Springer Desktop Editions in Chemistry – serie

The synthesis of very complex saccharide structures is one of the most challenging areas of modern glycoscience. This volume presents the state of the art of complex carbohydrate synthesis, written by leading scientists whose groups are making major contributions in the field. Reflecting the particular interest in inhibitors and modulators as well as in mimetics, an in-cepth treatment is given both of their selective syntheses and of their biological implications. In addition the concept of multivalent glycoconjugate recognition as well as supramolecular implications of amphiphilic carbohydrates are highlighted.

Isolated enzymes are known as useful for synthesising of complex molecules with more and more large scale applications in recent years. These six reviews show different steps in the development of enzymatic syntheses for useful compounds. Screening of novel enzymes, their biochemical characterisation as well as reaction engineering approaches in order to increase their performance are treated in three papers. Then the use of protein design as a tool for the directed improvement of reactivity and selectivity of biocatalysts is described in two reviews. The supply of sufficient quantities of biocatalysts must not be neglected: fluidized bed adsorption as an emerging technology for the simple and fast purification of biomolecules is presented in the light of its potential in large scale supply of enzyme catalysts.

Homogeneous catalysis is an important strategy for the synthesis of high-valued chemicals. L. Brandsma has carefully selected and checked the experimental procedures illustrating the catalytic use of copper, nickel, and palladium compounds in organic synthesis. All procedures are on a preparative scale, make economic use of solvents and catalysts, avoid toxic substances and have high yields.

Biological chemistry is a major frontier of inorganic chemistry. Three special volumes devoted to Metal Sites in Proteins and Models address the questions: how unusual ("entatic") are metal sites in metalloproteins and metalloenzymes compared to those in small coordination complexes? And if they are special, how do polypeptide chains and co-factors control this? The chapters deal with iron, with metal centres acting as Lewis acids, metals in phosphate enzymes, with vanadium, and with the wide variety of transition metal ions which act as redox centres. They illustrate in particular how the combined armoury of genetics and structure determination at the molecular level are providing unprecedented new tools for molecular engineering.

Biological chemistry is a major frontier of inorganic chemistry. Three special volumes devoted to Metal Sites in Proteins and Models address the questions: how unusual ("entatic") are metal sites in metalloproteins and metalloenzymes compared to those in small coordination complexes? and if they are special, how do polypeptide chains and co-factors control this? The chapters deal with iron, with metal centres acting as Lewis acids, metals in phosphate enzymes, with vanadium, and with the wide variety of transition metal ions which act as redox centres. They illustrate in particular how the combined armoury of genetics and structure determination at the molecular level are providing unprecedented new tools for molecular engineering.

This volume presents exciting new developments in preparative heterocyclic chemistry with a special emphasis on the stereoselective synthesis of - or with the aid of - heterocycles. A wide range of modern methods and strategies for the construction and synthetic elaboration of versatile heterocycles is surveyed in depth by leading researchers in this field. Due to the high quality and up-to-date coverage of each chapter, this volume provides a valuable overview of the different aspects discussed and will at the same time be highly inspiring for the expert synthetic organic chemist as well as the non-specialist reader.

, a word by an engineer at a recent conference on chips technology. This sentence is particularly true for chemistry. Microfabrication technology emerged from microelectronics into areas like mechanics and now chemistry and biology. The engineering of micron and submicron sized features on the surface of silicon, glass and polymers opens a whole new world. Micromotors smaller than human hair have been fabricated and they work fine. It is the declared goal of the authors to bring these different worlds together in this volume. Authors have been carefully chosen to guarantee for the quality of the contents. An engineer, a chemist or a biologist will find new impulses from the various chapters in this book.

Biological chemistry is a major frontier of inorganic chemistry. Three special volumes devoted to Metal Sites in Proteins and Models address the questions: How unusual ("entatic") are metal sites in metalloproteins and metalloenzymes compared to those in small coordination complexes? And if they are special, how do polypeptide chains and co-factors control this? The chapters deal with iron, with metal centres acting as Lewis acids, metals in phosphate enzymes, with vanadium, and with the wide variety of transition metal ions which act as redox centres. They illustrate in particular how the combined armoury of genetics and structure determination at the molecular level are providing unprecedented new tools for molecular engineering.

This book presents the state of the art in the synthesis very complex saccharide structures, written by leading scientists at the forefront of this rapidly growing field. Reflecting the particular significance in recent years of efficient and selective procedures employing enzymes for preparative purposes in the carbohydrate field, a major proportion of the articles focus on these biocatalytic methods. In addition, recent strategies for the construction of unusual carbohydrates structures employing novel and creative methodologies are highlighted. Further, particular emphasis is placed on very complex saccharide structures as well as on special solutions to problems that are particularly challenging.

Drug discovery strategies for both pharmaceutical and agrochemical applications are at a stage of rapid development. More than 30 % of sales of drugs for human consumption worldwide are of plant origin. This unique book covers the present status and future potential of natural products in drug discovery. It provides the reader with recent information regarding the impact on drug discovery, development and strategies, technical and automation aspects, and methods based on biochemistry as well as molecular biology, highlighting compounds from natural sources. Special emphasis is placed on the various strategies to gain access to natural compounds and combinatorial approaches by making use of both synthetic and biological methods. Because the renewed interest in the use of natural sources in drug discovery is an important supplement to combinatorial and parallel synthesis approaches, this book is timely and will have a great scientific impact.

The use of enzymes – employed either as isolated enzymes, crude protein extracts or whole cells – for the transformation of non-natural organic c- pounds is not an invention of the twentieth century: they have been used for more than one hundred years. However,the object of most of the early research was totally different from that of the present day. Whereas the elucidation of biochemical pathways and enzyme mechanisms was the main driving force for the early studies,in contrast it was mainly during the 1980s that the enormous potential of applying natural catalysts to transform non-natural organic c- pounds was recognized. This trend was particularly well enhanced by the recommendation of the FDA-guidelines (1992) with respect to the use of chiral bioactive agents in enantiopure form. During the last two decades, it has been shown that the substrate tolerance of numerous biocatalysts is often much wider than previously believed. Of course,there are many enzymes which are very strictly bound to their natural substrate(s). They play an important role in metabolism and they are gener- ly not applicable for biotransformations. On the other hand, an impressive number of biocatalysts have been shown to possess a wide substrate tolerance by keeping their exquisite catalytic properties with respect to chemo-, reg- and, most important, enantio-selectivity. This made them into the key tools for biotransformations.

The present volume is the first of two planned to provide state-of-the-art expert reviews of central topics in modern natural products chemistry and secondary metabolism. Many scientists not directly involved in these areas still view the field of natural products as focused primarily on the isolation,structure elucidation, and cataloging of new compounds (i. e. “grind and find”),or on their chemical synthesis. However,two revolutions in experimental techniques since the early 1950’s have completely transformed the understanding of chemical and biological relationships between highly diverse natural products. The first was the use isotopes to label precursors and follow the fate of key atoms during biochemical transformations to a final product. Advances in methodology that began in the mid-1970’s,especially using NMR to detect stable isotopes,dramatically expanded the level of mechanistic detail available to study in vivo conversions of secondary metabolites. The second revolution started in the late 1980’s as researchers developed methods to identify,purify and genetically manipulate individual enzymes - sponsible for the intricate steps leading to complex natural products. This has expanded the field from building an encyclopaedia of natural materials to being able to initiate control of biochemical pathways to secondary metabolites. Recent advances suggest it may soon be possible to rationally manipulate biochemical pathways in vivo to rapidly produce almost any target molecule,including n- natural variants,in substantial quantity.

Catalytic procedures are clearly the most economical means to effect selective processes in organic synthesis. For the preparation of enantiomerically pure compounds, the utilization of enzymes is particularly attractive because of high selectivities and mild, environmentally benign reaction conditions. Taking advantage of advances in molecular biology, unique new enzymes are now readily accessible in quantity with properties that are amenable to modification on demand. This volume brings together leading contributors from the forefront of this exciting technology. In their authoritative and timely reviews they cover the state-of-the-art of biocatalysis from the discovery of novel enzymes - by modern screening, evolutionary or immunological approaches - through immobilization techniques for technical processes, to their use in the asymmetric synthesis of important target compounds.

The first review in this book presents synthetic strategies, biosynthesis and the genetics involved. The second review article, on non-template based multienzyme systems, addresses why polyketides are the most diverse group of natural products, comparing polyketide syntheses with other non-template multienzyme systems. The third review deals with angucycline antibiotics, the largest subgroup of polycyclic aromatic polyketides.