A Role in 15-Deacetylcalonectrin Acetylation in the Non-Enzymatic Cyclization of an Earlier Bicyclic Intermediate in Fusarium Trichothecene Biosynthesis.

The trichothecene biosynthesis in Fusarium begins with the cyclization of farnesyl pyrophosphate to trichodiene, followed by subsequent oxygenation to isotrichotriol. This initial bicyclic intermediate is further cyclized to isotrichodermol (ITDmol), a tricyclic precursor with a toxic trichothecene skeleton. Although the first cyclization and subsequent oxygenation are catalyzed by enzymes encoded by Tri5 and Tri4, the second cyclization occurs non-enzymatically. Following ITDmol formation, the enzymes encoded by Tri101, Tri11, Tri3, and Tri1 catalyze 3-O-acetylation, 15-hydroxylation, 15-O-acetylation, and A-ring oxygenation, respectively. In this study, we extensively analyzed the metabolites of the corresponding pathway-blocked mutants of Fusarium graminearum. The disruption of these Tri genes, except Tri3, led to the accumulation of tricyclic trichothecenes as the main products: ITDmol due to Tri101 disruption; a mixture of isotrichodermin (ITD), 7-hydroxyisotrichodermin (7-HIT), and 8-hydroxyisotrichodermin (8-HIT) due to Tri11 disruption; and a mixture of calonectrin and 3-deacetylcalonectrin due to Tri1 disruption. However, the ΔFgtri3 mutant accumulated substantial amounts of bicyclic metabolites, isotrichotriol and trichotriol, in addition to tricyclic 15-deacetylcalonectrin (15-deCAL). The ΔFgtri5ΔFgtri3 double gene disruptant transformed ITD into 7-HIT, 8-HIT, and 15-deCAL. The deletion of FgTri3 and overexpression of Tri6 and Tri10 trichothecene regulatory genes did not result in the accumulation of 15-deCAL in the transgenic strain. Thus, the absence of Tri3p and/or the presence of a small amount of 15-deCAL adversely affected the non-enzymatic second cyclization and C-15 hydroxylation steps.

Isolation and Structural Determination of a Hexacoordinated Antimony(V) Dication.

Invited for the cover of this issue are Masato Sakabe and Soichi Sato at Tokyo Metropolitan University. The image depicts the new hexacoordinated dicationic antimony species reported in this work. Read the full text of the article at 10.1002/chem.202004659.

Isolation and Structural Determination of a Hexacoordinated Antimony(V) Dication.

The hexacoordinated antimony(V) dication [(ppy)3 Sb]2+ ([1]2+ ; ppy=2-(2-pyridyl)phenyl), stabilized by three intramolecular donor-acceptor interactions, has been isolated as its hexachloroantimonate salt [1][SbCl6 ]2 , prepared by the oxidative addition of chlorine to the neutral stibine [(ppy)3 Sb] (1), followed by the abstraction of chloride. Air-stable [1][SbCl6 ]2 exhibits remarkable thermal stability and the three ppy ligands on the antimony atom are shown to be magnetically inequivalent in the 1 H and 13 C NMR spectra. A hexacoordinated, meridional octahedral bonding geometry has been determined for [1][SbCl6 ]2 by X-ray crystallographic analysis. Theoretical calculations were performed to investigate why the meridional form was generated preferentially over the facial form. In addition, the dynamics of the ppy ligands were investigated by variable-temperature 1 H NMR spectroscopy. The potential to generate dications by using a single-electron-transfer reagent has also been investigated. The dication [1]2+ is the first [12-Sb-6]2+ chemical species to have been structurally determined.

Evaluation of plutonium(IV) extraction rate between nitric acid and tri-n-butylphosphate solution using a glass chip microchannel.

Extraction of Pu(IV) with tri-n-butylphosphate is performed using a glass chip microchannel to evaluate the extraction rate. Two-phase flow forms in the microchannel by introducing a solution of Pu(IV) and tri-n-butylphosphate with flow rates above 5 µL/min. The Pu(IV) extraction reaction proceeds at the interface between the two phases. To evaluate the extraction rate, the contact time between the two phases is varied from 0.48 to 4.8 s by changing the confluent length of the microchannel and the flow rate. The Pu concentration of each phase collected from the microchannel is measured with an alpha liquid scintillation counter, and the contact time dependence of Pu(IV) extraction is obtained. An extraction model based on diffusion in the microchannel and the reaction at the interface is proposed and applied to determine the extraction rate. The extraction process is assumed to follow pseudo-first-order kinetics, and the extraction rate constant of Pu(IV) is determined to be 1.5 × 10(-2) cm/s. The investigation demonstrates that a microfluidic device can be a new tool to determine Pu(IV) extraction rates.

Application of laser-induced photoacoustic spectroscopy for determination of plutonium concentration in nuclear waste solutions.

Laser-induced photoacoustic spectroscopy was used in a quantitative analysis of Pu in HNO3 medium. Plutonium was quantitatively oxidized to Pu(VI) using Ce(IV). The photoacoustic measurement of Pu(VI) with maximum absorption at 830.5 nm was subsequently performed to determine the concentration. The photoacoustic signal was linearly proportional to the Pu(VI) ion concentration. The detection limit of Pu(VI) was estimated to be 0.5 microg mL(-1) (3sigma) in 3 M HNO3. By the proposed method, Pu concentration was successfully determined in a nuclear waste solution for use in nuclear materials management.

Spectrophotometric determination of plutonium in highly radioactive liquid waste using an internal standardization technique with neodymium(III).

A simple and rapid spectrophotometric method has been developed for the determination of Pu in highly radioactive liquid waste. This method uses Nd(III) as an internal standard, which enables us to determine the concentration of Pu and to authenticate the whole analytical scheme as well. A Nd(III) standard mixed with a sample solution and Pu was quantitatively oxidized to Pu(VI) with Ce(IV) in a nitric acid medium, having the maximum absorbance at 830 nm. A spectrophotometric measurement of Pu(VI) was subsequently performed to determine the concentration compared with the maximum absorbance of Nd(III) at 795 nm. It was estimated that the relative expanded uncertainty for a real sample is less than 10%. The limit of detection was calculated to be 1.8 mg/L (3 sigma). The proposed method was also validated through comparison experiments with isotope dilution mass spectrometry, and was successfully applied to analysis for nuclear waste management at spent nuclear fuel reprocessing plants.

Isolation and molecular structure of the organo-persulfuranes [12-S-6(C6)].

Reactions of bis(2,2'-biphenylylene)sulfuranyl bis(tetrafluoroborate) [(8-S-4(C4)]2+ with organo-lithium reagents (PhLi and MeLi) gave bis(2,2'-biphenylylene)di-C-substituted persulfuranes as a first persulfurane [12-S-6(C6)] having only carbon ligands. These compounds have been characterized by 1H and 13C NMR and mass spectroscopies. The structure of the dimethyl derivative was determined by X-ray crystallographic analysis, revealing that it has a distorted octahedral geometry with the two methyl ligands cis to each other, and subsequently, it was analyzed by an ab initio calculation.

Synthesis and characterization of tetrakis-silylated C60 isomers.

A photochemical reaction of C(60) with disilane in a 2:3 ratio affords the isomer mixture of the tetrakis-adduct of C(60)((t)BuPh(2)Si)(4) as the major product. The use of a three-stage HPLC separation system isolated three of their isomers. Their structural assignments were based on FAB mass, UV-vis, NMR, and cyclic voltammetry (CV) measurements. The CV analysis showed that the terakis-adduct has lower oxidation and higher reduction potentials than the bis-adduct C(60)((t)BuPh(2)Si)(2) and the parent C(60).