Integrating a Copper-Histidine Brace in a Mimetic Nanozyme Streamlines the Tyrosinase Recognition Moiety to Achieve Chiral Differentiation.

Designing artificial mimetic enzymes with high activity/selectivity to replace chiral bioenzymes is of great interest in the development of chiral materials consisting of molecules, enantiomers, that exist in two forms as mirror images of one another but cannot be superimposed. In this study, the chiral catalytic structural unit was streamlined from tyrosinase to integrate a mimetic nanozyme. The chiral amino acid l-histidine, as the chiral binding/recognition site, and the active metal site Cu were coupled (Cu@l-His) to create a copper-histidine brace with enantioselective catalytic ability to tyrosinol enantiomers. Results of kinetic parameters and activation energies confirmed the excellent peroxidase-like activity with a preference of Cu@l-His to l-tyrosinol. Such a preference could be attributed to the structurally oriented copper-histidine brace with a stronger affinity and catalytic activity to l-tyrosinol. By accurately evaluating chiral recognition units derived from bioenzymes, stable and superior chiral mimetic nanoenzymes could be constructed in a more straightforward and simplified manner, and they could also be extended to the reconstruction of diverse chiral enzymes.

The Structure-Activity Relationship of Pterostilbene Against Candida albicans Biofilms.

Candida albicans biofilms contribute to invasive infections and dramatic drug resistance, and anti-biofilm agents are urgently needed in the clinic. Pterostilbene (PTE) is a natural plant product with potentials to be developed as an anti-biofilm agent. In this study, we evaluated the structure-activity relationship (SAR) of PTE analogues against C. albicans biofilms. XTT (Sodium 2,3-bis(2-methoxy-4-nitro-5-sulfophenyl)-2H-tetrazolium-5-carboxanilide inner salt) reduction assay was used to evaluate the activity of the analogues against C. albicans biofilms. Knowing that hyphal formation is essential for C. albicans biofilms, anti-hyphal assay was further carried out. By comparing a series of compounds tested in this study, we found that compounds with para-hydroxy (-OH) in partition A exhibited better activity than those with other substituents in the para position, and the double bond in partition B and meta-dimethoxy (-OCH3) in partition C both contributed to the best activity. Consistent results were obtained by anti-hyphal assay. Collectively, para-hydroxy (-OH), double bond and meta-dimethoxy (-OCH3) are all needed for the best activity of PTE against C. albicans biofilms.

CuI/1,10-phen/PEG promoted decarboxylation of 2,3-diarylacrylic acids: synthesis of stilbenes under neutral and microwave conditions with an in situ generated recyclable catalyst.

A series of trans- or cis-stilbenes have been synthesized in good to excellent yields via a functional group-dependent decarboxylation process from the corresponding 2,3-diaryl acrylic acids in a neutral CuI/1,10-phen/PEG-400 system under microwave conditions. The in situ generation of the recyclable catalytic complex, the use of environmentally benign solvent PEG-400, the operational simplicity, the short reaction times, as well as the functional group-dependent chemo- and stereo-selectivity have made the decarboxylation process a highly efficient and applicable protocol.