Kevin Devine

London Metropolitan University · School of Human Sciences

Coronaviruses (CoVs) are enveloped positive-sense single-stranded RNA viruses with a genome that is 27–31 kbases in length. Critical genes include the spike (S), envelope (E), membrane (M), nucleocapsid (N) and nine accessory open reading frames encoding for non-structural proteins (NSPs) that have multiple roles in the replication cycle and immune...

Coronaviruses (CoVs) are enveloped positive-sense single-stranded RNA viruses with a genome 27-31kbases in length. Critical genes include the spike (S), envelope (E), membrane (M), nucleocapsid (N) and 9 accessory open reading frames encoding for non-structural proteins (NSPs) that have multiple roles in the replication cycle and immune evasion (1)...

The origin of life must have included an abiotic stage of carbon redox reactions that involved electron transport chains and the production of lifelike patterns. Chemically oscillating reactions (COR) are abiotic, spontaneous, out-of-equilibrium, and redox reactions that involve the decarboxylation of carboxylic acids with strong oxidants and stron...

A series of substituted aryl phosphate esters have been synthesized from their α‐hydroxyphosphonates substrates, using DBN (1,5 diazabicyclo(4.3.0)non‐5‐ene) at room temperature, via a phospha‐Brook rearrangement. The aryl‐substrate dependence of the rearrangement was explored, and excellent yields of the phosphate esters were achieved irrespective...

Chemically oscillating reactions are abiotic reactions that produce characteristic, periodic patterns during the oxidation of carboxylic acids. They have been proposed to occur during the early diagenesis of sediments that contain organic matter and to partly explain the patterns of some enigmatic spheroids in malachite, phosphorite, jasper chert,...

In this paper the hypothesis that prions and prion-like molecules could have initiated the chemical evolutionary process which led to the eventual emergence of life is reappraised. The prions first hypothesis is a specific application of the protein-first hypothesis which asserts that protein- based chemical evolution preceded the evolution of gene...

Significance It has remained an unresolved question whether microorganisms recovered from the most arid environments on Earth are thriving under such extreme conditions or are just dead or dying vestiges of viable cells fortuitously deposited by atmospheric processes. Based on multiple lines of evidence, we show that indigenous microbial communitie...

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We have recently developed a novel and efficient method for synthesising Erlenmeyer azlactones under mild and rapid conditions. The reaction is performed by reacting 2-phenyl-5-oxazolone with an aldehyde in dichloromethane using alumina as a catalyst. The materials react instantly at room temperature, negating the need for high temperatures and lon...

Standard nucleobases all present electron density as an unshared pair of electrons to the minor groove of the double helix. Many heterocycles supporting artificial genetic systems lack this electron pair. To determine how different DNA polymerases use the pair as a substrate specificity determinant, three Family A polymerases, three Family B polyme...

GC-MS on the Viking 1976 Mars missions did not detect organic molecules on the Martian surface, even those expected from meteorite bombardment. This result suggested that the Martian regolith might hold a potent oxidant that converts all organic molecules to carbon dioxide rapidly relative to the rate at which they arrive. This conclusion is influe...

Novel aryl phosphate derivatives of the anti-HIV nucleoside analogue AZT have been prepared by phosphorochloridate chemistry. These materials are designed to act as membrane-soluble pro-drugs of the bio-active free nucleotides. In vitro evaluation revealed the compounds to have a pronounced, selective antiviral activity, which, in one case, was mor...

A number of zidovudine phosphoramidate and phosphorodiamidate derivatives were prepared, including some previously unreported benzyl esterified amino acyl compounds. These were found to be active in vitro against the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV-1), and were tested subsequently in the S+L-tissue culture assay against urethane leukaemia virus (...

Phosphate, phosphoramidate, and phosphorodiamidate derivatives of the anti-HIV nucleoside analogue FdT were prepared as potential pro-drugs of the bio-active free nucleotide. Two synthetic routes were adopted. The anti-viral activity of the derivatives varies greatly with the phosphate structure, but several are active below 1μM.

Phosphate triester derivatives of AZT have been prepared as membrane-soluble pro-drugs of the bio-active nucleotides, and have been evaluated against HIV-1 in vitro. In particular, the phosphorus centre carries a trichloro- or trifluoroethyl group and a carboxyl-protected, amino-linked amino acid. The compounds are prepared using phosphorochloridat...

A series of phosphoramidate derivatives of the anti-HIV drug AZT has been prepared as membrane soluble pro-drugs of the bio-active nucleotide forms and evaluated in vitro against HIV-1. Terminal substituted alkyl amines have a pronounced anti-HIV effect: this effect declines upon increasing the length of the methylene spacer. The results are consis...

A series of monophosphate triester derivatives of 3′-azido-3′-deoxythymidine (AZT), designed as membrane-soluble pro-drugs of the nucleotide (AZTMP), have been tested for activity against the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV-1). It has been found that when carboxyl-protected, amino-linked amino acids, and alkyl chains, are asymmetrically substitut...

The sulfonic acid derivatives (I) are employed as reagents in the synthesis of the nucleotides (IV) from (II) and (III).

4,6-Dinitro-1-(mesitylene-2-sulphonyloxy)-benzotriazole [DMBT, ()], 1-(mesitylene-2-sulphonyloxy)-4-nitro-6-trifluoromethylbenzotriazole () and 1-(mesitylene-2-sulphonyl)-4-nitro-1,2,3-triazole [iso-MSNT, ()1 are more reactive condensing agents in the phosphotriester approach to oligonucleotide synthesis than 1-(mesitylene-2-sulphonyl)-3-nitro-1,2,...