Studies on the Conformations and Hydrogen Bonding of ACE Inhibitory Tripeptide VEF by All-atom Molecular Dynamics Simulations and Molecular Docking

Molecular dynamic simulations and molecular docking are performed to study the conformations and hydrogen bonding interactions of ACE inhibitory tripeptide VEF. Intramolecular distance, radius of gyration, solvent-accessible surface, and root-mean-square deviations are used to characterize the properties of VEF in aqueous solution. The VEF molecule is highly flexible in water and conformations can shift between the extended and folded states. The VEF molecule exists in extended state mostly in aqueous solution and the conformations bonded with ACE are also the extended ones. The findings indicate that MD simulations have a good agreement with the molecular docking analysis.

Carbene-Catalyzed Asymmetric Ring-Opening Reaction of Biaryl Lactams to Access Axially Chiral Biaryls

Axially chiral biaryls represent the most important class of atropisomers,and they widely exist in natural products and biologically active molecules.They also constitute a unique scaffold for chiral ligands and catalysts in organic synthesis.The development of synthetic methods to obtain such chiral compounds has received widespread attention,among which catalytically atroposelective ring-opening of configurationally labile compounds represents one of the most attractive strategies.Various substrates with strained cyclic structures,such as the renowned Bringmann's lactones,can undergo asymmetric transformation into stable atropisomers.Known advancement primarily relies on metal catalyst combined with well-designed chiral ligands,the approaches utilizing organocatalysis as a critical resolution strategy are notably scarce.In this study,we disclosed a N-heterocyclic carbene(NHC)-catalyzed asymmetric ring-opening reaction of biaryl lactams via direct atroposelective nucleophilic activation.The optimized bulky carbene catalyst ensures that the reaction can proceed under mild conditions,affording the desired product with good to excellent yields and atroposelectivity.

Recent developments in peptide ligation independent of amino acid side-chain functional group

Chemical synthesis of peptides and proteins has evolved into an indispensable tool for chemical biology. Peptide ligation is a straightforward technique for joining two short peptide fragments together via a native peptide bond to afford a larger natural peptide or protein. However, the junction sites are limited to several specific amino acids because most peptide ligations involve participation of the side-chain functional groups of the junction-site amino acids. To overcome such intrinsic limitations, "general"peptide ligations which do not rely on the side-chain functional group have been developed. This review summarized the recent developments in peptide ligations that are independent of side-chain functional group of ligation-junction-site amino acid.

Awakening Sleeping Beauty:Vinyl Esters for Macrolactonization

Macrolactones play a critical role in pharmaceuticals and agrochemicals.Numerous efforts have been devoted to developing synthetic methods for them.We highlighted a recent progress for building macrocycles(≥12-membered)via bench-stable vinyl ester(VE)intermediates,which have been underdeveloped for half century.

Mechanism for acetic acid-catalyzed ester aminolysis

This paper reports a computational study elucidating reaction mechanism for amide bond formation from esters and amines catalyzed by acetic acid. Two optional mechanisms（namely, classic stepwise and concerted acyl substitution mechanisms） have been studied. Calculation results establish the reaction energy profiles of both mechanisms and locate all the intermediates and transition states in both catalytic cycles. Our results propose that the concerted acyl substitution mechanism may be more likely wherein the formation of CààN bond and the cleavage of CààO bond occur concurrently without the need of rehybridization of the carbonyl carbon. This is also consistent with the fact that no significant racemization/epimerization were observed in the amide products when asymmetric esters and/or amines were used as the reactants, because concerted acyl substitution mechanism precludes the intermediacy of tetrahedral adducts and the accompanying generation/elimination of new chiral centers.Further discussion implies that the concerted acyl substitution mechanism may widely occur in related amidation reactions in the presence of different types of coupling reagents.

Polyurethanes Made from Bile Acids

New polyurethanes based on bile acids were synthesized from alcohol derivatives of cholic and lithocholic acids and hexamethylene diisocyanate, in an effort to improve the biocompatibility and biodegradability of polyurethanes through the use of natural compounds. The hydrogen bonding in the polymers is confirmed by IR spectral analysis. The glass transition temperatures of the polymers are in the range of 82-138 ℃ and degradation temperatures in the range of 267-298 ℃ as studied by thermal analyses. Thermogravimetric studies indicate that the comonomers are of equimolar amounts in the polyurethanes derived from both bile acids.