In order to synthesize polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons with nonlinear arrangements (angular PAHs), acid-promoted domino cyclizations of 1,1-difluoroalk-1-enes and 1,1-difluoroalka-1,3-dienes were studied. 1,1-Difluoroalkenes, each bearing two aryl substituents, were regioselectively protonated with FSO(3) H⋅SbF(5) to generate fluorine-stabilized carbocations, which readily underwent domino Friedel-Crafts-type cyclizations to give carbocycles based on 6/n/m/6 ring ...

A novel biosensor has been constructed by the electrodeposition of Au-nanoclusters (nano-Au) on poly(3-amino-5-mercapto-1,2,4-triazole) (p-TA) film modified glassy carbon electrode (GCE) and employed for the simultaneous determination of dopamine (DA), ascorbic acid (AA), uric acid (UA) and nitrite (NO(2)(-)). NH(2) and SH groups exposed to the p-TA layer are helpful ...

BACKGROUND: Bioactive compounds are capable of providing health benefits, reducing disease incidence or favoring body functioning. There is a growing search for vegetable oils containing such compounds. This study aimed to characterize the pulp and kernel oils of the Brazilian palm species guariroba (Syagrus oleracea), jerivá (Syagrus romanzoffiana) and macaúba ...

BACKGROUND: Decarboxylation of substituted cinnamic acids is a predominantly followed pathway for obtaining hydroxystyrenes-one of the most extensively explored bioactive compounds in the food and flavor industry (e.g. FEMA GRAS approved 4-vinylguaiacol). For this, mild and green strategies providing good yields with high product selectivity are needed. RESULTS: Two newly ...

Organic compounds were evaluated in March 2010 at 22 stations in Barkley Sound, Vancouver Island Canada and at 66 locations in Puget Sound. Of 37 compounds, 15 were xenobiotics, 8 were determined to have an anthropogenic imprint over natural sources, and 13 were presumed to be of natural or mixed ...

Investigation of basic interactions between the active pharmaceutical compounds and calcium carbonates is of great importance because of the possibility to use the carbonates as a mineral carrier in drug delivery systems. In this study the mode and extent of interactions of salicylic acid and its amino acid derivates, chosen ...

Hydroxyhalofuranones form a group of genotoxic disinfection by-products (DBP) of increasing interest. Among them, mucohalic acids (3,4-dihalo-5-hydroxyfuran-2(5H)-one, MXA) are known mutagens that react with nucleotides, affording etheno, oxaloetheno and halopropenal derivatives. In this work, the alkylation kinetics of mucochloric and mucobromic acids has been studied from both the empirical and ...

The photocatalytic behaviour of a series of ammonium fluoride (NH(4)F)-doped titania (TiO(2)) photocatalysts was investigated in the decomposition of acetic acid in aqueous suspensions and in the gas phase mineralization of acetaldehyde. Very similar photocatalytic activity trends, usually increasing with increasing the calcination temperature for a given nominal dopant amount, ...

The yellow-green alga Trachydiscus minutus (Eustigmatophyceae, Heterocontophyta) was cultivated in a standard medium and under nitrogen- and phosphorus-starvation and its triacylglycerols were analyzed by RP-HPLC/MS-APCI. The molecular species of triacylglycerols included a total of 74 triacylglycerols having at least one polyunsaturated fatty acid. Polyunsaturated triacylglycerols were identified for the first ...

This study was reported on a novel process for fatty acid ethyl esters preparation by transesterification and esterification from renewable low-cost feedstock camellia oil soapstocks and friendly acyl acceptor diethyl carbonate. The main components of product were 83.9% ethyl oleate, 8.9% ethyl palmitate, 4.7% ethyl linoleate and 2.1% ethyl stearate, ...

Porphyromonas gingivalis and Porphyromonas endodontalis, asaccharolytic black-pigmented anaerobes, are predominant pathogens of human chronic and periapical periodontitis, respectively. They incorporate di- and tripeptides from the environment as carbon and energy sources. In the present study we cloned a novel dipeptidyl peptidase (DPP) gene of P. endodontalis ATCC 35406, designated as ...

Microorganisms, such as Pseudomonas putida, utilize specific physical properties of cellular membrane constituents, mainly glycerophospholipids, to (re-)adjust the membrane barrier to environmental stresses. Building a basis for membrane composition/function studies, we inventoried the glycerophospholipids of different Pseudomonas and challenged membranes of growing cells with n-butanol. Using a new high-resolution liquid ...

Metabolite profiling (metabolomics) elucidates changes in biochemical pathways under various conditions, e.g., different nutrition scenarios or compound administration. BASF and metanomics have obtained plasma metabolic profiles of approximately 500 compounds (agrochemicals, chemicals and pharmaceuticals) from 28-day rat studies. With these profiles the establishment of a database (MetaMap(®)Tox) containing specific metabolic ...

This study investigated the effect of d-tyrosine on microbial attachment to hydrophilic glass and hydrophobic polypropylene surfaces. Results showed that d-tyrosine did not influence microbial growth, ATP and substrate utilization, but significantly inhibited the synthesis of autoinducer-2 (AI-2), eDNA and extracellular polysaccharides and proteins, and subsequently reduced microbial attachment onto ...

Bacteria of the genus Dehalococcoides are important members of bioremediation communities because of their ability to detoxify chloroethenes to the benign end product ethene. Genome-enabled studies conducted with Dehalococcoides ethenogenes 195 have revealed that two ATP-binding cassette (ABC)-type amino acid transporters are expressed during its exponential growth stages. In light ...

Three-component coupling of the lithium enolate of t-BuOAc, silyl glyoxylate, and an α,β-unsaturated ketone enables the rapid construction of the trachyspic acid carbon skeleton. A 3,4-disubstituted isoxazole is utilized to mask the C7/C9 dicarbonyl. New enolsilane/nitrile-oxide cycloadditions enable the preparation of various 3,4-disubstituted isoxazoles that are challenging to access by ...

For the first time, haloacetic acids and aromatic acetic acids were extracted from wastewater samples using electromembrane extraction (EME). A thin layer of toluene immobilized on the walls of a polypropylene membrane envelope served as an artificial supported liquid membrane (SLM). The haloacetic acids (HAAs) (chloroacetic acid, dichloroacetic acid, and ...

Thin stillage contains organic and inorganic compounds, some of which may be valuable fermentation co-products. This study describes a thorough analysis of the major solutes present in thin stillage using NMR and HPLC. The concentration of charged and neutral organic compounds in thin stillage was determined by excitation sculpting NMR ...

We carried out full ab initio fragment molecular orbital (FMO) calculations for complexes comprising human neuraminidase-2 (hNEU2) and sialic acid analogues including antiinfluenza drugs zanamivir (Relenza) and oseltamivir (Tamiflu) in order to examine the variation in the observed inhibitory activity toward hNEU2 at the atomic and electronic levels. We recently ...

The unit cell of the title compound, C(7)H(6)O(4)·H(2)O, features four independent formula units; the individual carb-oxy-lic acid mol-ecules themselves are nearly planar (r.m.s. deviations = 0.0189, 0.0334, 0.0356 and 0.0441 Å). Two independent mol-ecules each form two hydrogen bonds by acid-carbonyl O-H⋯O inter-actions and the dimers are also nearly planar (r.m.s. ...

While invertebrates store neutral lipids as their major energy source, little is known about triacylglycerol (TAG) class composition and their differential catabolism in aquatic arthropods. This study focuses on the composition of the main energy source and its catabolism by lipase from the midgut gland (hepatopancreas) of the crustacean Macrobrachium ...

Shikimic acid, the starting material in the commercial synthesis of oseltamivir phosphate (Tamiflu®), was efficiently extracted and isolated from Ginkgo biloba leaves utilizing the ionic liquid 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride ([bmim]Cl), which dissolves cellulose.

Atmospheric aerosols exert an important influence on climate through their effects on stratiform cloud albedo and lifetime and the invigoration of convective storms. Model calculations suggest that almost half of the global cloud condensation nuclei in the atmospheric boundary layer may originate from the nucleation of aerosols from trace condensable ...

We describe in this article a process with which to obtain different ketones related to oleanolic and ursolic acids from a natural source, Salvia canariensis L., with minimal use of chromatography columns. Amongst the isolated compounds was 12α-bromo-3-oxo-olean-13, 28-olide (3), which was fully characterised, including a characterisation of its molecular ...

1H and variable temperature 15N NMR techniques have been used to study the effect of a gradual alumination of SBA-15 on the structure and adsorption properties of this mesoporous material. The interpretation of experimental spectra suggests that aluminum chlorhydrol most effectively reacts with silica surface in a confined geometry of ...

Despite their importance as potent odors that contribute to the aroma of numerous cheeses, S-methyl thioesters formation pathways have not been fully established yet. In a first part of our work, we demonstrated that Brevibacterium antiquum and Brevibacterium aurantiacum could produce S-methyl thioesters using short-chain fatty acids or branched-chain amino ...

Indolizidine alkaloids have attracted considerable attention because of their vast array of structural diversity and varied biological activity. This article relates the results that we obtained in the field of the total synthesis of indolizidines from α-amino acids, based on the rhodium-catalyzed hydroformylation of N-allylpyrroles intermediates. The formed pyrrolylbutanals undergo ...

Gamma linolenic acid (GLA; C18:3Δ6,9,12 cis), also known as γ-Linolenic acid, is an important essential fatty acid precursor for the synthesis of very long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids and important pathways involved in human health. GLA is synthesized from linoleic acid (LA; C18:2Δ9,12 cis) by endoplasmic reticulum associated Δ6-desaturase activity. ...

Fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH) is an integral membrane serine hydrolase responsible for the degradation of fatty acid amide signaling molecules such as endocannabinoid anandamide (AEA), which has been shown to possess cannabinoid-like analgesic properties. Herein we report the optimization of spirocyclic 7-azaspiro[3.5]nonane and 1-oxa-8-azaspiro[4.5]decane urea covalent inhibitors of FAAH. ...

The cyclization of N-Boc-α-alkylserines to corresponding β-lactones under Mitsunobu reaction conditions and the ring opening with heterocyclic amines (pyrrolidine, piperidine, morpholine and thiomorpholine) produced N-Boc-α-alkyl-β-(sec-amino)alanines. The removal of the Boc group gives di-hydrochlorides of non-protein amino acids.

In mammals, the GCN2/ATF4 pathway has been described as the main pathway involved in the regulation of gene expression upon amino acid limitation. This regulation is notably conferred by the presence of a cis-element called Amino Acid Response Element (AARE) in the promoter of specific genes. In vivo, the notion ...

In this work, a sensitive label-free impedimetric hCG-immunosensor was constructed by using a commercial screen-printing carbon ink electrode (namely disposable electrochemical printed chip) as the basis. The carbon ink electrode of DEP chip is modified first by deposition of polypyrrole-pyrole-2-carboxylic acid copolymer and thence hCG antibody immobilization via the COOH ...

A new catalyst, H(3)PO(4)/MoO(3)/SiO(2), was prepared by modification of MoO(3)/SiO(2) using phosphoric acid. The characterization of the catalyst was performed using Infrared and Raman Spectroscopy, potentiometric titration and nitrogen adsorption-desorption methods. Molybdenum oxides were identified along with phosphomolybdic acid and polymolybdates on the modified surface. The suitability of the catalysts ...

Catalyzed by DBU or DBN, 2-acetoxy benzofuranones and 2-acetoxy-N-Tos indolin-3-ones, were readily prepared from o-acyl phenols and o-acyl anilines, respectively, reacted with H(2)O or a range of amines to afford o-OH and o-NH-Tos benzoic acids or benzoamides in moderate to excellent yields.

Enabled by the broad scope of the Pd-catalyzed asymmetric alkylation of meso- and d,l-divinylethylene carbonate, several chiral diene ligands were prepared in two steps from commercial materials. Subsequently, these ligands were evaluated in the Rh-catalyzed asymmetric conjugate addition of boronic acids to enones.

Advanced (long-chain) fuels and chemicals are generated from short-chain metabolic intermediates through pathways that require carbon-chain elongation. The condensation reactions mediating this carbon-carbon bond formation can be catalysed by enzymes from the thiolase superfamily, including β-ketoacyl-acyl-carrier protein (ACP) synthases, polyketide synthases, 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA synthases, and biosynthetic thiolases. Pathways involving these enzymes ...

Rice hull hydrolysate was used as feedstock for microbial lipids production using the oleaginous fungus Mortierella isabellina. Kinetic experiments were conducted in C/N ratios 35, 44 and 57 and the oil accumulation into fungal biomass was 36%, 51.2% and 64.3%, respectively. A detailed mathematical model was used in order to ...

Compound-specific carbon isotope analysis of acetic acid is useful for origin discrimination and quality control of vinegar. Intramolecular carbon isotope distributions, which are each carbon isotope ratios of the methyl and carboxyl carbons in acetic acid molecule, may be required to obtain more detailed information to discriminate such origin. In ...

Neutral lipid from activated sludge (AS) as a potential source for biodiesel production has recently received considerable attentions. The utilization of useful compounds in AS may help reducing the cost of biodiesel production from AS. One of these compounds is the valuable wax esters (WEs) found in AS from a ...

The transesterification of soybean oil with methanol was carried out, to produce biodiesel, over silica-bonded N-propyl sulfamic acid in a heterogeneous manner. Results showed that a maximum conversion of 90.5% was achieved using a 1:20M ratio of soybean oil to methanol and a catalyst amount of 7.5wt.% at 423K for ...

Carbonaceous meteorites deliver a variety of organic compounds to Earth that may have played a role in the origin and/or evolution of biochemical pathways. Some apparently ancient and critical metabolic processes require several compounds, some of which are relatively labile such as keto acids. Therefore, a prebiotic setting for any ...

Neoculin, a sweet protein found in the fruit of Curculigo latifolia, has the ability to change sourness into sweetness. Neoculin turns drinking water sweet, indicating that non-acidic compounds may induce the sweetness. We report that ammonium chloride and certain amino acids elicit the intense sweetness of neoculin. Neoculin can thus ...

The extremophilic microalga Chlamydomonas acidophila inhabits very acidic waters (pH 2-3.5), where its growth is often limited by phosphorus (P) or colimited by P and inorganic carbon (CO(2)). Because this alga is a major food source for predators in acidic habitats, we studied its fatty acid content, which reflects their ...

  Fish sauce is an ingredient that exhibits unique flavor and is widely used by people in Southeast Asia. Fish sauce, however, contains a significant amount of salt (sodium chloride). Recently, electrodialysis (ED) has been successfully applied to reduce salt in fish sauce; however, no information is available on the ...

Microbial conversions of the unsaturated fatty acids often generate polyhydroxy fatty acids rendering them to have new properties such as higher viscosity and reactivity. A bacterial strain Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PR3) has been intensively studied to produce mono-, di-, and tri-hydroxy fatty acids from different 9-cis-monoenoic fatty acids such as oleic ...

The present work describes sensing application of modified TiO2 nanotubes having carbon-Pt nanoparticles for simultaneous detection of dopamine and uric acid. The TiO2 nanotubes electrode was prepared using anodizing method, followed by electrodeposition of Pt nanoparticles onto the tubes. Carbon was deposited by decomposition of polyethylene glycol in a tube ...

Efficient ligninolytic systems of wood-degrading fungi include not only oxidizing enzymes, but also low-molecular-weight effectors. The ability of Bjerkandera fumosa to secrete oxalic acid and versatile peroxidase (VP) in nitrogen-rich and nitrogen-limited media was studied. Higher activity of VP was determined in the nitrogen-limited media but greater concentration of oxalic ...

A new type of chiral beta-amino acid catalyst has been designed computationally mimicking the enzyme catalysis of serine proteases. Our catalyst approach is based on the bio-inspired catalytic acid-base dyad, namely carboxyl and imidazole pair. DFT calculations predict that this designed organocatalyst catalyzes Michael additions of aldehydes to nitroalkenes with ...

Most studies of linoleic acid biohydrogenation propose that it converts to stearic acid through the production of cis-9 trans-11 CLA and trans-11 C18:1. However, several other CLA have been identified in ruminai contents, suggesting additional pathways may exist. To explore this possibility, this research investigated the linoleic acid biohydrogenation pathway ...

A Gram-negative, aerobic, pink-pigmented, rod-shaped bacterium Chthonomonas calidirosea (strain T49(T)) with an optimal temperature for growth of 68 °C, isolated from soil samples from Hell's Gate in the Tikitere geothermal system (New Zealand), was the first cultivated bacterium of the novel phylum Armatimonadetes (formerly candidate division OP10). The lipid composition of ...