Vitamin B12: How the Problem of Its Biosynthesis Was Solved

Vitamin B₁₂ is an essential vitamin for human health, and lack of it leads to pernicious anemia. This biological activity has attracted intense interest for some time; in addition, the complex architecture of the B₁₂ molecule has fascinated chemists and biochemists since its discovery as the first natural organocobalt complex and the establishment of its structure by X-ray analysis. The organic ligand surrounding the cobalt displays many stereogenic centers along its periphery carrying reactive functional groups. This complexity led vitamin B₁₂ to be rightly regarded as an extreme challenge to the synthetic chemist. Yet microorganisms achieve this synthesis in vivo with complete control of regio- and stereochemistry. How do they do it? This review tells the full remarkable story. Success in unraveling this biosynthetic puzzle resulted from a collaborative effort by biologists and chemists using the full range of methods available from their disciplines–from genetics at one end of the spectrum to synthesis and NMR spectroscopy at the other. This work can act as a guide for future research on the biosynthesis of yet more complex natural substances.     

Indirect detection of photosensitizer ex vivo

Photodynamic therapy induces the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) within tissues exposed to laser light after administration of a sensitizer. In the context of continuing clinical and commercial development of chemicals with sensitizing properties, a minimally invasive assay is needed to determine the tissue kinetics of fluorescent or non-fluorescent photoreactive drugs. The level of ROS was determined ex vivo from 1 mm3 biopsy samples using 2'-7' dichlorofluorescin diacetate (DCFH-DA), a fluorescent probe which was converted into highly fluorescent dichlorofluorescein (DCF) in the presence of ROS. This assay was tested on meta(tetrahydroxyphenyl)chlorin (m-THPC, FOSCAN), a powerful and fluorescent sensitizer, and bacteriochlorophyll derivative WST09 (TOOKAD), a near-infrared absorbing sensitizer that is only slightly fluorescent. In conjunction with the ROS assay, the tissue accumulation of m-THPC was determined on biopsy samples using an optic fibre spectrofluorometer (OFS). DCF fluorescence was proportional to the level of oxidation induced by horseradish peroxidase used as a control and to the concentration (range: 0-5 microg x ml(-1)) of both selected photosensitizers irradiated in a tube together with DCFH. Regardless of the organ studied, an excellent correlation was found between fluorescence measurement by OFS and ROS determination for m-THPC. m-THPC (2 mg x kg(-1) iv) accumulation in tumour tissues was best after 48 h, and the best signal was obtained in liver. With non-fluorescent WST09 (2 mg x kg(-1)), ROS determination showed the best tumour uptake 48 h after injection, with a tumour/muscle ratio of 5.4. The ROS assay appears to be feasible for determining sensitizer concentration in regular grip biopsy tissue samples.     

Effects of mutations on the absorption spectra of copper proteins: a QM/MM study

The ground and excited state properties of copper proteins are studied and analyzed using hybrid quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics technique. Wild-type plastocyanin, characterized by an intense blue color, and wild-type nitrosocyanin, a red protein, are considered. These proteins differ from some ligands of the copper containing chromophore; we also studied the effects of selective mutations of one of the active site residue in plastocyanin. It is shown that this mutation is able to strongly modify the UV/VIS spectrum continuously modifying the absorption spectrum of the protein that from blue becomes red. Electrostatic and polarization effects of the macromolecular environment on the chromophore are taken into account using original techniques. Principal transitions are analyzed by mean of natural transition orbitals.     

First chemical evidence of royal purple as a material used for funeral treatment discovered in a Gallo�CRoman burial (Naintr��, France, third century AD)

Violet-purple residues collected from a Gallo-Roman burial dated back to the second half of the third century A.D. and excavated at Naintré (France) were chemically investigated by multi-analytical methodology involving the use of Raman spectroscopy, direct exposure-mass spectrometry (DE-MS) and high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC-UV-visible). Little is known about funeral treatment and rituals during Roman times. Retrieving valuable information on these by chemical analysis of organic residues was thus a key aspect of this work. Analyses demonstrated the presence of the very precious purple colorant obtained from shellfish glands commonly known as Tyrian or royal purple and its exceptional preservation. Chemical investigation and archaeological evidence have shown that purple was widely spread after the deposition of the body for burial. These results are the earliest chemical evidence of purple colorant used during funeral rituals (not as textile dye) and enabled us to highlight new aspects of funeral practices in Roman times.     

Electronic conductivity and structural chemistry in Li-Te-V oxide glasses

The electronic conductivity of the Li₂O-Te₂V₂O₉ glass system reveals that, even for high lithium content, electron hopping occurs between V⁴⁺ and V⁵⁺. The study of the V⁴⁺ content versus various syntheses shows that more than lithium content, the nature of the counter ion used in Li⁺ reagent and its decomposition behavior are responsible for the efficiency of the spontaneous V⁵⁺ reduction via a ‘sprouting’ phenomenon. The electron hopping process implies interconnection of VO_n polyhedra which are accessible for both V⁴⁺ and V⁵⁺ species. Such fact gives information about short and medium range ordering in the glasses. On the basis of the LiVTeO₅ crystal structure and in agreement with wide angle X-ray scattering experiments, a possible rearrangement bringing together VO₅ square pyramids is proposed to explain the electron hopping. Such proposal corresponds to a lithium network forming effect. It could explain why for Li/V>1 the electronic conductivity increases with lithium content while the V⁴⁺ amount remains low.     

Approaches to open fullerenes: synthesis and kinetic stability of diels-alder adducts of substituted isobenzofurans and C60

We have examined the reactions of 1,3-disubstituted isobenzofurans with the fullerene C60 in the context of an approach to open a large orifice on the fullerene framework. A variety of substituted isobenzofurans (6a-h), generated from the reaction of 1,4-substituted 1,4-epoxynaphthalenes 3a-h with 3,6-bis(2-pyridyl)-1,2,4,5-tetrazine (4a) or 1,2,4,5-tetrazine (4b), were added to C60 to afford the Diels-Alder adducts 7a-h. The thermal stability of these adducts toward retro-Diels-Alder fragmentation differs greatly in solution from that in the solid state. In solution, the relatively facile retro-Diels-Alder fragmentation of monoadducts 7a and 7c, to give C60 and the free isobenzofurans 6a and 6c, have rate constants (and activation barriers) of k=9.29x10(-5) s-1 at 70 degrees C (Ea=32.6 kcal mol-1) and k=1.36x10(-4) s-1 at 40 degrees C (Ea=33.7 kcal mol-1), respectively, indicating that the addition of isobenzofurans to C60 is readily reversible at those temperatures. In the solid state, thermogravimetric analysis of adduct 7a indicates that its decomposition occurs only within the temperature range of 220-300 degrees C. As a result, these compounds can be stored at room temperature in the solid state for several weeks without significant decomposition but have to be handled within several hours in solution.     

Analytical pyrolysis with in situ thermally assisted derivatisation, Py(HMDS)-GC/MS, for the chemical characterization of archaeological birch bark tar

An analytical method based on pyrolysis in the presence of hexamethyldisilazane followed by gas chromatographic/mass spectrometric analysis, Py(HMDS)-GC/MS, was used for the first time to study birch bark tar, an adhesive that has been used since the Palaeolithic period. Py(HMDS)-GC/MS enabled us to obtain information simultaneously both on polymerised and solvent soluble fractions of birch bark tar. A very particular chromatographic pattern was obtained, which was mainly characterised by the presence of homologous series of linear saturated and unsaturated monocaboxylic fatty acids, and homologous series of straight-chain alkenes and alkanes. The pattern can be linked to suberin and suberan, which are known to be present in birch barks. In addition, lupane-type triterpenoids were also revealed. Py(HMDS)-GC/MS was initially applied to a reference material, and was then used to study the archaeological adhesives from a wooden spindle recovered in a Gallo-Roman burial (3rd century AD) and from the golden sheath of a Thracian dagger (8th-7th centuries BC) recovered in Belogradets (Bulgaria).