Search results for "Catalysis"
showing 10 items of 5944 documents
More than a Confinement: “Soft” and “Hard” Enzyme Entrapment Modulates Biological Catalyst Function
2019
Catalysis makes chemical and biochemical reactions kinetically accessible. From a technological point of view, organic, inorganic, and biochemical catalysis is relevant for several applications, from industrial synthesis to biomedical, material, and food sciences. A heterogeneous catalyst, i.e., a catalyst confined in a different phase with respect to the reagents’ phase, requires either its physical confinement in an immobilization matrix or its physical adsorption on a surface. In this review, we will focus on the immobilization of biological catalysts, i.e., enzymes, by comparing hard and soft immobilization matrices and their effect on the modulation of the catalysts’ function. Indeed, …
Mechanism of sulfur transfer across protein-protein interfaces: The cysteine desulfurase model system
2016
CsdA cysteine desulfurase (the sulfur donor) and the CsdE sulfur acceptor are involved in biological sulfur trafficking and in iron-sulfur cluster assembly in the model bacterium Escherichia coli. CsdA and CsdE form a stable complex through a polar interface that includes CsdA Cys328 and CsdE Cys61, the two residues known to be involved in the sulfur transfer reaction. Although mechanisms for the transfer of a sulfur moiety across protein-protein interfaces have been proposed based on the IscS-IscU and IscS-TusA structures, the flexibility of the catalytic cysteine loops involved has precluded a high resolution view of the active-site geometry and chemical environment for sulfur transfer. H…
Structural Origin of Metal Specificity in Isatin Hydrolase from Labrenzia aggregata Investigated by Computer Simulations.
2017
We performed quantum-chemical calculations, ab initio molecular dynamics, hybrid quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics (QM/MM) and enhanced sampling metadynamics simulations to investigate the origin of metal specificity in isatin hydrolase from Labrenzia aggregata. The peculiar octahedral binding geometry of the Mn2+ ion in the Michaelis complex includes both the isatin substrate and the catalytic water within the first coordination shell of the cation. Our calculations show that the same arrangement of the ligands cannot be efficiently achieved in the presence of other small divalent metal cations such as Zn2+ or Cu2+ . On the contrary, bulkier alkaline-earth cations such as Mg2+ , which …
Nitrated Fatty Acids Modulate the Physical Properties of Model Membranes and the Structure of Transmembrane Proteins
2017
Nitrated fatty acids (NO2 -FAs) act as anti-inflammatory signal mediators, albeit the molecular mechanisms behind NO2 -FAs' influence on diverse metabolic and signaling pathways in inflamed tissues are essentially elusive. Here, we combine fluorescence measurements with surface-specific sum frequency generation vibrational spectroscopy and coarse-grained computer simulations to demonstrate that NO2 -FAs alter lipid organization by accumulation at the membrane-water interface. As the function of membrane proteins strongly depends on both, protein structure as well as membrane properties, we consecutively follow the structural dynamics of an integral membrane protein in presence of NO2 -FAs. …
Asymmetric [N–I–N]+halonium complexes in solution?
2020
Assessment of the solution equilibria of [bis(pyridine)iodine(I)]+ complexes by ESI-MS and NMR reveals the preference of iodine(I) to form complexes with a more basic pyridine. Mixtures of symmetric [bis(pyridine)iodine(I)]+ complexes undergo statistical ligand exchange, with a predominant entropic driving force favoring asymmetric systems. The influence of ligand basicity, concentration, temperature, and ligand composition is evaluated. Our findings are expected to facilitate the investigations, and the supramolecular and synthetic applications of halonium ions’ halogen bonds. peerReviewed
Self-Assembled Molecular Rafts at Liquid|Liquid Interfaces for Four-Electron Oxygen Reduction
2011
The self-assembly of the oppositely charged water-soluble porphyrins, cobalt tetramethylpyridinium porphyrin (CoTMPyP(4+)) and cobalt tetrasulphonatophenyl porphyrin (CoTPPS(4-)), at the interface with an organic solvent to form molecular "rafts", provides an excellent catalyst to perform the interfacial four-electron reduction of oxygen by lipophilic electron donors such as tetrathiafulvalene (TTF). The catalytic activity and selectivity of the self-assembled catalyst toward the four-electron pathway was found to be as good as that of the Pacman type cofacial cobalt porphyrins. The assembly has been characterized by UV-visible spectroscopy, Surface Second Harmonic Generation, and Scanning …
Dual stereocontrolled alkylation of aldehydes with polystyrene-supported nickel complexes derived from α-amino amides
2015
Nickel(II) complexes derived from α-amino amide ligands anchored to gel-type and monolithic polymers act as efficient catalysts for the enantioselective addition of dialkylzinc reagents to aldehydes. Similar to the analogous homogeneous systems, dual stereocontrol in addition products can be achieved by controlling the stoichiometry of the immobilized nickel complex. Aromatic and aliphatic aldehydes were alkylated in good yields with enantioselectivities comparable to those obtained with the homogeneous analogues. These polymer-supported catalysts offer significant advantages as no metal leaching is observed and they can be easily recovered from the reaction mixture by simple filtration and…
Total oxidation of propane in vanadia-promoted platinum-alumina catalysts: Influence of the order of impregnation
2015
Differently prepared vanadium promoted Pt/alumina catalysts have been prepared, characterized and tested for propane total oxidation. V-promoted Pt/Al2O3 catalysts have shown remarkably higher catalytic activity than V-free Pt/Al2O3 catalyst. Among V-promoted Pt catalysts that prepared by coimpregnation gave the highest alkane conversions in the whole range of reaction temperatures studied. Factors such as Pt particle size or the oxidation state of platinum do not seem to be the responsible for the enhanced performance. Modification of the redox properties of the catalyst (i.e. high reducibility of vanadium species) likely provoked by the close contact between platinum particles and vanadiu…
Cytochrome-P450 phosphorylation as a functional switch
2002
Xenobiotic metabolizing cytochromes P450 (CYP) were shown to be phosphorylated in vitro (using purified protein kinases together with purified CYPs), in intact cells (in V79 cells after transfection of cDNAs coding for individual CYPs, in diagnostic mutants, in hepatocytes), and in whole organisms (rats). CYP phosphorylation is highly isoenzyme selective in that only some CYPs are phosphorylated. Protein kinase A (PKA) was identified as a major catalyst for the phosphorylation of CYPs. The PKA recognition motif Arg-Arg-X-Ser is present in several members of the CYP2 family, but is used by only some of them, most notably by CYP2B1/2B2 and CYP2E1. For CYP2B1 it was shown that a substantial po…
Potent affinity material for tracing acetone and related analytes based on molecular recognition by halogen bonds.
2014
Affinity materials based on halogen bonds turned out to be a powerful tool for the molecular recognition of acetone or related carbonyl compounds in the presence of ubiquitous protic molecules. The superior selectivity and sensitivity were found by the gravimetric detection of volatile organic compounds by quartz crystal microbalances.