L-Phenylglycine

The fragmentation behavior of deprotonated L-phenylalanine (Phe) and its homologues including L-homophenylalanine (HPA) and L-phenylglycine (PG) was investigated using collision-induced dissociation mass spectrometry coupled with a negative ion atmospheric pressure corona discharge ionization (APCDI) technique. The deprotonated molecules [M-H](-) fragmented to lose unique neutral species, e.g., the loss of NH3, CO2, toluene and iminoglycine for [Phe-H](-); styrene and ethenamine/CO2 for [HPA-H](-); and CO2 for [PG-H](-). All of the fragmentations observed are attributable to the formation of intermediates and/or product ions which include benzyl carbanions having resonance-stabilized structures. The carbanions are formed via proton rearrangement through a transition state or via a simple dissociation reaction. These results suggest that the principal factor governing the fragmentation behavior of deprotonated Phe homologues is the stability of the intermediate and/or product ion structures.

Pristinamycin I (PI), produced by Streptomyces pristinaespiralis, is a streptogramin type B antibiotic, which contains two proteinogenic and five aproteinogenic amino acid precursors. PI is coproduced with pristinamycin II (PII), a member of streptogramin type A antibiotics. The PI biosynthetic gene cluster has been cloned and characterized. However, thus far little is understood about the regulation of PI biosynthesis. In this study, a TetR family regulator (encoded by SSDG_03033) was identified as playing a positive role in PI biosynthesis. Its homologue, PaaR, from Corynebacterium glutamicum serves as a transcriptional repressor of the paa genes involved in phenylacetic acid (PAA) catabolism. Herein, we also designated the identified regulator as PaaR. Deletion of paaR led to an approximately 70% decrease in PI production but had little effect on PII biosynthesis. Identical to the function of its homologue from C. glutamicum, PaaR is also involved in the suppression of paa expression.

The non-proteinogenic amino acids--phenylglycine (PG) and hydroxyphenylglycine (HPG) are crucial components of certain peptidic natural products and are important for the preparation of various medicines. In this, study, the conformation of model dipeptides Ac-X-NHMe of PG, p-HPG and 3, 5-di-hydroxyphenylglycine (3, 5-DHPG) was studied both in R and S form by quantum mechanical (QM) and molecular dynamics approaches. On the energy scale, the conformational states of these molecules in both the R and S were found to be degenerate by QM studies, stabilized by non-covalent interactions like carbonyl--carbonyl interactions, carbonyl-lp .. π (aromatic ring) interactions etc. These interactions disappeared/weakened due to interaction of water molecules with carbonyl groups of backbone in simulation and water was found to interact with the aromatic ring through O(w)-H .. π or O(w)lp .. π interactions. The degeneracy of conformational states was lifted in favor of R-form of PG and DHPG and water molecules interactions with aromatic ring led to non-planarity of the aromatic ring.

A novel NAD(+)-dependent D-mandelate dehydrogenase was identified from Lactobacillus brevis (LbDMDH). After purified to homogeneity, the optimum pH and temperature for oxidation of D-mandelate were pH 10.0 and 40 °C, and the Km and kcat were 1.1 mM and 355 s(-1) respectively. Employing the LbDMDH together with a mandelate racemase from Pseudomonas putida and a leucine dehydrogenase (EsLeuDH) from Exiguobacterium sibiricum, we established a three-step one-pot domino reaction system for preparing chiral L-phenylglycine from racemic mandelic acid with internal cofactor recycling. Under the optimum conditions, 30.4 g rac-mandelic acid (0.2 M) at 1L scale had been converted into chiral L-phenylglycine, with 96.4% conversion, 86.5% isolation yield, >99% eep and 50.4 gL(-1)d(-1) space-time yield.