Epoxydiols are produced in the gas phase from the photo-oxidation of isoprene in the absence of significant mixing ratios of nitrogen oxides (NO x ). The reactive uptake of these compounds onto acidic aerosols has been shown to produce secondary organic aerosol (SOA). To better characterize the fate of isoprene epoxydiols in the aerosol phase, the kinetics and products of the acid-catalyzed ring-opening reactions of four hydroxy-substituted epoxides were studied by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) techniques. Polyols and sulfate esters are observed from the ring-opening of the epoxides in solutions of H2SO4/Na2SO4. Likewise, polyols and nitrate esters are produced in solutions of HNO3/NaNO3. In sulfuric acid, the rate of acid-catalyzed ring-opening is dependent on hydronium ion activity, sulfate ion, and bisulfate. The rates are much slower than the nonhydroxylated equivalent epoxides; however, the hydroxyl groups make them much more water-soluble. A model was constructed with the major channels for epoxydiol loss (i.e., aerosol-phase ring-opening, gas-phase oxidation, and deposition). In the atmosphere, SOA formation from epoxydiols will depend on a number of variables (e.g., pH and aerosol water content) with the yield of ring-opening products varying from less than 1% to greater than 50%.

Iron oxyhydroxide minerals, known to be chemically reactive and significant for elemental cycling, are thought to have been abundant in early-Earth seawater, sediments, and hydrothermal systems. In the anoxic Fe 2+ -rich early oceans, these minerals would have been only partially oxidized and thus redox-active, perhaps able to promote prebiotic chemical reactions. We show that pyruvate, a simple organic molecule that can form in hydrothermal systems, can undergo reductive amination in the presence of mixed-valence iron oxyhydroxides to form the amino acid alanine, as well as the reduced product lactate. Furthermore, geochemical gradients of pH, redox, and temperature in iron oxyhydroxide systems affect product selectivity. The maximum yield of alanine was observed when the iron oxyhydroxide mineral contained 1:1 Fe(II):Fe(III), under alkaline conditions, and at moderately warm temperatures. These represent conditions that may be found, for example, in iron-containing sediments near an alkaline hydrothermal vent system. The partially oxidized state of the precipitate was significant in promoting amino acid formation: Purely ferrous hydroxides did not drive reductive amination but instead promoted pyruvate reduction to lactate, and ferric hydroxides did not result in any reaction. Prebiotic chemistry driven by redoxactive iron hydroxide minerals on the early Earth would therefore be strongly affected by geochemical gradients of E h , pH, and temperature, and liquid-phase products would be able to diffuse to other conditions within the sediment column to participate in further reactions. life emergence | iron hydroxides | hydrothermal vents | early Earth | gradients T he synthesis of biomolecules, particularly amino acids and their condensation into peptides, from geochemical carbon and nitrogen sources is an important research topic for assessing the role of specific geochemical environments and mineral phases in the emergence of life. One mineral type of interest that would have been abundant in the mildly acidic, iron-rich oceans of the early Earth (1-3) is the iron oxyhydroxides, which can precipitate in a variety of stable or metastable redox states (4, 5). Iron oxides/oxyhydroxides are versatile reactive minerals that can drive redox reactions and concentrate phosphorus species, trace metals, organic molecules, and other anions (6-11). On the early Earth, iron oxyhydroxides and/or green rust would likely have been present in the water column as well as seafloor sediments, playing a fundamental role in elemental cycling and redox chemistry (4, 10). Iron oxyhydroxides would also have been a primary component in alkaline hydrothermal vent mounds and chimneys, which have been proposed as a possible environment for the emergence of metabolism due to their ambient pH, E h , ion/chemical, and temperature gradients (12-15).Seafloor hydrothermal sediments and chimneys are flowthrough gradient systems that combine reactive minerals with organic compounds in a variety of possible reaction conditions. Alkaline vents produ...

Efficient generation of hydrogen from renewable resources requires development of catalysts that avoid deep wells and high barriers. Information about the energy landscape for H2 production can be obtained by chemical characterization of catalytic intermediates, but few have been observed to date. We have isolated and characterized a key intermediate in 2e– + 2H+ → H2 catalysis. This intermediate, obtained by treatment of Cp*Rh(bpy) (Cp*, η5-pentamethylcyclopentadienyl; bpy, κ2-2,2′-bipyridyl) with acid, is not a hydride species but rather, bears [η4-Cp*H] as a ligand. Delivery of a second proton to this species leads to evolution of H2 and reformation of η5-Cp* bound to rhodium(III). With suitable choices of acids and bases, the Cp*Rh(bpy) complex catalyzes facile and reversible interconversion of H+ and H2.

An anion receptor derived from a tren-based amide cryptand with pyridine spacers has been synthesized and characterized. Two crystal structures are reported: the hydrochloride salt and the fluoride complex. The cryptand shows extremely high binding with fluoride ion in DMSO-d6. Both the crystal structure and solution 19F NMR data indicate an encapsulated fluoride ion with very high symmetry.

SUMMARY In the cytoplasm, the correct delivery of membrane proteins is an essential and highly regulated process. The post-translational targeting of the important tail-anchor membrane (TA) proteins has recently been under intense investigation. A specialized pathway, called the GET pathway in yeast and the TRC pathway in vertebrates, recognizes ER targeted TA proteins and delivers them through a complex series of handoffs. An early step is the formation of a complex between Sgt2/SGTA, a co-chaperone with a presumed ubiquitin-like-binding domain (UBD), and Get5/UBL4A, a ubiquitin-like domain (UBL) containing protein. We structurally characterize this novel UBD/UBL interaction for both the yeast and human proteins. This is supported by biophysical studies that demonstrate that complex formation is mediated by electrostatics generating an interface that has high-affinity with rapid kinetics. In total, this work provides a refined model of the interplay of Sgt2 homologs in TA targeting.