Nitrilase enzymes (nitrilases) catalyse the hydrolysis of nitrile compounds to the corresponding carboxylic acid and ammonia, and have a wide range of industrial and biotechnological applications, including the synthesis of industrially important carboxylic acids and bioremediation of cyanide and toxic nitriles. Nitrilases are produced by a wide range of organisms, including plants, bacteria an...

Next-generation DNA sequencing (NGS) has made it feasible to sequence large number of microbial genomes and advancements in computational biology have opened enormous opportunities to mine genome sequence data for novel genes and enzymes or their sources. In the present communication in silico mining of microbial genomes has been carried out to find novel sources of nitrilases. The sequences se...

The first tertiary amine-catalyzed multicomponent tandem Strecker-allylic-alkylation (SAA) reaction has been developed, which provides a facile access to functionalized α-amino nitriles, which could be readily converted into α-methylene-γ-butyrolactams.

Oxidative decarboxylation of amino acids into nitriles was performed using molecular oxygen as terminal oxidant and a heterogeneous ruthenium hydroxide-based catalyst. A range of amino acids was oxidized in very good yield, using water as the solvent.

Plants protect themselves against herbivory with a diverse array of repellent or toxic secondary metabolites. However, many herbivorous insects have developed counteradaptations that enable them to feed on chemically defended plants without apparent negative effects. Here, we present evidence that larvae of the specialist insect, Pieris rapae (cabbage white butterfly, Lepidoptera: Pieridae), ar...

A new, TiCl4-or SnCl4-mediated, solvent-free method was developed for the synthesis of N-Aryl benzamidines and N-phenylpicolinamidines, in moderate-to-good yield, using suitable amines and nitriles as starting materials.

Aryl nitriles were prepared through Cu(NO3)2·3H2O-mediated cyanation of aryl iodides and bromides using DMF as a single surrogate of cyanide. Moreover, this protocol could be scalable and practiced with benign operation.

Using the chick embryo assay system, a series of organic compounds was tested for lathyrogenic activity; lathyrogenic compounds were shown to fall into 4 groups-nitriles, ureides, and 2 new groups-hydrazides and hydrazines, forming a spectrum of diminishing potency in their ability to produce solubility of collagen and skeletal deformities. Pyridoxal was seen to reverse to a great degree the ef...

Ruthenium(II) tris(2-pyridylmethyl)amine (TPA) is an effective caging group for nitriles that provides high levels of control over the enzyme activity with light. Two caged nitriles were prepared, [Ru(TPA)(MeCN)2](PF6)2 (1) and [Ru(TPA)(3)2](PF6)2 (2), where 3 is the cathepsin K inhibitor Cbz-Leu-NHCH2CN, and characterized by various spectroscopic techniques and mass spectrometry. Both 1 and 2 ...

Nitriles play a key role as molecular precursors in prebiotic experiments based on the RNA-world scenario for origin of life. These chemical compounds could have been partially delivered to young Earth from extraterrestrial objects, stressing importance establishing reservoir nitriles interstellar medium. We report here detection towards cloud G+0.693?0.027 several nitriles, including cyanic ac...