A ruthenium-catalyzed, redox neutral C-O bond cleavage of 2-aryloxy-1-arylethanols was developed that yields cleavage products in 62-98% isolated yield. This reaction is applicable to breaking the key ethereal bond found in lignin-related polymers. The bond transformation proceeds by a tandem dehydrogenation/ reductive ether cleavage. Initial mechanistic investigations indicate that the ether cleavage is most likely an organometallic C-O activation. A catalytic depolymerization of a lignin-related polymer quantitatively yields the corresponding monomer with no added reagent.

Caldicellulosiruptor saccharolyticus is an extremely thermophilic, gram-positive anaerobe which ferments cellulose-, hemicellulose-and pectin-containing biomass to acetate, CO 2 , and hydrogen. Its broad substrate range, high hydrogen-producing capacity, and ability to coutilize glucose and xylose make this bacterium an attractive candidate for microbial bioenergy production. Here, the complete genome sequence of C. saccharolyticus, consisting of a 2,970,275-bp circular chromosome encoding 2,679 predicted proteins, is described. Analysis of the genome revealed that C. saccharolyticus has an extensive polysaccharide-hydrolyzing capacity for cellulose, hemicellulose, pectin, and starch, coupled to a large number of ABC transporters for monomeric and oligomeric sugar uptake. The components of the Embden-Meyerhof and nonoxidative pentose phosphate pathways are all present; however, there is no evidence that an Entner-Doudoroff pathway is present. Catabolic pathways for a range of sugars, including rhamnose, fucose, arabinose, glucuronate, fructose, and galactose, were identified. These pathways lead to the production of NADH and reduced ferredoxin. NADH and reduced ferredoxin are subsequently used by two distinct hydrogenases to generate hydrogen. Whole-genome transcriptome analysis revealed that there is significant upregulation of the glycolytic pathway and an ABC-type sugar transporter during growth on glucose and xylose, indicating that C. saccharolyticus coferments these sugars unimpeded by glucose-based catabolite repression. The capacity to simultaneously process and utilize a range of carbohydrates associated with biomass feedstocks is a highly desirable feature of this lignocelluloseutilizing, biofuel-producing bacterium.Microbial hydrogen production from biomass has been recognized as an important source of renewable energy (15, 47). High-temperature microorganisms are well suited for production of biohydrogen from plant polysaccharides, as anaerobic fermentation is thermodynamically favored at elevated temperatures (17, 43). The extremely thermophilic bacterium Caldicellulosiruptor saccharolyticus DSM 8903, a fermentative anaerobe initially isolated from wood in the flow of a thermal spring in New Zealand, first received attention because of its capacity to utilize cellulose at its optimal growth temperature, 70°C (37). Further work showed that C. saccharolyticus (i) can utilize a wide range of plant materials, including cellulose, hemicellulose, starch, and pectin, (ii) has a very high hydrogen yield (almost 4 mol of H 2 per mol of glucose) (14,20,48), and (iii) can ferment C 5 and C 6 sugars simultaneously. These features have led to the development of bioprocessing schemes based on C. saccharolyticus. For example, H 2 production is now being investigated using a two-step process in which H 2 and acetate are generated from biomass hydrolysates in one bioreactor and the acetate is fed to a second bioreactor and used by phototrophic organisms (Rhodobacter spp.) to produce additional H 2 in the presence of...

In eukaryotes, MogA and MoeA are fused into a single polypeptide chain. The corresponding mammalian protein gephyrin has also been implicated in the anchoring of glycinergic receptors to the cytoskeleton at inhibitory synapses. Based on the structures of MoeA and MogA, gephyrin is surmised to be a highly organized molecule containing at least five domains. This multidomain arrangement could provide a structural basis for its functional diversity. The oligomeric states of MoeA and MogA suggest how gephyrin could assemble into a hexagonal scaffold at inhibitory synapses.

[reaction: see text] Dirhodium caprolactamate [Rh2(cap)4] is an effective catalyst for benzylic oxidation with tert-butyl hydroperoxide (TBHP) under mild conditions. Sodium bicarbonate is the optimal base additive for substrate conversion. Benzylic carbonyl compounds are readily obtained, and a formal synthesis of palmarumycin CP2 using this methodology is described.