Luciferin aldehyde synthesis

The formation of aldehydes from 1,1-disubstituted epoxides has occasionally found use in synthesis, although simpler aldehydes in particular tend to form dioxolane dimers by BFs-induced reaction with epoxide. Hill et a converted the epoxide (94), which had been prepared from a 3-ionone derivative, into luciferin aldehyde (95) by treatment with cold BF3 etherate (equation 38). 

Some new luminescent and fluorescent reporters (some of them even non-substrate proteins ) are very attractive because of their easy and fast detection, explaining their current frequent use. The bacterial luciferase isolated from the Vibrio fischeri lux operon contains luxAB encoding the functional subunits and luxCDE for the synthesis and recycling of the aldehyde substrate (Prosser, 1996). Firefly (Photinus pyralis) luciferase, encoded by the luc gene catalyses the oxidative carboxylation of beetle luciferin, in which photons are emitted (LaRossa, 1998). Its short half-life and lack of any post-translational modification makes it ideal to look after effects in gene expression (Naylor, 1999). Detection of... 

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