Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jan 23, 2026

Fabricating Complex Culture Substrates Using Robotic Microcontact Printing R- µCP and Sequential Nucleophilic Substitution
Published on: October 31, 2014
2-Deoxyribose-5-phosphate aldolase, a remarkably tolerant aldolase towards nucleophile substrates
Domitille Chambre1, Christine Guérard-Hélaine1, Ekaterina Darii2
1Université Clermont Auvergne, CNRS, SIGMA Clermont, Institut de Chimie de Clermont-Ferrand, F-63000 Clermont-Ferrand, France. marielle.lemaire@uca.fr virgil.helaine@uca.fr.
Abstract:
We explored a collection of 2-deoxyribose-5-phosphate aldolases (DERAs) from biodiversity for their nucleophile substrate promiscuity. The DERAs were screened using as nucleophiles propanone, propanal, cyclobutanone, cyclopentanone, dihydroxyacetone, and glycolaldehyde with l-glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate as an electrophile in aldol addition. A DERA from Arthrobacter chlorophenolicus (DERAArthro) efficiently allowed the synthesis of the corresponding aldol adducts in good yields, displaying complementarity in terms of configuration and substrate specificity with fructose-6-phosphate aldolase, the only previously known aldolase with a large nucleophile tolerance.
Related Concept Videos
Nucleophiles
Energy-requiring Steps of Glycolysis
Phosphate Buffer
Sodium dihydrogen phosphate does not fully dissociate in neutral or acidic solutions. When a strong base, such as sodium hydroxide (NaOH), is introduced into the solution, sodium dihydrogen phosphate...
Nucleophilic Substitution Reactions
In 1896, the German chemist Paul Walden discovered that he could interconvert pure enantiomeric (+) and (-) malic acids through a series of reactions. This conversion suggested the involvement of optical inversion during the substitution reaction. Further, in 1930, Sir Christopher Ingold described for the first time two different forms of nucleophilic substitution reactions, which are known as SN1 (nucleophilic substitution unimolecular) and SN2 (nucleophilic substitution...
Radical Reactivity: Nucleophilic Radicals
Nucleophilic Addition to the Carbonyl Group: General Mechanism
A stronger nucleophile can directly attack the electrophilic center, the carbonyl carbon. The HOMO orbital of the nucleophile interacts with the LUMO (π* antibonding) orbital present on the carbonyl carbon. This interaction breaks the π bond and shifts the π...

