[reaction: see text]. Feeding experiments using a deuterium labeled C16 maleic anhydride and whole cell culture of ATCC 74256 led to the isolation of phomoidride B with deuterium incorporation at C(7) and C(19) as determined by 2H NMR and electrospray mass spectrometry. This result is in accord with a decarboxylative homodimerization of the C16 maleic anhydride as a key biosynthetic step leadin...

A general synthesis of γ-trifluoromethyl α,β-unsaturated γ-butyrolactones is described. The fluoride-catalyzed nucleophilic addition of a trifluoromethyl (CF3) group generated from (trifluoromethyl)trimethylsilane (CF3SiMe3, Ruppert-Prakash reagent) to a masked maleic anhydride 1 (cyclopentadiene-maleic anhydride adduct) provides the corresponding adducts 2 with high stereoselectivity. The γ-tr...

The polycondensation of tetrahydrofuran with maleic anhydride catalyzed by Maghnite-H+ (Mag-H) was investigated. Maghnite is a montmorillonite sheet silicate clay that is exchanged with protons to produce Maghnite-H [1]. It was found that the polymerization in bulk is initiated by Mag-H in the presence of acetic anhydride at 40 degrees C. The effects of the amounts of Mag-H and acetic anhydride...

Oxidation of 3- and 4-pentafluorosulfanyl-substituted anisoles and phenols with hydrogen peroxide and sulfuric acid provided a mixture of SF5-substituted muconolactone, maleic, and succinic acids. A plausible mechanism for the formation of the aliphatic SF5 compounds was presented and their chemical reactivity was investigated. SF5-substituted para-benzoquinone was synthesized; its oxidation le...

In this paper, we show that dilute maleic acid, a dicarboxylic acid, hydrolyzes cellobiose, the repeat unit of cellulose, and the microcrystalline cellulose Avicel as effectively as dilute sulfuric acid but with minimal glucose degradation. Maleic acid, superior to other carboxylic acids reported in this paper, gives higher yields of glucose that is more easily fermented as a result of lower co...

BACKGROUND Enzymes show relative instability in solvents or at elevated temperature and lower activity in organic solvent than in water. These limit the industrial applications of enzymes. RESULTS In order to improve the activity and stability of chloroperoxidase, chloroperoxidase was modified by citraconic anhydride, maleic anhydride or phthalic anhydride. The catalytic activities, thermosta...