New polymer synthesis by nitroxide mediated living radical polymerizations.

Advances in metal-induced oxidative stress and human disease

The widespread use of controlled molecular-level motion in key natural processes suggests that great rewards could come from bridging the gap between the present generation of synthetic molecular systems, which by and large rely upon electronic and chemical effects to carry out their functions, and the machines of the macroscopic world, which utilize the synchronized movements of smaller parts to perform specific tasks. This is a scientific area of great contemporary interest and extraordinary recent growth, yet the notion of molecular-level machines dates back to a time when the ideas surrounding the statistical nature of matter and the laws of thermodynamics were first being formulated. Here we outline the exciting successes in taming molecular-level movement thus far, the underlying principles that all experimental designs must follow, and the early progress made towards utilizing synthetic molecular structures to perform tasks using mechanical motion. We also highlight some of the issues and challenges that still need to be overcome.

Synthetic molecular motors and mechanical machines.

Iron is essential to virtually all organisms, but poses problems of toxicity and poor solubility. Bacteria have evolved various mechanisms to counter the problems imposed by their iron dependence, allowing them to achieve effective iron homeostasis under a range of iron regimes. Highly efficient iron acquisition systems are used to scavenge iron from the environment under iron-restricted conditions. In many cases, this involves the secretion and internalisation of extracellular ferric chelators called siderophores. Ferrous iron can also be directly imported by the G protein-like transporter, FeoB. For pathogens, host–iron complexes (transferrin, lactoferrin, haem, haemoglobin) are directly used as iron sources. Bacterial iron storage proteins (ferritin, bacterioferritin) provide intracellular iron reserves for use when external supplies are restricted, and iron detoxification proteins (Dps) are employed to protect the chromosome from iron-induced free radical damage. There is evidence that bacteria control their iron requirements in response to iron availability by down-regulating the expression of iron proteins during iron-restricted growth. And finally, the expression of the iron homeostatic machinery is subject to iron-dependent global control ensuring that iron acquisition, storage and consumption are geared to iron availability and that intracellular levels of free iron do not reach toxic levels.

Bacterial iron homeostasis

▪ Abstract Proton-coupled electron transfer (PCET) is an important mechanism for charge transfer in a wide variety of systems including biology- and materials-oriented venues. We review several are...

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Proton-Coupled Electron Transfer

This paper briefly presents a critical review concerning the chemical reactions involved when superoxide or hydrogen peroxide meet iron complexes The data commented on are required for a correct interpretation of the chemical processes which play a paramount role in the biological activation of dioxygen and arise in normal metabolism as well as in pathological processes

Iron and activated oxygen species in biology: The basic chemistry

Iron and copper are metals which play an important role in the living world. From a brief consideration of their chemistry and biochemistry we conclude that the early chemistry of life used water soluble ferrous iron while copper was in the water-insoluble Cu(I) state as highly insoluble sulphides. The advent of oxygen was a catastrophic event for most living organisms, and can be considered to be the first general irreversible pollution of the earth. In contrast to the oxidation of iron and its loss of bioavailability as insoluble Fe(III), the oxidation of insoluble Cu(I) led to soluble Cu(II). A new iron biochemistry became possible after the advent of oxygen, with the development of chelators of Fe(III), which rendered iron once again accessible, and with the control of the potential toxicity of iron by its storage in a water soluble, non-toxic, bio-available storage protein (ferritin). Biology also discovered that whereas enzymes involved in anaerobic metabolism were designed to operate in the lower portion of the redox spectrum, the arrival of dioxygen created the need for a new redox active metal which could attain higher redox potentials. Copper, now bioavailable, was ideally suited to exploit the oxidizing power of dioxygen. The arrival of copper also coincided with the development of multicellular organisms which had extracellular cross-linked matrices capable of resisting attack by oxygen free radicals. After the initial 'iron age' subsequent evolution moved, not towards a 'copper age', but rather to an 'iron-copper' age. In the second part of the review, this symbiosis of iron and copper is examined in yeast. We then briefly consider iron and copper metabolism in mammals, before looking at iron-copper interactions in mammals, particularly man, and conclude with the reflection that, as in Greek and Roman mythology, a better understanding of the potentially positive interactions between Mars (iron) and Venus (copper) can only be to the advantage of our species.

Old iron, young copper: from Mars to Venus.

The dinucleating ligand 2,6-bis[(bis(2-pyridylmethyl)amino)methyl]-4-methylphenol (H−BPMP) has been used to synthesize the three dinuclear Cu(II) complexes [Cu2(BPMP)(OH)][ClO4]2·0.5C4H8O (1), [Cu2(BPMP)(H2O)2](ClO4)3·4H2O (2), and [Cu2(H−BPMP)][(ClO4)4]·2CH3CN (3). X-ray diffraction studies reveal that 1 is a μ-hydroxo, μ-phenoxo complex, 2 a diaqua, μ-phenoxo complex, and 3 a binuclear complex with Cu−Cu distances of 2.96, 4.32, and 6.92 A, respectively. Magnetization measurements reveal that 1 is moderately antiferromagnetically coupled while 2 and 3 are essentially uncoupled. The electronic spectra in acetonitrile or in water solutions give results in accordance with the solid-state structures. 1 is EPR-silent, in agreement with the antiferromagnetic coupling between the two copper atoms. The X-band spectrum of powdered 2 is consistent with a tetragonally elongated square pyramid geometry around the Cu(II) ions, in accordance with the solid-state structure, while the spectrum in frozen solution sugges...

pH-controlled change of the metal coordination in a dicopper(II) complex of the ligand H-BPMP: crystal structures, magnetic properties, and catecholase activity.

Imidazolate-bridged dicopper(II) and copper-zinc complexes of a macrobicyclic ligand (cryptand). A possible model for the chemistry of Cu-Zn superoxide dismutase

2,2,6,6-Tetramethyl-1-piperidinyloxy catalyzes efficient oxidation of primary alcohols to aldehydes by N-chlorosuccinimide, in a biphasic dichloromethane-aqueous pH 8.6 buffer system in the presence of tetrabutylammonium chloride. Aliphatic, benzylic, and allylic alcohols are readily oxidized with no overoxidation to carboxylic acids. Secondary alcohols are oxidized to ketones with a much lower efficiency. Very high chemoselectivities are observed when primary alcohols are oxidized in the presence of secondary ones. Primary-secondary diols are selectively transformed into hydroxy aldehydes, with, in some cases, no detectable formation of the isomeric keto alcohols.

Jean-Louis Pierre

Papers

Iron and activated oxygen species in biology: The basic chemistry

Old iron, young copper: from Mars to Venus.

pH-controlled change of the metal coordination in a dicopper(II) complex of the ligand H-BPMP: crystal structures, magnetic properties, and catecholase activity.

Imidazolate-bridged dicopper(II) and copper-zinc complexes of a macrobicyclic ligand (cryptand). A possible model for the chemistry of Cu-Zn superoxide dismutase

Efficient and Highly Selective Oxidation of Primary Alcohols to Aldehydes by N-Chlorosuccinimide Mediated by Oxoammonium Salts.