Accumulation of tetrahedral intermediates in cholinesterase catalysis: a secondary isotope effect study

In a previous communication, kinetic β-deuterium secondary isotope effects were reported that support a mechanism for substrate-activated turnover of acetylthiocholine by human butyrylcholinesterase (BuChE) wherein the accumulating reactant state is a tetrahedral intermediate ( Tormos , J. R. ; et al. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2005 , 127 , 14538 - 14539 ). In this contribution additional isotope effect experiments are described with acetyl-labeled acetylthiocholines (CL(3)COSCH(2)CH(2)N(+)Me(3); L = H or D) that also support accumulation of the tetrahedral intermediate in Drosophila melanogaster acetylcholinesterase (DmAChE) catalysis. In contrast to the aforementioned BuChE-catalyzed reaction, for this reaction the dependence of initial rates on substrate concentration is marked by pronounced substrate inhibition at high substrate concentrations. Moreover, kinetic β-deuterium secondary isotope effects for turnover of acetylthiocholine depended on substrate concentration, and gave the following: (D3)k(cat)/K(m) = 0.95 ± 0.03, (D3)k(cat) = 1.12 ± 0.02 and (D3)βk(cat) = 0.97 ± 0.04. The inverse isotope effect on k(cat)/K(m) is consistent with conversion of the sp(2)-hybridized substrate carbonyl in the E + A reactant state into a quasi-tetrahedral transition state in the acylation stage of catalysis, whereas the markedly normal isotope effect on k(cat) is consistent with hybridization change from sp(3) toward sp(2) as the reactant state for deacylation is converted into the subsequent transition state. Transition states for Drosophila melanogaster AChE-catalyzed hydrolysis of acetylthiocholine were further characterized by measuring solvent isotope effects and determining proton inventories. These experiments indicated that the transition state for rate-determining decomposition of the tetrahedral intermediate is stabilized by multiple protonic interactions. Finally, a simple model is proposed for the contribution that tetrahedral intermediate stabilization provides to the catalytic power of acetylcholinesterase.     

Spectroscopic and electrochemical study of the adsorption of [Co(en)2Cl2]Cl on gamma-alumina: influence of the alumina ligand on Co(III)/(II) redox potential

UV-visible and Raman spectroscopies as well as electrochemical techniques have been used to characterize cis- and trans-[Co(III)(en)2Cl2]Cl (en=ethylenediamine) complexes and the gamma-alumina-supported cis-Co((III)) complex. It is shown that the electrochemical reduction of these complexes occurs according to a multistage mechanism involving two electrochemical steps, with the formation of a dimer that was characterized by UV-visible spectroscopy (intervalence band at 670 nm). The apparent standard redox potential for each step has been determined, and experimental results reveal that cis and trans complexes present similar electrochemical characteristics. It is also shown that the deposition of trans-[Co(III)(en)2Cl2]+ on gamma-alumina leads to an inner-sphere complex (ISC) in a cis configuration in which Cl- ligands are substituted by OH or O- surface groups of alumina. These changes in the coordination sphere of the complex induce a substantial decrease of its apparent redox potential since it is -0.63 V/SCE (saturated calomel electrode) for the gamma-alumina-supported cis-Co(III) complex, whereas values of -0.17 and -0.35 V/SCE were determined in dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) for the trans and cis precursor complexes, respectively.     

Parallel solution synthesis of a "Carbohybrid" library designed to inhibit galactose-binding proteins

Parallel solution S-alkylations of a 1-thio-beta-D-galactopyranoside derivative with Michael acceptors and alpha-chloroketones, followed by ketone reductions, reductive aminations, and acylations were developed to yield a library of 1-thio-beta-D-galactopyranosides carrying small and diverse polar-neutral, hydrophobic, aromatic, cationic, or anionic non-carbohydrate aglycon structures. Screening of the library against a panel of galactose recognizing plant lectins revealed microM inhibitors of toxin A of A. precatorius superior to the reference ligands lactose and N-acetyl lactosamine. Such small, monosaccharide based inhibitors are attractive lead-molecules for therapeutic development, since they are low-molecular, hydrolytically stable and more hydrophobic than natural oligosaccharides.     

On early events in the Pauson-Khand reaction

[reaction: see text]. The Magnus Pauson-Khand (PK) mechanism has been studied for the first time by electrospray ionization coupled to tandem mass spectrometry. It has been found that loss of CO from the PK complex precedes olefin coordination and insertion.     

Proton affinity ladder for uridine and analogs: influence of the hydroxyl group on the sugar ring conformation

A ladder of relative proton affinities (PA) for a series of modified uridines (e.g. araU, ddU, 5BrU, 5BrdU and 5IU) was established from competitive dissociations of proton-bound heterodimers using Cooks and co-workers' kinetic method. The studied heterodimers are constituted of a modified nucleoside and either an amino acid or a nucleoside with known PA value. These non-covalent heterodimers were prepared under electrospray conditions to be selected and dissociated into the ion-trap analyzer. These results allowed our PA ladder of uridine and deoxyuridine analogs substituted at the C-5 position in the uracil ring to be extended. From this scale, it was showed that the substitution of hydrogen atom at the C-2' position in the sugar ring by a hydroxyl group involves a decrease of about 7 kJ mol(-1). The experimental values for U, 5MeU, dU, 5MedU, ddU and araU are consistent with those obtained by DFT calculations (B3P86/6-31+G//B3LYP/6-31G(.)). Several neutral and protonated conformations of these compounds were considered, in particular the ring conformation of furanose and the orientation of the base with respect to the sugar ring. These calculated results showed the influence of sugar substituent on the conformation of the neutral form of theses nucleosides. However, the most stable protonated structure is the same for all the studied nucleosides except for araU, where the position of the anti 2'-OH group imposes a specific conformation.     

An efficient, stereocontrolled synthesis of a potent omuralide-salinosporin hybrid for selective proteasome inhibition

A short and highly stereocontrolled synthesis of the potent proteasome inhibitor 3 from the (S)-threonine-derived oxazoline 4 has been developed. The synthetic sequence is summarized in Scheme 1. Aldol coupling of the zinc enolate of 4 with isobutyraldehyde and subsequent silylation provided the TBS ether 5 diastereoselectively (10:1). Reductive cleavage of the oxazoline ring of 5 followed by Swern oxidation of the resulting amino alcohol afforded amino ketone 6, converted further by N-acylation to the acrylamide 7, whose structure was confirmed by X-ray crystallographic analysis. Acrylamide 7 was cyclized to 8 by a novel application of the Kulinkovich Ti(II)-cyclopentene complex. Silylation of 8 to 9 and radical cyclization at low temperature produced the bicyclic lactam 10 with complete control of all stereocenters. Hydroxy desilylation and N-deprotection of 10 gave the dihydroxy ester 11, which was converted to 3 by a novel three-step sequence: (1) demethylation with [Me2AlTeMe]2, (2) combined beta-lactonization and chlorination, and (3) desilylation to effect cleavage of the TBS ether.     

(Nb2W4O19), TMA2, Na4(OH2)14(SO4): a new layered structure with Lindqvist heteropolyanions, XAS characterization of the HPAs

The new (Nb₂W₄O₁₉),TMA₂, Na₄(OH₂)₁₄(SO₄) has been evidenced as a minor phase during the Nb₂W₄O₁₉TMA (tetramethylammonium) salt synthesis. Its crystal structure has been refined from single crystal X-ray diffraction data, system monoclinic, a=10.166(5) Å, b=17.93(1) Å, c=24.81(1) Å, β=93.057(7)°, space group (S.G.) C2/c, Z=4, R₁=3.96%, wR₁=4.50%. It shows the stacking of cationic and anionic bidimensional layers. The anionic layer of formula [(Nb₂W₄O₁₉), TMA₂ ]²⁻ is formed of isolated Lindqvist HPAs surrounded by TMA groups. The isolated layers adopt a trigonal symmetry that is lost in the crystal by the association of the cationic sheets. These later, of formula [Na₄(OH₂)₁₄(SO₄)]²⁺ form porous net-like sheets with nearly circular cavities of diameter 7.5 Å. groups host the available cavities in a disordered manner. The cohesion between the sheets is performed by both electrostatic interactions and a set of hydrogen bonds. In the cationic layers, the highly symmetrical surrounding of HPAs by TMA groups yields a homogeneous electrostatic field at their external surface leading to a statistic Nb/W disorder over the three available independent metallic positions. Then, XAS experiments at the L₁/L₃-W edge complementarily helped to highlight the preferential cis configuration of (Nb₂W₄O₁₉)⁴⁻ anions, help to the strong Nb vs W contrast in their contribution to the backscattering paths. Previously to these experiments, it was of course checked that both the two phases present in the prepared sample contain Nb₂W₄O₁₉ anions with nearly unchanged geometry.     

Association and insertion complexes of nickel with water and methanol studied using Kohn-Sham theory

Summary The complexes formed by simple association of the nickel atom with water and methanol, and those formed by insertion of nickel into O-H and O-C bonds, have been studied by the Linear Combination of Gaussian-type orbitalsdensity functional (LCGTO-DF) method. The binding energies calculated for theassociation complexes are 7 kcal/mol for both Ni(H₂O) and Ni(CH₃OH). These association complexes have equilibrium geometries characterized by a tetrahedral arrangement of bonds and lone pair around the oxygen atom. Theinsertion complexes HNiOH and HNiOCH₃ are more stable than the association complexes by 14 and 18 kcal/mol, respectively. The H₃CNiOH insertion complex is still more stable, by an additional 14 kcal/mol. In all five complexes, the lowest singlet and triplet states are nearly degenerate. Comparison of calculated frequencies with infrared spectra of matrix isolated species [MA Park (1988) PhD thesis, Rice University] indicates that only triplet states are seen in the experiment.