Impact of whey protein hydrolysates on the formation of 2,5-dimethylpyrazine in baked food products.

Peptides have been reported to serve as precursors in the generation of alkylpyrazines, key aroma compounds in heated foods. Most previous studies, concerned with the generation of pyrazines via the Maillard reaction, were conducted using model systems of varying complexities. However, the formation of pyrazines in real food systems has received less attention.

The synthesis and in vitro biological evaluation of novel fluorinated tetrahydrobenzo[j]phenanthridine-7,12-diones against Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

Tuberculosis (TB) still has a major impact on public health. In order to efficiently eradicate this life-threatening disease, the exploration of novel anti-TB drugs is of paramount importance. As part of our program to design new 2-azaanthraquinones with anti-mycobacterial activity, various "out-of-plane" tetrahydro- and octahydrobenzo[j]phenanthridinediones were synthesized.

Cocoa-specific flavor components and their peptide precursors.

Essential precursors of the cocoa-specific roasting-flavor notes were formed during proteolysis of the cocoa vicilin-class(7S) globulin by a mixture of cocoa aspartic protease and carboxypeptidase. These could be partially purified by ligand-exchange chromatography. Many constituents of this peptide fraction were destroyed by post-treatment with pepsin, but the cocoa-specific flavor-precursor peptides were largely resistant against pepsin treatment.

N-Acyl Homoserine Lactone Derived Tetramic Acids Impair Photosynthesis in Phaeodactylum tricornutum.

Marine bacteria contribute substantially to nutrient cycling in the oceans and can engage in close interactions with microalgae. Many microalgae harbor characteristic satellite bacteria, many of which participate in N-acyl homoserine lactone (AHL) mediated quorum sensing. In the diffusion-controlled phycosphere, AHLs can reach high local concentrations, with some of them transforming into tetramic acids, compounds with a broad bioactivity.

Impact of different enzymatic hydrolysates of whey protein on the formation of pyrazines in Maillard model systems.

The generation of pyrazines in model systems containing enzymatically hydrolyzed whey protein under dry heating conditions was studied. Pyrazines are important Maillard flavor compounds. Hydrolysates, obtained with different peptidases (pepsine, chymosine, thermolysin and a non-specific peptidase from Aspergillus melleus), contained a varying peptide profile and free amino acid content.

Synthesis of 1,4-Oxazepane-2,5-diones via Cyclization of Rotationally Restricted Amino Acid Precursors and Structural Reassignment of Serratin.

Several natural products containing a 1,4-oxazepane-2,5-dione-core are known. One example is serratin, isolated from Serratia marcescens. Because of the presence of a carboxylic amide, which has a preference for a trans-conformation, and the presence of a labile lactone in this core, many synthetic methodologies commonly used for the cyclization toward medium-sized heterocycles cannot be applied.

The Chemical Route to a Carbon Dioxide Neutral World.

Excessive CO emissions in the atmosphere from anthropogenic activity can be divided into point sources and diffuse sources. The capture of CO from flue gases of large industrial installations and its conversion into fuels and chemicals with fast catalytic processes seems technically possible. Some emerging technologies are already being demonstrated on an industrial scale.

Detection and Toxicity Evaluation of Pyrrolizidine Alkaloids in Medicinal Plants Gynura bicolor and Gynura divaricata Collected from Different Chinese Locations.

Two edible plants in Southeast Asia, Gynura bicolor and G. divaricata, are not only known to be nutritive but also useful as medicinal herbs. Previous phytochemical investigation of Gynura species showed the presence of hepatotoxic pyrrolizidine alkaloids (PAs), indicating the toxic risk of using these two plants.

Lithium Halomethylcarbenoids: Preparation and Use in the Homologation of Carbon Electrophiles.

α-Halomethyllithium carbenoids are useful homologating reagents which - reacting under proper reaction conditions as carbanions - enable the installation via nucleophilic addition of a reactive halomethyl fragment onto a preformed carbon-heteroatom bond. The pronounced thermolability represented - since seminal studies by Köbrich - the Achilles' heel of these reagents: the use of Barbier-type methodologies (i.e.

The use of gas chromatography-mass spectrometry/combustion/isotope ratio mass spectrometry to demonstrate progesterone treatment in bovines.

Currently, no analytical method is available to demonstrate progesterone administration in biological samples collected in rearing animals, and therefore, tracking the abuse of this popular growth promoter is arduous. In this study, a method is presented to reveal progesterone (PG) treatment on the basis of carbon isotope measurement of 5β-pregnane-3α, 20α-diol (BAA-PD), a major PG metabolite excreted in bovine urine, by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry/combustion/isotope ratio mass spectrometry (GC-MS/C/IRMS). 5-Androstene-3β,17α-diol (AEdiol) is used as endogenous reference compound.

LiAlH4 -Induced Selective Ring Rearrangement of 2-(2-Cyanoethyl)aziridines toward 2-(Aminomethyl)pyrrolidines and 3-Aminopiperidines as Eligible Heterocyclic Building Blocks.

2-(2-Cyanoethyl)aziridines and 2-aryl-3-(2-cyanoethyl)aziridines were deployed as substrates for an In(OTf)3 -mediated regio- and stereoselective ring rearrangement upon treatment with LiAlH4, affording a variety of novel 2-(aminomethyl)pyrrolidines and 3-aminopiperidines, respectively. Further synthetic elaboration of the obtained 3-aminopiperidines resulted in the formation of a peculiar and unexplored conformationally constrained imidazolidinone and diketopiperazine scaffold.

Simultaneous Detection of Androgen and Estrogen Abuse in Breeding Animals by Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry/Combustion/Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS/C/IRMS) Evaluated against Alternative Methods.

The administration of synthetic homologues of naturally occurring steroids can be demonstrated by measuring (13)C/(12)C isotopic ratios of their urinary metabolites. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry/combustion/isotope ratio mass spectrometry (GC-MS/C/IRMS) was used in this study to appraise in a global approach isotopic deviations of two 17β-testosterone metabolites (17α-testosterone and etiocholanolone) and one 17β-estradiol metabolite (17α-estradiol) together with those of 5-androstene-3β,17α-diol as endogenous reference compound (ERC). Intermediate precisions of 0.

Influence of Free Amino Acids, Oligopeptides, and Polypeptides on the Formation of Pyrazines in Maillard Model Systems.

Pyrazines are specific Maillard reaction compounds known to contribute to the unique aroma of many products. Most studies concerning the generation of pyrazines in the Maillard reaction have focused on amino acids, while little information is available on the impact of peptides and proteins. The present study investigated the generation of pyrazines in model systems containing whey protein, hydrolyzed whey protein, amino acids, and glucose.

Natural flavonoids as potential herbal medication for the treatment of diabetes mellitus and its complications.

Diabetes mellitus, together with its various complications, is becoming a serious threat to human health. Natural products are secondary metabolites widely distributed in plants, having a broad range of biological activities. The development of antidiabetic medication from natural products, especially those originating from plants with a traceable folk-usage history in treating diabetes, is receiving more attention.

Synthesis of 2-Fluoro-1,4-benzoxazines and 2-Fluoro-1,4-benzoxazepin-5-ones by Exploring the Nucleophilic Vinylic Substitution (S(N)V) Reaction of gem-Difluoroenamides.

N-Benzoyl β,β-difluoroenamides and N-benzoyl fluoroynamides are novel structural units which have been explored as precursors in heterocyclic synthesis. The presence of two fluorine atoms at the β-position of the enamide moiety endows unique electrophilic reactivity. Treatment of these enamides with oxygen nucleophiles gives rise to a nucleophilic vinylic substitution (S(N)V) reaction, which was directed toward 2-fluoro-1,4-benzoxazines and 2-fluoro-1,4-benzoxazepin-5-ones.

cis-Cyclopropylamines as mechanism-based inhibitors of monoamine oxidases.

Cyclopropylamines, inhibitors of monoamine oxidases (MAO) and lysine-specific demethylase (LSD1), provide a useful structural scaffold for the design of mechanism-based inhibitors for treatment of depression and cancer. For new compounds with the less common cis relationship and with an alkoxy substituent at the 2-position of the cyclopropyl ring, the apparent affinity determined from docking experiments revealed little difference between the enantiomers. Using the racemate, kinetic parameters for the reversible and irreversible inhibition of MAO were determined.

Profiling and elucidation of the phenolic compounds in the aerial parts of Gynura bicolor and G. divaricata collected from different Chinese origins.

Gynura bicolor and G. divaricata are not only known to be nutritive as cultured vegetables, but also beneficial as folk medicines in East Asia. As demonstrated by the current phytochemical knowledge, the genus Gynura is a promising source of phenolics with multiple medicinal activities.

Synthesis and biological evaluation of novel N-α-haloacylated homoserine lactones as quorum sensing modulators.

Novel N-α-haloacylated homoserine lactones, in which a halogen atom was introduced at the α-position of the carbonyl function of the N-acyl chain, have been studied as quorum sensing (QS) modulators and compared with a library of natural N-acylated homoserine lactones (AHLs). The series of novel analogues consists of α-chloro, α-bromo and α-iodo AHL analogues. Furthermore, the biological QS activity of the synthetic AHL analogues compared to the natural AHLs was evaluated.

New short and general synthesis of three key Maillard flavour compounds: 2-Acetyl-1-pyrroline, 6-acetyl-1,2,3,4-tetrahydropyridine and 5-acetyl-2,3-dihydro-4H-1,4-thiazine.

A new general synthetic route towards three key Maillard flavour compounds, namely 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline, 6-acetyl-1,2,3,4-tetrahydropyridine and 5-acetyl-2,3-dihydro-4H-1,4-thiazine, was developed. The key step in the process is the methylenation reaction of azaheterocyclic carboxylic esters by means of dimethyltitanocene, giving rise to intermediate vinyl ethers which can be considered as excellent and stable precursors for the title compounds, as a simple acidic treatment of these precursors suffices to release the characteristic Maillard flavours.

Caffeoylquinic acid derivatives isolated from the aerial parts of Gynura divaricata and their yeast α-glucosidase and PTP1B inhibitory activity.

The phytochemical investigation of natural products of Gynura divaricata led to the isolation of eleven caffeoylquinic acid derivatives. They were characterized by spectrometric methods as 5-O-caffeoylquinic acid (1), 5-O-p-coumaroylquinic acid (2), 5-O-feruloylquinic acid (3), methyl 5-O-caffeoylquinate (4), 3,4-dicaffeoylquinic acid (5), 3,5-dicaffeoylquinic acid (6), 4,5-dicaffeoylquinic acid (7), methyl 3,4-dicaffeoylquinate (8), methyl 3,5-dicaffeoylquinate (9), methyl 4,5-dicaffeoylquinate (10) and ethyl 4,5-dicaffeoylquinate (11). The individual compounds were screened for the inhibition of yeast α-glucosidase and Protein Tyrosine Phosphatase 1B (PTP1B) using in vitro assays.

Selective synthesis of cis- and trans-2-(methyl/phenyl)-3-(trifluoromethyl)aziridines and their regio- and stereospecific ring opening.

A convenient and stereoselective approach toward cis- and trans-1-alkyl-2-(methyl/phenyl)-3-(trifluoromethyl)aziridines was developed starting from the corresponding α,α,α-trifluoroketones via imination, α-chlorination, and hydride-induced ring closure. The reactivity of these newly synthesized nonactivated α-CF3-aziridines was evaluated by applying N-protonation or N-alkylation to effect regio- and stereospecific aziridine ring opening by oxygen, halogen, sulfur, and nitrogen nucleophiles. Furthermore, nonactivated α-CF3-aziridines were easily transformed into their activated analogues by replacing the N-benzyl protecting group with a N-tosyl group, rendering these α-CF3-aziridines much more susceptible to nucleophilic ring opening.

Asymmetric synthesis of chloroisothreonine derivatives via syn-stereoselective Mannich-type additions across N-sulfinyl-α-chloroimines.

Mannich-type reactions of O-Boc glycolic esters across chiral N-sulfinyl-α-chloroaldimines resulted in the efficient and syn-stereoselective synthesis of new γ-chloro-α-hydroxy-β-amino esters (dr > 99 : 1). The α-coordinating ability of the chlorine atom was of great importance for the diastereoselectivity of the Mannich-type reaction and overruled the chelation of the sulfinyl oxygen with the lithium ion of the incoming E-enolate in the transition state model. These novel chloroisothreonine derivatives proved to be excellent building blocks in asymmetric synthesis of novel syn-β,γ-aziridino-α-hydroxy esters and biologically relevant trans-oxazolidinone carboxylic esters.

2,4-Dialkyl-8,9,10,11-tetrahydrobenzo[g]pyrimido[4,5-c]isoquinoline-1,3,7,12(2H,4H)-tetraones as new leads against Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

Given the re-emergence of tuberculosis in Europe and beyond, the search for novel bio-active compound classes against this disease is of utmost importance. As a result of a high intrinsic tolerance of the etiological agent, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, towards most antibiotics and xenobiotics, the search for such new compounds is far from trivial. Further exacerbated by the rapid generation and spread of drug resistant M.