Pd-catalyzed aerobic oxidative coupling of vinylboronic acids and electronically unbiased alkyl olefins provides regioselective access to 1,3-disubstituted conjugated dienes. Catalyst-controlled regioselectivity is achieved by using 2,9-dimethylphenanthroline as a ligand. The observed regioselectivity is opposite to that observed from a traditional (nonoxidative) Heck reaction between a vinyl b...

Urocanic acid, produced by the nonoxidative deamination of L-histidine, has been demonstrated as the first intermediate in the degradation of this amino acid in liver (l-6) and in microorganisms (7-9). The subsequent enzymatic degradation of urocanic acid yields ol-r-formamidinoglutaric acid (10-13). The present paper describes the enzymatic formation of an unstable intermediate in this reactio...

The effect of trauma on protein metabolism was investigated in the whole body, muscle, and liver in severely head-injured patients presenting an acute inflammatory response by comparison to fed control subjects receiving a similar diet. Nonoxidative leucine disposal (an index of whole body protein synthesis) and muscle, albumin, and fibrinogen synthesis were determined by means of a primed, con...

According to the "fetal origins hypothesis," monozygotic (MZ) twins may be more prone to develop various metabolic abnormalities compared with dizygotic (DZ) twins, and twins all together may be more predisposed to metabolic defects compared with singletons. To determine the impact of twin and zygosity status as well as birth size on in vivo measures of glucose metabolism, we examined 123 young...

The nonoxidative decarboxylation of aromatic acids occurs in a range of microbes and is of interest for bioprocessing and metabolic engineering. Although phenolic acid decarboxylases provide useful tools for bioindustrial applications, the molecular bases for how these enzymes function are only beginning to be examined. Here we present the 2.35-Å-resolution X-ray crystal structure of the feruli...

To characterize postprandial glucose disposal more completely, we used the tritiated water technique, a triple-isotope approach (intravenous [3-H(3)]glucose and [(14)C]bicarbonate and oral [6,6-(2)H(2)]glucose) and indirect calorimetry to assess splanchnic and peripheral glucose disposal, direct and indirect glucose storage, oxidative and nonoxidative glycolysis, and the glucose entering plasma...