Presence Of Aromatic Substrates Research Articles

Electrochemical synthesis of aromatic sulfur compounds in ionic liquids

Electrochemical properties of ionic liquids (pyridinium and imidazolium salts) and the effect of additives of organic solvents on the electrochemical determination of organic compounds in ionic liquids have been studied. Transformations of aromatic and aliphatic sulfur compounds in ionic liquids in the presence of aromatic substrates are discussed. A new method has been proposed for identification of organic sulfur compounds–gas chromatography on columns with ionic liquid as the active phase.

Bioprocess design guided by in situ substrate supply and product removal: Process intensification for synthesis of (S)-1-(2-chlorophenyl)ethanol

We report herein on bioprocess development guided by the hydrophobicities of substrate and product. Bioreductions of o-chloroacetophenone are severely limited by instability of the catalyst in the presence of aromatic substrate and (S)-1-(2-chlorophenyl)ethanol. In situ substrate supply and product removal was used to protect the utilized Escherichia coli whole cell catalyst based on Candida tenuis xylose reductase during the reaction. Further engineering at the levels of the catalyst and the reaction media was matched to low substrate concentrations in the aqueous phase. Productivities obtained in aqueous batch reductions were 21-fold improved by addition of 20% (v/v) hexane, NAD+, expression engineering, cell permeabilization and pH optimization. Reduction of 300mM substrate was accomplished in 97% yield and use of the co-solvent hexane in subsequent extraction steps led to 88% recovery. Product loss due to high catalyst loading was minimized by using the same extractant in bioreduction and product isolation.

Molecular characterization of an inducible gentisate 1,2-dioxygenase gene, xlnE, from Pseudomonas alcaligenes NCIMB 9867

Pseudomonas alcaligenes NCIMB 9867 (strain P25X) produces isofunctional enzymes of the gentisate pathway that enables the degradation of xylenols and cresols via gentisate. Previous reports had indicated that one set of enzymes is constitutively expressed whereas the other set is strictly inducible by aromatic hydrocarbon substrates. The gene encoding gentisate 1,2-dioxygenase (GDO), the enzyme that catalyzes the cleavage of the gentisate aromatic ring, was cloned from strain P25X. The GDO gene, designated xlnE, is 1,044 bp, and is part of a 5.4 kb operon which consists of six genes, xlnEFGHID. Transcription of this operon was driven by a σ 70-type promoter, P xlnE, located 123 bp upstream of the xlnE start codon. Primer extension analysis showed that the xlnE transcription start point is located at the −87 adenine residue. In a P25X xlnE knockout mutant, GDO activity could only be detected when cells were grown in the presence of aromatic substrates, suggesting that xlnE encodes for the constitutive copy of GDO. This was verified by constructing a P25X strain with xlnE transcriptionally fused to a promoterless catechol 2,3-dioxygenase gene. In this strain, catechol 2,3-dioxygenase activity was detected in cells that were grown in the absence of aromatic inducers. However, catechol 2,3-dioxygenase activity increased up to four fold when these cells were grown in the presence of aromatic substrates, in particular 3-hydroxybenzoate. Thus, xlnE is in fact, inducible and the constitutive activity observed under non-inducing conditions was due to its relatively high basal levels of expression.