Short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) and medium-chain acid (MCFAs) are valuable raw materials in wide range of chemical medical applications. They can be converted to other derivatives by known reactions. Unfortunately, both SCFAs MCFAs not as abundant nature long-chain (LCFAs). In this work, the oxidative cleavage oleic acid, which is one most unsaturated LCFAs nature, was studied. The oxidation in...

The deep oxidation of toxic organics and chemical warfare (CW) agent simulants using Pd/C and dioxygen or hydrogen peroxide at 80−90°C was recently demonstrated by Sen et al. This process offers a chemical means of destroying CW materials in a manner traditionally achievable only by incineration. Our investigations of the common simulant dimethyl methylphosponate (DMMP) have shown mineralizatio...

Fumagillin (1), a meroterpenoid from Aspergillus fumigatus, is known for its antiangiogenic activity due to binding to human methionine aminopeptidase 2. 1 has a highly oxygenated structure containing a penta-substituted cyclohexane that is generated by oxidative cleavage of the bicyclic sesquiterpene β-trans-bergamotene. The chemical nature, order, and biochemical mechanism of all the oxygenat...

The cellular response to stress conditions involves a decision between survival or cell death when damage is severe. A conserved stress response in eukaryotes involves endonucleolytic cleavage of transfer RNAs (tRNAs). The mechanism and significance of such tRNA cleavage is unknown. We show that in yeast, tRNAs are cleaved by the RNase T2 family member Rny1p, which is released from the vacuole ...

Oxidative cleavage of alkenes is a widely employed process allowing oxyfunctionalization to corresponding carbonyl compounds. Recently, a novel biocatalytic oxidative alkene cleavage activity on styrene derivatives was identified in TM1459 from Thermotoga maritima. In this work we engineered the enzyme by site-saturation mutagenesis of active site amino acids to increase its activity and to bro...

Heptamethine cyanines are important near-IR fluorophores used in many fluorescence applications. Despite this utility, these molecules are susceptible to light-promoted reactions (photobleaching) involving photochemically generated reactive oxygen species (ROS). Here, we have sought to define key chemical aspects of this nearly inescapable process. Near-IR photolysis of a model heptamethine cya...