Design Strategies for Redox Active Metalloenzymes

2016 ◽  
pp. 389-416 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Alcala-Torano ◽  
D.J. Sommer ◽  
Z. Bahrami Dizicheh ◽  
G. Ghirlanda
Keyword(s):  
Design Strategies ◽  
Redox Active

Common modifications of selenocysteine in selenoproteins

2019 ◽  
Vol 64 (1) ◽  
pp. 45-53 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elias S.J. Arnér
Keyword(s):  
Amino Acids ◽  
Covalent Binding ◽  
Physicochemical Characteristics ◽  
Redox Active

Abstract Selenocysteine (Sec), the sulfur-to-selenium substituted variant of cysteine (Cys), is the defining entity of selenoproteins. These are naturally expressed in many diverse organisms and constitute a unique class of proteins. As a result of the physicochemical characteristics of selenium when compared with sulfur, Sec is typically more reactive than Cys while participating in similar reactions, and there are also some qualitative differences in the reactivities between the two amino acids. This minireview discusses the types of modifications of Sec in selenoproteins that have thus far been experimentally validated. These modifications include direct covalent binding through the Se atom of Sec to other chalcogen atoms (S, O and Se) as present in redox active molecular motifs, derivatization of Sec via the direct covalent binding to non-chalcogen elements (Ni, Mb, N, Au and C), and the loss of Se from Sec resulting in formation of dehydroalanine. To understand the nature of these Sec modifications is crucial for an understanding of selenoprotein reactivities in biological, physiological and pathophysiological contexts.

On the Crystal Chemistry of Inorganic Nitrides: Crystal-Chemical Parameters and Opportunities in the Exploration of Their Compositional Space

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Olivier Charles Gagné
Keyword(s):  
Functional Properties ◽  
A Priori ◽  
Lone Pair ◽  
Length Variation ◽  
Electronic Effects ◽  
Statistical Knowledge ◽  
Redox Active ◽  
Multiply Bonded ◽  
Jahn Teller ◽  
Compositional Space

The scarcity of nitrogen in Earth’s crust, combined with challenging synthesis, have made inorganic nitrides a relatively-unexplored class of compounds compared to their naturally-abundant oxide counterparts. To facilitate exploration of their compositional space via <i>a priori</i> modeling, and to help <i>a posteriori</i> structure verification not limited to inferring the oxidation state of redox-active cations, we derive a suite of bond-valence parameters and Lewis-acid strength values for 76 cations observed bonding to N<sup>3-</sup>, and further outline a baseline statistical knowledge of bond lengths for these compounds. We examine structural and electronic effects responsible for the functional properties and anomalous bonding behavior of inorganic nitrides, and identify promising venues for exploring uncharted compositional spaces beyond the reach of high-throughput computational methods. We find that many mechanisms of bond-length variation ubiquitous to oxide and oxysalt compounds (e.g., lone-pair stereoactivity, the Jahn-Teller and pseudo Jahn-Teller effects) are similarly pervasive in inorganic nitrides, and are occasionally observed to result in greater distortion magnitude than their oxide counterparts. We identify inorganic nitrides with multiply-bonded metal ions as a promising venue in heterogeneous catalysis, e.g. in the development of a post-Haber-Bosch process proceeding at milder reaction conditions, thus representing further opportunity in the thriving exploration of the functional properties of this emerging class of materials.<br>

Energetic Control of Redox-Active Polymers Towards Safe Organic Bioelectronic Materials

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander Giovannitti ◽  
Reem B. Rashid ◽  
Quentin Thiburce ◽  
Bryan D. Paulsen ◽  
Camila Cendra ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Molecular Oxygen ◽  
Organic Semiconductors ◽  
Side Reaction ◽  
Semiconducting Polymers ◽  
Side Reactions ◽  
Redox Active ◽  
Donor Acceptor ◽  
Electrochemical Devices ◽  
Biological Environment ◽  
Device Operation

<p>Avoiding faradaic side reactions during the operation of electrochemical devices is important to enhance the device stability, to achieve low power consumption, and to prevent the formation of reactive side‑products. This is particularly important for bioelectronic devices which are designed to operate in biological systems. While redox‑active materials based on conducting and semiconducting polymers represent an exciting class of materials for bioelectronic devices, they are susceptible to electrochemical side‑reactions with molecular oxygen during device operation. We show that this electrochemical side reaction yields hydrogen peroxide (H<sub>2</sub>O<sub>2</sub>), a reactive side‑product, which may be harmful to the local biological environment and may also accelerate device degradation. We report a design strategy for the development of redox-active organic semiconductors based on donor-acceptor copolymers that prevent the formation of H<sub>2</sub>O<sub>2</sub> during device operation. This study elucidates the previously overlooked side-reactions between redox-active conjugated polymers and molecular oxygen in electrochemical devices for bioelectronics, which is critical for the operation of electrolyte‑gated devices in application-relevant environments.</p>

Theoretical Exploration of 2,2’-Bipyridines as Electro-Active Compounds in Flow Batteries

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mariano Sánchez-Castellanos ◽  
Martha M. Flores-Leonar ◽  
Zaahel Mata-Pinzón ◽  
Humberto G. Laguna ◽  
Karl García-Ruiz ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Redox Potential ◽  
Active Material ◽  
Chemical Properties ◽  
Small Subset ◽  
Solubility In Water ◽  
Protonation Reaction ◽  
Redox Active ◽  
Physico Chemical ◽  
Pka Value ◽  
Flow Batteries

Compounds from the 2,2’-bipyridine molecular family were investigated for use as redox-active materials in organic flow batteries. For 156 2,2’-bipyridine derivatives reported in the academic literature, we calculated the redox potential, the pKa for the first protonation reaction, and the solubility in aqueous solutions. Using experimental data on a small subset of derivatives, we were able to calibrate our calculations. We find that functionalization with electron-withdrawing groups leads to an increase of the redox potential and to an increase of the molecular acidity (as expressed in a reduction of the pKa value for the first protonation step). Furthermore, calculations of solubility in water indicate that some of the studied derivatives have adequate solubility for flow battery applications. Based on an analysis of the physico-chemical properties of the 156 studied compounds, we down-select five molecules with carbonyl- and nitro-based functional groups, whose parameters are especially promising for potential application as negative redox-active material inorganic flow batteries.

Theoretical Exploration of 2,2’-Bipyridines as Electro-Active Compounds in Flow Batteries

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mariano Sánchez-Castellanos ◽  
Martha M. Flores-Leonar ◽  
Zaahel Mata-Pinzón ◽  
Humberto G. Laguna ◽  
Karl García-Ruiz ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Redox Potential ◽  
Active Material ◽  
Chemical Properties ◽  
Small Subset ◽  
Solubility In Water ◽  
Protonation Reaction ◽  
Redox Active ◽  
Physico Chemical ◽  
Pka Value ◽  
Flow Batteries

Compounds from the 2,2’-bipyridine molecular family were investigated for use as redox-active materials in organic flow batteries. For 156 2,2’-bipyridine derivatives reported in the academic literature, we calculated the redox potential, the pKa for the first protonation reaction, and the solubility in aqueous solutions. Using experimental data on a small subset of derivatives, we were able to calibrate our calculations. We find that functionalization with electron-withdrawing groups leads to an increase of the redox potential and to an increase of the molecular acidity (as expressed in a reduction of the pKa value for the first protonation step). Furthermore, calculations of solubility in water indicate that some of the studied derivatives have adequate solubility for flow battery applications. Based on an analysis of the physico-chemical properties of the 156 studied compounds, we down-select five molecules with carbonyl- and nitro-based functional groups, whose parameters are especially promising for potential application as negative redox-active material inorganic flow batteries.

General Cyclopropane Assembly via Enantioselective Redox-Active Carbene Transfer to Aliphatic Olefins

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marc Montesinos-Magraner ◽  
Matteo Costantini ◽  
Rodrigo Ramirez-Contreras ◽  
Michael E. Muratore ◽  
Magnus J. Johansson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Total Synthesis ◽  
Asymmetric Synthesis ◽  
Chemical Space ◽  
Synthetic Approach ◽  
Asymmetric Cyclopropanation ◽  
Redox Active ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Leaving Group ◽  
Stereoelectronic Properties ◽  
Carbene Transfer

Asymmetric cyclopropane synthesis currently requires bespoke strategies, methods, substrates and reagents, even when targeting similar compounds. This limits the speed and chemical space available for discovery campaigns. Here we introduce a practical and versatile diazocompound, and we demonstrate its performance in the first unified asymmetric synthesis of functionalized cyclopropanes. We found that the redox-active leaving group in this reagent enhances the reactivity and selectivity of geminal carbene transfer. This effect enabled the asymmetric cyclopropanation of a wide range of olefins including unactivated aliphatic alkenes, enabling the 3-step total synthesis of (–)-dictyopterene A. This unified synthetic approach delivers high enantioselectivities that are independent of the stereoelectronic properties of the functional groups transferred. Our results demonstrate that orthogonally-differentiated diazocompounds are viable and advantageous equivalents of single-carbon chirons<i>.</i>

Towards a Design of Active Oxygen Evolution Catalysts: Insights from Automated Density Functional Theory Calculations and Machine Learning

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Seoin Back ◽  
Kevin Tran ◽  
Zachary Ulissi
Keyword(s):  
Machine Learning ◽  
Oxygen Evolution ◽  
Active Sites ◽  
Density Functional ◽  
Chemical Space ◽  
Density Functional Theory Calculations ◽  
Catalyst Design ◽  
Transition Metal Catalysts ◽  
Oxide Materials ◽  
Design Strategies

<div> <div> <div> <div><p>Developing active and stable oxygen evolution catalysts is a key to enabling various future energy technologies and the state-of-the-art catalyst is Ir-containing oxide materials. Understanding oxygen chemistry on oxide materials is significantly more complicated than studying transition metal catalysts for two reasons: the most stable surface coverage under reaction conditions is extremely important but difficult to understand without many detailed calculations, and there are many possible active sites and configurations on O* or OH* covered surfaces. We have developed an automated and high-throughput approach to solve this problem and predict OER overpotentials for arbitrary oxide surfaces. We demonstrate this for a number of previously-unstudied IrO2 and IrO3 polymorphs and their facets. We discovered that low index surfaces of IrO2 other than rutile (110) are more active than the most stable rutile (110), and we identified promising active sites of IrO2 and IrO3 that outperform rutile (110) by 0.2 V in theoretical overpotential. Based on findings from DFT calculations, we pro- vide catalyst design strategies to improve catalytic activity of Ir based catalysts and demonstrate a machine learning model capable of predicting surface coverages and site activity. This work highlights the importance of investigating unexplored chemical space to design promising catalysts.<br></p></div></div></div></div><div><div><div> </div> </div> </div>

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