Polyhydroxybutyrate synthesis in Camelina: Towards coproduction of renewable feedstocks for bioplastics and fuels.

Plant-based co-production of polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) and seed oil has the potential to create a viable domestic source of feedstocks for renewable fuels and plastics. PHAs, a class of biodegradable polyesters, can replace conventional plastics in many applications while providing full degradation in all biologically active environments. Here we report the production of the PHA poly[(R)-3-hydroxybutyrate] (PHB) in the seed cytosol of the emerging bioenergy crop Camelina sativa engineered with a bacterial PHB biosynthetic pathway.

Geometric and electronic structure of a crystallographically characterized thiolate-ligated binuclear peroxo-bridged cobalt(III) complex.

In order to shed light on metal-dependent mechanisms for O-O bond cleavage, and its microscopic reverse, we compare herein the electronic and geometric structures of O-derived binuclear Co(III)- and Mn(III)-peroxo compounds. Binuclear metal peroxo complexes are proposed to form as intermediates during Mn-promoted photosynthetic HO oxidation, and a Co-containing artificial leaf inspired by nature's photosynthetic HO oxidation catalyst. Crystallographic characterization of an extremely activated peroxo is made possible by working with substitution-inert, low-spin Co(III).

The use of an acetoacetyl-CoA synthase in place of a β-ketothiolase enhances poly-3-hydroxybutyrate production in sugarcane mesophyll cells.

Engineering the production of polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) into high biomass bioenergy crops has the potential to provide a sustainable supply of bioplastics and energy from a single plant feedstock. One of the major challenges in engineering C4 plants for the production of poly[(R)-3-hydroxybutyrate] (PHB) is the significantly lower level of polymer produced in the chloroplasts of mesophyll (M) cells compared to bundle sheath (BS) cells, thereby limiting the full PHB yield-potential of the plant. In this study, we provide evidence that the access to substrate for PHB synthesis may limit polymer production in M chloroplasts.

Total synthesis of iejimalide B.

Iejimalide B, a structurally unique 24-membered polyene macrolide having a previously underutilized mode of anticancer activity, was synthesized according to a strategy employing Julia-Kocienski olefinations, a palladium-catalyzed Heck reaction, a palladium-catalyzed Marshall propargylation, a Keck-type esterification, and a palladium-catalyzed macrolide-forming, intramolecular Stille coupling of a highly complex cyclization substrate. The overall synthesis is efficient (19.5% overall yield for 15 linear steps) and allows for more practical scaled-up synthesis than previously reported strategies that differed in the order of assembly of key subunits and in the method of macrocyclization.

Iejimalides A and B inhibit lysosomal vacuolar H+-ATPase (V-ATPase) activity and induce S-phase arrest and apoptosis in MCF-7 cells.

Iejimalides are novel macrolides that are cytostatic or cytotoxic against a wide range of cancer cells at low nanomolar concentrations. A recent study by our laboratory characterized the expression of genes and proteins that determine the downstream effects of iejimalide B. However, little is known about the cellular target(s) of iejimalide or downstream signaling that lead to cell-cycle arrest and/or apoptosis.

Properties of square-pyramidal alkyl-thiolate Fe(III) complexes, including an analogue of the unmodified form of nitrile hydratase.

The syntheses and structures of three new coordinatively unsaturated, monomeric, square-pyramidal thiolate-ligated Fe(III) complexes are described, [Fe(III)((tame-N(3))S(2)(Me2))](+) (1), [Fe(III)(Et-N(2)S(2)(Me2))(py)](1-) (3), and [Fe(III)((tame-N(2)S)S(2)(Me2))](2-) (15). The anionic bis-carboxamide, tris-thiolate N(2)S(3) coordination sphere of 15 is potentially similar to that of the yet-to-be characterized unmodified form of NHase. Comparison of the magnetic and reactivity properties of these reveals how anionic charge build up (from cationic 1 to anionic 3 and dianionic 15) and spin-state influence apical ligand affinity.

Total synthesis of iejimalide B. An application of the Shiina macrolactonization.

The potent anticancer compound iejimalide B (1) was prepared by a total synthesis through a strategy that features Julia olefinations, Wittig olefinations, a Carreira enantioselective alkynylation, a Heck reaction, a Marshall propargylation reaction, a Stille coupling, and a Shiina macrolactonization.

Periodic trends within a series of five-coordinate thiolate-ligated [MII(SMe2N4(tren))]+ (M = Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn) complexes, including a rare example of a stable CuII-thiolate.

A series of five-coordinate thiolate-ligated complexes [M(II)(tren)N4S(Me2)]+ (M = Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn; tren = tris(2-aminoethyl)amine) are reported, and their structural, electronic, and magnetic properties are compared. Isolation of dimeric [Ni(II)(SN4(tren)-RS(dang))]2 ("dang"= dangling, uncoordinated thiolate supported by H bonds), using the less bulky [(tren)N4S](1-) ligand, pointed to the need for gem-dimethyls adjacent to the sulfur to sterically prevent dimerization. All of the gem-dimethyl derivatized complexes are monomeric and, with the exception of [Ni(II)(S(Me2)N4(tren)]+, are isostructural and adopt a tetragonally distorted trigonal bipyramidal geometry favored by ligand constraints.

Synthesis of carbamate derivatives of iejimalides. Retention of normal antiproliferative activity and localization of binding in cancer cells.

The syntheses of six iejimalide carbamate derivatives are described. Their biological activity and those of the unmodified iejimalides A and B against breast and prostate cancer cell lines were determined. These results show that the serine hydroxyl group of iejimalides A and B is a permissive site that can be functionalized to form carbamate derivatives without significant loss of normal biological activity.

Spectroscopy of non-heme iron thiolate complexes: insight into the electronic structure of the low-spin active site of nitrile hydratase.

Detailed spectroscopic and computational studies of the low-spin iron complexes [Fe(III)(S2(Me2)N3 (Pr,Pr))(N3)] (1) and [Fe(III)(S2(Me2)N3 (Pr,Pr))]1+ (2) were performed to investigate the unique electronic features of these species and their relation to the low-spin ferric active sites of nitrile hydratases. Low-temperature UV/vis/NIR and MCD spectra of 1 and 2 reflect electronic structures that are dominated by antibonding interactions of the Fe 3d manifold and the equatorial thiolate S 3p orbitals. The six-coordinate complex 1 exhibits a low-energy S(pi) --> Fe 3d(xy) (approximately 13,000 cm(-1)) charge-transfer transition that results predominantly from the low energy of the singly occupied Fe 3d(xy) orbital, due to pure pi interactions between this acceptor orbital and both thiolate donor ligands in the equatorial plane.

The first example of a nitrile hydratase model complex that reversibly binds nitriles.

Nitrile hydratase (NHase) is an iron-containing metalloenzyme that converts nitriles to amides. The mechanism by which this biochemical reaction occurs is unknown. One mechanism that has been proposed involves nucleophilic attack of an Fe-bound nitrile by water (or hydroxide).

Enhancing reactivity via structural distortion.

To examine how small structural changes influence the reactivity and magnetic properties of biologically relevant metal complexes, the reactivity and magnetic properties of two structurally related five-coordinate Fe(III) thiolate compounds are compared. (Et,Pr)-ligated [Fe(III)(S(2)(Me2)N(3)(Et,Pr))]PF(6) (3) is synthesized via the abstraction of a sulfur from alkyl persulfide ligated [Fe(III)(S(2)(Me2)N(3)(Et,Pr))-S(pers)]PF(6) (2) using PEt(3). (Et,Pr)-3 is structurally related to (Pr,Pr)-ligated [Fe(III)(S(2)(Me2)N(3)(Pr,Pr))]PF(6) (1), a nitrile hydratase model compound previously reported by our group, except it contains one fewer methylene unit in its ligand backbone.