Natural selection optimizing role

Williams (1981a) provided a general overview on the role of metals in biological systems. These systems were able to alter the relationships of the different metals in their bodies so that they differed from the relationships present in the Earth s crust. The reason for that was the pressure of natural selection, which allows only those species with highly effective and optimized bio-... 

Vanadium phosphates have been established as selective hydrocarbon oxidation catalysts for more than 40 years. Their primary use commercially has been in the production of maleic anhydride (MA) from n-butane. During this period, improvements in the yield of MA have been sought. Strategies to achieve these improvements have included the addition of secondary metal ions to the catalyst, optimization of the catalyst precursor formation, and intensification of the selective oxidation process through improved reactor technology. The mechanism of the reaction continues to be an active subject of research, and the role of the bulk catalyst structure and an amorphous surface layer are considered here with respect to the various V-P-O phases present. The active site of the catalyst is considered to consist of V and V couples, and their respective incidence and roles are examined in detail here. The complex and extensive nature of the oxidation, which for butane oxidation to MA is a 14-electron transfer process, is of broad importance, particularly in view of the applications of vanadium phosphate catalysts to other processes. A perspective on the future use of vanadium phosphate catalysts is included in this review. 

Role of Reactor and Process Design Optimization of catalytic performances, in terms of reactant conversion, yield, productivity and selectivity to the desired product, is not only related to a thorough knowledge of the nature of the catalyst and the interactions between reacting components and surface active phases, the reaction mechanism, thermodynamics and kinetics but also to the development and use of a suitable reactor configuration, where all the above-mentioned features can be successfully exploited. 

The selectivity of a chemical reaction is a very important criterion. Besides the chemo- and regioselectivity, the stereoselectivity, i.e. the favored or excluded formation of one or several stereoisomers in the course of a chemical reaction, plays an important role. If there is a formation of (S)- and (K)-enantiomers from a prochiral compound, an enantioselective reaction takes place. What are the reasons for the growing interest in enantioselective reactions and preparation of homochiral compounds Firstly, it is certainly the wish of the chemist to imitate the ability of nature by stereospecific synthesis in the laboratory. Secondly, there are some practical and economic reasons many natural products and a great number of synthetic drugs have a chiral structure and the enantiomers can differ markedly in their biological activity. Sometimes only one of the enantiomers exhibits the wanted optimal activity, while the other is less active or totally inactive, or even toxic. 

Natural products play a dominant role in the discovery of leads for the development of drugs for the treatment of human diseases. It should be realised that the bioactive compounds, which are synthesised in nature to protect a given organism, had been selected from a wide variety of possibilities and were under the pressure of evolution for several hundreds of million years to reach an optimal activity. 

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