Investigation of the Potential Energy Surface for the First Step in the Alkaline Hydrolysis of Methyl Acetate

The potential energy surface for the first step of the alkaline hydrolysis of methyl acetate was explored by a variety of methods. The conformational search routine within SPARTAN was used to determine the lowest energy am1 and pm3 structures for the anionic tetrahedral intermediate. Ab initio single point and geometry optimization calculations were performed to determine the lowest energy conformer, and the linear synchronous transition (lst) method was used to provide an initial structure for transition state optimization. Transition states were obtained at the am1, pm3, 3-21G, and 3-21 + G levels of theory. These transition states were compared with the anionic tetrahedral intermediates to examine the assumption that the intermediate is a good model for the transition state. In addition, the Cramer/Truhlar sm3 solvation model was used at the semiempirical level to compare gas phase and aqueous alkaline hydrolysis of methyl acetate.

Enzymatic Activity of Soybean Lipoxygenase-1 on Linoleoyl-Derivatized Agarose

Soybean lipoxygenase-1 (SBLO-1) catalyzes the oxygenation of linoleic acid to form 13(S) and 9(R) hydroperoxides. The manner in which substrates bind to the lipoxygenase family of enzymes is not known. It is believed fatty acid substrates may bind either with the aliphatic end first or with the carboxylate group facing the interior of the protein. This thesis tested a potential methyl-end first substrate binding mechanism by studying the activity of SBLO-1 to oxygenate immobilized linoleoyl residues attached to an insoluble polymer. Linoleic acid was attached to aminohexyl agarose in the presence of N-(3- dimethylaminopropyl)-N’-ethylcarbodiimide hydrochloride (EDC) and Nhydroxysuccinimide (NHS). The concentration of the covalently attached residues was facilitated by enriching linoleic acid with a small amount of the radioactive 14C-isotope. Functionalization yields of 3% available primary amines on the resin were obtained. Enzymatic oxygenation of the linoleoyl-residues was verified using the ferrous oxidation in xylenol orange (FOX) assay. Approximately 30% of the attached linoleoyl moieties were converted to hydroperoxides in the presence of SBLO-1. A disulfide-containing cleavable linker, cystamine, was used as part of an improved method to isolate the product in a facile manner. Cystamine was attached to NHS-activated agarose with approximately 5% overall functionalization yield of available functional groups. 14C-linoleic acid was successfully covalently linked to the cystamine moieties in the presence of EDC and NHS. The FOX assay verified the enzymatic oxygenation of the linoleoyl residues attached to cystamine-derivatized agarose. The isolation of the peroxide product was attempted in a series of extractions in organic solvents. The product was analyzed using GC/MS which did not show a new peak indicative of product. Further work is needed to successfully analyze the stereoand regiochemistry of the oxygenated product. The presence of the peroxides in this study indicated the linoleoyl residues behave as substrates of SBLO-1. It is unknown how bulky substrates bind to the active site; however, it is difficult to rationalize a carboxylate group-first binding mode. Discovery of the 13(S)-hydroperoxide product on the linoleoyl-agarose would support the claim of a potential methyl-end first binding mechanism.

Dimerization of Poly(methyl methacrylate) Chains Using Radical Trap-Assisted Atom Transfer Radical Coupling

End-brominated poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMABr) was prepared by atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) and employed in a series of atom transfer radical coupling (ATRC) and radical trap-assisted ATRC (RTA-ATRG) reactions. When coupling reactions were performed in the absence of a nitroso radical trap-traditional ATRC condition-very little coupling of the PMMA chains was observed, consistent with disproportionation as the major termination pathway for two PMMA chain-end radicals in our reactions. When 2-methyl-2-nitrosopropane (MNP) was used as the radical trap, coupling of the PMMA chains in this attempted RTA-ATRC reaction was again unsuccessful, owing to capping of the PMMA chains with a bulky nitroxide and preventing further coupling. Analogous reactions performed using nitrosobenzene (NBz) as the radical trap showed significant dimerization, as observed by gel permeation chromatography (GPC) by a shift in the apparent molecular weight compared to the PMMABr precursors. The extent of coupling was found to depend on the concentrion of NBz compared to the PMMABr chain ends, as well as the temperature and time of the coupling reaction. To a lesser extent, the concentrations of copper(I) bromide (CuBr), nitrogen ligand (N,N,N',N',N"-pentamethyldiethylenetriamine = PMDETA), and elemental copper (Cu) were also found to play a role in the success of the RTA-ATRC reaction. The highest levels of dimerization were observed when the coupling reaction was carried out at 80 degrees C for 0.5h, with ratio of 1:4:2.5:8:1 equiv of NBz: CuBr:Cu:PMDETA:PMMABr.