A QM/MM study on the reaction pathway leading to 2‐Aceto‐2‐hydroxybutyrate in the catalytic cycle of AHAS

The reaction between the intermediate 2‐hydroxyethyl‐thiamin diphosphate (HEThDP^?) and 2‐ketobutyrate, in the third step of the catalytic cycle of acetodydroxy acid synthase, is addressed from a theoretical point of view by means of hybrid quantum/molecular mechanical calculations. The QM region includes one molecule of 2‐ketobutyrate, the HEThDP^? intermediate, and the residues Arg 380 y Glu 139; whereas the MM region includes the rest of the protein. The study includes potential energy surface scans to identify and characterize critical points on it, transition state search and activation barrier calculations. The results show that the reaction occurs via a two‐step mechanism corresponding to the carboligation and proton transfer in the first stage; and the product release in the second step. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Electrochemical Immunosensor for the Determination of Total Ghrelin Hormone in Saliva

An electrochemical immunosensor for ghrelin (GHRL) determination in saliva is reported. Anti‐GHRL was immobilized onto Protein G‐magnetic beads and a competitive immunoassay involving biotinylated GHRL and alkaline phosphatase‐streptavidin was implemented. Once conjugate was magnetically captured on a screen‐printed carbon electrode, GHRL quantization was accomplished by DPV of 1‐naphtol formed upon addition of 1‐naphtyl phosphate. A linear range between 10^?3 and 10³ ng/mL GHRL, and a LOD of 7 pg/mL, much smaller than those from commercial ELISA kits, were found. The usefulness of the immunosensor was demonstrated by analyzing human saliva spiked with GHRL at 0.01, 0.1, 1 and 10 ng/mL.     

Design and development of a two‐dimensional system based on hydrophilic and reversed‐phase liquid chromatography with on‐line sample treatment for the simultaneous separation of excreted xenobiotics and endogenous metabolites in urine

In the present work we describe a two‐dimensional liquid chromatographic system (2D‐LC) with detection by mass spectrometry (MS) for the simultaneous separation of endogenous metabolites of clinical interest and excreted xenobiotics deriving from exposure to toxic compounds. The 2D‐LC system involves two orthogonal chromatographic modes, hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography (HILIC) to separate polar endogenous metabolites and reversed‐phase (RP) chromatography to separate excreted xenobiotics of low and intermediate polarity. Additionally, the present proposal has the novelty of incorporating an on‐line sample treatment based on the use of restricted access materials (RAMs), which permits the direct injection of urine samples into the system. The work is focused on the instrumental coupling, studying all possible options and attempting to circumvent the problems of solvent incompatibility between the RAM device and the two chromatographic columns, HILIC and RP. The instrumental configuration developed, RAM‐HILIC‐RPLC‐MS/MS, allows the simultaneous assessment of urinary metabolites of clinical interest and excreted compounds derived from exposure to toxic agents with minimal sample manipulation. Thus, it may be of interest in areas such as occupational and environmental toxicology in order to explore the possible relationship between the two types of compounds. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

One‐Pot Cooperation of Single‐Atom Rh and Ru Solid Catalysts for a Selective Tandem Olefin Isomerization‐Hydrosilylation Process

Realizing the full potential of oxide‐supported single‐atom metal catalysts (SACs) is key to successfully bridge the gap between the fields of homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysis. Here we show that the one‐pot combination of Ru₁/CeO₂ and Rh₁/CeO₂ SACs enables a highly selective olefin isomerization‐hydrosilylation tandem process, hitherto restricted to molecular catalysts in solution. Individually, monoatomic Ru and Rh sites show a remarkable reaction specificity for olefin double‐bond migration and anti‐Markovnikov α‐olefin hydrosilylation, respectively. First‐principles DFT calculations ascribe such selectivity to differences in the binding strength of the olefin substrate to the monoatomic metal centers. The single‐pot cooperation of the two SACs allows the production of terminal organosilane compounds with high regio‐selectivity (>95 %) even from industrially‐relevant complex mixtures of terminal and internal olefins, alongside a straightforward catalyst recycling and reuse. These results demonstrate the significance of oxide‐supported single‐atom metal catalysts in tandem catalytic reactions, which are central for the intensification of chemical processes.     

Preparation,antimicrobial activity,and toxicity of 2‐amino‐4‐arylthiazole derivatives

Seven 2‐amino‐4‐aryl‐1,3‐thiazoles ( 1a–g ) and their corresponding 2‐aminoacetyl ( 2a–g ) and 2‐aminoacetyl‐5‐bromo ( 3a–g ) derivatives were synthesized and tested in vitro against 11 reference strains, three Gram‐positive and four Gram‐negative bacteria, two yeasts, and two moulds. Toxicity of the compounds was also evaluated using the brine shrimp test. Compounds 1a, 1b, 1e–g , and 3b showed moderate antimicrobial activity at different concentrations. The results indicated that acetylation of the amino group and bromination at position 5 of the thiazole moiety cause lost of activity. Compounds 1a, 1e , and 1f showed toxicity to brine shrimp nauplii below 10 ppm. Most other compounds showed moderate toxicity, LD₅₀ above 100 ppm. Structures of all compounds were confirmed by NMR and MS data. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Heteroatom Chem 17:254–260, 2006; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/hc.20182     

Unravelling the Time Scale of Conformational Plasticity and Allostery in Glycan Recognition by Human Galectin-1

The interaction of human galectin-1 with a variety of oligosaccharides, from di-(N-acetyllactosamine) to tetra-saccharides (blood B type-II antigen) has been scrutinized by using a combined approach of different NMR experiments, molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, and isothermal titration calorimetry. Ligand- and receptor-based NMR experiments assisted by computational methods allowed proposing three-dimensional structures for the different complexes, which explained the lack of enthalpy gain when increasing the chemical complexity of the glycan. Interestingly, and independently of the glycan ligand, the entropy term does not oppose the binding event, a rather unusual feature for protein-sugar interactions. CLEANEX-PM and relaxation dispersion experiments revealed that sugar binding affected residues far from the binding site and described significant changes in the dynamics of the protein. In particular, motions in the microsecond-millisecond timescale in residues at the protein dimer interface were identified in the presence of high affinity ligands. The dynamic process was further explored by extensive MD simulations, which provided additional support for the existence of allostery in glycan recognition by human galectin-1.     

Simultaneous determination of yohimbine and boldine by first-derivative synchronous spectrofluorimetry

A method for the simultaneous determination of yohimbine and boldine in mixtures by first-derivative synchronous spectrofluorimetry has been developed. The method is based on their native fluorescence in 0.1N sulphuric acid medium. The constant wavelength difference chosen to optimize the determination was =_em -_em=82 nm. Yohimbine was measured at _ex//_em= 285/367 nm, and boldine at _ex/_em=272/354 nm. The range of application is 10–500 g/l for yohimbine and 1–50 g/l for boldine. The method was applied to the determination of yohimbine and boldine in synthetic mixtures and pharmaceuticals, with errors generally 2%. Relative standard deviations were about 2%.Dedicated to Professor Fermin Capitán on his 72th birthday