Angewandte Chemie International Edition

Reitz, Simon; Cebi, Menekse; Reiß, Philipp; Studnik, Gregor; Linne, Uwe; Koert, Ulrich; Essen, Lars‐Oliver

doi: 10.1002/anie.200990133pmid: N/A

Synthetic Modulators are introduced into the trimeric porin OmpF by protein semisynthesis/click chemistry or by S‐alkylation, as U. Koert, L.‐O. Essen et al. report in their Communication on page 4853 ff. The choice of synthetic modulator and the type of covalent attachment significantly affect the blockage efficiency. A model for the functional properties is postulated on the basis of an X‐ray structure analysis of a crown ether/OmpF hybrid.

Ohba, Masaaki; Yoneda, Ko; Agustí, Gloria; Muñoz, M. Carmen; Gaspar, Ana B.; Real, José A.; Yamasaki, Mikio; Ando, Hideo; Nakao, Yoshihide; Sakaki, Shigeyoshi; Kitagawa, Susumu

doi: 10.1002/anie.200990134

doi: 10.1002/anie.200990135pmid: N/A

doi: 10.1002/anie.200990136pmid: N/A

doi: 10.1002/anie.200901803pmid: 19408272

“The most exciting thing about my research is to create new molecules and new concepts. When I was eighteen I wanted to be an industrial chemist. …︁” This and more about Koop Lammertsma can be found on page 4670.

Griesbeck, Axel G.

doi: 10.1002/anie.200902169pmid: N/A

John Wiley & Sons, Hoboken 2009. 582 pp., softcover € 49.90.—ISBN 978‐1405161732

Davis, Benjamin G.

doi: 10.1002/anie.200806246pmid: 19418504

A labor of love: The synthesis of an active pure enzyme (RNase) glycoform by the native chemical ligation of a (glyco)peptide and peptide thioester fragments required numerous painstaking steps: the strategy was optimized, active inteins accessed, redox conditions fine‐tuned, and glycoamino acid building blocks synthesized.

Anaya de Parrodi, Cecilia; Walsh, Patrick J.

doi: 10.1002/anie.200900900pmid: 19396849

Alkynes of reactions: Recent breakthroughs in metal‐catalyzed alkyne reactions, which expand the synthetic utility of alkynes, have been achieved. These approaches broaden the range of alkynes that are accessible by CN and CC bond‐forming reactions and demonstrate that the use of bifunctional heterobimetallic catalysts can lead to new reactivity and excellent enantioselectivity (see scheme).

Ibach, Jenny; Brakmann, Susanne

doi: 10.1002/anie.200900722pmid: 19415712

One's enough: The direct observation of a DNA‐polymerase‐based “sequencing engine” using single‐molecule detection recently allowed single‐molecule sequencing by synthesis in real time. Nucleotides with a fluorescent marker at the 5′‐phosphate unit and zero‐mode waveguides are crucial components of this approach, which at last promises low‐cost genome‐scale sequencing.

Hertweck, Christian

doi: 10.1002/anie.200806121pmid: 19514004

Molecular Lego: Polyketides represent a highly diverse group of natural products with structurally intriguing carbon skeletons (see picture) which are assembled from simple acyl building blocks. A combination of chemical, biochemical, and genetics studies have provided exciting new insights into the programming of polyketide assembly and the sophisticated enzymatic machineries involved. This review highlights recent developments in the field. Polyketides constitute one of the major classes of natural products. Many of these compounds or derivatives thereof have become important therapeutics for clinical use; in contrast, various polyketides are infamous food‐spoiling toxins or virulence factors. What is particularly remarkable about this heterogeneous group of compounds comprising of polyethers, polyenes, polyphenols, macrolides, and enediynes is that they are mainly derived from one of the simplest building blocks available in nature: acetic acid. Investigations at the chemical, genetic, and biochemical levels have shed light on the biosynthetic programs that lead to the large structural diversity of polyketides .This review highlights recently unveiled biosynthetic mechanisms to generate highly diverse and complex molecules.