Maillard Reaction between Leucine and Glucose in O/W Microemulsion Media in Comparison to Aqueous Solution

The Maillard reaction is controlled by temperature, pH, reactant nature (sugars and amino acids), and water activity. We carried out reactions between glucose and leucine in U‐type nonionic microemulsions to obtain regioselectivity and control reaction rates. Reactants were oriented at the interface and water activity was adjusted using blends of surfactant and propylene glycol (PG). U‐type microemulsions, previously studied by us, served as microreactors for the Maillard reaction. The reactions in the microemulsion media were slower than those carried out in aqueous solution and formed unique aroma compounds. Reaction rates increased when using systems richer in water, as the water activity was enhanced. The surfactant plays a key role in determining water activity and reagent reactivity in all the microemulsions. The presence of PG slows the reaction, mainly when it resides at the interface, facilitating the formation of a bicontinuous structure. Phase transitions within the U‐type microemulsions were determined by viscosity and SD‐NMR and were correlated to the interfacial presence of the reactants and their reactivity.     

High quality drug screening by capillary electrophoresis: A review

High quality assays are needed in drug discovery to reduce the high attrition rate of lead compounds during primary screening. Capillary electrophoresis (CE) represents a versatile micro-separation technique for resolution of enzyme-catalyzed reactions, including substrate(s), product(s), cofactor(s) and their stereoisomers, which is needed for reliable characterization of biomolecular interactions in free solution. This review article provides a critical overview of new advances in CE for drug screening over the past five years involving biologically relevant enzymes of therapeutic interest, including transferases, hydrolases, oxidoreductases, and isomerases. The basic principles and major configurations in CE, as well as data processing methods needed for rigorous characterization of enzyme inhibition are described. New developments in functional screening of small molecules that modulate the activity of disease-related enzymes are also discussed. Although inhibition is a widely measured response in most enzyme assays, other important outcomes of ligand interactions on protein structure/function that impact the therapeutic potential of a drug will also be highlighted, such as enzyme stabilization, activation and/or catalytic uncoupling. CE offers a selective platform for drug screening that reduces false-positives while also enabling the analysis of low amounts of complex sample mixtures with minimal sample handling.     

Digital Imaging-based Colourimetry for Enzymatic Processes in Transparent Liquid Marbles

Liquid marbles are a promising microreactor platform that recently attracts significant research interest owing to their ability to accommodate a wide range of micro reactions. However, the use of destructive and ex-situ methods to monitor reactions impairs the potential of liquid-marble-based microreactors. This paper proposes a non-destructive, in situ, and cost-effective digital-imaging-based colourimetric monitoring method for transparent liquid marbles, using the enzymatic hydrolysis of starch as an illustrative example. The colourimetric reaction between starch and iodine produces a complex that exhibits a dark blue colour. We found that the absorbance of red channel of digital images showed a linear relationship with starch concentration with high sensitivity and repeatability. This digital-imaging-based colourimetric method was used to study the hydrolysis of starch by α-amylase. The results show high accuracy and applicability of first-order kinetics for this reaction. The demonstration of digital-imaging-based colourimetry indicates the potential of liquid marble-based microreactors.     

微反应器在合成化学中的应用

微反应器在传质、换热方面具有较明显的优势,可以强化混合和精确控温,还可以大大缩短工艺筛选和工艺放大的周期。 本文着重从液相反应、气相反应和气/液反应3个方面对微反应技术在合成中的应用做了较详细的评述,同时也简略介绍了其在光化学和电化学反应中的应用,并概要介绍了微反应技术现阶段存在的问题。     

Supported palladium catalysis using a heteroleptic 2-methylthiomethylpyridine-N,S-donor motif for Mizoroki-Heck and Suzuki-Miyaura coupling, including continuous organic monolith in capillary microscale flow-through mode

Flow-through catalysis utilising (2-methylthiomethylpyridine)palladium(II) chloride species covalently attached to a macroporous continuous organic polymer monolith synthesised within fused silica capillaries of internal diameter 250 μm is described, together with related studies of ground bulk monolith compared with supported catalysis on Merrifield and Wang beads and homogeneous catalysis under identical conditions to bulk supported catalysis. The monolith substrate, poly(chloromethylstyrene-co-divinylbenzene), has a backbone directly related to Merrifield and Wang resins. The homogeneous precatalyst PdCl₂(L²) (L²=4-(4-benzyloxyphenyl)-2-methylthiomethylpyridine) contains the benzyloxyphenyl group on its periphery as a model for the spacer between the ‘PdCl₂(N∼S)’ centre and the polymer substituent of the resins and monolith. Suzuki-Miyaura and Mizoroki-Heck catalysis exhibit anticipated trends in reactivity with variation of aryl halide reagents for each system, and show that supported catalysis on beads and monolith gives higher yields than for homogeneous catalysis. The synthesis of 2-methylthiomethylpyridines is presented, together with crystal structures of 4-bromo-2-bromomethylpyridine hydrobromide, 4-(4-hydroxyphenyl)-2-methylthiomethylpyridine (L¹), PdCl₂(L¹) and PdCl₂(L²). Hydrogen bonding occurs in 4-bromo-2-bromomethylpyridine hydrobromide as N-H?Br interactions, in 4-(4-hydroxyphenyl)-2-methylthiomethylpyridine as O-H?N to form chains, and in PdCl₂(L¹) as O-H?Cl interactions leading to adjacent π-stacked chains oriented in an antiparallel fashion.     

Novel monolithic enzymatic microreactor based on single-enzyme nanoparticles for highly efficient proteolysis and its application in multidimensional liquid chromatography

In this work, a novel and facile monolithic enzymatic microreactor was prepared in the fused-silica capillary via a two-step procedure including surface acryloylation and in situ aqueous polymerization/immobilization to encapsulate a single enzyme, and its application to fast protein digestion through a direct matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometer (MALDI-TOF-MS) analysis was demonstrated. At first, vinyl groups on the protein surface were generated by a mild acryloylation with N-acryloxysuccinimide in alkali buffer. Then, acryloylated enzyme was encapsulated into polyacrylates by free-radical copolymerization with acrylamide as the monomer, N,N′-methylenebisacrylamide as the cross-linker, and N,N,N′,N′-tetramethylethylenediamine/ammonium persulfate as the initiator. Finally, polymers were immobilized onto the activated inner wall of capillaries via the reaction of vinyl groups. Capability of the enzyme-immobilized monolithic microreactor was demonstrated by myoglobin and bovine serum albumin as model proteins. The digestion products were characterized using MALDI-TOF-MS with sequence coverage of 94% and 29% observed. This microreactor was also applied to the analysis of fractions through two-dimensional separation of weak anion exchange/reversed-phase liquid chromatography of human liver extract. After a database search, 16 unique peptides corresponding to 3 proteins were identified when two RPLC fractions of human liver extract were digested by the microreactor. This opens a route for its future application in top–down proteomic analysis.     

Ultrasonication‐assisted spray ionization‐based micro‐reactors for online monitoring of fast chemical reactions by mass spectrometry

Microfluidics can be used to handle relatively small volumes of samples and to conduct reactions in microliter‐sized volumes. Electrospray ionization can couple microfluidics with mass spectrometry (MS) to monitor chemical reactions online. However, fabricating microfluidic chips is time‐consuming. We herein propose the use of a micro‐reactor that is sustained by two capillaries and an ultrasonicator. The inlets of the capillaries were individually immersed to two different sample vials that were subjected to the ultrasonicator. The tapered outlets of the two capillaries were placed cross with an angle of ~60° close to the inlet of the mass spectrometer to fuse the eluents. On the basis of capillary action and ultrasonication, the samples from the two capillaries can be continuously directed to the capillary outlets and fuse simultaneously to generate gas phase ions for MS analysis through ultrasonication‐assisted spray ionization (UASI). Any electric contact applied on the capillaries is not required. Nevertheless, UASI spray derived from the eluents can readily occur in front of the mass spectrometer. That is, a micro‐reactor was created from the fusing of the eluent containing different reactants from these two UASI capillaries, allowing reactions to be conducted in situ. The solvent in the fused droplets was evaporated quickly, and the product ions could be immediately observed by MS because of the extreme rise in the concentration of the reactants. For proof of concept, pyrazole synthesis reaction and cortisone derivatization by Girard T reagent were selected as the model reactions. The results demonstrated the feasibility of using UASI‐based micro‐reactor for online MS analysis to detect reaction intermediates and products.     

氧化石墨烯基质毛细管电色谱胰蛋白酶微反应器的性能研究

基于石墨烯优良的物化性能,利用层层组装法将氧化石墨烯修饰于石英毛细管内壁,制备了氧化石墨烯基质的毛细管电色谱,通过电渗流、拉曼光谱等对其进行表征。在此基础上,基于离子键合法将胰蛋白酶固定于毛细管电色谱柱头,制备胰蛋白酶微反应器。两者结合构成毛细管电色谱胰蛋白酶微反应器。实验结果显示,氧化石墨烯作为基质既可提高样品的分离效率,还能促进胰蛋白酶的催化性能。氧化石墨烯修饰的毛细管电色谱对N-苯甲酰-L-精氨酸乙酯盐酸盐(BAEE)和N-苯甲酰-L-精氨酸(BA)混合物的分离度从裸毛细管的3.70提升至4.71,而其固定化酶活性(米氏常数K_m=1.10 mmol/L,最大反应速率V_(max)=0.32 mmol·L~(-1)·s~(-1))也明显优于裸毛细管(K_m=109.77 mmol/L,V_(max)=0.000 46 mmol·L~(-1)·s~(-1))。利用所制备的微反应器从10种中药材中筛选胰蛋白酶抑制剂活性成分的药材,结果发现三七和大黄中均存在胰蛋白酶抑制剂活性成分。     

连续流离子聚合

微流场技术因其良好的传质传热性能应用于各种机理的聚合反应中,引起了学术界和工业界的广泛关注。本文聚焦于高度放热的离子聚合,总结了近年来不同单体连续流阴/阳离子聚合的研究进展。微反应器在改善离子聚合苛刻的反应条件、精确地控制聚合产物分子量及其分布、调控共聚物结构等方面显示出釜式反应器无法比拟的优势。此外,本文对连续流离子聚合的工业化应用前景进行了探讨和展望。     

Pigments with improved properties – microreaction technology as a new approach for synthesis of pigments –

Clariant, as an important pigment producer forces the investigation of new pigments with improved qualities and properties to fulfill the rising tomorrow's demands of customers. For these reasons, new production ways like microreaction technology are included. This paper focuses on results obtained in manufacturing pigments in a lab-scale microreactor as well as in a microreactor pilot plant. Investigations of the diazotation, azo-coupling and laking steps of pigments have shown not only the principle feasibility of these reactions in laboratory microreactors but also significant improvement of coloristic properties. The microreactor pilot plant, realized by the concept of numbering-up instead of conventional scaling-up process, allowed more detailed investigations of the complete azo-pigments synthesis under production conditions.