A nanocomposite prepared from FeOOH and N-doped carbon nanosheets as a peroxidase mimic,and its application to enzymatic sensing of glucose in human urine

A method is described for the synthesis of a nanocomposite containing FeOOH and N-doped carbon nanosheets. The nanocomposite was synthesized by a hydrothermal method using a Fe₃O₄/chitosan nanocomposite as the precursor. The nanocomposite displays peroxidase-like activity and catalyzes the oxidation of 3,3′,5,5′-tetramethylbenzidine (TMB) by H₂O₂. This results in the formation of a blue colored product with an absorption maximum at 652 nm in the UV-vis spectra. Based on these findings, colorimetric assays were worked out for both hydrogen peroxide and glucose. The H₂O₂ assay works in the 5 to 19 μM concentration range, and the limit of detection is 5 nM. The glucose assay works in the 8 μM to 0.8 mM concentration range and has a 0.2 μM detection limit. The method was successfully applied to the determination of glucose in human urine.

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Graphical abstract Schematic of the hydrothermal synthesis of a FeOOH/N-doped carbon nanocomposite. It was used to replace peroxidase enzyme for the catalytic oxidation of 3,3′,5,5′-tetramethylbenzidine (TMB) in a visual colorimetric test for glucose in human urine.

     

Total Synthesis and Structural Revision of the Antibiotic Tetrapeptide GE81112A

The total synthesis of the naturally occurring antibiotic GE81112A, a densely functionalized tetrapeptide, is reported. Comparison of spectral data with those of the natural product and the lack of biological activity of the synthesized compound led us to revise the published configuration of the 3‐hydroxypipecolic acid moiety. This hypothesis was fully validated by the synthesis of the corresponding epimer.     

Nido‐Carboranes: Donors for Thermally Activated Delayed Fluorescence

An approach to the design of nido‐carborane‐based luminescent compounds that can exhibit thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) is proposed. 7,8‐Dicarba‐nido‐undecaboranes (nido‐carboranes) having various 8‐R groups (R=H, Me, i‐Pr, Ph) are appended to the meta or para position of the phenyl ring of the dimesitylphenylborane (PhBMes₂) acceptor, forming donor–acceptor compounds (nido‐ m1 – m4 and nido‐ p1 – p4 ). The bulky 8‐R group and meta substitution of the nido‐carborane are essential to attain a highly twisted arrangement between the donor and acceptor moieties, leading to a very small energy splitting between the singlet and triplet excited states (ΔE_ST <0.05 eV for nido‐ m2 , ‐ m3 , and ‐ p3 ). These compounds exhibit efficient TADF with microsecond‐range lifetimes. In particular, nido‐ m2 and ‐ m3 display aggregation‐induced emission (AIE) with TADF properties.     

Total Synthesis of (6R,10R,13R,14R,16R,17R,19S,20R,21R,24S, 25S,28S,30S,32R,33R,34R,36S,37S,39R)‐Azaspiracid‐3 Reveals Non‐Identity with the Natural Product

A convergent and stereoselective total synthesis of the previously assigned structure of azaspiracid‐3 has been achieved by a late‐stage Nozaki–Hiyama–Kishi coupling to form the C21?C22 bond with the C20 configuration unambiguously established from l ‐(+)‐tartaric acid. Postcoupling steps involved oxidation to an ynone, modified Stryker reduction of the alkyne, global deprotection, and oxidation of the resulting C1 primary alcohol to the carboxylic acid. The synthetic product matched naturally occurring azaspiracid‐3 by mass spectrometry, but differed both chromatographically and spectroscopically.     

Glycosyl‐Substituted Dicarboxylates as Detergents for the Extraction,Overstabilization, and Crystallization of Membrane Proteins

To tackle the problems associated with membrane protein (MP) instability in detergent solutions, we designed a series of glycosyl‐substituted dicarboxylate detergents (DCODs) in which we optimized the polar head to clamp the membrane domain by including, on one side, two carboxyl groups that form salt bridges with basic residues abundant at the membrane–cytoplasm interface of MPs and, on the other side, a sugar to form hydrogen bonds. Upon extraction, the DCODs 8 b , 8 c , and 9 b preserved the ATPase function of BmrA, an ATP‐binding cassette pump, much more efficiently than reference or recently designed detergents. The DCODs 8 a , 8 b , 8 f , 9 a , and 9 b induced thermal shifts of 20 to 29 °C for BmrA and of 13 to 21 °C for the native version of the G‐protein‐coupled adenosine receptor A_2AR. Compounds 8 f and 8 g improved the diffraction resolution of BmrA crystals from 6 to 4 Å. DCODs are therefore considered to be promising and powerful tools for the structural biology of MPs.     

A novel reactivity of SeO(2) with 1,3-dienes: formation of syn 1,2- and 1,4-diols via a facile C-Se bond oxidation

[reaction: see text] A novel reaction between 1,3-dienes and selenium dioxide to give syn 1,2- and 1,4-diol cyclic selenites was studied in detail. This study indicates that an initial concerted [4 + 2] cycloaddition followed by a stereospecific carbon-selenium bond oxidation is involved in this unprecedented syn dihydroxy addition reaction mediated by selenium dioxide.     

Commensurate and incommensurate hydrogen bonds. An exercise in crystal engineering.

Ureas characteristically form one-dimensional hydrogen-bonded alpha-networks with a repeat distance of about 4.60 A. Oxamides form similar alpha-networks with a longer 5.05 A repeat distance. The urea of glycine and the oxamide of glycine were each cocrystallized with a series of four bipyridines, including two urea derivatives and two oxamide derivatives. This series of eight cocrystals was studied by X-ray diffraction in order to see what would happen when molecules that would normally form alpha-networks with incommensurate distances were forced into the same crystal. The two all-urea crystals and the two all-oxamide crystals contained the expected alpha-networks with repeat distances in accordance with normal urea or oxamide values. Four of the crystals were mixed, containing both oxamide and urea molecules. Three consisted of two-dimensional beta-networks with alternating parallel urea and oxamide subnetworks. The repeat distances averaged 4.87 A, a value close to the value expected for oxamides, but shorter than any previously observed examples. In the fourth mixed crystal, the urea alpha-network formed with a normal urea repeat distance, but the oxamide network did not form, the oxamide adopting an unusual molecular conformation that maximizes intramolecular hydrogen bonds instead.     

Rational materials design of sorbent coatings for explosives: applications with chemical sensors

A series of chemoselective polymers had been designed and synthesized to enhance the sorption properties of polymer coated chemical sensors for polynitroaromatic analytes. To evaluate the effectiveness of the chemoselective coatings, a polynitroaromatic vapor test bed was utilized to challenge polymer coated surface acoustic wave (SAW) devices with different explosive vapors. Dinitrotoluene detection limits were determined to be in the <100 parts per trillion ranges. ATR-FTIR studies were used to determine the nature of the polymer-polynitroaromatic analyte interactions, and confirm the presence of hydrogen-bonding between polymer pendant groups and the nitro functional groups of polynitroaromatic explosive materials.     

High-frequency (140-GHz) time domain EPR and ENDOR spectroscopy: the tyrosyl radical-diiron cofactor in ribonucleotide reductase from yeast

High-frequency pulsed EPR and ENDOR have been employed to characterize the tyrosyl radical (Y*)-diiron cofactor in the Y2-containing R2 subunit of ribonucleotide reductase (RNR) from yeast. The present work represents the first use of 140-GHz time domain EPR and ENDOR to examine this system and demonstrates the capabilities of the method to elucidate the electronic structure and the chemical environment of protein radicals. Low-temperature spin-echo-detected EPR spectra of yeast Y* reveal an EPR line shape typical of a tyrosyl radical; however, when compared with the EPR spectra of Y* from E. coli RNR, a substantial upfield shift of the g(1)-value is observed. The origin of the shift in g(1) was investigated by 140-GHz (1)H and (2)H pulsed ENDOR experiments of the Y2-containing subunit in protonated and D(2)O-exchanged buffer. (2)H ENDOR spectra and simulations provide unambiguous evidence for one strongly coupled (2)H arising from a bond between the radical and an exchangeable proton of an adjacent residue or a water molecule. Orientation-selective 140-GHz ENDOR spectra indicate the direction of the hydrogen bond with respect to the molecular symmetry axes and the bond length (1.81 A). Finally, we have performed saturation recovery experiments and observed enhanced spin lattice relaxation rates of the Y* above 10 K. At temperatures higher than 20 K, the relaxation rates are isotropic across the EPR line, a phenomenon that we attribute to isotropic exchange interaction between Y* and the first excited paramagnetic state of the diiron cluster adjacent to it. From the activation energy of the rates, we determine the exchange interaction between the two irons of the cluster, J(exc) = -85 cm(-)(1). The relaxation mechanism and the presence of the hydrogen bond are discussed in terms of the differences in the structure of the Y*-diiron cofactor in yeast Y2 and other class I R2s.     

Gas-phase derivatization of [C3H5]+ ions using tandem mass spectrometry methods A13C labelling study

The study of specifically ¹³C-labelled precursors sheds further light on the gas-phase chemistry of allyl and 2-propenyl cations. It is demonstrated that both species are formed from allyl and 2-propenyl bromide upon 70 eV electron impact ionization without skeletal reorganization. Gas-phase derivatization of the [C₃ H₅]⁺ ions with benzene facilitates, as suggested and observed earlier, the distinction of the two isomers using collision-induced dissociation of the Wheland complexes (or isomers thereof). The ¹³C labelling data clearly demonstrate that 64% of allyl cations survive the derivatization while 36% isomerize to 2-phenylpropyl cations; the latter are also formed via the reaction of 2-propenyl cation with benzene, protonation of α-methylstyrene and water loss from protonated 2-phenyl-2-propanol, respectively. Unimolecular loss of C₂H₄ from protonated allylbenzene proceeds via two competing reaction channels: one involves heterolysis of 1-phenylpropyl cations (～30%); the major pathway (～70%), however, involves decomposition via propylene benzenium ions.