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Exam 6: Organic Chemistry
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Question 81
Multiple Choice
Ubiquinone (shown below) is an important molecule in the electron transport chain, where it receives electrons in complex I originating from NADH.
What is the structure of the product formed when electrons are added to ubiquinone?
Question 82
Multiple Choice
Passage High blood pressure, or hypertension, is a prevalent condition in the United States. One in three adults has hypertension, and approximately 20% do not know that they have it. If left untreated, high blood pressure can lead to major health issues, including stroke, heart attack, and kidney disease or failure. A number of drugs can help control hypertension, including those shown in Table 1. These drugs can be classified into different groups based on their mechanism of action.
Table 1
Drugs Used to Treat High Blood Pressure
Labetalol (Figure 1) exists as four stereoisomers and is administered as a mixture of all four. This drug can be classified as a pseudohybrid drug because two of the isomers, (R,R) and (S,R) , exhibit biological activity; the other two isomers, (S,S) and (R,S) , are not active. The (R,R) isomer acts as a nonselective β-adrenergic receptor blocker, and the (S,R) isomer acts as a selective α-adrenergic receptor blocker.
Figure 1
Structure of (±) -labetalol and l-epinephrinel-epinephrine (Figure 1) is the agonist of the α- and β-adrenergic receptors. The structural motifs that allow l-epinephrine to bind to the adrenergic receptors include an amine separated from an aromatic ring by two carbon units, a hydroxyl group at a chiral center beta to the amine, and two hydroxyl groups on the aromatic ring in the meta and para positions. With a few structural modifications, the agonist l-epinephrine can be converted into the antagonist labetalol. Substitution of a hydroxyl on the aromatic ring with an amide group and extension of the methyl group on the amine transforms l-epinephrine into labetalol. These substitutions keep a majority of the structural motifs necessary for labetalol to mimic l-epinephrine and bind to the adrenergic receptors. -The number of stereoisomers possible for a given molecule is 2
n
. The variable n denotes the number of:
Question 83
Multiple Choice
Passage Fluorescent amino acids are useful for labeling proteins because they can be visualized spectroscopically, facilitating the study of protein structure and interactions. The noncanonical amino acid dansylalanine, a fluorescent amino acid that is sensitive to the hydrophobicity of its environment, is a good candidate to be incorporated into proteins because of its small size and fluorescent capabilities. Dansyl chloride and Compound 1 were used to synthesize dansylalanine, as shown in Reaction 1. Dansylalanine absorbs maximally at 340 nm and emits at approximately 540 nm.
Reaction 1
Synthesis of dansylalanineA leucyl-tRNA synthetase from Escherichia coli was engineered to aminoacylate bacterial tRNAs containing a CUA anticodon with dansylalanine. After verifying that the tRNA/synthetase pair does not interact with endogenous amino acids or tRNAs, it was transfected into the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae along with a plasmid encoding a mutated human superoxide dismutase (hSOD) . Using this system, dansylalanine was genetically incorporated into hSOD in place of either Gln-16 or Trp-33, and expressed in S. cerevisiae.Position 16 is located on the surface of hSOD at the N-terminus of a β-strand, and position 33 lies in the center of a strand within a β-barrel. To probe changes in the structure of hSOD, researchers exposed the purified protein to guanidinium chloride (GdmCl) to denature the protein at concentrations ranging 0-4.5 M. The experiment was conducted in a 35 mM sodium phosphate buffer at pH 7.2. The fluorescence of hSOD with dansylalanine at either position 16 or 33 was monitored at each GdmCl concentration, and the results of the unfolding experiment are shown in Figure 1.
Figure 1
Plot of dansylalanine fluorescence at different concentrations of GdmCl Adapted from Summerer D, Chen S, Wu N, Deiters A, Chin JW, Schultz PG. A genetically encoded fluorescent amino acid. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 2006. -What is the charge of the N-terminus during the protein unfolding experiment?
Question 84
Multiple Choice
Compound
1
is shown below.
All of the following are equivalent to Compound
1
EXCEPT:
Question 85
Multiple Choice
Passage The β-lactam scaffold is an important feature in a class of broad-spectrum antibiotics that includes the penicillins, cephalosporins, and monobactams. These antibiotics are used to treat a variety of diseases caused by bacteria. The penicillins work by inhibiting a step in the synthesis of peptidoglycan. However, the development of antibiotic resistance in the form of enzymes such as β-lactamase is an ongoing problem.An aromatic ring linked to the β-lactam ring has been reported to participate in hydrophobic interactions with β-lactamase active sites, and an aromatic ring bonded to the nitrogen of the β-lactam has shown to be beneficial to biological activity. With this in mind, researchers synthesized a group of penicillanic acid analogues with substituted aromatic rings bonded to the β-lactam ring in an effort to overcome the challenge of antibiotic resistance. The substituents on the aromatic rings were varied, including -OCH
3
and -NO
2
, to make several analogues. A key step in the synthesis of these analogues was the coupling of Compounds
1
and
2
to form a compound with two β-lactam rings (Reaction 1) .
Reaction 1
The researchers studied the analogues' structure-activity relationship and antimicrobial activity against the gram-negative bacteria Escherichia coli and the gram-positive bacteria Staphylococcus aureus. Ampicillin, a penicillin derivative used to treat illnesses brought about by gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria, was used as a control. The minimal inhibitory concentrations are shown in Table 1.
Table 1
Minimal Inhibitory Concentration (MIC)
The penicillanic acid analogues were tested for their effect on mammalian cell viability because toxicity to cells is also an important factor to consider for potential drug candidates. The general acceptable level of cell viability for a drug candidate is 70%. These results are shown in Figure 1.
Figure 1
Cell viability assay results Adapted from De rosa M, Vigliotta G, Palma G, Saturnino C, Soriente A. Novel Penicillin-Type Analogues Bearing a Variable Substituted 2-Azetidinone Ring at Position 6: Synthesis and Biological Evaluation. Molecules. 2015. -The synthesis of Compound
1
requires hydrolysis of an ester with LiOH and produces a carboxylate ion. The reaction is quenched in the next step by the addition of HCl. What is the expected result if blue litmus paper is immersed in the fully quenched solution? The blue litmus paper will:
Question 86
Multiple Choice
Phospholipids contain all of the following structural features EXCEPT:
Question 87
Multiple Choice
Passage High blood pressure, or hypertension, is a prevalent condition in the United States. One in three adults has hypertension, and approximately 20% do not know that they have it. If left untreated, high blood pressure can lead to major health issues, including stroke, heart attack, and kidney disease or failure. A number of drugs can help control hypertension, including those shown in Table 1. These drugs can be classified into different groups based on their mechanism of action.
Table 1
Drugs Used to Treat High Blood Pressure
Labetalol (Figure 1) exists as four stereoisomers and is administered as a mixture of all four. This drug can be classified as a pseudohybrid drug because two of the isomers, (R,R) and (S,R) , exhibit biological activity; the other two isomers, (S,S) and (R,S) , are not active. The (R,R) isomer acts as a nonselective β-adrenergic receptor blocker, and the (S,R) isomer acts as a selective α-adrenergic receptor blocker.
Figure 1
Structure of (±) -labetalol and l-epinephrinel-epinephrine (Figure 1) is the agonist of the α- and β-adrenergic receptors. The structural motifs that allow l-epinephrine to bind to the adrenergic receptors include an amine separated from an aromatic ring by two carbon units, a hydroxyl group at a chiral center beta to the amine, and two hydroxyl groups on the aromatic ring in the meta and para positions. With a few structural modifications, the agonist l-epinephrine can be converted into the antagonist labetalol. Substitution of a hydroxyl on the aromatic ring with an amide group and extension of the methyl group on the amine transforms l-epinephrine into labetalol. These substitutions keep a majority of the structural motifs necessary for labetalol to mimic l-epinephrine and bind to the adrenergic receptors. -
What position(s) on the analog of labetalol would be considered stereocenters?
Question 88
Multiple Choice
Which structure is a tautomer of guanine?
Question 89
Multiple Choice
Passage The drug paracetamol, also known as acetaminophen, is used to relieve pain and fever, and is a metabolite of the antipyretic drug phenacetin (Figure 1) . These two drugs have similar medicinal properties, but phenacetin has been shown to be carcinogenic and cause kidney damage. Acetaminophen is a safer alternative to phenacetin when taken in therapeutic doses.
Figure 1
Structure of phenacetinA student synthesizes acetaminophen in a laboratory from phenol according to the reactions shown. The synthesis begins with the nitration of phenol by sodium nitrate (NaNO
3
) to produce the mixture of the isomers 2-nitrophenol and 4-nitrophenol (Reaction 1) . These isomers can be easily separated by steam distillation to isolate the desired product, 4-nitrophenol. Reduction of the nitro group with sodium borohydride (NaBH
4
) (Reaction 2) is followed by acetylation of the amine with acetic anhydride (Reaction 3) to afford the final product, acetaminophen.
Reaction 1
Reaction 2
Reaction 3
-Based on the structure of acetaminophen shown in the passage, in which region of the infrared spectrum will it most likely show a strong absorption?
Question 90
Multiple Choice
Passage Two key ingredients found in many soaps are PEG 150 distearate and ethylhexyl glycerin. Both can be synthesized from glyceryl tristearate (Figure 1) .
Figure 1
Formation of PEG 150 distearate and ethylhexyl glycerin from glyceryl tristearateThe first step in this process requires the saponification of glyceryl tristearate. The resulting stearate molecules can then react with PEG 150 in an acid-catalyzed Fischer esterification to form PEG 150 distearate. The glycerol produced during saponification is used as a nucleophile to form ethylhexyl glycerin through a base-catalyzed S
N
2 reaction with an ethylhexyl halide.Studies have shown that hand washing with soap can substantially reduce the number of germs present on hands and that washing hands before preparing food is particularly effective in reducing illness. Researchers examined the effect of washing for 20 seconds with different amounts of soap containing PEG 150 distearate and ethylhexyl glycerin and found an inverse correlation between the volume of soap used and the amount of bacteria recovered from the hands. The data are shown in Figure 2.
Figure 2
Bacteria recovered from hands after washing with varying amounts of soapThe researchers then investigated the effect of hand washing with different kinds of soap on the transfer of bacteria from hands to objects. Volunteers washed with a fixed volume of soap for 30 seconds, then handled sterilized plastic spheres for 30 seconds. Bacteria were then recovered from the spheres. The results are shown in Table 1.
Table 1
Bacteria Recovered from Objects
Adapted from Fuls JL, Rodgers ND, Fischler GE, et al. Alternative hand contamination technique to compare the activities of antimicrobial and nonantimicrobial soaps under different test conditions. Appl Environ Microbiol. 2008. -Which layer in the B&D and GC methods in Figure 2 is expected to contain sterols isolated from the Y. lipolytica extract?
Question 91
Multiple Choice
Hydroxyl substituents in alcohols are poor leaving groups, and are not readily eliminated during substitution reactions. Which of the following modifications would make the hydroxyl substituent of an alcohol a better leaving group?