The phosphonic acid functional group, which is characterized by a phosphorus atom bonded to three oxygen atoms (two hydroxy groups and one P=O double bond) and one carbon atom, is employed for many applications due to its structural analogy with the phosphate moiety or to its coordination or supramolecular properties. Phosphonic acids were used for their bioactive properties (drug, pro-drug), for bone targeting, for the design of supramolecular or hybrid materials, for the functionalization of surfaces, for analytical purposes, for medical imaging or as phosphoantigen. These applications are covering a large panel of research fields including chemistry, biology and physics thus making the synthesis of phosphonic acids a determinant question for numerous research projects. This review gives, first, an overview of the different fields of application of phosphonic acids that are illustrated with studies mainly selected over the last 20 years. Further, this review reports the different methods that can be used for the synthesis of phosphonic acids from dialkyl or diaryl phosphonate, from dichlorophosphine or dichlorophosphine oxide, from phosphonodiamide, or by oxidation of phosphinic acid. Direct methods that make use of phosphorous acid (H3PO3) and that produce a phosphonic acid functional group simultaneously to the formation of the P–C bond, are also surveyed. Among all these methods, the dealkylation of dialkyl phosphonates under either acidic conditions (HCl) or using the McKenna procedure (a two-step reaction that makes use of bromotrimethylsilane followed by methanolysis) constitute the best methods to prepare phosphonic acids.

UDP-Galactopyranose mutase (UGM) is a flavin-containing enzyme that catalyses the reversible conversion of UDP-Galactopyranose (UDP-Galp) to UDP-Galactofuranose (UDPGalf) and plays a key role in the biosynthesis of the mycobacterial cell wall galactofuran. A soluble, active form of UGM from Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MtUGM) was obtained from a dual His 6 -MBP tagged MtUGM construct. We present the first complex structures of MtUGM with bound substrate UDP-Galp (both oxidized flavin and reduced flavin). In addition, we have determined the complex structures of MtUGM with inhibitors (UDP and the dideoxytetrafluorinated analogs of both UDP-Galp (UDP-F 4 -Galp) and UDP-Galf (UDP-F 4 -Galf)), which represent the first complex structures of UGM with an analogue in the furanose form, as well as the first structures of dideoxy-tetrafluorinated sugar analogs bound to a protein. These structures provide detailed insight into ligand recognition by MtUGM and show a similar overall binding mode as reported for other prokaryotic UGMs. The binding of the ligand induces conformational changes in the enzyme, allowing ligand binding and active site closure. In addition, the complex structure of MtUGM with UDP-F 4 -Galf reveals the first detailed insight into how the furanose moiety binds to UGM. In particular, this study confirmed that the furanoside adopts a high energy conformation ( 4 E) within the catalytic pocket. Moreover, these investigations provide structural insights to the enhanced binding of the dideoxy-tetrafluorinated sugars compared to unmodified analogs. These results will help in the design of carbohydrate mimetics and drug development, and show the enormous possibilities on the use of polyfluorination in the design of carbohydrate mimetics.

International audienceCopper- and cobalt-based layered simple hydroxides (LSH) are successfully functionalized by a series of fluorene mono- and diphosphonic acids, using anionic exchange reactions and a preintercalation strategy. The lateral functionalization of the fluorene moieties has only little impact on the overall structure of the obtained layered hybrid materials but it influences the organization of the molecules within the interlamellar spacing. For bulky fluorene (9,9-dioctyl derivative), luminescence is preserved when inserted into copper and cobalt hydroxydes, whereas it is completely quenched for the other fluorenes. Detailed characterization of the internal structure and chemical bonding properties for copper- and cobalt-based hybrids is performed via ancillary experimental techniques. For the copper-based LSH class, for which more elusive findings are found, first-principles molecular dynamics simulations unravel the fundamental stabilizing role of the H-bonding network promoted within the local environments of the fluorene mono- and diphosphonic acids. The cobalt series of compounds constitute a new class of hybrid magnets, with ordering temperatures ranging from 11.8 to 17.8 K and show a clear magnetoelectric effect. This effect appears above a threshold magnetic field, which is null below the magnetic ordering temperature, and it persists in the paramagnetic regime till about 110 K

The synthesis of unprecedented multimericK do glycoclusters based on fullerenea nd calix[4]arene central scaffolds is reported. The compounds were used to study the mechanism and scopeo fm ultivalent glycosyltransferase inhibition. Multimeric mannosides based on porphyrin and pillar[5]arenes were also generated in ac ontrolled manner. Twelve glycoclusters and their monomeric ligands were thus assayeda gainst heptosyltransferase WaaC, whichi sa ni mportantb acterial glycosyltransferase that is involved in lipopolysaccharide biosynthesis. It was first found that all the multimers interact solely with the acceptor binding site of the enzyme even when the multimericl igandsm imic the heptose donor.S econd, the novel Kdo glycofullerenes dis-playedv ery potent inhibition (K i = 0.14 mm for the best inhibitor);a ni nhibition level rarely observed with glycosyltransferases. Although the observed "multivalent effects" (i.e.,t he enhancementofaffinity of aligand when presented in amultimeric fashion) were in general modest, ad ramatic effect of the central scaffold on the inhibitionl evel was evidenced: the fullerene and the porphyrin scaffolds being by far superior to the calix-and pillar-arenes. We could also show,b yd ynamicl ight scattering analysis, that the best inhibitor had the propensity to form aggregates with the heptosyltransferase. This aggregative property may contribute to the global multivalent enzyme inhibition, but probablyd on ot constitute the main origin of inhibition. tMatØriaux (ECPM)2 5rue Becquerel, 67087 Strasbourg Cedex 2( France) Supporting information and the ORCID number(s) for the author(s) of this articleare available under http://dx.