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A facile one-step polymerization strategy is explored to achieve novel catechol-based materials. Depending on the functionality of the catechol, the as-prepared product can be used to modify at will the surface tension of nano and bulk structures, from oleo-/hydrophobic to highly hydrophilic. A hydrophobic catechol prepared thus polymerized shows the ability to self-assemble as solid nanoparticles with sticky properties in polar solvent media. Such a versatile concept is ideal for the development of catechol-based multifunctional materials. Copyright © 2013 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Aldol addition reactions of dihydroxyacetone (DHA) to N-Cbz-amino aldehydes catalyzed by L-rhamnulose-1-phosphate aldolase (RhuA) in the presence of borate buffer are reported. High yields of aldol adduct (e.g. 70–90%) were achieved with excellent (>98 : 2 syn/anti) stereoselectivity for most S or R configured acceptors, which compares favorably to the reactions performed with DHAP. The stereochemical outcome was different and depended on the N-Cbz-amino aldehyde enantiomer: the S acceptors gave the syn (3R,4S) aldol adduct whereas the R ones gave the anti (3R,4R) diastereomer. Moreover, the tactical use of Cbz protecting group allows simple and efficient elimination of borate and excess of DHA by reverse phase column chromatography or even by simple extraction. This, in addition to the use of unphosphorylated donor nucleophile, makes a useful and expedient methodology for the synthesis of structurally diverse iminocyclitols. The performance of aldol additions of dihydroxyacetone phosphate (DHAP) to N-Cbz-amino aldehydes using RhuA and L-fuculose-1-phosphate aldolase (FucA) catalyst in borate buffer was also evaluated. For FucA catalysts, including FucA F131A, the initial velocity of the aldol addition reactions using DHAP were between 2 and 10 times faster and the yields between 1.5 and 4 times higher than those in triethanolamine buffer. In this case, the retroaldol velocities measured for some aldol adducts were lower than those without borate buffer indicating some trapping effect that could explain the improvement of yields.

Structure-guided re-design of the acceptor binding site of D-fructose-6-phosphate aldolase from E. coli leads to the construction of FSA A129S/A165G double mutant with an activity between 5- to >900-fold higher than that of wild-type towards N-Cbz-aminoaldehyde derivatives.

The aldol addition of unphosphorylated dihydroxyacetone (DHA) to aldehydes catalyzed by L-rhamnulose-1-phosphate aldolase (RhuA), a dihydroxyacetone phosphate-dependent aldolase, is reported. Moreover, a single point mutation in the phosphate binding site of the RhuA wild type, that is, substitution of aspartate for asparagine at position N29, increased by 3-fold the equation image of aldol addition reactions of DHA to other aldehyde acceptors rather than the natural L-lactaldehyde. The RhuA N29D mutant modified the optimum enzyme design for the natural substrate and changed its catalytic properties making the aldolase more versatile to other aldol additions of DHA.

A new set of Ru−Cl complexes containing either the pinene[5,6]bpea ligand (L1) or the C₃ symmetric pinene[4,5]tpmOMe (L2) tridentate ligand in combination with the bidentate (B) 2,2′-bipyridine (bpy) or 1,2-diphenylphosphinoethane (dppe) with general formula [RuCl(L1 or L2)(B)]⁺ have been prepared and thoroughly characterized. In the solid state, X-ray diffraction analysis techniques have been used. In solution, cyclic voltammetry (CV) and 1D and 2D NMR spectroscopy have been employed. DFT calculations have been also performed on these complexes and their achiral analogues previously reported in our group, to interpret and complement experimental results. Whereas isomerically pure complexes ([RuIICl(L2)(bpy)](BF₄), 5 and [RuIICl(L2)(dppe)](BF₄), 6) are obtained when starting from the highly symmetric [RuIIICl₃(L2)], 2, isomeric mixtures of cis,fac-[RuIICl(L1)(bpy)](BF₄) (3b/3b′), trans,fac- (3a) and up/down,mer- (3c, 3d) isomers are formed when bpy is added to the less symmetric [RuIIICl₃(L1)], 1, in contrast to the case of the bulky dppe ligand that, upon coordination to 1, leads to the trans,fac-[RuIICl(L1)(dppe)](BF₄) (4a) complex as a sole isomer due to steric factors.

A novel straightforward chemoenzymatic procedure for the synthesis of hyacinthacine stereoisomers based on the aldol addition of dihydroxyacetone phosphate (DHAP) to N-Cbz-prolinal under catalysis by l-rhamnulose 1-phosphate aldolase from E. coli is presented. The synthesis is complemented by a simple and effective purification protocol consisting of ion-exchange chromatography on CM-sepharose. As examples, ( )-hyacinthacine A2 [the enantiomer of (+)-hyacinthacine A2], 7-deoxy- 2-epialexine (the enantiomer of 3-epihyacinthacine A2), ent-7-deoxyalexine (the enantiomer of 7-deoxyalexine) and 2-epihyacinthacine A2 were synthesized by these procedures and characterized for the first time. These new isomers were assayed as inhibitors of glycosidases. As a result, ( )-hyacinthacine A2 demonstrated to be a good inhibitor of a-d-glucosidase from rice whereas the natural enantiomer, hyacinthacine A2, was not. Moreover, a new family of inhibitors of a-l-rhamnosidase was uncovered.

The potential of L-fuculose-1-phosphate aldolase (FucA) as a catalyst for the asymmetric aldol addition of dihydroxyacetone phosphate (DHAP) to N-protected amino aldehydes has been investigated. First, the reaction was studied in both emulsion systems and conventional dimethylformamide (DMF)/H2O (1:4 v/v) mixtures. At 100 mM DHAP, compared with the reactions in the DMF/H2O (1:4) mixture, the use of emulsion systems led to two- to three-fold improvements in the conversions of the FucA-catalyzed reactions. The N-protected aminopolyols thus obtained were converted to iminocyclitols by reductive amination with Pd/C. This reaction was highly diastereoselective with the exception of the reaction of the aldol adduct formed from (S)-N-Cbz-alaninal, which gave a 55:45 mixture of both epimers. From the stereochemical analysis of the resulting iminocyclitols, it was concluded that the stereoselectivity of the FucA-catalyzed reaction depended upon the structure of the N-Cbz-amino aldehyde acceptor. Whereas the enzymatic aldol reaction with both enantiomers of N-Cbz-alaninal exclusively gave the expected 3R,4R configuration, the stereochemistry at the C-4 position of the major aldol adducts produced in the reactions with N-Cbz-glycinal and N-Cbz-3-aminopropanal was inverted to the 3R,4S configuration. The study of the FucA-catalyzed addition of DHAP to phenylacetaldehyde and benzyloxyacetaldehyde revealed that the 4R product was kinetically favored, but rapidly disappeared in favor of the 4S diastereoisomer. Computational models were generated for the situations before and after CC bond formation in the active site of FucA. Moreover, the lowest-energy conformations of each pair of the resulting epimeric adducts were determined. The data show that the products with a 3R,4S configuration were thermodynamically more stable and, therefore, the major products formed, in agreement with the experimental results.