Reactions of a Four-Membered Borete with Carbon,Silicon, and Gallium Donor Ligands: Fused and Spiro-Type Boracycles

Donor-acceptor cyclopropanes or cyclobutanes are dipolar reagents, which are widely used in the synthesis of complex organic (hetero)cycles in ring expansion reactions. Applying this concept to boron containing heterocycles, the four-membered borete cyclo-iPr₂N-BC₁₀H₆ reacted with the carbon donor ligands 2,6-xylylisonitrile and the carbene IMes :C(NMesCH)₂ with ring expansion and ring fusion, respectively. In particular, the tetracyclic structure formed with IMes displays zwitterionic character and absorption in the visible region. In contrast to the carbene IMes, the heavier carbenoids :Si(NDippCH)₂ and :Ga(AmIm) with a two-coordinate donor atom afford spiro-type bicyclic compounds, which display four-coordinate geometry at silicon or gallium. (TD-)DFT calculations provide deeper insight into the mechanism of formation and the absorption properties of these new compounds.     

Glucose/Ribitol Dehydrogenase and 16.9 kDa Class I Heat Shock Protein 1 as Novel Wheat Allergens in Baker’s Respiratory Allergy

Wheat allergens are responsible for symptoms in 60–70% of bakers with work-related allergy, and knowledge, at the molecular level, of this disorder is progressively accumulating. The aim of the present study is to investigate the panel of wheat IgE positivity in allergic Italian bakers, evaluating a possible contribution of novel wheat allergens included in the water/salt soluble fraction. The water/salt-soluble wheat flour proteins from the Italian wheat cultivar Bolero were separated by using 1-DE and 2-DE gel electrophoresis. IgE-binding proteins were detected using the pooled sera of 26 wheat allergic bakers by immunoblotting and directly recognized in Coomassie stained gel. After a preparative electrophoretic step, two enriched fractions were furtherly separated in 2-DE allowing for detection, by Coomassie, of three different proteins in the range of 21–27 kDa that were recognized by the pooled baker’s IgE. Recovered spots were analyzed by nanoHPLC Chip tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS). The immunodetected spots in 2D were subjected to mass spectrometry (MS) analysis identifying two new allergenic proteins: a glucose/ribitol dehydrogenase and a 16.9 kDa class I heat shock protein 1. Mass spectrometer testing of flour proteins of the wheat cultivars utilized by allergic bakers improves the identification of until now unknown occupational wheat allergens.     

Chemometric Optimization of Biologically Active Compounds Extraction from Grape Marc: Composition and Antimicrobial Activity

The article focuses on the optimization of the extraction process of biologically active compounds (BAC) from grape marc—a by-product of the wine industry. The influence of temperature, specifically 30 °C, 45 °C and 65 °C, and ethanol concentration in solutions, specifically 0–96% (v/v) on the extraction yield of polyphenols, flavonoids, tannins and anthocyanins, were investigated. The composition of individual polyphenols, anthocyanins and organic acids, antioxidant activity (DPPH and ABTS) and CIELab chromatic characteristics of the grape marc extracts (GME), were characterized. The microbiostatic and microbicidal effects in direct contact of GME with pathogenic microorganisms, Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, were determined in vitro. The influence of extraction parameters on the total polyphenol content (TPC), total flavonoid content (TFC), tannin content (TC), total anthocyanin content (TAC) and their interdependencies were studied using information analysis. A mathematical model was developed on cubic spline functions. The analysis of individual compounds showed the presence of a wide range of flavonoids (procyanidin B2, procyanidin B1, hyperoside and quercetin), flavones (catechin), hydroxybenzoic acid derivatives (gallic, protocatechuic, p-hydroxybenzoic acids, m-hydroxybenzoic acid, syringic acid), hydroxycinic acid derivatives and ferulic acid methyl ester. The malvidol-3-glucoside was the main anthocyanin identified in the extract. A high amount of tartaric acid was also found. GME showed significant antimicrobial activity against Gram-positive bacteria and lower activity against Gram-negative bacteria.     

Concise synthesis of orthogonally diprotected l-glyceraldehyde

Orthogonally diprotected l-glyceraldehyde was efficiently prepared from readily available starting materials, allowing to obtain a highly stable and synthetically versatile chiral building block compared to known symmetrically protected derivatives.     

A random telegraph signal of Mittag-Leffler type

A general method is presented to explicitly compute autocovariance functions for non-Poisson dichotomous noise based on renewal theory. The method is specialized to a random telegraph signal of Mittag-Leffler type. Analytical predictions are compared to Monte Carlo simulations. Non-Poisson dichotomous noise is non-stationary and standard spectral methods fail to describe it properly as they assume stationarity.     

Limiting the Number of Potential Binding Modes by Introducing Symmetry into Ligands: Structure‐Based Design of Inhibitors for Trypsin‐Like Serine Proteases

In the absence of X‐ray data, the exploration of compound binding modes continues to be a challenging task. For structure‐based design, specific features of active sites in different targets play a major role in rationalizing ligand binding characteristics. For example, dibasic compounds have been reported as potent inhibitors of various trypsin‐like serine proteases, the active sites of which contain several binding pockets that can be targeted by cationic moieties. This results in several possible orientations within the active site, complicating the binding mode prediction of such compounds by docking tools. Therefore, we introduced symmetry in bi‐ and tribasic compounds to reduce conformational space in docking calculations and to simplify binding mode selection by limiting the number of possible pocket occupations. Asymmetric bisbenzamidines were used as starting points for a multistage and structure‐guided optimization. A series of 24 final compounds with either two or three benzamidine substructures was ultimately synthesized and evaluated as inhibitors of five serine proteases, leading to potent symmetric inhibitors for the pharmaceutical drug targets matriptase, matriptase‐2, thrombin and factor Xa. This study underlines the relevance of ligand symmetry for chemical biology.     

Gas‐phase tautomerism in hydroxy azo dyes – from 4‐phenylazo‐1‐phenol to 4‐phenylazo‐anthracen‐1‐ol

The tautomeric constants of a series of azo dyes were estimated in the gas phase by using electron ionization mass spectrometry. It was shown that the relative amount of the keto tautomer increases from 4‐phenylazo‐1‐phenol to 4‐phenylazo‐anthracen‐1‐ol, thus confirming the quantum‐chemical predictions. The existence of the enol tautomer of 4‐phenylazo‐anthracen‐1‐ol is shown for the first time by mass spectrometry in the gas phase. This finding is supported by flash photolysis measurements in solution. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.