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A facile solid-phase synthetic method for incorporating the imidazoline ring motif, a surrogate for a trans peptide bond, into bioactive peptides is reported. The example described is the synthesis of an imidazoline peptidomimetic analog of an insect pyrokinin neuropeptide via a cyclization reaction of an iminium salt generated from the preceding amino acid and 2,4-diaminopropanoic acid (Dap).

In diagnostic microbiology, culture media are widely used for detection of pathogenic bacteria. Such media employ various ingredients to optimize detection of specific pathogens such as chromogenic enzyme substrates and selective inhibitors to reduce the presence of commensal bacteria. Despite this, it is rarely possible to inhibit the growth of all commensal bacteria, and thus pathogens can be overgrown and remain undetected. One approach to attempt to remedy this is the use of "suicide substrates" that can target specific bacterial enzymes and selectively inhibit unwanted bacterial species. With the purpose of identifying novel selective inhibitors, six novel phosphonopeptide derivatives based on d/l-fosfalin and β-chloro-l-alanine were synthesized and tested on 19 different strains of clinically relevant bacteria. Several compounds show potential as useful selective agents that could be exploited in the recovery of several bacterial pathogens including Salmonella , Pseudomonas aeruginosa , and Listeria .

In the present study, a pyridoxal-5'-phosphate (PLP)-dependent L-aspartate-α-decarboxylase from Tribolium castaneum (TcPanD) was selected for protein engineering to efficiently produce β-alanine. A mutant Tc PanD-R98H/K305S with a 2.45-fold higher activity than the wide type was selected through error-prone PCR, site-saturation mutagenesis, and 96-well plate screening technologies. The characterization of purified enzyme TcPanD-R98H/K305S showed that the optimal cofactor PLP concentration, temperature, and pH were 0.04% ( m/v ), 50 °C, and 7.0, respectively. The 1mM of Na + , Ni 2+ , Co 2+ , K + , and Ca 2+ stimulated the activity of TcPanD-R98H/K305S, while only 5 mM of Ni 2+ and Na + could increase its activity. The kinetic analysis indicated that TcPanD-R98H/K305S had a higher substrate affinity and enzymatic reaction rate than the wild enzyme. A total of 267 g/L substrate l-aspartic acid was consumed and 170.5 g/L of β-alanine with a molar conversion of 95.5% was obtained under the optimal condition and 5-L reactor fermentation.

Natural deep eutectic solvents (NADES) are a type of ionic liquid (IL) or deep eutectic solvent (DES), the ingredients of which are exclusively natural products (non-toxic and environmentally friendly). Here, we explore the potential of NADES as an alternative to conventional organic solvents (e.g., aqueous methanol or ethanol) for the extraction of flavonoids from Scutellaria baicalensis stem bark to investigate their extractability depending on structural variation. Four NADES, each containing citric acid in combination with β-alanine, glucose, xylitol, or proline (at a molar ratio of 1:1), and a variable amount of water, were used to extract the flavonoid aglycones: baicalein ( 1 ), scutellarein ( 3 ), wogonin ( 5 ), and oroxylin A ( 7 ), and their glycosides, baicalin ( 2 ), scutellarin ( 4 ), wogonoside ( 6 ) and oroxyloside ( 8 ) from the powdered bark of S. baicalensis . The chemical profile and yield of the extracts were determined using HPTLC and HPLC. The extractability of individual flavonoids was found to be influenced by the concentration of water (20-60%, w/w) in the NADES. Among the tested flavonoids, the extraction yield of baicalein ( 1 ), scutellarein ( 3 ), wogonin ( 5 ), oroxylin A ( 7 ) with NADES was 2 to 6 times that of aqueous methanol. However, the amount of their corresponding glycosides (baicalin ( 2 ), wogonoside ( 6 ) and oroxyloside ( 8 )) extracted with NADES was only 1.5-1.8 times higher than with aqueous methanol. Interestingly, the more hydrophilic glycosides were less extracted than their corresponding aglycones despite the high hydrophilicity of the NADES. These results prove that NADES may be used for extraction of compounds with a wide range of hydrophilicity., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Grape composition affects wine flavour and aroma not only through varietal compounds, but also by influencing the production of volatile compounds by yeast. C9 and C12 compounds that potentially influence ethyl ester synthesis during fermentation were studied using a model grape juice medium. It was shown that the addition of free fatty acids, their methyl esters or acyl-carnitine and acyl-amino acid conjugates can increase ethyl ester production in fermentations. The stimulation of ethyl ester production above that of the control was apparent when lower concentrations of the C9 compounds were added to the model musts compared to the C12 compounds. Four amino acids, which are involved in CoA biosynthesis, were also added to model grape juice medium in the absence of pantothenate to test their ability to influence ethyl and acetate ester production. β-Alanine was the only one shown to increase the production of ethyl esters, free fatty acids and acetate esters. The addition of 1 mg∙L(-1) β-alanine was enough to stimulate production of these compounds and addition of up to 100 mg∙L(-1) β-alanine had no greater effect. The endogenous concentrations of β-alanine in fifty Cabernet Sauvignon grape samples exceeded the 1 mg∙L(-1) required for the stimulatory effect on ethyl and acetate ester production observed in this study.

In this study, hydroxyapatite (HAP) was surface-modified by the addition of β-alanine (β-Ala), and the ring-opening polymerization of γ-benzyl-L-glutamate-N-carboxy-anhydride (BLG-NCA) was subsequently initiated. HAP containing surface poly-γ-benzyl-L-glutamates (PBLG) was successfully prepared in this way. With the increase of PBLG content in HAP-PBLG, the solubility of HAP-PBLG increased gradually and it was ultimately soluble in chloroform. HAP-PLGA with surface carboxyl groups was obtained by the catalytic hydrogenation of HAP-PBLG. In the process of HAP modification, the morphology changes from rod to sheet and from flake to needle. The effect of BLG-NCA concentration on the character of hydroxyapatite-β-alanine-poly(γ-benzyl-L-glutamate) (HAP-PBLG) was investigated. The existence of amino acids on the HAP surfaces was confirmed in the resulting Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectra. The resulting powder X-ray diffraction patterns indicated that the crystallinity of HAP decreased when the ratio of BLG-NCA/HAP-NH2 increased to 20/1. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) indicated that the particle size of HAP-PBLG decreased significantly and that the resulting particles appeared less agglomerated relative to that of the HAP-NH₂ crystals. Furthermore, ¹H-NMR spectra and FTIR spectra revealed that hydroxyapatite-β-alanine-poly (L-glutamic acid) (HAP-PLGA) was able to successfully bear carboxylic acid groups on its side chains.

A series of 1-aryl substituted dihydro-, 5-methyl-dihydro- and 6-methyl-dihydro-2,4(1H,3H)pyrimidinediones and their 2-thio analogues were obtained by reaction of the corresponding beta-alanines or alpha-methyl- and beta-methyl-beta-alanines with urea or potassium thiocyanate. The reaction of N-(2,3- and 3,5-dimethylphenyl)-alpha-methyl-beta-alanines with ethyl acetoacetate gave 1-(2,3- or 3,5-dimethylphenyl)-2,5-dimethyl-1,4,5,6-tetrahydro-4(1H)pyridones. The combined spectral data obtained by (1)H-, (13)C-,(1)H/(13)C (HETCOR) NMR and IR provided useful information about the structure of the products synthesized in this work.