Effects of thioamide substitutions on the conformation and stability of alpha- and 3(10)-helices

Thiopeptides, formed by replacing the amide oxygen atom with a sp(2) sulfur atom, are useful in protein engineering and drug design because they confer resistance to enzymatic degradation and are predicted to be more rigid. This report describes our free molecular dynamics simulations with explicit water and free energy calculations on the effects of thio substitutions on the conformation of alpha-helices, 3(10)-helices, and their relative stability. The most prominent structural effect of thio substitution is the increase in the hydrogen bond distance from 2.1 A for normal peptides to 2.7 A for thiopeptides. To accommodate for the longer C[double bond]S...H-N hydrogen bond, the (phi, psi) dihedral angles of the alpha-helix changed from (-66 degrees, -42 degrees) to (-68 degrees, -38 degrees), and the rise per turn increased from 5.5 to 6.3 A. For 3(10)-helices, the (phi, psi) dihedral angles (-60 degrees, -20 degrees) and rise per turn (6.0 A) changed to (-66 degrees, -12 degrees) and 6.8 A, respectively. In terms of relative stability, the most prominent change upon thio substitution is the decrease in the free energy difference, Delta A(alpha --> 3(10)), from 14 to 3.5 kcal/mol. Therefore, normal peptides are less likely to form 3(10)-helix than are thiopeptides. Component analysis of the Delta A(alpha --> 3(10)) reviews that the entropy advantage of the 3(10)-helix for both Ac-Ala(10)-NHMe and Act-Alat(10)-NHMe is attributed to the 3(10)-helix being more flexible than the alpha-helix. Interestingly, upon thio substitution, this differential flexibility is even more apparent because the alpha-helix conformation of Act-Alat(10)-NHMe becomes more rigid due to the bulkier sulfur atom.     

Total synthesis of methyl protodioscin: a potent agent with antitumor activity

Methyl protodioscin (1), otherwise known as 3-O-[alpha-L-rhamnopyranosyl-(1-->2)-[alpha-L-rhamnopyranosyl-(1-->4)]-beta-d-glucopyranosyl]-26-O-[beta-D-glucopyranosyl]-22-methoxy-25(R)-furost-5-ene-3 beta,26-diol, has been synthesized for the first time from diosgenin through nine steps in an overall yield of 7.8%.     

RAMAN STUDIES OF STRUCTURAL PHASE TRANSITION IN[n-C_(11)H_(28)NH_8]_2ZnCl_4

The perovskite type of compound [n-C_(11)H_(23)N_3]_2ZnCl_4(abr.C_(11)Zn)exhibits two solid-solid phasetransitions at T_(c1)=298.7 K and T_(c2)=360.1 K.A temperature dependence study of Raman spectra of C_(11)Znprovides the evidence of occurence of the structural phase transition related to the dynamics of thealkylammonium ions.The room temperature phase is ordered and contains the all-trans alkyl chains.Theintermediate temperature phase presents a partial conformational disorder and liquidlike state of allconformational disorder occurs at high-temperature phase.     

两种结构钼磷酸的催化氧化行为

考察了Dawson与Keggin结构钼磷酸的催化氧化行为,并与结构特性进行了关联,结果发现,Dawson结构的杂多酸对氧化脱氢及插入氧反应均有更高的活性。     

Indirect Determination of Captopril with Sodium Nitrate and Thiocyanate by Floatation Separation of Copper

A new method for indirect determination of captopril (CPT) with NaNO₃ and NH₄SCN by floatation and separation of copper has been studied. In the weak acid, a small amount of Cu(II) can be reduced to Cu(I) by CPT, then Cu(I) reacted with the SCN, which can float on the surface of the liquid phase with NaNO₃. A good linear relationship is observed between the floatation yield (E%) of Cu(II) and the amount of captopril. The linear range is 2?32 mg/L. On the ground, captopril can be indirectly determined by determining E(%) of Cu(II). The method is simple, rapid, reliable and has good selectivity. The developed method can be applied to indirect determination of captopril with satisfactory results.     

Large scale Biginelli reaction via water-based biphasic media: a green chemistry strategy

An important stage in process development is kilo scale preparation of the target compound. For this reason, a procedure involving water-based biphasic reaction media has been developed for conducting some exothermic reactions on a large scale. This protocol is illustrated by the energy-efficient and rapid preparation of dihydropyrimidinones by a solvent-free, green chemistry procedure applied to the Biginelli reaction using p-toluenesulfonic acid as catalyst.     

Synthesis of (s)-(-)-Benzyl-2-tert-butoxycarbonyl amino-4-iodobutyrate

The proteinogenic (-amino acids constitute an important section of the "chiral pool", being inexpensive in the L-form (but available if necessary as the D enantiomers), structurally varied and chemically versatile1, they are useful starting materials for chiral reagents, auxiliaries and ligands2. Any high-yielding transformation of an (-amino acids which proceeds without racemization is thus of potential importance, especially if it generates another reactive center and may be applied to the s…     

Novel Phenomenon of Oxygen-to-oxygen Silyl Migration in Directed Aldol Reaction

The phenomenon of migration of the silyl groups from α-oxygen to β-oxygen in sodium aldol reaction was observed for the first time in this paper.     

大孔吸附树脂处理含磺胺废水的研究

利用大孔吸附树脂处理含磺胺废水。实验表明，DRHⅢ树脂对磺胺具有良好的吸附－解吸效果。原废水中磺胺浓度约为17.2g/L,COD约为13750mg/L，经树脂吸附处理后，废水中COD去除率约86％，磺胺的吸附率88．2％，树脂的解吸率为97．5％，磺胺的回收率约86．0％，其纯度达99．8％。在废水有效处理的同时实现了废物资源化，具有良好的环境效益和较高的经济效益。     

Wild ginseng grows in Myanmar

Ginseng, the underground parts of plants of Panax species, has been used in oriental traditional medicine for centuries. Unfortunately, because of extensive exploitation over thousands of years, the natural source of these species has been almost exhausted. Recently, we have found a wild ginseng growing in Myanmar. Here, by a combination of chemical composition study and gene sequence analysis, we unambiguously demonstrate that the wild ginseng is actually P. zingiberensis, commonly known as ginger ginseng. This ginseng was an indigenous to the southwestern China. However, now it is seriously threatened to brink of extinction and is put on the highest level of protection in China. Therefore, an appropriate protection measure is highly recommended to preserve this valuable resource, since this Myanmar ginseng might turn out to be the last P. zingiberensis, which could ever be seen in the planet.