Mechanism for the direct synthesis of tryptophan from indole and serine: a useful NMR technique for the detection of a reactive intermediate in the reaction mixture

The reaction mechanism for the biomimetic synthesis of tryptophan from indole and serine in the presence of Ac₂O in AcOH was investigated. Although the time‐course ¹H‐NMR spectra of the reaction of 5‐methoxyindole with N‐acetylserine were measured in the presence of (CD₃CO)₂O in CD₃CO₂D, the reactive intermediate could not be detected. This reaction was conducted without 5‐methoxyindole in order to elucidate the reactive intermediate, but the intermediate could not be isolated from the reaction mixture. Since the intermediate would be expected to have a very short life time, and therefore be very difficult to detect by conventional analytical methods, the structure of the intermediate was elucidated using a 2D‐NMR technique, diffusion‐ordered spectroscopy (DOSY). Two intermediates were detected and confirmed to be 2‐methyl‐4‐methyleneoxazol‐5(4H)‐one and 2‐methyl‐4‐hydroxymethyloxazol‐5(4H)‐one. The present results demonstrated that DOSY is a powerful tool for the detection of unstable intermediates. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

On the Thermal Degradation of a Novel Epoxy-Based Nanocomposite Cured With Tryptophan as an Environment-Friendly Curing Agent

The thermal degradation kinetics of diglycidyl ether of bisphenol-A (DGEBA) cured with tryptophan (Trp) in the presence of silica nanoparticles (SiNP) was investigated by thermogravimetry analysis. The activation energies of the solid-state decomposition process were evaluated using the advanced isoconversional method. The dependence of conversion (degradation) on the temperature and activation energy was determined allowing the calculation of master plots. The experimental master plots agreed with the first-order (F1) kinetic function for both neat epoxy and nanocomposite in the conversion range of 0.45–0.85. Using the kinetic model and the calculated kinetic parameters, the times at half conversion (α = 0.5) were computed for different degradation temperatures. The kinetic analysis showed that the degradation rate of the epoxy nanocomposite was lower than that of the neat epoxy for conversions between 0.45 and 0.85. Therefore, we concluded that adding SiNP to DGEBA/Trp can improve the thermal stability in the conversion range of 0.45–0.85.     

硫酸锌与L-α-色氨酸配合行为的相化学研究

锌是重要的生命元素 ,L- α-氨基酸是人体蛋白质的基本结构单元。 α-氨基酸锌配合物作为添加剂在药物、食品和化妆品中有广阔的应用前景 [1～ 3 ] 。本文用半微量相平衡方法 [4] 研究了Zn SO4- Try- H2 O体系在 2 5℃的相化学 ,发现该体系中未形成新化合物。合成了未见文献报道的 Zn( Try) 2 固态配合物 ,并研究了它的物理化学性质。1　实验部分1 .1　仪器与试剂恒温槽 (自制 )温度涨落± 0 .0 5℃ ;WZS— 1型阿贝折光仪 (上海实验仪器厂 ) ;ZD— 2型自动电位滴定仪 ;BRUKER EQ UINOX— 550型傅立叶红外分光光度计 ( KBr压片 )…     

Three novel bis(indole) alkaloids from a stony coral, Tubastraea sp.

Three novel bis(indole) alkaloids with an unprecedented skeleton have been isolated from a stony coral, Tubastraea sp. These indoles could biogenetically be derived from two molecules of aplysinopsin via a Diels-Alder reaction.     

Isolation,characterization, and plasmid pUPI126-mediated indole-3-acetic acid production in Acinetobacter strains from rhizosphere of wheat

Thirty-seven strains of Acinetobacter isolated and characterized from rhizosphere of wheat were screened for indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) production. Only eight Acinetobacter strains showed IAA production. The genus Acinetobacter was confirmed by chromosomal DNA transformation assay. Biotyping of eight strains was carried out and they were found to be genospecies of A. junii, A. baumannii, A. genospecies 3, and A. haemolyticus. Five of eight strains produced IAA at the early stationary phase: A. haemolyticus (A19), A. baumannii (A18, A16, A13), and Acinetobacter genospecies 3 (A15). A. junii A6 showed maximum IAA production at log phase and A. genospecies 3 and A. baumannii (A28, A30) at late stationary phase. IAA was extracted by ethyl acetate and purified by preparative thin-layer chromatography. Purified IAA was confirmed by ¹H-nuclear magnetic resonance and infrared spectrum analysis. Pot experiments showed a significant increase in plant growth inoculated with eight Acinetobacter genospecies as compared to control plants. IAA production was found to be encoded by plasmid pUPI126. All eight strains of Acinetobacter contain a plasmid pUPI126 with a molecular weight of 40 kb. Plasmid pUPI126 was transformed into Escherichia coli HB101 at a frequency of 5 × 10⁻⁵, and E. coli HB101 (pUPI126) transformants also showed IAA activity. PUPI126 also encoded resistance to selenium, tellurium, and lead. This is the first report of plasmid-encoded IAA production in the genus Acinetobacter.     

An electron paramagnetic resonance study of the influence of spermine on the photophysical reactions of tryptophan in aqueous solution at 77–200 K

The influence of the antioxidant spermine of the UV-induced formation of free radicals from tryptophan in frozen aqueous solutions was studied by electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) instrumentation, and the stability of the radicals was investigated in the range 95–200 K. Without spermine, the tryptophan cation and neutral tryptophan radical were stabilized at 77 K; cations were formed by electron ejection from an excited singlet state, and neutral radicals by hydrogen donation from tryptophan in the triplet state. When present, spermine trapped the ejected photoelectrons; the rates of the two photoreactions of tryptophan were also influenced by spermine. Firstly, at low tryptophan concentrations, the yield of cations was reduced, due to diminished charge transfer from the excited singlet state to the solvation shell. Secondly, at high concentrations, minute additions of spermine enhanced intersystem crossing (which is quenched, in the absence of spermine, by dimerization) and, consequently, the yield of neutral radicals was increased. At 180 K, the electrons trapped by spermine were released and reacted with molecular oxygen to form the superoxide radical; at 190 K, the tryptophan radicals were thermally annealed.     

Theoretical study of binding of tetramethylammonium ion with aromatics

Ab initio computations including correlation have been performed in a comparative study of complexes of tetramethylammonium (TMA) with benzene, pyrrole, pyridine, and imidazole, using polarized Gaussian basis sets of different accuracies. With the best basis (optimized on molecular polarizabilities), the BSSE-corrected binding energies in the most stable complexes of these four ligands are 9.1, 10.7, 13.3, and 16.3 kcal/mol, respectively, with benzene and pyrrole binding in a plane perpendicular to the TMA axis, and pyridine and imidazole inserting their nitrogen lone pair essentially along the TMA axis. The characteristics of secondary sites of binding of benzene are also determined and the overall results are discussed in connection with the possible role of aromatic amino acids in proteins. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Comput Chem 18 : 2012–2022, 1997     

环糊精流动相添加剂分离色氨酸对映体的薄层色谱法

用β环糊精（β－ＣＤ）作为流动相手性添加剂,在聚酰胺薄膜上分离２,４二硝基苯基色氨酸（ＤＮＰ－Ｔｒｐ）对映体,流动相最佳组成：βＣＤ尿素饱和溶液－甲醇甲酸（９：１：２,Ｖ／Ｖ／Ｖ）,还分离了非对映异构体辛可宁和辛可尼丁以及邻、间、对硝基苯胺。     

高效液相色谱法同时测定血清中的犬尿氨酸和色氨酸

建立了一种能同时检测血清中的犬尿氨酸(kynurenine,Kyn)和色氨酸(tryptophan,Trp)的高效液相色谱-紫外检测法。采用的色谱柱为Symmetry Shield RP-C18柱(150 mm×3.9 mm i.d.,5 μm),流动相为15 mmol/L乙酸钠-乙酸溶液(含2.7%乙腈,pH 3.6),流速为1.0 mL/min,紫外检测波长为225 nm。血清标本经5.0%(体积分数)高氯酸溶液去除蛋白质后取上清液直接进样分析测定。研究结果表明,Kyn保留时间为3.5 min,线性范围为0.098~49 μmol/L,最低检出浓度为0.02 μmol/L,回收率为90.82%~93.45%;Trp保留时间为8.1 min,线性范围为4.9~490 μmol/L,最低检出浓度为0.20 μmol/L,回收率为95.51%~98.67%。Kyn和Trp日内、日间测定的相对标准偏差均小于4%,苯丙氨酸、酪氨酸、5-羟色胺和犬尿喹啉酸等物质对该法均无干扰。该方法简便、快速、稳定、可行,可应用于临床和科研工作。