The rational development of aqueous-phase catalysts is limited by a lack of fundamental understanding of the precise role of solvent molecules in the reactions. For deeper insight into these general processes, we carried out a detailed theoretical study of NaBH4 hydrolysis to unravel a plethora of complex reaction pathways. Our study involves no a priori assumptions about individual reactant or...

Saccharopine dehydrogenase (EC 1.5.1.7) from bakers’ yeast was reversibly inactivated by pyridoxal and pyridoxal 5’-phosphate. The inactivation by pyridoxal 5’-phosphate was accompanied by the appearance of a peak at 428 nm, which was shifted to 325 nm upon reduction with NaBH4. Paper chromatography of an acid hydrolysate of the pyridoxal 5’-phosphate-treated, NaBH4-reduced enzyme showed the pr...

The hydrolysis of borohydride salts is a promising process for the generation in situ of pure molecular hydrogen that can be used as an alternative fuel. One of the obstacles toward its concrete application in the realm of green energy resides in nonlinear behaviors of H2 delivery during the reaction development. In particular, we have recently shown that this system behaves like a chemical osc...

The retinal protonated Schiff base of bacteriorhodopsin is photoreactive to reducing agents such as NaBH4. In the present work we have studied the effect of different protein hydration levels on the photoreductive reaction, as well as the consequences of preventing isomerization around the critical C13=C14 retinal double bond. It was revealed that the rate of light-induced NaBH4 reaction can be...

Few-atom noble metal nanoclusters have attracted a lot of interest due to their potential applications in biosensor development, imaging and catalysis. DNA-templated silver nanoclusters (AgNCs) are of particular interest as different emission colors can be obtained by changing the DNA sequence. A popular analytical application is fluorescence quenching by Hg(2+), where d(10)-d(10) metallophilic...

The aim of this work is to open up the structure of wood while retaining a large amount of hemicelluloses, in particular (galacto)glucomannans. The effects of pre-treatments on wood meal from spruce (Picea abies) with a reducing agent (NaBH4) combined with steam explosion at very mild conditions were investigated. The effects of steam explosion at 160 °C were studied for various residence times...