Biologically Active Molecules : Identification, Characterization and Synthesis Proceedings of a Seminar on Chemistry of Biologically Active Compounds and Modern Analytical Methods, Interlaken, September 5–7, 1988

Over the past few years there has been a remarkable and rapid development of modern analytical methods, and the fields of nuclear magnetic resonance and mass spectrometry have been no exception. In addition to being able to do "more and faster", new innovative techniques have also arisen to contribute to a growing understanding of the relationship between chemical structure and biological activity. In order to explore a few of the more interesting points of those developments and applications, a seminar "From Biological Activity to Structure" was organized from September 5-7, 1988, at Interlaken. The four invited speakers, Richard M. Caprioli, Howard R. Morris, Wolfgang Steglich and Dudley H. Williams were kind enough to attend and discuss many facets of their research, especially methodological and technical developments and their applications to specific problems. Participants were introduced to continuous flow FAB (fast atom bombardment) and its use, for example, in the real time monitoring of biochemical reactions in vitro and in vivo; the structural elucidation of secondary metabolites from fungi; the analysis of molecule-receptor interactions; the determination of posttranslational modifications of peptides; and the location of S-S bridges in determining the tertiary structure of proteins. Front Matter....Pages I-VIII Some Chemical Phenomena of Mushrooms and Toadstools....Pages 1-8 β-Methoxyacrylate Antibiotics: From Biological Activity to Synthetic Analogues....Pages 9-25 Lipopeptides, an Interesting Class of Microbial Secondary Metabolites....Pages 27-38 FAB: Basic Concepts and Practical Considerations....Pages 39-58 Continuous-Flow Fast Atom Bombardment Mass Spectrometry....Pages 59-78 Coupling Chromatographic Techniques with FABMS for the Structural Analysis of Biological Compounds....Pages 79-96 The Application of High Mass FAB Mass Spectrometry to Molecular Biology....Pages 97-147 Identification of Active-Site in a Neurotoxic Snake Venom by Affinity Labelling and State-of-the-Art Tandem Mass Spectrometry Technology....Pages 149-160 Peptide Defence Systems....Pages 161-216 Genetically Designed Affinity Chromatography Using a Novel Metal Chelate Absorbent....Pages 217-239 Structure-Activity Relationship in Biomembranes Investigated by Infrared-ATR Spectroscopy....Pages 241-252