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Cover Picture: Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 20/2002
Author(s) -
Schaffrath Christoph,
Cobb Steven L.,
O'Hagan David
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
angewandte chemie international edition
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Reports
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.831
H-Index - 550
eISSN - 1521-3773
pISSN - 1433-7851
DOI - 10.1002/1521-3773(20021018)41:20<3723::aid-anie3723>3.0.co;2-o
Subject(s) - fluoroacetate , chemistry , streptomyces , fluorine , stereochemistry , fluoride , combinatorial chemistry , organic chemistry , biochemistry , bacteria , inorganic chemistry , biology , genetics
The cover picture shows a series of 19 F NMR spectra taken every hour during the monitoring of a time‐course experiment after addition of 5′‐fluoro‐5′‐deoxyadenosine (5′‐FDA) to a cell‐free extract of Streptomyces cattleya. This bacterium has the unusual capacity to biosynthesise organofluorine compounds from inorganic fluoride. The 19 F NMR spectra illustrate that 5′‐FDA is a true intermediate in the biosynthesis of fluoroacetate and 4‐fluorothreonine. Other intermediates such as fluoroacetaldehyde are also observed for the first time. In a separate experiment, inorganic fluoride was converted into fluoroacetate, thus indicating that all of the enzymes involved in the fluoroacetate biosynthesis pathway are active in the cell‐free extract. These experiments report the first cell‐free biotransformations of inorganic fluoride into fluoroacetate, the most ubiquitous organic fluorine natural product, and pave the way for a biotechnological approach to organofluorine synthesis. Full details are described by O'Hagan and co‐workers on p. 3913 ff.