RSC Adv. 2026 Aug 5. doi: 10.1039/d6ra05917a. Online ahead of print. ABSTRACT Carboxylic acids are common functional handles in peptides and drug molecules, but their direct use for DBM derivatization remains limited. Herein, a bromide-mediated electrochemical α-acyloxylation of dibenzoylmethane (DBM) with amino acid-, peptide-, and drug-derived carboxylic acids is described. The reaction proceeds in an…

J Phys Chem B. 2026 Aug 6;130(31):7791-7808. doi: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.6c02050. ABSTRACT Phosphoketolases can convert nonphosphorylated sugars to the high-energy compound acetyl phosphate and the versatile metabolic precursor acetyl-CoA. However, their application is limited by low catalytic activity toward these substrates. Here, we report the rational engineering of the phosphoketolase from Bifidobacterium adolescentis (Bad.F6Pkt) to enhance its…

J Colloid Interface Sci. 2026 Jul 29;724(Pt 3):141211. doi: 10.1016/j.jcis.2026.141211. Online ahead of print. ABSTRACT PAS-based polypeptides, composed of uncharged Proline, Alanine, and Serine residues, are intrinsically disordered polymers used to enhance biologics’ solubility and pharmacokinetics. Despite their biomedical relevance, their aggregation and phase separation behaviour remain underexplored. Here we combined spectroscopy, microscopy and molecular…

Chem Biodivers. 2026 Aug;23(8):e71566. doi: 10.1002/cbdv.71566. ABSTRACT In this study, we report the first antibacterial evaluation of a focused library of 12 previously synthesized α-sulfamidophosphonate derivatives (4a-4l) against a panel of nine Gram-positive and Gram-negative strains, including ESBL- and carbapenemase-producing Enterobacterales. The overall hit rate was modest, as most compounds were inactive at the highest…

J Agric Food Chem. 2026 Aug 5;74(30):23684-23697. doi: 10.1021/acs.jafc.6c07095. ABSTRACT The development of high-performance immobilized enzymes is critical for advancing industrial biocatalysis in the food and agricultural fields. In this work, Candida rugosa lipase (CRL) was precisely immobilized on magnetic chitosan carriers functionalized with amino acid ionic liquids (AAIL), forming a stable biocatalytic platform. The…

Angew Chem Int Ed Engl. 2026 Aug 5:e26115. doi: 10.1002/anie.202526115. Online ahead of print. ABSTRACT As biocatalytic strategies for PET recycling reach maturation, insights gained from PET hydrolase research can be leveraged to inform the design of proteins and surface-functionalization strategies that promote stable association of functional proteins with PET surfaces, enabling the development of…

Org Biomol Chem. 2026 Aug 5. doi: 10.1039/d6ob00923a. Online ahead of print. ABSTRACT Flavokawains are naturally occurring chalcone derivatives from Piper methysticum with promising pharmacological properties. This study investigated the biological and physicochemical characteristics of five flavokawain derivatives (A1-A5) differing in B-ring methoxy substitution patterns to elucidate structure-activity relationships. All derivatives exhibited low hemolytic activity…

Org Process Res Dev. 2026 Jun 19;30(7):1894-1902. doi: 10.1021/acs.oprd.6c00083. eCollection 2026 Jul 17. ABSTRACT Biocatalysis has proved to be of great importance to pursue a more sustainable production of fine chemicals, and enzyme immobilization is a crucial tool to achieve this goal. In this work, hydroxyapatite, an eco-friendly material, was used as a support for…