Usage of CO to Treat Chronic Disease

 CO is a colorless, odorless gas released from incomplete combustion of fuel. It is considered as one of the most deadly gases. This is because inhalation of  high concentrations of carbon monoxide can cause toxic syndrome in the body by binding to hemoglobin instead of allowing oxygen to bind to it leading to death. Research has shown, around 400  deaths are caused every year  in America due to exposure of carbon monoxide for prolonged time. In addition, 5000 Americans are sent to hospitals due to burning of their furnaces in poorly ventilated spaces. Despite its toxic effects, new research has shown that exposure to carbon monoxide at low concentrations in controlled hospitalized settings can act as a mediator to many conditions. These include sepsis, sickle cell, inflammation due to organ transplantation of kidney, heart, and lungs , cystic fibrosis and heart diseases. On average, around  10ml of CO is produced daily in the human body during metabolization of heme by heme oxygenase enzyme, which is an iron containing molecule.This heme molecule serves mostly as cellular sensor and transducer. Although inhalation of carbon monoxide  has shown many positive effects in the treatment of many diseases , scientists are providing new ways to  deliver carbon monoxide inside the body. This is because inhalation can be a potential remedy for organ transplant but not for chronic disease. Also, the exposure of the gas has to be provided in a controlled environment by the healthcare providers.

As provided in the above diagram, a team of researchers in the early 2000s developed a way to transfer CO molecules into the body. This complex compound is known as CORM. A CO molecule is integrated in the  transition metal complex, which then reacts to deliver the gas in the body. To determine the therapeutic effects of CO, scientists have delivered it into mammal bodies such as rats. Many positive outcomes were received due to the transfer of  CO by the above process in the rats to treat inflammation from organ transplant. However, scientists are still researching whether it should be delivered into humans due to the usage of transition metals that can cause toxic reactions in the body. 

References

1. https://cen.acs.org/pharmaceuticals/drug-development/Carbon-monoxide-deadly-researchers-want/97/i45

2. https://www.cuimc.columbia.edu/news/carbon-monoxide-has-unexpected-benefits-dont-try-it-home#:~:text=Carbon%20monoxide%20next%20activates%20an,needed%20oxygen%20to%20the%20tissues.

Plastic may not be an issue anymore

    The biodegradability of currently existing biodegradable plastics is not great. These polymers usually take months or years to decompose and even form potentially harmful microplastics. Now, scientists can speed up the process by encasing plastic-chomping enzymes in a protective coating and incorporating the resulting nanoparticles into plastic.

    Only under the action of moisture, heat, or ultraviolet rays, the protective layer can decompose and release the internal enzymes. Based on the tested polymer and temperature, the enzyme decomposes 98% of the polymer in just 30 hours.

    In a typical biodegradable plastic, microorganisms cannot completely decompose the biodegradable plastic, and crystalline microplastic fragments will remain. This problem can be solved well by embedding the enzyme in plastic. Enzymes can better enter the crystal part and completely degrade the polymer.

References

1. Plastics with embedded particles decompose in days instead of years https://cen.acs.org/environment/green-chemistry/Plastics-embedded-particles-decompose-days/99/i15 (accessed Apr 29, 2021).

Determing the Compounds Behind the Smell of Dark Chocolate

 

 What is the Chemistry behind the Aroma of Dark Chocolate?

The article I choose is discusses work by researchers who were looking for the chemical reasoning behind the smell of dark chocolate. The researchers in the study were observing dark chocolate with 90% to 99% cacao content, which has grown more popular in recent years.  Using a variety of analytical techniques, the performers of the study found that 77 unique chemicals could be contributing to the chocolate aroma. Of those 77 unique chemicals 30 were chemicals able to be detected by humans. 

 

The compounds were identified using the systematic sensomics approach using, including solvent extraction, separation of the volatiles, identification using aroma extract dilution analysis (AEDA) based on gas chromatography-olfactometry (GC-O) combined with GC-MS, and quantified by stable isotope dilution analysis, calculation of odor activity values , and recombination experiments.

 

 

 

The interesting thing about their discovery is that many of the substances by themselves have awful smells, but that they combine to form a pleasant scent people want to eat. The article brings up the fact that acetic acid, which makes up a large portion of chocolate, smells like vinegar, which is a smell that most wouldn’t want their chocolate to smell like. The compound 3-methylbutanoic acid was also detected in the sample and has a "rancid, sweaty stench. Dimethyl trisulfide found in the chocolate samples smells like cabbage on its own, in fact it is a common organic byproduct produced in bacterial decomposition, according to the paper the article references. 

 

 

 

 

 Table of Identified Compounds and their Odors

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Using the knowledge of the known compounds in the dark chocolate aroma, the researchers were able to recreate the aroma of chocolate using only 25 of the compounds in the study. The research they performed will help future researchers determine what may have gone wrong in many other food samples when the smell or scent of the food is off. 

 

 

 

References: 

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/15/science/dark-chocolate-smell.html?action=click&module=RelatedLinks&pgtype=Article

 

J. Agric. Food Chem. 2019, 67, 20, 5827–5837

 

 Chem Draw Online. PerkinElmer