The active site structure and catalytic mechanism of arsenite oxidase

Arsenite oxidase is thought to be an ancient enzyme, originating before the divergence of the Archaea and the Bacteria. We have investigated the nature of the molybdenum active site of the arsenite oxidase from the Alphaproteobacterium Rhizobium sp. str. NT-26 using a combination of X-ray absorption spectroscopy and computational chemistry. Our analysis indicates an oxidized Mo(VI) active site with a structure that is far from equilibrium. We propose that this is an entatic state imposed by the protein on the active site through relative orientation of the two molybdopterin cofactors, in a variant of the Rây-Dutt twist of classical coordination chemistry, which we call the pterin twist hypothesis. We discuss the implications of this hypothesis for other putatively ancient molybdopterin-based enzymes

C–H-Bond Activation and Isoprene Polymerization Studies Applying Pentamethylcyclopentadienyl-Supported Rare-Earth-Metal Bis(Tetramethylaluminate) and Dimethyl Complexes

As previously shown for lutetium and yttrium, 1,2,3,4,5-pentamethylcyclopentadienyl (C5Me5 = Cp*)-bearing rare-earth metal dimethyl half-sandwich complexes [Cp*LnMe2]3 are now also accessible for holmium, dysprosium, and terbium via tetramethylaluminato cleavage of [Cp*Ln(AlMe4)2] with diethyl ether (Ho, Dy) and tert-butyl methyl ether (TBME) (Tb). C–H-bond activation and ligand redistribution reactions are observed in case of terbium and are dominant for the next larger-sized gadolinium, as evidenced by the formation of mixed methyl/methylidene clusters [(Cp*Ln)5(CH2)(Me)8] and metallocene dimers [Cp*2Ln(AlMe4)]2 (Ln = Tb, Gd). Applying TBME as a “cleaving” reagent can result in both TBME deprotonation and ether cleavage, as shown for the formation of the 24-membered macrocycle [(Cp*Gd)2(Me)(CH2OtBu)2(AlMe4)]4 or monolanthanum complex [Cp*La(AlMe4){Me3Al(CH2)OtBu}] and monoyttrium complex [Cp*Y(AlMe4)(Me3AlOtBu)], respectively. Complexes [Cp*Ln(AlMe4)2] (Ln = Ho, Dy, Tb, Gd) and [Cp*LnMe2]3 (Ln = Ho, Dy) are applied in isoprene and 1,3-butadiene polymerization, upon activation with borates [Ph3C][B(C6F5)4] and [PhNHMe2][B(C6F5)4], as well as borane B(C6F5)3. The trans-directing effect of AlMe3 in the binary systems [Cp*Ln(AlMe4)2]/borate is revealed and further corroborated by the fabrication of high-cis-1,4 polybutadiene (97%) with “aluminum-free” [Cp*DyMe2]3/[Ph3C][B(C6F5)4]. The formation of multimetallic active species is supported by the polymerization activity of pre-isolated cluster [(Cp*Ho)3Me4(CH2)(thf)2].publishedVersio

The crystal structure of trandolapril, C24H34N2O5: an example of the utility of raw data deposition in the powder diffraction file

The crystal structure of trandolapril has been solved by parallel tempering using the FOX software package with laboratory powder diffraction data submitted to and published in the Powder Diffraction File. Rietveld refinement was performed with the software package GSAS yielding orthorhombic lattice parameters of a = 19.7685(4), b = 15.0697(4), and c = 7.6704(2) Å (C24H34N2O5, Z = 4, space group P212121). The Rietveld refinement results were compared with density functional theory (DFT) calculations performed with CRYSTAL14. While the structures are similar, discrepancies are observed in the configuration of the octahydroindole ring between the Rietveld and DFT structures, suggesting the refined and calculated molecules are diastereomers