Effects of sugar inhibition on cellulases and β-glucosidase during enzymatic hydrolysis of softwood substrates

A quantitative approach was taken to determine the inhibition effects of glucose and other sugar monomers during cellulase and β-Glucosidase hydrolysis of two types of cellulosic material: Avicel and acetic acid-pretreated softwood. The increased glucose content in the hydrolysate resulted in a dramatic increase in the degrees of inhibition on both β-Glucosidase and cellulase activities. Supplementation of mannose, xylose, and galactose during cellobiose hydrolysis did not show any inhibitory effects on β-Glucosidase activity. However, these sugars were shown to have significant inhibitory effects on cellulase activity during cellulose hydrolysis. Our study suggests that high-substrate consistency hydrolysis with supplementation of hemicellulose is likely to be a practical solution to minimizing end-product inhibition effects while producing hydrolysate with high glucose concentration.     

Baker＇s Yeast Mediated Reduction of Optically Active Diketone

Baker‘s yeast mediated reduction of optically active diketone is described. The two keto groups are efficiently differentiated and the ee value of the recovered material is considerably raised. It affords highly optically active key intermediates efficiently for the synthesis of natural polyhydroxylated agarofuran products.     

Studies on the Physicochemical Properties, Structure and Antitumor Activity of an Oligosaccharide Homologue SnS-2 from the Root of Scrophularia ningpoensis Hemsh

An oligosaccharide homologue named SnS-2 was isolated from the root of Scrophularia ningpoensis Hemsl.SnS-2 was purified by means of gel-permeation chromatography and ion-exchange chromatography. Its physicochemical properties, including carbohydrate content and molecular weight were determined. The structure of SnS-2 was elucidated by chemical methods along with ^1H and ^13C NMR spectroscopy, including two-dimensional DQCOSY and H-detected ^1H, ^13C HMQC experiments. These results show that SnS-2 possesses a backbone consisting of terminal α-Galp-(1→, α-Galp-(1→6), α-Glcp-(1→6) and nonreducing end β-Fruf-(2→. The bioactive assay showed that it could inhibit the growth of Lewis pulmonary carcinoma implanted in mice.     

Formation of α,α''''-Bis(substituted benzylidene)cycloalkanones from Masked Aldehydes Promoted by Samarium(III) Triiodide

~~Formation of α,α'-Bis(substituted benzylidene)cycloalkanones from Masked Aldehydes Promoted by Samarium(III) Triiodide~~     

Correlated intermolecular interaction components from asymptotically corrected Kohn-Sham orbitals

In these years there was considerable interest inunderstanding of intermolecular forces in energetic(explosive) systems[1—3]. The supermolecular approach(SM) is widely adopted for calculating ab initio in-termolecular interactions. Nevertheless, it is unable toprovide physically meaningful interaction contribu-tions such as electrostatic, induction, repulsion anddispersion energies. In contrast, the symmetry-adaptedperturbation theory (SAPT)[4—8] has the ability to de-rive these correlated…     

A Quantum Chemical Study on Recognition of Nitro-phenols by Calix[n]arenes

A PM3 calculation in vacuum of the inclusion complexation ofo-, m-, p-nitro-phenol with calix[n]arenes is performedsuccessfully. The pathways for inclusion process are describedand the most probable structures of the 1:1 complex are soughtthrough a potential energy scan. The energy differences betweenthe inclusion complexes and the hosts, by calculation, show thatthe most stable complexation is calix[4]-p-nitro phenol andcalix[6]-m-nitro phenol.     

Proteins Entrapped in Silica Monoliths Prepared from Glyceroxysilanes

The preparation of discrete polyol based silane precursors derived from glycerol by a simple one-pot process is described. These polyol-based silanes could be hydrolyzed under mild pH conditions and upon gelation resulted in the formation of optically clear, monolithic, mesoporous silica. The hydrolysis and condensation reactions lead to cure rates that are very sensitive to ionic strength, but are almost unaffected by pH in contrast to those of alkoxysilanes derived from primary alcohols such as Si(OEt)₄. Residual glycerol in the silica monolith could be removed by washing, or could be left in the silica to reduce the magnitude of shrinkage during long term storage. The biocompatible glyceroxysilane precursors lead to materials that were able to retain the activity of entrapped enzymes over repeated cycles of use for periods of up to several months.     

Mixed ligand system of cysteine and thioglycolic acid assisting in the synthesis of highly luminescent water-soluble CdTe nanorods

Highly luminescent water-soluble CdTe nanorods were prepared with the assistance of the mixed ligand system of cysteine and thioglycolic acid; the aspect ratio and photoluminescence of the CdTe nanorods could be controlled by the refluxing time.     

Heteropolynuclear Sodium(I) Lead(II) Complex: Crystal and Molecular Structure of a Novel 3‐D Polymer, [(en)Pb(μ3‐ONO)2Na(μ3‐ONO)2Na(μ‐O2ClO2)Na]n

A novel 3D polymeric heteropolynuclear sodium(I) lead(II) complex containing different ligands, [NaPb(ClO₄)(en)(NO₂)₂] was synthesized and characterized by elemental analysis and IR, and ¹H‐, ¹³C‐, and ²⁰⁷Pb‐NMR spectroscopy. The single‐crystal X‐ray data of [NaPb(ClO₄)(en)(NO₂)₂]_n established that the complex is a three‐dimensional polymer, [(en)Pb(μ₃‐ONO)₂Na(μ₃‐ONO)₂Na(μ‐O₂ClO₂)Na]_n. The Pb and Na atoms have four‐ and eight‐coordinate geometry, respectively. The lone pair of electrons at the Pb^II atom is ‘stereochemically active’.     

Polystyrene prepared by reactive extrusion: kinetics and effect of processing parameters

The conversion and residence time were investigated during the bulk polymerization of styrene in a twin screw extruder. It was found that polymerization mainly occurred in the zone between 400 and 1000 mm along the screw axis in the extruder, corresponding to the residence time of the reactants ranging from 1 to 4 min in the extruder. Furthermore, the processing conditions (feed rate, screw rotation rate) and average molecular weight of the polymer have a great effect on the residence time. Based on dimensionless analysis, a model of the residence time has been built‐up, which has been confirmed by the results of realistic measurements. A kinetic model of the polymerization has also been established under the assumption that the screw extruder can be regarded as an ideal plug flow reactor. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.