/molecular mechanical calculations confirm that Cpd 0 and Cpd I are of similar energy for the chosen model and that protonated Cpd 0 may exist as an unstable intermediate. The paper also addresses the essential role of Thr(252) as a hydrogen-bond acceptor (in accord with mutation studies of the OH group to OMe).     

REDUCED PHOTOINACTIVATION OF 10-DODECYL ACRIDINE ORANGE-SENSITIZED YEAST CELLS AT HIGH FLUENCE RATES MEASUREMENTS AND COMPUTER SIMULATIONS

Abstract-During the development of a photodamage cell sorter several photosensitizers were tested for their ability to photoinactivate more than 90% of the sensitized cells after a brief irradiation with a fluence of 10 kJ/m². In pilot experiments, yeast cells sensitized with 10-dodecyl acridine orange (DAO) were effectively photoinactivated after receiving a fluence of 10 kJ/m² delivered in 8 s. However, when the same fluence was delivered in 3 μ s during passage through a focused laser beam in the cell sorter, all cells survived.
Computer simulations of the relevant photophysical and chemical reactions inside the irradiated cell were used to investigate the cause of this phenomenon. The results indicated that the absence of photoinactivation by DAO, after flash irradiations, was caused by the combined effects of (1) limited oxygen diffusion into the cell and (2) a reduced number of collisions between photosensitizer triplet and oxygen molecules during the irradiation due to saturation of the intracellular photosensitizer triplet concentration. The contributions of triplet-triplet annihilation and triplet quenching by ground state photosensitizer molecules were found to be minimal and not significant. These findings indicate that Type II photosensitizers are incapable of rapid selective photoinactivation in cell sorters.     

Mechanistic study into the direct epoxidation of propene over gold/titania catalysts

The epoxidation of propene over gold/titania based catalysts was investigated using different techniques. Infrared spectroscopic information showed that one key step in the reaction mechanism is a reaction catalyzed by gold between titania surface groups and propene. In this reaction step, a bidentate propoxy species is formed on titania. This species adsorbs strongly on the catalyst, and it is the same species which is formed when propene oxide adsorbs on titania. Gravimetrical adsorption experiments and catalytic tests show that product adsorption and desorption are important factors determining the catalytic activity and the catalyst stability. By combining the information from different techniques, a kinetic mechanism is proposed.     

Adsorption of bovine alpha-lactalbumin on suspended solid nanospheres and its subsequent displacement studied by NMR spectroscopy

Detailed knowledge of the adsorption-induced conformational changes of proteins is essential to understand the process of protein adsorption. However, not much information about these conformational changes is available. Here, the adsorption of calcium-depleted (APO)- and calcium-containing (HOLO)-bovine alpha-lactalbumin (BLA) on suspended solid polystyrene nanospheres and their subsequent displacement by a surfactant are studied by NMR spectroscopy. To our knowledge, this is the first time that adsorption of proteins on solid nanospheres, with both components present in the NMR sample, is studied by this method. High-quality one-dimensional and two-dimensional 1H NMR spectra of nonadsorbed APO- and HOLO-BLA in the presence of BLA- and/or surfactant-covered solid polystyrene nanospheres in suspension are obtained using standard NMR procedures. BLA and surfactant molecules that are adsorbed on the polystyrene nanospheres give rise to extremely broadened proton resonances. This can be exploited to determine the amount of adsorbed protein and of adsorbed surfactant in a system containing protein, nanospheres, and surfactant, without disturbing the equilibrium of the system. Two-dimensional 1H NMR spectroscopy shows that the chemical shifts of the backbone amide protons of HOLO-BLA after its adsorption and subsequent displacement from polystyrene nanospheres by the surfactant 3-[(3-cholamidopropyl)-dimethylammonio]-1-propanesulfonate (CHAPS) are identical to those of native HOLO-BLA. The adsorption-induced unfolding of BLA to a molten globule state on polystyrene nanospheres is thus fully reversible at the residue level upon CHAPS-induced displacement of BLA. The latter is the now fulfilled essential requirement that enables the future indirect study, at the residue level, of the conformational characteristics of BLA adsorbed on polystyrene nanospheres by hydrogen/deuterium exchange and NMR spectroscopy. The results presented show that NMR spectroscopy is clearly feasible to study the adsorption of BLA on suspended polystyrene nanospheres. This technique should be applicable to the study of the adsorption of other proteins on other surfaces as well.     

One-dimensional magnetism and crystal structure ofcatena-di-bromobis(3,5-dimethylpyridine)copper(II)

Summary Crystals ofcatena-di--bromobis(3,5-dimethylpyridine)copper(II) are monoclinic, space group P2₁/a. The unit cell constants area=13.900(2),b=14.416(2),c=4.097(1) Å,=93.49(2)°, V=819.4 ų and Z=2. The structure was determined from powder data using a Guinier-Johansson focussing powder camera. The structure was solved using a simplex method for function minimization to a conventional R-value of 0.13.The structure consists of infinite linear chains parallel toc in which the copper coordination is distorted elongated octahedral. Cu-Br distances were found to be 2.449(7) and 3.286(7) Å, whereas the Cu-N bond length is 2.02(2) Å. All distances are in the range usually observed for this type of compounds.The antiferromagnetic superexchange interactions between adjacent Cu^II ions (J = –21 cm^–1) has been compared with those observed in structural similar CuBr₂L₂ compounds. The differences in observed J-values are discussed briefly, in relation to the structural variations. It appears that very small changes in structural parameters strongly affect the magnetic exchange.     

Single-photon ionisation of TMPD in liquid CCl4 observed by time-resolved microwave conductivity

A large microwave conductivity change is observed on laser flash photolysis (308 nm) of a solution of TMPD in CCl₄. This is ascribed to single-photon ionisation of the solute resulting in the formation of a stable TMPD⁺Cl^? ion pair. The dipole moment of the ion pair is estimated to be (8.7 ± 0.9)(φ*)^{?$\text{1}\text{2}$} where φ* is the quantum efficiency for ion-pair formation.     

Time-resolved fluorescence relaxation of 3-methyllumiflavin in polar solution

We have studied the fluorescent properties of a well-defined model flavin compound (3-methyllumiflavin) in a relatively polar solvent like propylene glycol or ethanol. Inhomogeneous spectral broadening effects were directly time-resolved by detection at the extreme blue and red edges of the fluorescence band of 3-methyllumiflavin using excitation in the main absorption band. At the high-energy side of the emission band a rapid decay component (tens of picoseconds) was resolved indicative for the disappearance of the initially prepared, nonequilibrium state with a characteristic dipolar relaxation time. At the low-energy side the rise of a solvent relaxed fluorescent species could be time-resolved. The wavelength-dependent effects on the dipolar relaxation were abolished when excitation was at the low-energy side of the absorption band. The experimental decays of the flavin solvate at different energies of fluorescence and excitation are presented as they represent an easy diagnosis for energy dependent solvation dynamics. Wavelength dependent rotation of 3-methyllumiflavin, examined by fluorescence anisotropy decay, turned out to be absent for 3-methyllumiflavin in propylene glycol between 263 and 293 K, probably because of the small change in dipole moment upon flavin excitation.