Liquid and gas chromatographic studies of the anaerobic degradation of baker’s yeast wastewater

The digestion of baker’s yeast wastewater was monitored by gas production intensity and composition of gaseous and liquid phases. Favorable coexistence of sulfate reducing bacteria and methanogens was explained by the presence and metabolism of trimethylamine, a degradation product of betaine. Concentration of sulfides decreased at the expense of betaine degradation with final products S₀ and N₂. Since biological wastewater treatment was complicated by both high content of SO₄^2-, eventually becoming reduced to toxic H₂S, and high total nitrogen content, a technological solution that links sulfate reduction to elemental sulfur coupled with reactions producing gaseous nitrogen may have great practical value.     

Über eine neue Synthese von Desmethylambraoxid

A new synthesis of the title compound starting from abietic acid is described. Regioselective osmylation of the ^{13, 14}-double bond of abietic acid methyl ester (6) and subsequent hydrogenation furnishes dihydrodihydroxyabietic acid methyl ester (12) with anall-trans-connection of the three rings. Periodate cleavage of12 leads to13 which can be transformed into the triester14 byBaeyer-Villiger oxidation. The configuration of the aldehyde group in13 as well of the formyloxy group in14 has been ensured to be equatorial.LAH-reduction of14 leads to the triol16 which after cyclisation and reductive dehydroxylation furnishes the fragrance compound4.

Auszugsweise vorgetragen auf der 5. wissenschaftlichen Tagung der Österreichischen Pharmazeutischen Gesellschaft am 16. April 1985 in Graz.     

A covalent organic cage compound acting as a supramolecular shadow mask for the regioselective functionalization of C60

A trigonal-bipyramidal covalent organic cage compound serves as an efficient host to form stable 1 : 1-complexes with C₆₀ and C₇₀. Fullerene encapsulation has been comprehensively studied by NMR and UV/Vis spectroscopy, mass spectrometry as well as single-crystal X-ray diffraction. Exohedral functionalization of encapsulated C₆₀via threefold Prato reaction revealed high selectivity for the symmetry-matched all-trans-3 addition pattern.

The taming of the Prato reaction: a covalent organic cage compound serves as a supramolecular template for the regioselective functionalization of C₆₀.     

Catalytic mechanism of heme oxygenase through EPR and ENDOR of cryoreduced oxy-heme oxygenase and its Asp 140 mutants

Heme oxygenase (HO) catalyzes the O(2)- and NADPH-cytochrome P450 reductase-dependent conversion of heme to biliverdin, Fe, and CO through a process in which the heme participates both as a prosthetic group and as a substrate. In the present study, we have generated a detailed reaction cycle for the first monooxygenation step of HO catalysis, conversion of the heme to alpha-meso-hydroxyheme. We employed EPR (using both (16)O(2) and (17)O(2)) and (1)H, (14)N ENDOR spectroscopies to characterize the intermediates generated by 77 K radiolytic cryoreduction and subsequent annealing of wild-type oxy-HO and D140A, F mutants. One-electron cryoreduction of oxy-HO yields a hydroperoxoferri-HO with g-tensor, g = [2.37, 2.187, 1.924]. Annealing of this species to 200 K is accompanied by spectroscopic changes that include the appearance of a new (1)H ENDOR signal, reflecting rearrangements in the active site. Kinetic measurements at 214 K reveal that the annealed hydroperoxoferri-HO species, denoted R, generates the ferri-alpha-meso-hydroxyheme product in a first-order reaction. Disruption of the H-bonding network within the distal pocket of HO by the alanine and phenylalanine mutations of residue D140 prevents product formation. The hydroperoxoferri-HO (D140A) instead undergoes heterolytic cleavage of the O-O bond, ultimately yielding an EPR-silent compound II-like species that does not form product. These results, which agree with earlier suggestions, establish that hydroperoxoferri-HO is indeed the reactive species, directly forming the alpha-meso-hydroxyheme product by attack of the distal OH of the hydroperoxo moiety at the heme alpha-carbon.     

Preparation and Isolation of a Chiral Methandiide and Its Application as Cooperative Ligand in Bond Activation

The activation of element–hydrogen bonds by means of metal–ligand cooperation has received increasing attention as alternative to classical activation processes, which exclusively occur at the metal center. Carbene complexes derived from methandiide precursors have been applied in this chemistry enabling the activation of a series of E?H bonds by addition reactions across the M?C bond. However, no chiral carbene complexes have been applied to realize stereoselective transformations to date. Herein, we report the isolation and structure elucidation of an enantiomerically pure dilithiomethane, which could be prepared by direct double deprotonation. The obtained dilithium salt was used for the preparation of the first chiral methandiide‐derived carbene complex, which was applied in stereoselective cooperative S?H bond activation.     

Uncertainty from sampling in measurements of aflatoxins in animal feedingstuffs: application of the Eurachem/CITAC guidelines

The duplicate method for estimating uncertainty from measurement including sampling is presented in the Eurachem/CITAC guide. The applicability of this method as a tool for verifying sampling plans for mycotoxins was assessed in three case studies with aflatoxin B(1) in animal feedingstuffs. Aspects considered included strategies for obtaining samples from contaminated lots, assumptions about distributions, approaches for statistical analysis, log(10)-transformation of test data and applicability of uncertainty estimates. The results showed that when duplicate aggregate samples are formed by interpenetrating sampling, repeated measurements from a lot can be assumed to approximately follow a normal or lognormal distribution. Due to the large variation in toxin concentration between sampling targets and sometimes very large uncertainty arising from sampling and sample preparation (U(rel) ≥ 50%), estimation of uncertainty from log(10)-transformed data was found to be a more generally applicable approach than application of robust ANOVA.     

Octahedral Rhenium Cluster Complexes with 1,2-Bis(4-pyridyl)ethylene and 1,3-Bis(4-pyridyl)propane as Apical Ligands

A series of eight new octahedral rhenium cluster complexes with the general formula trans-[{Re₆Q₈}L₄X₂] (Q = S or Se; L = 1,2-Bis(4-pyridyl)ethylene (bpe) or 1,3-Bis(4-pyridyl)propane (bpp); X = Cl or Br) was synthesized and investigated. While bpe is a ligand with a conjugated aromatic system, bpp represents a molecule of opposite type and has independent aromatic systems of the two pyridine rings. It was shown that this difference in the electronic structure of the ligands has a fundamental effect on the electronic structure, electrochemical and luminescent properties of the corresponding cluster complexes. Specifically, the [{Re₆Q₈}(bpe)₄X₂] complexes in solutions show multiple quasi-reversible electrochemical transitions associated with reduction of the organic ligands. At the same time, the trans-[{Re₆Q₈}(bpp)₄X₂] complexes show multielectron quasi-irreversible reduction processes, which correlate with the mixed character of the lowest unoccupied molecular orbitals of these complexes. All the obtained new compounds exhibit red photoluminescence. The photophysical parameters (emission lifetimes and quantum yields) measured for the bpp complexes exceed those revealed for bpe complexes by more than an order of magnitude.     

Direct Photocontrol of Peptidomimetics: An Alternative to Oxygen‐Dependent Photodynamic Cancer Therapy

Conventional photodynamic treatment strategies are based on the principle of activating molecular oxygen in situ by light, mediated by a photosensitizer, which leads to the generation of reactive oxygen species and thereby causes cell death. A diarylethene‐derived peptidomimetic is presented that is suitable for photodynamic cancer therapy without any involvement of oxygen. This light‐sensitive molecule is not a mediator but is itself the cytotoxic agent. As a derivative of the cyclic amphiphilic peptide gramicidin S, the peptidomimetic exists in two thermally stable photoforms that are interconvertible by light of different wavelengths. The isomer generated by visible light shows much stronger toxicity against tumor cells than the UV‐generated isomer. First in vivo applications are demonstrated on a tumor animal model to illustrate how the peptidomimetic can be administered in the less toxic form and then activated locally in a solid tumor by visible light.     

Synthesis and NMR spectroscopy investigations of functionalized 8,8,10-trimethyl-4-phenyl-7,8-dihydro-2H,6H-pyrano[3,2-g]chromene-2,6-diones and their spirothiadiazole derivatives

New functionalized derivatives of 8,8,10-trimethyl-4-phenyl-7,8-dihydro-2H,6H-pyrano[3,2-g]-chromene-2,6-dione – analogues of the natural compound graveolone – possessing hydrazine, hydroxylamine, and thiosemicarbazide residues were synthesized and their reactions with acetic anhydride were studied. The structure of the obtained compounds was confirmed by NMR spectroscopy.