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Enzymes play a fundamental role in cellular metabolism. A wide range of enzymes require the presence of complementary coenzymes and cofactors to function properly. While coenzymes are believed to have been part of the last universal ancestor (LUCA) or have been present even earlier, the syntheses of crucial coenzymes like the redox-active coenzymes flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD) or nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD + ) remain challenging. Here, we present a pathway to NAD + under prebiotic conditions starting with ammonia, cyanoacetaldehyde, prop-2-ynal and sugar-forming precursors, yielding in situ the nicotinamide riboside. Regioselective phosphorylation and water stable light activated adenosine monophosphate derivatives allow for topographically and irradiation-controlled formation of NAD + . Our findings indicate that NAD + , a coenzyme vital to life, can be formed non-enzymatically from simple organic feedstock molecules via photocatalytic activation under prebiotically plausible early Earth conditions in a continuous process under aqueous conditions., (© 2024 The Authors. Chemistry - A European Journal published by Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

The emergent properties resulting from selective supramolecular interactions are of significant importance for materials and chemical systems. For the directed use of such properties, a fundamental understanding of the interaction mechanism and the resulting mode of function is necessary for a tailored design. The self-induced diastereomeric anisochronism effect (SIDA), which occurs in the intermolecular interaction of chiral molecules, generates unique properties such as chiral self-recognition and nonlinear effects. Here we show that anisidine amino acid diamides lead to extraordinary signal splitting in NMR spectra through supramolecular interaction and homochiral self-recognition. By systematic experiments we have investigated the underlying SIDA effect, explored its limits and finally successfully utilized it in the determination of enantiomeric ratios by NMR spectroscopy of chiral 'SIDA-inactive' compounds such as thalidomide., (© 2024 The Authors. Chemistry - A European Journal published by Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

Imidazolidine-4-thiones (ITOs) are cyclic, secondary amines that were considered as potential prebiotic organocatalysts for light-driven α-alkylations of aldehydes by bromoacetonitrile (BAN). Recent studies showed that the initially supplied ITOs represent the pre-catalyst because they undergo S-alkylation with BAN to give 4-(alkylthio)-3-imidazolines (TIMs). Given that the same reagent mix that undergoes light-driven α-alkylations is also effective in the dark, we synthesized ten ITO- or TIM-derived enamines of aldehydes and characterized their nucleophilic reactivities by kinetic studies in acetonitrile. The experimental second-order rate constants k 2 for reactions of enamines with benzhydrylium ions (reference electrophiles) were evaluated by the Mayr-Patz equation, lg k 2 (20 °C)=s N (N+E). The determined nucleophilicities N (and s N ) reveal the reactivity profiles of these enamines under prebiotically relevant conditions as well as their potential for use in organocatalytic synthesis., (© 2023 The Authors. Chemistry - A European Journal published by Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

The Negishi cross-coupling reactions involves the application of organozinc reagents and is a highly versatile reaction in synthetic organic chemistry. The transmetallation step plays a pivotal role in the mechanism of these types of cross-coupling reactions. In this study, mechanistic investigations are presented indicating that higher-order zincates are the transmetallating active species in Pd- and Ni-catalyzed Negishi cross-coupling reactions. These findings are supported by halide salt addition experiments and by obtaining a single X-ray crystal structure of the solid monoaryl higher-order zincate [1-NaphthylZnX 3 ] 2- Mg(THF) 2 2+ . The procedure developed in this work was further applied to the synthesis of various monoaryl higher-order zincates, after which their synthetic usefulness in terms of high reactivity towards transmetallation in Negishi cross-couplings, as well as stability, was exemplified in several reactions., (© 2023 The Authors. Chemistry - A European Journal published by Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

All evolutionary biological processes lead to a change in heritable traits over successive generations. The responsible genetic information encoded in DNA is altered, selected, and inherited by mutation of the base sequence. While this is well known at the biological level, an evolutionary change at the molecular level of small organic molecules is unknown but represents an important prerequisite for the emergence of life. Here, we present a class of prebiotic imidazolidine-4-thione organocatalysts able to dynamically change their constitution and potentially capable to form an evolutionary system. These catalysts functionalize their building blocks and dynamically adapt to their (self-modified) environment by mutation of their own structure. Depending on the surrounding conditions, they show pronounced and opposing selectivity in their formation. Remarkably, the preferentially formed species can be associated with different catalytic properties, which enable multiple pathways for the transition from abiotic matter to functional biomolecules., (© 2021 The Authors. Angewandte Chemie International Edition published by Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

Invited for the cover of this issue is Oliver Trapp and his co-workers at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, the Max-Planck-Institute for Astronomy and Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg. The image depicts a magic trick representing the autocatalytic process reported in the manuscript. Read the full text of the article at 10.1002/chem.202003260., (© 2020 Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

Chemical reactions that lead to a spontaneous symmetry breaking or amplification of the enantiomeric excess are of fundamental interest in explaining the formation of a homochiral world. An outstanding example is Soai's asymmetric autocatalysis, in which small enantiomeric excesses of the added product alcohol are amplified in the reaction of diisopropylzinc and pyrimidine-5-carbaldehydes. The exact mechanism is still in dispute due to complex reaction equilibria and elusive intermediates. In situ high-resolution mass spectrometric measurements, detailed kinetic analyses and doping with in situ reacting reaction mixtures show the transient formation of hemiacetal complexes, which can establish an autocatalytic cycle. We propose a mechanism that explains the autocatalytic amplification involving these hemiacetal complexes. Comprehensive kinetic experiments and modelling of the hemiacetal formation and the Soai reaction allow the precise prediction of the reaction progress, the enantiomeric excess as well as the enantiomeric excess dependent time shift in the induction period. Experimental structural data give insights into the privileged properties of the pyrimidyl units and the formation of diastereomeric structures leading to an efficient amplification of even minimal enantiomeric excesses, respectively., (© 2020 The Authors. Published by Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

Ever since the discovery of nucleic acids 150 years ago, [1] major achievements have been made in understanding and decrypting the fascinating scientific questions of the genetic code. [2] However, the most fundamental question about the origin and the evolution of the genetic code remains a mystery. How did nature manage to build up such intriguingly complex molecules able to encode structure and function from simple building blocks? What conditions were required? How could the precursors survive the unhostile environment of early Earth? Over the past decades, promising synthetic concepts were proposed providing clarity in the field of prebiotic nucleic acid research. In this Minireview, we show the current status and various approaches to answer these fascinating questions., (© 2020 The Authors. Published by Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

Organocatalysis is a powerful approach to extend and (enantio-) selectively modify molecular structures. Adapting this concept to the Early Earth scenario offers a promising solution to explain their evolution into a complex homochiral world. Herein, we present a class of imidazolidine-4-thione organocatalysts, easily accessible from simple molecules available on an Early Earth under highly plausible prebiotic reaction conditions. These imidazolidine-4-thiones are readily formed from mixtures of aldehydes or ketones in presence of ammonia, cyanides and hydrogen sulfide in high selectivity and distinct preference for individual compounds of the resulting catalyst library. These organocatalysts enable the enantioselective α-alkylation of aldehydes under prebiotic conditions and show activities that correlate with the selectivity of their formation. Furthermore, the crystallization of single catalysts as conglomerates opens the pathway for symmetry breaking., (© 2020 The Authors. Published by Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

The hyphenation of capillary electrophoresis with high-resolution mass spectrometry, such as Orbitrap MS, is of broad interest for the unambiguous and exceptionally sensitive identification of compounds. However, the coupling of these techniques requires a robust ionization interface that does not influence the stability of the separation voltage while coping with oxidation of the emitter tip at large ionization voltages. Herein, we present the design of a sheath-flow CE-ESI-MS interface which combines a robust and easy to operate set-up with high-resolution Orbitrap MS detection. The sheath liquid interface is equipped with a gold coated electrospray emitter which increases the stability and overall lifetime of the system. For the characterization of the interface, the spray stability and durability were investigated in dependence of the sheath-flow rate, electrospray voltage, and additional gold coating. The optimized conditions were applied to a separation of angiotensin II and neurotensin resulting in LODs of 2.4 and 3.5 ng/mL., (© 2020 The Authors. Electrophoresis published by WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)

Thiete dioxide units have been employed as a template for further functionalization through C-H activation strategies. Using simple thiete dioxide building blocks, a new library of axially chiral molecules has been synthesized that owe their stability to electrostatic interactions in the solid state. Similar starting materials were further engaged in the formation of cyclic trimeric structures, opening the pathway to unprecedented macrocyclic ring systems., (© 2020 The Authors. Published by Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA.)

Well-defined supramolecular interactions are a powerful tool to control the stereochemistry of a catalytic reaction. In this paper, we report a novel core motif for fluxional 2,2'-biphenyl ligands carrying (S)-amino acid-derived interaction sites in 5,5'-position that cause spontaneous enrichment of the R ax rotamer. The process is based on strong non-covalent interlocking between interaction sites, which causes diastereoselective formation of a supramolecular ligand dimer, in which the axial chirality of the two subunits is dictated by the stereochemical information in the amino acid residues. The detailed structure of the dimer was elucidated by NMR spectroscopy and single-crystal X-ray analysis. Three different phosphorus-based ligand types, namely a bisphosphine, a bisphosphinite and a phosphoramidite were synthesized and characterized. Whereas the first one was found to exist in a strongly weighted equilibrium, the two others each exhibited stereoconvergent behavior transforming into the diastereopure R ax rotamer. Enriched ligands were used in rhodium-mediated asymmetric hydrogenation reactions of prochiral olefins in which very high enantioselectivities of up to 96:4 were achieved., (© 2019 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)

It is assumed that RNA played a key role in the origin of life, and the transition to more complex but more stable DNA for continuous information storage and replication requires the development of a ribonucleotide reductase to obtain the deoxyribonucleotides from ribonucleotides. This step, as well as an alternative path from abiotic molecules to DNA-based life is completely unknown. Shown here is the formation of deoxyribonucleosides under relevant prebiotic conditions in water in high regio- and stereoselectivity, from all canonical purine and pyrimidine bases, by condensation with acetaldehyde and sugar-forming precursors. Thus, a continuous path to deoxyribonucleosides, starting from simple, prebiotically available molecules has been discovered. Furthermore, the deoxyapionucleosides (DApiNA) were identified as a potential DNA progenitor. The results suggest that the DNA world evolved much earlier than previously assumed., (© 2019 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)

The design of a new class of fluxional biphenyl bisphosphinite (BIBIPHOS) ligands decorated with amino acid-based diamide interaction sites is reported that undergo spontaneous desymmetrization. Hydrogenation of prochiral alkenes using Rh-BIBIPHOS results in enantiomeric ratios of up to 96:4 (R/S). This stereoconvergent behavior of the fluxional BIBIPHOS ligand is triggered by pronounced intermolecular interlocking of the recognition sites, leading to the formation of a supramolecular assembly, where the axial orientation of the biphenyl ligand backbone is governed by the chirality of the amino acid moieties. Stereoinduction during catalysis is decoupled from this process and occurs as an immediate consequence of the emergent behavior of the ligands. This supramolecular system is very robust and has the potential to be adopted for other ligand designs in enantioselective catalysis., (© 2019 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)

The rapid and direct determination of enantiomeric ratios is of increasing interest due to the significantly reduced effort compared to chromatographic methods and the large number of analytes, for instance in enantioselective catalysis. Current strategies include colorimetric assays, (a)chiral solvating reagents for NMR spectroscopy and metal complexes for CD sensing. We report the determination of enantiomeric ratios based on the self-induced diastereomeric anisochronism (SIDA) effect. Alanine derivatives that represent chiral products of enantioselective catalysis, such as the well-established hydrogenation of dehydroamino acids, were investigated. The SIDA effect was significantly enhanced by attachment of 3,5-dinitrobenzoyl π-π interactions sites. This simple modification enabled simultaneous determination of enantiomeric ratios and conversions by NMR spectroscopy., (© 2017 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)

A straightforward phosgene-free synthesis of aromatic isocyanates and diisocyanates is disclosed. Theoretical investigations suggested that the insertion of carbon dioxide (CO2 ) by dialkyltin(IV) dialkoxides could be used to convert aromatic amines into aromatic mono- and dicarbamates. Here we show, that methyl phenylcarbamate (MPC) from aniline using organotin(IV) dimethoxide and CO2 can be formed in high yield of up to 92 %, experimentally corroborating the predictions of density functional theory (DFT) calculations. MPC was then separated from the tin oxide residues and converted into phenyl isocyanate. Furthermore, organotin(IV) alkoxides could be regenerated from the tin oxide residues and reused, paving the way for a continuous industrial process. Extension of the scope to the synthesis of diurethanes from toluene 2,4-diamine and 4,4'-methylenedianiline could potentially allow the efficient production of industrially relevant diisocyanates., (© 2016 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)

The CMC is one of the fundamental characteristics of surfactants and its determination is crucial for detail understanding of micelles formation. In this study the CMC of SDS in presence of ACN was determined by two independent experimental techniques, capillary electrophoresis and fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS). Yet, studies of SDS micellization in solutions containing ACN as organic modifier are sparse and inconsistent in literature. The measurements were performed for various ACN contents in the range of 0-50% v/v. At ACN contents of up to 10% v/v the CMC is lower when compared to the aqueous solution, while increasing ACN content causes a significant increase of the CMC. Formation of micelles was observed up to ACN concentrations of 35% v/v, which is in contrast to most of the reports in literature. Based on the results of the FCS experiments, we were able to confirm that presence of ACN causes a gradual increase of the size of the micelles with increasing concentration of SDS. Simultaneously, we proved that the classical conductivity approach for the determination of the CMC does not yield reliable results in the presence of higher content of an organic modifier such as ACN., (© 2016 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)

On-column reaction gas chromatography (ocRGC) was successfully utilized as high-throughput platform for monitoring of the conversion and selectivity of hydrogenation of 5-methylfurfural catalyzed by polymer-stabilized Ru and Pd nanoparticles. We were able to elucidate the effect of various reaction conditions, mainly together with the catalyst loading on the conversion rate and the selectivity of the reaction. Our strategy yields significant improvements in reaction analysis times and cost effectiveness in comparison to standard methods. We are able to demonstrate that ocRGC approach provides valuable information about the reaction system that gives scientists a tool to design suitable catalytic systems for enhanced sustainable chemistry in the future., (© 2016 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)

Multiplexing based on pseudo-binary modulation sequences is known to increase the signal-to-noise ratio. In this work, Hadamard transform multiplexing is used in high-performance liquid chromatography to increase the sample throughput. Using structured modulation sequences to encode and control sample injections in combination with a fitting algorithm to deconvolute the complex data allowed us to evaluate convoluted chromatograms of up to 128 samples containing three and five analytes, respectively, with good accuracy (<2% deviation). In comparison to conventional high-performance liquid chromatography the analysis time could be reduced by 30 and 55%, respectively., (© 2015 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)

Helicenes and heterohelicenes are attractive compounds with great potential in materials sciences to be used in optoelectronics as ligand backbones in enantioselective catalysis and as chiral sensors. The properties of these materials are related to the stereodynamics of these helical chiral compounds. However, little is known about features controlling stereodynamics in helicenes; in particular, for heterohelicenes the position of the heteroatom could be relevant in this respect. Herein the complete stereodynamic characterization of monoaza[5]helicenes is shown by enantioselective dynamic HPLC and DFT calculations. At variance with previous theoretical calculations, 1-aza[5]helicene shows a surprisingly high enantiomerization barrier, which is triggered by specific solvent interactions., (© 2015 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)

A UV-induced 1,3-dipolar nucleophilic addition of tetrazoles to thiols is described. Under UV irradiation the reaction proceeds rapidly at room temperature, with high yields, without a catalyst, and in both polar protic and aprotic solvents, including water. This UV-induced tetrazole-thiol reaction was successfully applied for the synthesis of small molecules, protein modification, and rapid and facile polymer-polymer conjugation. The reaction has also been demonstrated for the formation of micropatterns by site-selective surface functionalization. Superhydrophobic-hydrophilic micropatterns were successfully created by sequential modifications of a tetrazole-modified porous polymer surface with hydrophobic and hydrophilic thiols. A biotin-functionalized surface could be fabricated in aqueous solutions under long-wavelength UV irradiation., (© 2015 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)

1,3,4,6-Tetraketones typically undergo keto-enol tautomerism forming bis-enols stabilized by intramolecular hydrogen bonding in two six-membered rings. However, 1,3,4,6-tetraketones derived from the terpene ketone camphor and norcamphor exist as isomers with two distinguishable modes of intramolecular hydrogen bonding, namely, the formation of six- or seven-membered rings. The structural requirements for this so far unknown behavior were investigated in detail by synthesis and comparison of structural analogues. Both isomers of such 1,3,4,6-tetraketones were fully characterized in solution and in the solid state. Intriguingly, they slowly interconvert in solution by means of tautomerism-rotation cascades, as was corroborated by DFT calculations. The influence of temperature and complexation with the transition metals Pd, Rh, and Ir on the interconversion process was investigated., (© 2015 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)

Asymmetric catalysis using enantiomerically pure catalysts is one of the most widely used methods for the preparation of enantiomerically pure compounds. The separate synthesis of both enantiomerically pure compounds requires tedious and time-consuming preparation of both enantiomerically pure catalysts or chiral separation of the racemic products. Here, we report a stereochemically flexible diastereomeric rhodium(I) catalyst for asymmetric hydrogenations of prochiral (Z)-α-acetamidocinnamates and α-substituted acrylates, which changes its enantioselectivity depending on the temperature to produce each enantiomerically pure compound in high yield with constant high enantioselectivity over time. The same axially chiral rhodium(I) catalyst produces (R)-phenylalanine derivatives in enantiomeric ratios of up to 87:13 (R/S) at low temperature and up to 3:97 (R/S) of the corresponding S enantiomers after re-equilibration of the same catalyst at elevated temperature., (© 2015 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)

The phthalimidone derivatives EM12 and lenalidomide, which are both structurally related to thalidomide, are highly interesting drugs and very recently lenalidomide attracted great attention as an antitumor and immune-modulating drug in the therapy for multiple myeloma. EM12 and lenalidomide are chiral, and the stereogenic carbon C-3 in the piperidine-2,6-dione moiety of these phthalimidone derivatives is prone to interconversion due to keto-enol tautomerization. The knowledge of the enantiomerization barrier is mandatory for pharmacokinetic studies and to develop a tailored therapy using the enantiopure or racemic drug. Here, we used dynamic EKC in combination with direct-calculation methods to determine the enantiomerization barriers of EM12 and lenalidomide. The separations of the enantiomers of EM12 and lenalidomide were performed in 50 mM aqueous disodium hydrogen phosphate buffer at pH 8 and 50 mM aqueous sodium tetraborate buffer at pH 9.3, respectively, using 20 mg/mL heptakis-(2,3-diacetyl-6-sulfato)-β-CD as a chiral additive. Enantiomerization of the compounds during the electrokinetic chromatographic separation resulted in pronounced plateau formation between the well-separated enantiomers. Peak form analysis of the experimentally obtained interconversion profiles yielded the enantiomerization rate constants k1 of EM12 and lenalidomide as well as the kinetic activation parameters ΔG(‡), ΔH(‡‡), and ΔS(‡) of enantiomerization by the evaluation of temperature-dependent measurements. The enantiomerization barrier ΔG(‡) was determined to be 98.3 ± 1.0 kJ/mol; the activation parameters ΔH(‡) = 46.1 ± 2.4 kJ/mol and ΔS(‡) = -170 ± 61 J/(K·mol) for EM12 and ΔG(‡) = 91.5 ± 1.0 kJ/mol, ΔH(‡) = 62.4 ± 5.4 kJ/mol, and ΔS(‡) = -98 ± 7 J/(K·mol) for lenalidomide. These findings were corroborated by density functional theory calculations at the B3LYP/3-21G level of theory of the ground state and intermediates considering an enantiomerization pathway via a keto-enol tautomerism., (© 2014 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)

Stereolabile interconverting catalysts open up the possibility of directing enantioselectivity in asymmetric synthesis by formation of diastereomeric complexes with chiral auxiliaries and deracemization. However, the stoichiometrically used auxilliaries can significantly limit the potential applications of such systems. We synthesized a new BIPHEPO tropos ligand containing achiral selectands in the backbone, which forms transient diastereomeric associates with amylose-tris-3,5-dimethylphenyl carbamate as a selector and thus deracemizes. The enantiomerically enriched BIPHEPO obtained was successfully used in the organocatalytic asymmetric double aldol addition of substituted methyl ketones to form benzaldehyde. This strategy combines an on-column deracemization with the high stereoinduction of chiral biarylphosphineoxides and opens up new possibilities in the field of self-amplified asymmetric syntheses., (© 2014 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)

The absolute configuration of (R,R)-2,3-dideuterooxirane, which has been independently determined using Coulomb explosion imaging, has been unambiguously chemically correlated with the stereochemical key reference (+)-glyceraldehyde. This puts the absolute configuration of D(+)-glyceraldehyde on firm experimental grounds., (© 2014 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)

A novel UV-initiated surface modification method for the direct functionalization of surface hydroxy groups with thiol-containing molecules (termed "thiol-ol" modification) is described. This method is based on the oxidative conjugation of thiols to hydroxy groups. We demonstrate that different thiol-containing molecules, such as fluorophores, thiol-terminated poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG-SH), and a cysteine-containing peptide, can be attached onto the surface of porous poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate-co-ethylene dimethacrylate). Direct functionalization of other hydroxy-group-bearing surfaces, fabrication of micropatterns, and double patterning have been also demonstrated using the thiol-ol method., (© 2014 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)

A novel technique is presented to investigate catalytic reactions by coupling a fused-silica capillary coated with an immobilized catalyst and a bare fused-silica capillary to achieve separation of the reaction products and to generate an electroosmotic flow, which drives the transport of the reactants and products through the catalytically active capillary. The principle of this technique is illustrated by the enantioselective sulfoxidation of benzylphenylsulfide with hydrogen peroxide to the corresponding sulfoxide in the presence of a vanadium(IV)-salen catalyst, which is immobilized to nonpolar polysiloxane and permanently bonded to the inner surface of the reaction capillary. The enantiomeric ratio of the reaction product is simultaneously determined by electrokinetic chromatography using 150 mg/mL sulfated β-cyclodextrin as chiral additive in 10 mM sodium dihydrogenphosphate background electrolyte at pH 8.3. In contrast to conventional enantioselective sulfoxidations of benzylphenylsulfide using the vanadium(IV)-salen catalyst, which give ees of up to 11%, an ee of up to 23% was achieved by this approach. Furthermore, the presented technique offers many more advantages, such as improved substrate selectivity using the nonpolar polysiloxane phase as a solvent, the feasibility to perform high-throughput kinetic measurements of substrate libraries, rapid screening and investigation of stereolabile compounds, that is, chiral sulfoxides, and screening of reactions using only minute amounts of reagents., (© 2012 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)

We demonstrate that aldehyde-substituted donor-acceptor cruciforms [1,4-bis(arylethynyl)-2,5-distyrylbenzenes] are useful dosimeters for primary amines, primary diamines, and secondary amines. The 1,n-diamines are particularly reactive towards this dosimeter and can be detected in less than 100 ppm concentration. Using a single aldehyde-functionalized cruciform in seven different solvents allowed us to discern fourteen different amines by digital photography and statistical evaluation of the response patterns extracted as red, green, blue (RGB) values., (Copyright © 2011 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)

Phosphorylated carbohydrates are important intracellular metabolites and thus of prime interest in metabolomics research. Complications in their analysis arise from the existence of structural isomers that do have similar fragmentation patterns in MS/MS and are hard to resolve chromatographically. Herein, we present selective methods for the liquid chromatographic separation of sugar phosphates, such as hexose and pentose phosphates, 2- and 3-phosphoglycerate, dihydroxyacetone phosphate and glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate, as well as glucosamine 1- and 6-phosphate utilizing mixed-mode chromatography with reversed-phase/weak anion-exchangers and a charged aerosol detector. The best results were obtained when the reversed-phase/weak anion-exchanger column was operated under hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography elution conditions. The effects of various chromatographic parameters were examined and are discussed on the basis of a simple stoichiometric displacement model for explaining ion-exchange processes. Employed acidic conditions have led to the complete separation of α- and β-anomers of glucose 6-phosphate at low temperature. The anomers coeluted in a single peak at elevated temperatures (>40°C) (peak coalescence), while at intermediate temperatures on-column interconversion with a plateau in-between resolved anomer peaks was observed with apparent reaction rate constants between 0.1 and 27.8×10(-4) s(-1). Dynamic HPLC under specified conditions enabled to investigate mutarotation of phosphorylated carbohydrates, their interconversion kinetics, and energy barriers for interconversion. A complex mixture of six hexose phosphate structural isomers could be resolved almost completely.

The investigation of the molecular dynamics of stereoisomers and the study of the kinetics of reactions, in particular of catalyzed reactions, is of fundamental interest in chemistry, biochemistry, and medicine. Understanding how to control the transition state of a reaction allows for a directed design of new catalysts and benign processes. The integration of reactions and capillary or microchip-based electrophoretic separations is highly attractive to perform on-column derivatizations or enzymatic on-column digests of peptides and proteins for further characterization. The present review article focuses on the recent advances to study the stereodynamics of molecules and reaction kinetics of catalyzed processes by means of CE. Models and algorithms to evaluate interconversion profiles obtained by electrophoretic separation techniques are discussed with respect to the challenging demands of high separation efficiencies typical for electrophoretic techniques. Models used for evaluation are based on iterative computer simulation algorithms using the theoretical plate model or stochastic model of chromatography, empirical calculation methods, derived from equations used in chemical engineering, namely Damköhler analysis, and direct access with the approximation function and more recently with the unified equation, which can be applied to all kinds of first-order reactions taking place during a chromatographic or a electrophoretic separation. Furthermore, areas of applications are presented and discussed to give a guideline for using dynamic CE and on-column reaction electrophoresis to study kinetics of reactions and dynamic processes.

The enantiomerization of thioridazine (THD) using sulfated beta-CDs (S-beta-CDs) as chiral selectors in a citrate buffer at pH 3.0 was investigated by dynamic CE. The enantiomers of THD were well separated with dual CD systems consisting of S-beta-CD and a neutral CD. The electropherograms featuring a plateau formation, which indicated the occurrence of the enantiomerization of THD were obtained. The unified equation implemented in the software program DCXplorer was employed to evaluate elution profiles and to determine rate constants of the enantiomerization of THD. Activation parameters were evaluated from temperature-dependent measurements between 15 and 25 degrees C with an increment of 2 degrees C. The enantiomerization barriers of THD in two different electrophoretic systems were determined. Comparative studies on enantioseparation of THD using S-beta-CDs with different degree of substitution and positions of sulfate substituent, such as randomly sulfate-substituted beta-CD, 18-sulfate-substituted beta-CD and heptakis(2,3-dihydroxy-6-O-sulfo)-beta-CD reveal that the interactions between chiral selectors and THD plays an important role in the enantioseparation and enantiomerization of THD.

Enantiomerization of octahedral tris(alpha-diimine)-transition metal complexes was investigated by enantioselective dynamic MEKC. Varying both the transition metal ion (Fe(2+), Fe(3+), and Ni(2+)) and the bidentate diimine ligand (1,10-phenanthroline and 2,2'-bipyridyl), the enantiomer separations were performed either in a 100 mM sodium tetraborate buffer (pH 9.3) or in a 100 mM sodium tetraborate/sodium dihydrogenphosphate buffer (pH 8.0) both containing sodium cholate as chiral surfactant. The unified equation of dynamic chromatography was employed to determine apparent reaction rate constants from the electropherograms showing distinct plateau formation. Apparent activation parameters DeltaH(double dagger) and DeltaS(double dagger) were calculated from temperature-dependent measurements between 10.0 and 35.0 degrees C in 2.5 K steps. It was found that the nature of the central metal ion and the ligand strongly influence the enantiomerization barrier. Surprisingly, complexes containing the 2,2'-bipyridyl ligand show highly negative activation entropies between -103 and -116 J (K mol)(-1) while the activation entropy of tris(1,10-phenanthroline) complexes is positive indicating a different mechanism of interconversion. Furthermore, it was found that the Ni(2+) complexes are stereostable under the conditions investigated here making them a lucent target as enantioselective catalysts.

The hydrogenation of 1-acetylcyclohexene, cyclohex-2-enone, nitrobenzene, and trans-methylpent-3-enoate catalyzed by highly active palladium nanoparticles was studied by high-throughput on-column reaction gas chromatography. In these experiments, catalysis and separation of educts and products is integrated by the use of a catalytically active gas chromatographic stationary phase, which allows reaction rate measurements to be efficiently performed by employing reactant libraries. Palladium nanoparticles embedded in a stabilizing polysiloxane matrix serve as catalyst and selective chromatographic stationary phase for these multiphase reactions (gas-liquid-solid) and are coated in fused-silica capillaries (inner diameter 250 microm) as a thin film of thickness 250 nm. The palladium nanoparticles were prepared by reduction of palladium acetate with hydridomethylsiloxane-dimethylsiloxane copolymer and self-catalyzed hydrosilylation with methylvinylsiloxane-dimethylsiloxane copolymer to obtain a stabilizing matrix. Diphenylsiloxane-dimethylsiloxane copolymer (GE SE 52) was added to improve film stability over a wide range of compositions. Herein, we show by systematic TEM investigations that the size and morphology (crystalline or amorphous) of the nanoparticles strongly depends on the ratio of the stabilizing polysiloxanes, the conditions to immobilize the stationary phase on the surface of the fused-silica capillary, and the loading of the palladium precursor. Furthermore, hydrogenations were performed with these catalytically active stationary phases between 60 and 100 degrees C at various contact times to determine the temperature-dependent reaction rate constants and to obtain activation parameters and diffusion coefficients.

Enantiomerization of ferroin [tris(1,10-phenanthroline)-iron(II)-complex] was investigated by enantioselective dynamic micellar EKC. The enantiomer separation was performed in an aqueous 50 mM sodium borate/sodium dihydrogenphosphate buffer at pH 8.0 in the presence of the chiral surfactant sodium cholate. The unified equation of dynamic chromatography was employed to determine reaction rate constants from the electropherograms featured with distinct plateau formation. Activation parameters DeltaH( not equal) = 124.0 +/- 0.5 kJ/mol and DeltaS( not equal) = 121 +/- 1 J.K(-1)mol(-1) were calculated from temperature-dependent measurements between 10.0 and 27.5 degrees C in 2.5 K steps. Considering the data obtained by polarimetry of enantiomeric pure ferroin in water, it was found that enantiomerization rate in the micelle is accelerated by a factor of 12. Because of the highly positive activation entropy DeltaS( not equal), ferroin was used as a temperature-sensitive dynamic molecular probe to determine temperature deviations caused by Joule heating.

An analytical solution for the unified equation for degenerated (pseudo-) first-order reactions, e.g., enantiomerization processes, in dynamic CE is presented, and validated with a dataset of 31 250 elution profiles covering typical experimental parameters. The unified equation was applied to determine the enantiomerization barrier of the hypnotic glutarimide derivative thalidomide (Contergan(R)) by dynamic capillary electrokinetic chromatography (DEKC). The enantiomer separation of thalidomide was performed in an aqueous 50 mM sodium borate buffer at pH 9.3 in the presence of the chiral mobile phase additive carboxymethyl-beta-CD. Interconversion profiles featuring pronounced plateau formation were observed. Activation parameters DeltaH( not equal) and DeltaS( not equal) were obtained from temperature-dependent measurements between 20.0 and 37.5 degrees C in 2.5K steps. From the activation parameters the enantiomerization barrier of thalidomide at 37 degrees C under basic conditions were calculated to be DeltaG( not equal) = 93.2 kJ/mol. Comparison of the kinetic data with results obtained at pH 8.0 reveals the catalytic influence of the base on the enantiomerization barrier.

The unified equation was validated for first order reactions in dynamic CE with a data set of 31 250 elution profiles. Comparison with the results from conventional iterative computer simulation revealed that the unified equation is superior in terms of success rate and precision. The unified equation was applied to determine the cis-trans isomerization rate constants of the angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor captopril. The separation of the rotational cis-trans isomeric drug has been performed in an aqueous 66 mM citric acid/Tris buffer at pH 3.0 in a 50 cm polyacrylamide-coated fused-silica capillary. Interconversion profiles featuring pronounced plateau formation and peak broadening were observed. Activation parameters DeltaH not equal and DeltaS not equal were obtained from temperature-dependent measurements between 10 and 25 degrees C in 2.5 K steps. From the activation parameters the isomerization barriers of captopril at 37 degrees C under acidic conditions were calculated to be DeltaG not equal trans-->cis=90.6 kJ/mol and DeltaG not equal cis-->trans=84.6 kJ/mol. By comparison of the kinetic data with the results obtained under basic conditions (pH 9.3) a mechanism of isomerization could be proposed.

An on-column metal coating procedure was developed for sheathless electrospray emitters, based on Justus von Liebig's electroless silver mirror reaction followed by electrochemical deposition of gold onto the silver layer. The coating procedure is straightforward, mild, inexpensive, and can be performed with standard laboratory equipment. A long-term (600 h) stability investigation of the conductive coating was carried out by continuous electrospray in the positive electrospray mode, and no degradation in performance was found. The simplicity of the coating procedure and the robustness of the spray tips makes the spray tips highly suitable to couple delicate wall-coated or monolithic capillary columns to mass spectrometry. Peptide mixtures were separated by capillary electrophoresis and injected into either a Hadamard-transform time-of-flight mass analyzer or a commercial quadrupole mass analyzer using the described sheathless electrospray emitters. The performance was judged to be excellent.

Dynamic capillary electrophoresis (DCE) and direct calculation of the rate constants of isomerization has been applied to determine the cis-trans isomerization barriers of the angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor captopril. The separation of the rotational cis-trans isomeric drug has been performed in an aqueous 50 mM borate buffer at pH 9.3. Interconversion profiles featuring plateau formation, peak-broadening, and peak coalescence were observed. To determine the rate constants of the forward and backward reaction (k(cis-->trans) and k(trans-->cis)) of the isomerization process in dynamic capillary electrophoresis, a novel straightforward calculation method using the experimental parameters plateau height, h(plateau), peak width at half height w(h), the total migration times of the cis-trans isomers t(R) and the electroosmotic break-through time t(0) as well as the peak ratio of the cis-trans isomers is presented for the first time. From temperature dependent measurements the rate constants k(cis-->trans) and k(trans-->cis) and the kinetic activation parameters DeltaG( not equal), DeltaH( not equal), and DeltaS( not equal) of the cis-trans isomerization of captopril were obtained. From the activation parameters the isomerization barriers of captopril at 37 degrees C under basic conditions were calculated to be DeltaG( not equal) (cis-->trans) = 90.3 kJ.mol(-1)and DeltaG( not equal) (trans-->cis) = 90.0 kJ.mol(-1*).

Poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) microfluidic devices were prepared from different ratios of "curing agent" (which contains silicon hydride groups) to "base" (which contains vinyl-terminated noncross-linked PDMS), to determine the effect of this ratio on electroosmotic flow (EOF). In fabricating devices for this purpose, a novel method for permanently enclosing PDMS channels was developed. As a supplement to the microfluidic method, the inner walls of capillaries were coated with PDMS formed from varying ratios of curing agent to base. EOF was found to be constant for PDMS formed with each ratio, which implies that the negative surface charges do not arise from chemical species present only in the base or the curing agent.

For the first time the nitrogen inversion barriers in 3,3-unsubstituted trans-diaziridines, such as 1,2-di-tert-butyldiaziridine (1) and 1,2-di-n-butyldiaziridine (2) were determined. Enantioselective stopped-flow multidimensional gas chromatography was used to investigate the enantiomerization barrier of 1 between 126.2 and 171.0 degrees C (DeltaG ++ gas (150.7 degrees C) = 135.8+/-0.2 kJ mol(-1), DeltaH++ gas = 116.1+/-2.5 kJ mol(-1), DeltaS ++ gas == -46+/-2 J K(-1) mol(-1)). The separation of the enantiomers has been achieved in presence of the chiral stationary phase (CSP) Chirasil-beta-Dex with a high separation factor (alpha = 1.44 at 80 degrees C). In a complementary approach, the enantiomerization barriers of 1,2-di-tert-butyldiaziridine (1), 1,2-di-n-butyldiaziridine (2), 1-n-butyl-3,3-dimethyldiaziridine (3), and 1,2,3,3-tetramethyldiaziridine (4) were determined for comparison by enantioselective dynamic chromatography (DGC) and computer simulation of the dynamic elution profiles. The enantiomerization barrier of 2 was shown to be the highest among the nonsterically hindered diaziridines studied so far, whereas 1 exhibited the highest value found for strained nitrogen-containing rings, that is, aziridines, diaziridines and oxaziridines.

Dynamic capillary electrophoresis (DCE) and computer simulation of the elution profiles with the stochastic model has been applied to determine the isomerization barriers of the angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor enalaprilat. The separation of the rotational cis-trans isomeric drug has been performed in an aqueous 20 mM borate buffer at pH 9.3. Interconversion profiles featuring plateau formation and peak broadening were observed. To evaluate the rate constants k(cis-->trans) and k(trans-->cis) of the cis-trans isomerization from the experimental electropherograms obtained by dynamic capillary electrophoresis, elution profiles were analyzed by a simulation with iterative convergence to the experimental data using the ChromWin software which requires the total migration times of the individual isomers t(R), the electroosmotic break-through time t(0), the plateau height h(plateau), the peak widths at half height of the individual isomers w(h), as well as the peak ratio of the isomers as experimental data input. From temperature-dependent measurements between 0 degrees and 15 degrees C the thermodynamic parameters Delta G, Delta H and Delta S, the rate constants k(cis-->trans) and k(trans-->cis) and the kinetic activation parameters Delta G*, Delta H*, and Delta S* of the cis-trans isomerization of enalaprilat were obtained. From the activation parameters the isomerization barriers at 37 degrees C were calculated to be Delta G* (trans-->cis) = 87.2 kJ.mol(-1) and Delta G*(cis-->trans) = 91.9 kJ.mol(-1).

Under acidic conditions the enantiomers of Tröger's base 1 (2,8-dimethyl-6 H,12 H-5,11-methanodibenzo[b,f][1,5]diazozine) are subject to enantiomerization. During enantioselective dynamic electrokinetic chromatography using 10 mM hydroxypropyl-beta-cyclodextrin as the chiral mobile phase additive in 50 mM tris/phosphate buffer at pH 2.2, enantiomerization of Tröger's base gives rise to characteristic elution profiles featuring plateau formation and peak broadening. Introduction of a permanent positive charge attributed to quaternization in the monobenzylated derivative of Tröger's base 2 (5-benzyl-2,8-dimethyl-6 H,12 H-5,11-methanodibenzo[b,f][1,5]diazozinium bromide) decreases the enantiomerization barrier significantly. To determine the rate constants of enantiomerization the experimental chromatograms were evaluated by a direct calculation method and by using the computer simulation program ChromWin. From temperature-dependent measurements the Eyring activation parameters for 1 and 2 were determined: 1: DeltaG( not equal ) (298 K)=100.9+/-0.5 kJ mol(-1), DeltaH( not equal )=89.5+/-2.0 kJ mol(-1), DeltaS( not equal )=-42+/-10 J K(-1) mol(-1); 2: DeltaG( not equal ) (298 K)=90.2+/-0.5 kJ mol(-1), DeltaH( not equal )=91.4+/-2.0 kJ mol(-1), DeltaS( not equal )=9.8+/-10 J K(-1) mol(-1).