Olivia Giani

Reactivity of wheat gluten protein during mechanical mixing: radical and nucleophilic reactions for the addition of molecules on sulfur.

Mechanical properties of gluten-based biomaterials, such as break stress, were known to be influenced by temperature and shear stresses applied during processing. It is well documented in literature that these processing parameters promoted wheat gluten protein aggregation. Exchange between disulfide bonds and thiol groups oxidation are the postulated mechanisms that lead to gluten protein solubility loss in sodium dodecyl sulfate buffers. Both nucleophilic and radical reactions were postulated to act during gluten aggregation. To graft molecules on gluten, a study was carried out to explore the reactivity of its thiol and disulfide groups during thermomechanical mixing. A range of reactants able to react via radical or nucleophilic pathways with thiol groups were synthesized. Reactivity between gluten and functions was quantified by gluten solubility measurements. This investigation and literature observations allowed proposal of a general gluten aggregation mechanism during mixing.

Thermo- and pH-sensitive aggregation behavior of PDEAm-b-P(L-lysine) double hydrophilic block copolymers in aqueous solution

The synthesis and the aggregation behavior of novel well-defined poly(N,N-diethylacrylamide)-b-poly(L-lysine) (PDEAm-b-PLL) double hydrophilic block copolymers are reported. PDEAm-b-PLL was prepared using an original strategy which consisted of the ring opening polymerization (ROP) of Ne-trifluoroacetyl-L-lysine N-carboxyanhydride using terminated-thiol PDEAm as a macroinitiator. After deprotection of the amine group of the L-lysine, pH- and thermo-sensitive poly(N,N-diethylacrylamide)-b-poly(L-lysine) block copolymers were obtained. The structure of the copolymers was characterized by 1H NMR and FT-IR. Then, pH and temperature sensitivities were measured by 1H NMR and UV/Vis spectroscopy. At different pH values and temperatures, poly(L-lysine) and poly(N,N-diethylacrylamide) showed typical behaviors, which led to different types of aggregation in aqueous solution. The influence of both stimuli was carefully investigated by DLS, TEM, and SANS.

Synthesis of Nɛ-protected-L-lysine and γ-benzyl-L-glutamate N-carboxyanhydrides (NCA) by carbamoylation and nitrosation

Summary.This paper reports on an original process to synthesize N-carboxyanhydrides, which consists of nitrosating N-carbamoylamino acids with a NO/O2 gas mixture in acetonitrile. The synthesis of several N-carbamoylamino acids of L-lysine was described using potassium cyanate in water. The latter were then nitrosated to yield the corresponding NCA with more or less efficiency. Indeed, the NCA carrying an acid-sensitive protecting group led to a partial deprotection to give the L-lysine NCA salt. The NCA of Nɛ-trifluoroacetyl-L-lysine, Nɛ-benzyloxycarbonyl-L-lysine and γ-benzyl-L-glutamate were successfully synthesized with satisfactory yields. Their polymerizability was compared to that of the Nɛ-trifluoroacetyl-L-lysine NCA initiated by n-hexylamine in N,N-dimethylformamide. It also showed that this new process of NCA synthesis could be applied to the synthesis of polypeptides and more generally to the protein chemistry.