An oxidative pathway for the mineralization of 2,4-dinitrotoluene (2, 4-DNT) by Burkholderia sp. strain DNT has been reported previously. We report here the isolation of additional strains with the ability to mineralize 2,4-DNT by the same pathway and the isolation and characterization of bacterial strains that mineralize 2, 6-dinitrotoluene (2,6-DNT) by a different pathway. Burkholderia cepaci...

4-Nitrocatechol is examined as an active site probe for non-heme iron dioxygenases and found to be of value, particularly with those containing iron in the Fe(II) oxidation state. 4-Nitrocatechol is astrong competitive inhibitor of substrate oxygenation by protocatechuate 3,4-dioxygenase, forming a reversible complex with this enzyme, and by pyrocatechase. The number of binding sites per enzyme...

After discovering that toluene 4-monooxygenase (T4MO) of Pseudomonas mendocina KR1 oxidizes nitrobenzene to 4-nitrocatechol, albeit at a very low rate, this reaction was improved using directed evolution and saturation mutagenesis. Screening 550 colonies from a random mutagenesis library generated by error-prone PCR of tmoAB using Escherichia coli TG1/pBS(Kan)T4MO on agar plates containing nitr...

Abstract. The Environmental Simulation Chamber made of Quartz from the University “Alexandru Ioan Cuza” (ESC-Q-UAIC), at Iasi, Romania, was used to investigate gas-phase reaction rate coefficients for four nitrocatechols toward OH radicals under simulated atmospheric conditions. Employing relative techniques a temperature 298 ± 2 K and total air pressure 1 atm, obtained (in 10?12 cm3 s?1) were ...

O2 bubbling into a THF solution of Fe(II)(BDPP) (1) at -80 °C generates a reversible bright yellow adduct 2. Characterization by resonance Raman and Mössbauer spectroscopy provides complementary insights into the nature of 2. The former shows a resonance-enhanced vibration at 1125 cm(-1), which can be assigned to the ν(O-O) of a bound superoxide, while the latter reveals the presence of a high-...

Saturation mutagenesis of the 2,4-dinitrotoluene dioxygenase (DDO) of Burkholderia cepacia R34 at position valine 350 of the DntAc alpha-subunit generated mutant V350F with significantly increased activity towards o-nitrophenol (47 times), m-nitrophenol (34 times), and o-methoxyphenol (174 times) as well as an expanded substrate range that now includes m-methoxyphenol, o-cresol, and m-cresol (w...

Catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT, EC 2.1.1.6) plays a central role in the metabolic inactivation of neurotransmitters and neuroactive xenobiotics possessing a catechol motif. 1-(3,4-Dihydroxy-5-nitrophenyl)-2-phenyl-ethanone (BIA 3-202) is a novel nitrocatechol-type inhibitor of COMT, the potential clinical benefit of which is currently being evaluated in the treatment of Parkinson's disease....

Entacapone is an inhibitor of catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT), used in the treatment of Parkinson’s disease as an adjunct to levodopa and carbidopa therapy. It is a nitrocatechol-structured compound with a relative molecular mass of 305.29. The chemical name of entacapone is (E)-2-cyano­ 3-(3,4-dihydroxy-5-nitrophenyl)-N,N-diethyl-2-propenamide. Its empirical formula is C14H15N3O5 and its s...

Entacapone is an inhibitor of catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT), used in the treatment of Parkinson’s Disease as an adjunct to levodopa/carbidopa therapy. It is a nitrocatechol-structured compound with a relative molecular mass of 305.29. The chemical name of entacapone is (E)-2-cyano­ 3-(3,4-dihydroxy-5-nitrophenyl)-N,N-diethyl-2-propenamide. Its empirical formula is C14H15N3O5 and its struc...

Aiming to control neurite formation and navigate the axonal growth by an extrinsic guidance, we report on the design, synthesis and biological evaluation of caged retinoids. Agonists of RARβ have been temporarily blocked either by the [(α-methyl-2-nitropiperonyl)oxy]carbonyl (MeNPOC) group or by immobilization using nitrocatechol linkers on TiO2 particles. Release on demand has been achieved by...