Structure-based design of a photoswitchable affibody scaffold.

Photo-control of affinity reagents offers a general approach for high-resolution spatiotemporal control of diverse molecular processes. In an effort to develop general design principles for a photo-controlled affinity reagent, we took a structure-based approach to the design of a photoswitchable Z-domain, among the simplest of affinity reagent scaffolds. A chimera, designated Z-PYP, of photoactive yellow protein (PYP) and the Z-domain, was designed based on the concept of mutually exclusive folding. NMR analysis indicated that, in the dark, the PYP domain of the chimera was folded, and the Z-domain was unfolded. Blue light caused loss of structure in PYP and a two- to sixfold change in the apparent affinity of Z-PYP for its target as determined using size exclusion chromatography, UV-Vis based assays, and enyzme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). A thermodynamic model indicated that mutations to decrease Z-domain folding energy would alter target affinity without loss of switching. This prediction was confirmed experimentally with a double alanine mutant in helix 3 of the Z-domain of the chimera (Z-PYP-AA) showing >30-fold lower dark-state binding and no loss in switching. The effect of decreased dark-state binding affinity was tested in a two-hybrid transcriptional control format and enabled pronounced light/dark differences in yeast growth in vivo. Finally, the design was transferable to the αZ-Taq affibody enabling tunable light-dependent binding both in vitro and in vivo to the Z-Taq target. This system thus provides a framework for the focused development of light switchable affibodies for a range of targets.

Enantioselective Synthesis of Spiro-oxiranes: An Asymmetric Addition/Aldol/Spirocyclization Domino Cascade.

Enantioenriched spiro-oxiranes bearing three contiguous stereocenters were synthesized using a rhodium-catalyzed asymmetric addition/aldol/spirocyclization sequence. Starting from a linear substrate, the cascade enabled the formation of a spirocyclic framework in a single step. sp2 - and sp-hybridized carbon nucleophiles were found to be competent initiators for this cascade, giving arylated or alkynylated products, respectively. Derivatization studies demonstrated the synthetic versatility of both the epoxide and the alkyne moieties of the products. DFT calculations were used to reconcile spectroscopic discrepancies observed between the solution- and solid-state structures of the products.

From imine to amine: an unexpected left turn. Cis-ß iron(ii) PNNP' precatalysts for the asymmetric transfer hydrogenation of acetophenone.

A novel PNN ligand bearing an orthophenylene group and a primary amine was synthesized with the aid of a palladium-catalyzed amination and reacted with phosphonium dimers [-PR2CH2CH(OH)-]2[Br]2 R = Et, iPr, Cy, Ph, xylyl, and o-Tol, and [Fe(OH2)6]2+ to produce a new series of cis-ß iron(ii) PNNP' precatalysts cis-ß-[Fe(Br)(CO)(PNNP')]BPh4 as a pair of diastereomers. The more stable orthophenylene amido group was chosen to imitate and replace the enamido moiety of a highly active iron precatalyst for the asymmetric transfer hydrogenation (ATH) of ketones in an attempt to prevent its deactivation caused by reduction of the enamido group. This objective was partially achieved using the complex with a PEt2 group which catalyzed the transfer hydrogenation in isopropanol of 150 000 equivalents of acetophenone to racemic 1-phenylethanol. With a low acetophenone to catalyst ratio of 500 to 1, the catalytic activity was moderate and the enantiomeric excess (ee) of the product 1-phenylethanol ranged surprisingly from 94% (R) to 95% (S) depending on the nature of PR2 and whether the precatalyst contained an imine or amine donor. The amine precatalyst with a PEt2-group produced a more stable hydride species when activated, allowing the reaction mixture to be heated to 75 °C to obtain a TON of 8821 for acetophenone while retaining the high ee of 95% (S). The activation pathway in basic isopropanol (iPrOH) was studied for three precatalysts to elucidate that the cis-ß precatalysts rearrange to form trans hydride complexes. The study suggests that the enantioselectivity of these complexes is determined by from which side of the PNNP' plane the hydride transfer occurs.

Rational development of iron catalysts for asymmetric transfer hydrogenation.

The asymmetric reduction of ketones and imines by transfer of hydrogen from isopropanol as the solvent catalyzed by metal complexes is a very useful method for preparing valuable enantioenriched alcohols and amines. Described here is the development of three generations of progressively more active iron catalysts for this transformation. Key features of this process of discovery involved the realization that one carbonyl ligand was needed (as in hydrogenases), the synthesis of modular ligands templated by iron, the elucidation of the mechanisms of catalyst activation and action, as well as the rational synthesis of precursors that lead directly and easily to the species in the catalytic cycle. The discovery that iron, an abundant element that is essential to life, can form catalysts of these hydrogenation reactions is a contribution to green chemistry.

Rhodium complexes stabilized by phosphine-functionalized phosphonium ionic liquids used as higher alkene hydroformylation catalysts: influence of the phosphonium headgroup on catalytic activity.

Monodentate phosphine-functionalized phosphonium ionic liquids (PFILs) were employed as ligands for Rh complexes and used in the hydroformylation of higher alkenes. Three PFILs were designed by varying the length of the P-alkyl chain attached to the phosphonium moiety, for alkyl = methyl (1), butyl (2), octyl (3), in order to tune their solubility properties. In all PFILs, the phosphonium unit is linked to a diphenylphosphino functionality by an undecyl linker, with bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide as counter anion. These PFILs were combined with a Rh(I) precursor, [Rh(acac)(CO)(2)], to provide a biphasic hydroformylation catalyst for the transformation of 1-octene, 1-decene and 1-dodecene using tetradecyltributylphosphonium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide, [P(4,4,4,14)]NTf(2) as a solvent. Good activities and excellent selectivities were obtained for these PFILs-Rh(I) complexes. Variation of the P-alkyl length in the PFIL ligand influenced the stability, catalytic activity and selectivity of the PFIL-stabilized catalyst.