C-H Amination via Nitrene Transfer Catalyzed by Mononuclear Non-Heme Iron-Dependent Enzymes.

Expanding the reaction scope of natural metalloenzymes can provide new opportunities for biocatalysis. Mononuclear non-heme iron-dependent enzymes represent a large class of biological catalysts involved in the biosynthesis of natural products and catabolism of xenobiotics, among other processes. Here, we report that several members of this enzyme family, including Rieske dioxygenases as well as α-ketoglutarate-dependent dioxygenases and halogenases, are able to catalyze the intramolecular C-H amination of a sulfonyl azide substrate, thereby exhibiting a promiscuous nitrene transfer reactivity. One of these enzymes, naphthalene dioxygenase (NDO), was further engineered resulting in several active site variants that function as C-H aminases. Furthermore, this enzyme could be applied to execute this non-native transformation on a gram scale in a bioreactor, thus demonstrating its potential for synthetic applications. These studies highlight the functional versatility of non-heme iron-dependent enzymes and pave the way to their further investigation and development as promising biocatalysts for non-native metal-catalyzed transformations.

Application of capillary electrophoresis technique for the enantioseparation of bioactive ferrocene-based compounds versus DFT calculated data.

Herein, a series of bioactive ferrocene-modified N-heterocycles with alkyl linkers was prepared in good to quantitative yields starting from easy accessible ferrocene alcohols and heterocycles under acidic or neutral (for imidazole) conditions in racemic forms. The analytical resolution of a number of bioactive racemic ferrocene azoles 1-6 (where azole = imidazole, pyrazole, and benzotriazole derivatives) into enantiomers was first carried out by CE using sulfobuthylether-ß-CD (captisol) as a chiral selector. The analytical approaches to highly enantiomeric-enriched ferrocene derivatives are based on the formation of their inclusion complexes. The best chiral separation was achieved using zone CE in a quartz capillary. The ACE was used to evaluate the stability constants of captisol complexes with enantiomeric forms of two ferrocene derivatives 1, FcCHMe-imidazole, and 6, FcCHMe-benzotriazole. The optimal conditions for the resolution of the studied (R, S)-ferrocene compounds 1, 2, and 6 were predicted on the basis of the performed quantum chemical calculations and then implemented by the electrophoretic method. A high correlation between density functional theory calculation results and experimental electrophoresis data were obtained. Successful enantioseparation of racemic mixtures is of great importance for the characterization and further applications of drug candidates in enantiopure forms and in the development of clinical treatment. The advantages of the CE procedure make it possible to have important practical value and significance for determining the purity and enantiomeric excess of other ferrocene-containing compounds.

Identity of cofactor bound to mycothiol conjugate amidase (Mca) influenced by expression and purification conditions.

Mycothiol serves as the primary reducing agent in Mycobacterium species, and is also a cofactor for the detoxification of xenobiotics. Mycothiol conjugate amidase (Mca) is a metalloamidase that catalyzes the cleavage of MS-conjugates to form a mercapturic acid, which is excreted from the mycobacterium, and 1-D-myo-inosityl-2-amino-2-deoxy-α-D-glucopyranoside. Herein we report on the metal cofactor preferences of Mca from Mycobacterium smegmatis and Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Importantly, results from homology models of Mca from M. smegmatis and M. tuberculosis suggest that the metal binding site of Mca is identical to that of the closely related protein N-acetyl-1-D-myo-inosityl-2-amino-2-deoxy-α-D-glucopyranoside deacetylase (MshB). This finding is supported by results from zinc ion affinity measurements that indicate Mca and MshB have comparable K(D)(ZnII) values (~10-20 pM). Furthermore, results from pull-down experiments using Halo-Mca indicate that Mca purifies with (stoichiometric) Fe(2+) when purified under anaerobic conditions, and Zn(2+) when purified under aerobic conditions. Consequently, Mca is likely a Fe(2+)-dependent enzyme under physiological conditions; with Zn(2+)-Mca an experimental artifact that could become biologically relevant under oxidatively stressed conditions. Importantly, these findings suggest that efforts towards the design of Mca inhibitors should include targeting the Fe(2+) form of the enzyme.

Reactivity of biomimetic iron(II)-2-aminophenolate complexes toward dioxygen: mechanistic investigations on the oxidative C-C bond cleavage of substituted 2-aminophenols.

The isolation and characterization of a series of iron(II)-2-aminophenolate complexes [(6-Me3-TPA)Fe(II)(X)](+) (X = 2-amino-4-nitrophenolate (4-NO2-HAP), 1; X = 2-aminophenolate (2-HAP), 2; X = 2-amino-3-methylphenolate (3-Me-HAP), 3; X = 2-amino-4-methylphenolate (4-Me-HAP), 4; X = 2-amino-5-methylphenolate (5-Me-HAP), 5; X = 2-amino-4-tert-butylphenolate (4-(t)Bu-HAP), 6 and X = 2-amino-4,6-di-tert-butylphenolate (4,6-di-(t)Bu-HAP), 7) and an iron(III)-2-amidophenolate complex [(6-Me3-TPA)Fe(III)(4,6-di-(t)Bu-AP)](+) (7(Ox)) supported by a tripodal nitrogen ligand (6-Me3-TPA = tris(6-methyl-2-pyridylmethyl)amine) are reported. Substituted 2-aminophenols were used to prepare the biomimetic iron(II) complexes to understand the effect of electronic and structural properties of aminophenolate rings on the dioxygen reactivity and on the selectivity of C-C bond cleavage reactions. Crystal structures of the cationic parts of 5·ClO4 and 7·BPh4 show six-coordinate iron(II) centers ligated by a neutral tetradentate ligand and a monoanionic 2-aminophenolate in a bidentate fashion. While 1·BPh4 does not react with oxygen, other complexes undergo oxidative transformation in the presence of dioxygen. The reaction of 2·ClO4 with dioxygen affords 2-amino-3H-phenoxazin-3-one, an auto-oxidation product of 2-aminophenol, whereas complexes 3·BPh4, 4·BPh4, 5·ClO4 and 6·ClO4 react with O2 to exhibit C-C bond cleavage of the bound aminophenolates. Complexes 7·ClO4 and 7(Ox)·BPh4 produce a mixture of 4,6-di-tert-butyl-2H-pyran-2-imine and 4,6-di-tert-butyl-2-picolinic acid. Labeling experiments with (18)O2 show the incorporation of one oxygen atom from dioxygen into the cleavage products. The reactivity (and stability) of the intermediate, which directs the course of aromatic ring cleavage reaction, is found to be dependent on the nature of ring substituent. The presence of two tert-butyl groups on the aminophenolate ring in 7·ClO4 makes the complex slow to cleave the C-C bond of 4,6-di-(t)Bu-HAP, whereas 4·BPh4 containing 4-Me-HAP displays fastest reactivity. Density functional theory calculations were conducted on [(6-Me3-TPA)Fe(III)(4-(t)Bu-AP)](+) (6(Ox)) to gain a mechanistic insight into the regioselective C-C bond cleavage reaction. On the basis of the experimental and computational studies, an iron(II)-2-iminobenzosemiquinonate intermediate is proposed to react with dioxygen resulting in the oxidative C-C bond cleavage of the coordinated 2-aminophenolates.

Electrochemically induced oxidative precipitation of Fe(II) for As(III) oxidation and removal in synthetic groundwater.

Mobilization of Arsenic in groundwater is primarily induced by reductive dissolution of As-rich Fe(III) oxyhydroxides under anoxic conditions. Creating a well-controlled artificial environment that favors oxidative precipitation of Fe(II) and subsequent oxidation and uptake of aqueous As can serve as a remediation strategy. We reported a proof of concept study of a novel iron-based dual anode system for As(III) oxidation and removal in synthetic groundwater. An iron anode was used to produce Fe(II) under iron-deficient conditions, and another inert anode was used to generate O2 for oxidative precipitation of Fe(II). For 30 min's treatment, 6.67 µM (500 µg/L) of As(III) was completely oxidized and removed from the solution during the oxidative precipitation process when a total current of 60 mA was equally partitioned between the two anodes. The current on the inert anode determined the rate of O2 generation and was linearly related to the rates of Fe(II) oxidation and of As oxidation and removal, suggesting that the process could be manipulated electrochemically. The composition of Fe precipitates transformed from carbonate green rust to amorphous iron oxyhydroxide as the inert anode current increased. A conceptual model was proposed for the in situ application of the electrochemically induced oxidative precipitation process for As(III) remediation.

Nonprecious-metal-assisted photochemical hydrogen production from ortho-phenylenediamine.

The combination of o-phenylenediamine (opda), which possesses two proton- and electron-pooling capability, with Fe(II) leads to the photochemical hydrogen-evolution reaction (HER) in THF at room temperature without addition of photosensitizers. From the THF solution, the tris(o-phenylenediamine) iron(II) complex, [Fe(II)(opda)3](ClO4)2 (1), was isolated as a photoactive species, while the deprotonated oxidized species was characterized by X-ray crystallographic analysis, electrospray ionization mass spectrometry, and UV-vis NIR spectra. Furthermore, the HER is photocatalyzed by hydroquinone, which serves as a H(+)/e(-) donor. The present work demonstrates that the use of a metal-bound aromatic amine as a H(+)/e(-) pooler opens an alternative strategy for designing nonprecious-metal-based molecular photochemical H2 production/storage materials.

Ferrous iron removal by limestone and crushed concrete in dynamic flow columns.

In-situ passive reactive barriers containing carbonate minerals show potential for dissolved iron removal from groundwater at landfill sites. The removal of Fe(II) from synthetic groundwater using limestone and crushed concrete (7-10 mm) was evaluated using dynamic flow columns. Solutions of 50 mg/L Fe(II) were passed through duplicate columns of limestone and concrete until breakthrough (250-300 days); water quality was evaluated at distinct column depths throughout the study. Each material was successful in reducing the concentration of Fe(II), with both achieving an average of greater than 99.4% iron removal (<0.3 mg/L effluent concentration) over 288 and 216 pore volumes, resulting in effective removal capacities of 4.06 and 3.80 g Fe/kg reactive material for limestone and crushed concrete, respectively. These values are less than removal capacities achieved from a sequencing batch test (32.9 and 27.9 g Fe/kg limestone and crushed concrete, respectively), a possible result of preferential flow pathways, shorter equilibration time, and formation of surface films on the reactive materials in the columns.

Selective modification of halloysite lumen with octadecylphosphonic acid: new inorganic tubular micelle.

Selective fatty acid hydrophobization of the inner surface of tubule halloysite clay is demonstrated. Aqueous phosphonic acid was found to bind to alumina sites at the tube lumen and did not bind the tube's outer siloxane surface. The bonding was characterized with solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance ((29)Si, (13)C, (31)P NMR), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. NMR and FTIR spectroscopy of selectively modified tubes proved binding of octadecylphosphonic acid within the halloysite lumen through bidentate and tridentate P-O-Al linkage. Selective modification of the halloysite clay lumen creates an inorganic micelle-like architecture with a hydrophobic aliphatic chain core and a hydrophilic silicate shell. An enhanced capacity for adsorption of the modified halloysite toward hydrophobic derivatives of ferrocene was shown. This demonstrates that the different inner and outer surface chemistry of clay nanotubes can be used for selective modification, enabling different applications from water purification to drug immobilization and controlled release.

Optimization of hydrous ferrous sulfate dehydration by microwave heating using response surface methodology.

The work relates to assessing the ability of the microwave for dehydration of large amount of waste hydrous ferrous sulfate generated from the titanium pigment process industry. The popular process optimization tool of response surface methodology with central composite design was adopted to estimate the effect of dehydration. The process variables were chosen to be power input, duration of heating and the bed thickness, while the response variable being the weight loss. An increase in all the three process variables were found to significantly increase the weight loss, while the effect of interaction among the parameters were found to be insignificant. The optimized process conditions that contribute to the maximum weight loss were identified to be a power input of 960 W, duration of heating of 14 min and bed thickness of 5 cm, resulting in a weight loss of 31.44%. The validity of the optimization process was tested with the repeat runs at optimized conditions.

Nano-CuFe2O4 as a magnetically separable and reusable catalyst for the synthesis of diaryl/aryl alkyl sulfides via cross-coupling process under ligand-free conditions.

An efficient protocol was developed for the CuFe(2)O(4) nanopowder-catalyzed aryl-sulfur bond formation between aryl halide and thiol/disulfide. A variety of aryl sulfides were synthesized in impressive yields with good chemoselectivity and functional group tolerance in the presence of a catalytic amount of CuFe(2)O(4), Cs(2)CO(3) as base, in nitrogen atmosphere, under ligand-free conditions, in DMSO as solvent at 100 °C. The catalyst is air-stable, inexpensive, magnetically separable and recyclable up to four cycles.

Removal and recovery of lead (II) ions from contaminated licorice extracts using oxidized multi-walled carbon nanotubes.

A column with oxidized multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) has been studied as a sorbent for removing and accumulating lead (II) from contaminated Licorice extracts. Under optimized situation, the adsorption capacity of lead (II) on oxidized MWNTs was 17 mg g(-1) at pH 7.0, and the lead (II) was eluted with 10 ml of 1% hydrochloric acid. Additionally, the effects of adsorptive parameters, including pH of the solution, sample volume, flow rates of the sample, matrix ions, and eluent type were investigated for optimization of the presented procedure. A fluorescence spectrophotometer was employed to determine the contents of lead (II). High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) was developed for the quantitative determination of main constituents of Licorice extracts. Oxidized MWNT cartridges were used to remove lead ions from contaminated Licorice extracts, high adsorption capacity, adsorption reversibility of lead (II), and low loss of major constituents. The results suggested that the oxidized MWNT column has the potential to remove heavy metal ions from herbal extracts.

On the Risks of Phylogeny-Based Strain Prioritization for Drug Discovery: Streptomyces lunaelactis as a Case Study.

Strain prioritization for drug discovery aims at excluding redundant strains of a collection in order to limit the repetitive identification of the same molecules. In this work, we wanted to estimate what can be unexploited in terms of the amount, diversity, and novelty of compounds if the search is focused on only one single representative strain of a species, taking Streptomyces lunaelactis as a model. For this purpose, we selected 18 S. lunaelactis strains taxonomically clustered with the archetype strain S. lunaelactis MM109T. Genome mining of all S. lunaelactis isolated from the same cave revealed that 54% of the 42 biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs) are strain specific, and five BGCs are not present in the reference strain MM109T. In addition, even when a BGC is conserved in all strains such as the bag/fev cluster involved in bagremycin and ferroverdin production, the compounds produced highly differ between the strains and previously unreported compounds are not produced by the archetype MM109T. Moreover, metabolomic pattern analysis uncovered important profile heterogeneity, confirming that identical BGC predisposition between two strains does not automatically imply chemical uniformity. In conclusion, trying to avoid strain redundancy based on phylogeny and genome mining information alone can compromise the discovery of new natural products and might prevent the exploitation of the best naturally engineered producers of specific molecules.

Differential magnetic catch and release: analysis and separation of magnetic nanoparticles.

This article reports the purification and separation of magnetic nanoparticle mixtures using differential magnetic catch and release (DMCR). This method applies a variable magnetic flux orthogonal to the flow direction in an open tubular capillary to trap and controllably release magnetic nanoparticles. Magnetic moments of 8, 12, and 17 nm diameter CoFe2O4 nanoparticles are calculated using the applied magnetic flux and experimentally determined force required to trap 50% of the particle sample. Balancing the relative strengths of the drag and magnetic forces enables separation and purification of magnetic CoFe2O4 nanoparticle samples with <20 nm diameters. Samples were characterized by transmission electron microscopy to determine the average size and size dispersity of the sample population. DMCR is further demonstrated to be useful for separation of a magnetic nanoparticle mixture, resulting in samples with narrowed size distributions.

Potentials and challenges of phosphorus recovery as vivianite from wastewater: A review.

Due to the shortage of phosphorus resources and the limitations of existing phosphorus recovery methods, phosphorus recovery in the form of vivianite has attracted considerable attention with its natural ubiquity, easy accessibility and foreseeable economic value. This review systematically summarizes the chemistry of vivianite, including the characteristics, formation process and influencing factors of the material. Additionally, the potential of phosphorus recovery as vivianite from wastewater has also been comprehensively examined from the prospects of economic value and engineering feasibility. In general, this method is theoretically and practically feasible, and brings some extra benefits in WWTPs. However, the insufficient understanding on vivianite recovery in wastewater/sludge decelerate the development and exploration of such advanced approach. Further researches and cross-field supports would facilitate the improvement of this technique in the future.

Enhanced heavy metals removal without phosphorus loss from anaerobically digested sewage sludge.

Heavy metals removal without phosphorus loss from anaerobically digested sewage sludge was investigated by conducting batch experiments using hydrogen peroxide and/or iron sulphate under acidified conditions at pH 3. The addition of hydrogen peroxide to the sludge improved the elution efficiencies of As, Cd, Cu and Zn with phosphorus loss from the sludge. The optimum initial concentrations of hydrogen peroxide were. Respectively. 0.1% for As, Cd, Mn and Zn and 0.5% for Cu and Ni. The combined process of 0.1% hydrogen peroxide and 1 g Fe/L ferric sulphate enhanced the initial elution rate of Cu and Cr compared to the addition of either ferric sulphate or hydrogen peroxide, indicating that oxidants stronger than hydrogen peroxide were produced in the sludge. Furthermore, the combined process immobilised phosphorus in the sludge due to co-precipitation with ferric hydroxide or precipitation as ferric phosphate. It was concluded that there is a possibility that the combined process could remove heavy metals effectively without phosphorus loss from anaerobically digested sewage sludge.

Immobilized FhuD2 Siderophore-Binding Protein Enables Purification of Salmycin Sideromycins from Streptomyces violaceus DSM 8286.

Siderophores are a structurally diverse class of natural products common to most bacteria and fungi as iron(III)-chelating ligands. Siderophores, including trihydroxamate ferrioxamines, are used clinically to treat iron overload diseases and show promising activity against many other iron-related human diseases. Here, we present a new method for the isolation of ferrioxamine siderophores from complex mixtures using affinity chromatography based on resin-immobilized FhuD2, a siderophore-binding protein (SBP) from Staphylococcus aureus. The SBP-resin enabled purification of charge positive, charge negative, and neutral ferrioxamine siderophores. Treatment of culture supernatants from Streptomyces violaceus DSM 8286 with SBP-resin provided an analytically pure sample of the salmycins, a mixture of structurally complex glycosylated sideromycins (siderophore-antibiotic conjugates) with potent antibacterial activity toward human pathogenic Staphylococcus aureus (minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) = 7 nM). Siderophore affinity chromatography could enable the rapid discovery of new siderophore and sideromycin natural products from complex mixtures to aid drug discovery and metabolite identification efforts in a broad range of therapeutic areas.

Separation and determination of metallocyanide complexes of Fe(II), Ni(II) and Co(III) by ion-interaction chromatography with membrane suppressed conductivity detection applied to analysis of oil refinery streams (sour water).

A separation and determination method for the analysis of cyanometallic complexes of Fe(II), Ni(II) and Co(III) was developed to be applied to the analysis of petroleum refinery streams (sour water). Ion-interaction chromatography was used employing an analytical column IonPac NS1 10 microm and a chromatographic system ICS 2500 equipped with a membrane conductivity suppression ASRS ultra 4mm, both supplied by Dionex Corporation. The mobile phase was composed of 2 mmol l(-1) TBAOH, 1 mmol l(-1) Na(2)CO(3), 0.1 mol l(-1) NaCN and ACN (77:23, v/v), flowing at 0.7 ml min(-1). At the optimized conditions, detection limits estimated by the calibration curve parameters and relative standard deviation were: 0.002 mg CNl(-1) and 3.1% for Fe(CN)(6)(4-); 0.003 mg CNl(-1) and 2.5% for Ni(CN)(4)(2-) and 0.003 mg CNl(-1) and 2.8% for Co(CN)(6)(3-). Sour water samples without any pretreatment (except membrane filtration) from a petroleum refinery in Brazil were analyzed successfully by external calibration method.

Removal of iron and manganese using biological roughing up flow filtration technology.

The removal of iron and manganese from groundwater using biological treatment methods is almost unknown in Latin America. Biological systems used in Europe are based on the process of double rapid biofiltration during which dissolved oxygen and pH need to be strictly controlled in order to limit abiotic iron oxidation. The performance of roughing filter technology in a biological treatment process for the removal of iron and manganese, without the use of chemical agents and under natural pH conditions was studied. Two pilot plants, using two different natural groundwaters, were operated with the following treatment line: aeration, up flow roughing filtration and final filtration (either slow or rapid). Iron and manganese removal efficiencies were found to be between 85% and 95%. The high solid retention capability of the roughing filter means that it is possible to remove iron and manganese simultaneously by biotic and abiotic mechanisms. This system combines simple, low-cost operation and maintenance with high iron and manganese removal efficiencies, thus constituting a technology which is particularly suited to small waterworks.

On-column complexation capillary electrophoretic separation of Fe2+ and Fe3+ using 2,6-pyridinedicarboxylic acid coupled with large-volume sample stacking.

On-column complexation of Fe2+ and Fe3+ with 2,6-pyridinedicarboxylic acid (2,6-PDCA) formed anionic complexes, which were then separated by capillary zone electrophoresis with direct UV detection at 214 nm. To achieve reasonable separation selectivity and on-column complexation, the conditions such as pH, the concentration of 2,6-PCDA and the EOF modifiers in the electrolyte were examined. The electrolyte contained 5.0 mM 2,6-PDCA, 0.25 mM tetradecyltrimethlammonium bromide (TTAB) and 5% (v/v) acetonitrile at pH 4.0 was optimised for on-column complexation and the separation of Fe[PCDA]2(2-) and Fe[PCDA]2(-). To enhance the detection sensitivity, large-volume sample stacking (LVSS) was used for the on-line preconcentration of Fe[PCDA]2(2-) and Fe[PCDA]2(-). Under the optimised conditions, satisfactory working ranges (0.5-50 microM), lower detection limits (less than 0.1 microM) and good repeatability of the peak areas (R.S.D.: 5.2-7.8%, n = 5) was achieved using LVSS (300 s). With LVSS, the detection sensitivity was enhanced more than 50-fold compared to conventional hydrodynamic injection. The proposed method was used successfully for the determination of Fe2+ and Fe3+ in water samples.

Fast liquid chromatography-electrochemistry-mass spectrometry of ferrocenecarboxylic acid esters.

Rapid liquid chromatographic separations of ferrocenecarboxylic esters of various alcohols and phenols have been achieved on reversed-phase columns of 20 mm length. After separation, the ferrocene derivatives are oxidized electrochemically under formation of the charged ferrocinium species, which are easily detected by mass spectrometry using an atmospheric pressure chemical ionization source operated in the heated nebulizer mode. While a series of nine phenol derivatives was separated within less than 1.5 min, six alcohol derivatives eluted within 1 min. Limits of detection using a single quadrupole mass analyzer ranged from 60 to 190 nmol/l. Additional work was directed on the use of a graphite in-line filter instead of a silica-based reversed-phase column to achieve the separation.