Water Network in the Binding Pocket of Fluorinated BPTI-Trypsin Complexes─Insights from Simulation and Experiment.

Structural waters in the S1 binding pocket of β-trypsin are critical for the stabilization of the complex of β-trypsin with its inhibitor bovine pancreatic trypsin inhibitor (BPTI). The inhibitor strength of BPTI can be modulated by replacing the critical lysine residue at the P1 position by non-natural amino acids. We study BPTI variants in which the critical Lys15 in BPTI has been replaced by α-aminobutyric acid (Abu) and its fluorinated derivatives monofluoroethylglycine (MfeGly), difluoroethylglycine (DfeGly), and trifluoroethylglycine (TfeGly).

Fluorine-induced polarity increases inhibitory activity of BPTI towards chymotrypsin.

Substituting the P position in bovine pancreatic trypsin inhibitor (BPTI) is known to heavily influence its inhibitory activity towards serine proteases. Side-chain fluorinated aliphatic amino acids have been shown to alter numerous properties of peptides and proteins and thus are of interest in the context of BPTI. In our study, we systematically investigated the site-specific incorporation of non-canonical amino acids into BPTI by microwave-assisted solid-phase peptide synthesis (SPPS).

Approaches to Obtaining Fluorinated α-Amino Acids.

Fluorine does not belong to the pool of chemical elements that nature uses to build organic matter. However, chemists have exploited the unique properties of fluorine and produced countless fluoro-organic compounds without which our everyday lives would be unimaginable. The incorporation of fluorine into amino acids established a completely new class of amino acids and their properties, and those of the biopolymers constructed from them are extremely interesting.

Competition of Nucleophilic Aromatic Substitution, σ-Bond Metathesis, and syn Hydrometalation in Titanium(III)-Catalyzed Hydrodefluorination of Arenes.

Several functionalized and non-functionalized perfluoroarenes were catalytically transformed into their para-hydrodefluorinated products by using catalytic amounts of titanocene difluoride and stoichiometric amounts diphenylsilane. Turnover numbers of up to 93 were observed. Solution density functional theory calculations at the M06-2X/TZ(PCM)//M06-2X/TZ(PCM) level of theory provided insight into the mechanism of Ti -catalyzed aromatic hydrodefluorination.