Coordinated design of cofactor and active site structures in development of new protein catalysts

New methods for the synthesis of artificial metalloenzymes are important for the construction of novel biocatalysts and biomaterials. Recently, we reported new methodology for the synthesis of artificial metalloenzymes by reconstituting apo-myoglobin with metal complexes (Ohashi, M. et al., Angew Chem., Int. Ed. 2003, 42, 1005-1008). However, it has been difficult to improve their reactivity, since their crystal structures were not available. In this article, we report the crystal structures of M(III)(Schiff base).apo-A71GMbs (M = Cr and Mn). The structures suggest that the position of the metal complex in apo-Mb is regulated by (i) noncovalent interaction between the ligand and surrounding peptides and (ii) the ligation of the metal ion to proximal histidine (His93). In addition, it is proposed that specific interactions of Ile107 with 3- and 3'-substituent groups on the salen ligand control the location of the Schiff base ligand in the active site. On the basis of these results, we have successfully controlled the enantioselectivity in the sulfoxidation of thioanisole by changing the size of substituents at the 3 and 3' positions. This is the first example of an enantioselective enzymatic reaction regulated by the design of metal complex in the protein active site.     

Hexagonal columnar porphyrin assembly by unique trimeric complexation of a porphyrin dimer with pi-pi stacking: remarkable thermal behavior in a solid

On heating, syn-diporphyrin zinc complexes fused with bis(ethano)dimethoxyanthracene, the crystal structure of which showed a unique trimeric assembly, extruded one ethylene molecule at 240-310 degrees C to give a porphyrin-naphthoporphyrin diad, and the second retro-Diels-Alder reaction and concomitant decomposition of the methoxy groups occurred at 280-350 degrees C to give the anthraquinone-fused diporphyrin, while the first thermal conversion of the anti-diporphyrin zinc complex occurred in a much lower temperature range (180-230 degrees C).     

Unperturbed dimensions of polystyrene derivatives. II. Poly-3,4-dichlorostyrene and poly-p-cyclohexylstyrene

The relationship of intrinsic viscosity to the number-average molecular weight has been obtained for poly-3,4-dichlorostyrene and poly-p-cyclohexylstyrene in a few solvents. Values of (〈L²〉₀/M)^1/2 have been estimated for poly-3,4-dichlorostyrene and poly-p-cyclohexylstyrene through the use of the treatment of Stockmayer and Fixman. The values of (〈L〉₀/M)^1/2 have been obtained as 2.18 ± 0.08 and 2.52 ± 0.07 for poly-3,4-dichlorostyrene and poly-p-cyclohexylstyrene, respectively. The σ value of a series of polystyrene derivatives has been found to increase with the bulk of side groups. This seems to indicate that the σ value is mainly determined by the steric repulsion between side groups.     

Note on calculations by hypervirial relations and sufficient conditions for these relations: Box potential and harmonic oscillator models

The calculations by the diagonal and the off-diagonal hypervirial relations and by the sufficient conditions for these relations have been performed for the one-dimensional box potential and the harmonic oscillator models. In the case of the box potential model, the variation method gave the unsymmetrical wave functions for trial functions though it gave the best energies, but some of these hypervirial calculations gave the symmetrical functions and therefore they showed the exact expectation values of x, though they did not give the best energies. On the contrary, in the case of the harmonic oscillator model such a discrepancy for wave function and excitation energy did not happen. For the box potential model the expectation values of some operators were evaluated and compared with the results by the exact solution and the variation method. A weakness of the off-diagonal hypervirial calculation was pointed out and the removal of this weakness was tried. The effectiveness of these calculations were investigated.     

Catalytic enantioselective Strecker reaction of ketoimines

A new method for the catalytic enantioselective Strecker reaction (cyanation) of N-diphenylphosphinoyl ketoimines is described. The asymmetric catalyst is a chiral gadolinium complex prepared from Gd(OiPr)3 and the d-glucose-derived ligand 3 in a 1:2 ratio. The reaction has a broad substrate generality, giving high enantioselectivity from aromatic, ethyl, primary alkyl, and alpha,beta-unsaturated ketoimines. The products could be easily converted to disubstituted alpha-amino acids and their derivatives.     

Novel protecting groups. III. A study of the reaction of 2-picolyl 1-oxide derivatives with acetic anhydride

2-Picolyl 1-oxides (I-VIII) were prepared and the reaction of I-VII with acetic anhydride was followed by the gas chromatography. In this reaction, the increasing order of the rate of disappearance of the 2-pieolyl 1-oxide derivatives was found to be IV>III>VII>I>VI>II>V. Under comparable conditions, a half-life of VIII is midway between that of I and VI. The 2-picolyl 1-oxide group was found to be potentially useful for the blocking of hydroxyl functions of phosphates (viz., VIII), although ca. 4% of the organic phosphate remained unblocked after the deblocking procedure (acetic anhydride treatment and subsequent hydrolysis).     

Unrestricted Hartree–Fock method for infinite systems with antiferromagnetic array: Analysis of antiferromagnetic state of trans-polyacetylene

An improved unrestricted Hartree–Fock (UHF) crystal orbital method for infinite one-dimensional systems having antiferromagnetic spin array is presented. This variational version of the UHF method is composed of two steps of self-consistent-field (SCF) calculations. The second SCF equation is to be solved using the canonical transformation between specific crystal orbitals around the Fermi level of the first conventional SCF solution. The energy gain and the forbidden band gap (correlation gap) associated with the hypothetical antiferromagnetic state of trans-polyacetylene are examined as an example. © 1993 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Mössbauer study of hydrogenated Fe-Zr amorphous alloys

The effect of electrochemical hydrogenation was investigated in Fe₉₀Zr₁₀ and Fe₈₉Zr₁₁ amorphous alloys by means of⁵⁷Fe Mössbauer spectroscopy. Significant changes in the Mössbauer spectra as well as in the hyperfine field distribution of hydrogenated samples were found with increasing hydrogen concentration. It was established that the dependence of Curie temperature on hydrogen content had a maximum, and the hydrogen had two mean localization sites. By comparing the Mössbauer spectra of hydrogenated samples as-quenched and annealed before hydrogenation it was shown that low-temperature relaxation processes were going on at aging temperature as low as 150°C in this amorphous alloy and the low-temperature relaxation processes modify the localization of hydrogen. The combination of the hydrogenation and Mössbauer techniques gives a very sensitive method for detecting structural changes.     

Application of chemical P450 model systems to studies on drug metabolism. I. Phencyclidine: a multi-functional model substrate

Cytochrome P450 model and liver microsomal oxidations of drugs were compared using phencyclidine. In general, the chemical reaction systems produced many oxidation products. Besides the formation of the cyclohexane-4-hydroxyl compound (2), hydroxylation of the aromatic ring was favored in the Fenton reaction system (Fe2+ + H2O2). Formation of an m-hydroxylated product (m-5) was the main aromatic oxidation pathway in the Udenfriend reaction (Fe2+-ascorbic acid-O2), and 2, the piperidine-3-hydroxyl compound (3), and the piperidine-4-hydroxyl compound (4) were also formed. In the system using meso-tetraphenylporphinatoiron chloride (Fe(III)TPPC1) with an oxidant, the main product was the piperidine-3-oxo compound (8). In the liver microsomes system, 2, 4, 8, and m-5, which were all generated by the chemical oxidation reactions, were detected as metabolites of phencyclidine. They were formed by cytochrome P450-dependent reactions. Chemical oxidation systems can be used to study drug metabolism; they can reveal some tendencies of the real metabolic reactions, are easy to operate, and yield sufficient amounts of product.     

Fine tuning of photophysical properties of meso-meso-linked ZnII-diporphyrins by dihedral angle control

A series of meso-meso-linked diporphyrins S(n) strapped with a dioxymethylene group of various length were synthesized by intramolecular Ag(I)-promoted coupling of dioxymethylene-bridged diporphyrins B(n), for n=10, 8, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1. Shortening of the strap length causes a gradual decrease in the dihedral angle between the porphyrins and increasing distortion of porphyrin ring, as suggested by MM2 calculations and (1)H NMR studies. This trend has been also suggested by X-ray crystallographic studies on the corresponding Cu(II) complexes of nonstrapped diporphyrin 2 Cu, and strapped diporphyrins S(8)Cu, S(4)Cu, and S(2)Cu. The absorption spectrum of relatively unconstrained diporphyrins S(10) strapped with a long chain exhibits split Soret bands at 414 and 447 nm and weak Q(0,0)- and prominent Q(1,0)-bands, both of which are similar to those of nonstrapped diporphyrin 2. Shortening of the strap length causes systematic changes in the absorption spectra, in which the intensities of the split Soret bands decrease, the absorption bands at about 400 nm and > 460 nm increase in intensity, and a prominent one-band feature of a Q-band is changed to a distinct two-band feature with concurrent progressive red-shifts of the lowest Q(0,0)-band. The fluorescence spectra also exhibit systematic changes, roughly reflecting the changes of the absorption spectra. The strapped diporphyrins S(n) are all chiral and have been separated into enantiomers over a chiral column. The CD spectra of the optically active S(n) display two Cotton effects at 430-450 and at about 400 nm with the opposite signs. The latter effect can be explained in terms of oblique arrangement of m( perpendicular 1) and m( perpendicular 2) dipole moments, while the former effect cannot be accounted for within a framework of the excition coupling theory. The resonance Raman (RR) spectra taken for excitation at 457.9 nm are variable among S(n), while the RR spectra taken for excitation at 488.0 nm are constant throughout the S(n) series. These photophysical properties can be explained in terms of INDO/S-SCI calculations, which have revealed charge transfer (CT) transitions accidentally located close in energy to the excitonic Soret transitions. This feature arises from a close proximity of the two porphyrins in meso-meso-linked diporphyrins. In addition to the gradual red-shift of the exciton split Soret band, the calculations predict that the high-energy absorption band at about 400 nm, the lower energy Cotton effect, and the RR spectra taken for excitation at 457.9 nm are due to the CT states which are intensified upon a decrease in the dihedral angle.