Insights about the biosynthesis of the avermectin deoxysugar L-oleandrose through heterologous expression of Streptomyces avermitilis deoxysugar genes in Streptomyces lividans.

BACKGROUND: The avermectins, produced by Streptomyces avermitilis, are potent anthelminthic agents with a polyketide-derived macrolide skeleton linked to a disaccharide composed of two alpha-linked L-oleandrose units. Eight contiguous genes, avrBCDEFGHI (also called aveBI-BVIII), are located within the avermectin-producing gene cluster and have previously been mapped to the biosynthesis and attachment of thymidinediphospho-oleandrose to the avermectin aglycone. This gene cassette provides a convenient way to study the biosynthesis of 2,6-dideoxysugars, namely that of L-oleandrose, and to explore ways to alter the biosynthesis and structures of the avermectins by combinatorial biosynthesis. RESULTS: A Streptomyces lividans strain harboring a single plasmid with the avrBCDEFGHI genes in which avrBEDC and avrIHGF were expressed under control of the actI and actIII promoters, respectively, correctly glycosylated exogenous avermectin A1a aglycone with identical oleandrose units to yield avermectin A1a. Modified versions of this minimal gene set produced novel mono- and disaccharide avermectins. The results provide further insight into the biosynthesis of L-oleandrose. CONCLUSIONS: The plasmid-based reconstruction of the avr deoxysugar genes for expression in a heterologous system combined with biotransformation has led to new information about the mechanism of 2,6-deoxysugar biosynthesis. The structures of the di-demethyldeoxysugar avermectins accumulated indicate that in the oleandrose pathway the stereochemistry at C-3 is ultimately determined by the 3-O-methyltransferase and not by the 3-ketoreductase or a possible 3,5-epimerase. The AvrF protein is therefore a 5-epimerase and not a 3,5-epimerase. The ability of the AvrB (mono-)glycosyltransferase to accommodate different deoxysugar intermediates is evident from the structures of the novel avermectins produced.     

Selective ortho and benzylic functionalization of secondary and tertiary p-tolylsulfonamides. Ipso-bromo desilylation and Suzuki cross-coupling reactions

Kinetic vs thermodynamic deprotonation studies on secondary and tertiary sulfonamides 1 and 2 using n-BuLi have been carried out. While both 1 and 2 show kinetic ortho-metalation, thermodynamic conditions lead to ortho and benzylic deprotonation, respectively (Figures 1 and 2). Metalation of 1 using the n-BuLi/KOtBu superbase led to regioselective benzylic metalation (Figure 4); LDA deprotonation was also briefly explored. Application of the developed conditions allows the synthesis of diverse sulfonamide products 5a-e, 6a-e, 7a,b, and 8a-e. Ipso-bromo desilylation reactions afford sulfonamides 9a,b while Suzuki cross-coupling reactions furnish biaryl sulfonamides 11a-c.     

The unusual importance of activity coefficients for micelle solutions illustrated by an osmometry study of aqueous sodium decanoate and aqueous sodium decanoate + sodium chloride solutions

Freezing-point and vapor-pressure osmometry data are reported for aqueous sodium decanoate (NaD) solutions and aqueous NaD + NaCl solutions. The derived osmotic coefficients are analyzed with a mass-action model based on the micelle formation reaction qNa(+) + nD(-) = (Na(q)D(n))(q-n) and Guggenheim equations for the micelle and ionic activity coefficients. Stoichiometric activity coefficients of the NaD and NaCl components and the equilibrium constant for micelle formation are evaluated. Illustrating the remarkable but not widely appreciated nonideal behavior of ionic surfactant solutions, the micelle activity coefficient drops to astonishingly low values, below 10(-7) (relative to unity for ideal solutions). The activity coefficients of the Na(+) and D(-) ions, raised to large powers of q and n, reduce calculated extents of micelle formation by up to 15 orders of magnitude. Activity coefficients, frequently omitted from the Gibbs equation, are found to increase the calculated surface excess concentration of NaD by up to an order of magnitude. Inflection points in the extent of micelle formation, used to calculate critical micelle concentration (cmc) lowering caused by added salt, provide unexpected thermodynamic evidence for the elusive second cmc.     

Activity Coefficients of Aqueous Mixed Ionic Surfactant Solutions from Osmometry

Osmotic techniques for measuring thermodynamic activities, such as isopiestic equilibration, are well established for multicomponent solutions, especially mixed salt solutions. Surprisingly, these techniques have not yet been applied to mixed ionic surfactants, despite the numerous practical applications of these systems and the importance of the Gibbs free energy for micelle stability. In this study, mass-action equations are developed for the osmotic coefficients of solutions of ionic surfactant CA + ionic surfactant CB, with common counterion C. Extended Debye–Hückel equations are used for the ionic activity coefficients. The equilibrium constants for mixed micelle formation are evaluated by Gibbs–Duhem integration of critical micelle concentrations. Fitting the derived equations to the osmotic coefficients of aqueous sodium decanoate + sodium dodecylsulfate solutions measured by freezing-point osmometry is used to evaluate the activities of the total surfactant components. Very large departures from ideal solution behavior are indicated, including stoichiometric surfactant activity coefficients and micelle activity coefficients that drop below 0.05 and 10^?8, respectively, relative to unity for ideal solutions. Osmometry offers many interesting and unexplored possibilities for studies of mixed surfactant thermodynamics.