Histidine-Containing Dipeptides Mitigate Salt Stress in Plants by Scavenging Reactive Carbonyl Species.

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are critical factors that cause damage in salt-stressed plants, but their mechanisms of action in living cells are largely unknown. We investigated the roles of reactive carbonyl species (RCS), i.e., the lipid peroxide-derived α,ß-unsaturated aldehydes and ketones, in plant growth retardation under salt stress. When Arabidopsis thaliana Col-0 seeds were exposed to 100 mM NaCl, germination was delayed and the levels of ROS, RCS, and protein carbonylation in the seedlings were increased. Adding the histidine-containing dipeptides carnosine, N-acetylcarnosine, and anserine, which are reported RCS scavengers, restored the germination speed and suppressed the increases in RCS and protein carbonylation but did not affect the ROS level. Increases in the levels of the RCS acrolein, crotonaldehyde, (E)-2-pentenal, and 4-hydroxy-(E)-2-nonenal were positively correlated with the delay of germination and growth inhibition. These RCS, generated downstream of ROS, are thus primarily responsible for the salt-stress symptoms of plants.

Facile preparation of Pd nanoparticles supported on single-layer graphene oxide and application for the Suzuki-Miyaura cross-coupling reaction.

Pd nanoparticles supported on single layer graphene oxide (Pd-slGO) were prepared by gentle heating of palladium(ii) acetate (Pd(OAc)2) and GO in ethanol that served as a mild reductant of the Pd precursor. Pd-slGO showed a high catalytic performance (TON and TOF = 237 000) in the Suzuki-Miyaura cross-coupling reaction.

Rhenium-catalyzed regioselective synthesis of multisubstituted pyridines from ß-enamino ketones and alkynes via C-C bond cleavage.

A new method is described for the regioselective synthesis of multisubstituted pyridine derivatives. Treatment of N-acetyl ß-enamino ketones with alkynes in the presence of the rhenium catalyst, Re(2)(CO)(10), gives multisubstituted pyridines regioselectively. In this reaction, the N-acetyl moieties are important for the selective formation of the multisubstituted pyridines. This reaction proceeds via insertion of alkynes into a carbon-carbon single bond of ß-enamino ketones, intramolecular nucleophilic cyclization, and elimination of acetic acid.

Regioselective functionalization of alkanes by sequential dehydrogenation-hydrozirconation.

We have succeeded in formal regioselective functionalization of alkanes by iridium-catalyzed dehydrogenation, hydrozirconation of the resulting alkenes, and electrophilic reaction of the generated alkylzirconium intermediate.