Biochemistry of Halogenated Aldehydes and Ketones
The susceptibility of a halogen situated at the α position of an aldehyde or ketone to nucleophilic displacement plays a central role in much of the biochemical behavior of these compounds. Examples to be reviewed in this chapter include the reaction of α-chloro- and α-bromoaldehydes with nucleic acid components and the use of α-halocarbonyl compounds as affinity labels. The presence of halogen also affects the chemistry of the neighboring carbonyl group, making the carbonyl carbon more electrophilic, an effect especially pronounced with α-fluorine substitution. This has been used to advantage in the design of several transition state analogue enzyme inhibitors, based on the ready formation of tetrahedral intermediates from such halogen-substituted analogues.
The study, developed on a series of patients - both women and men - of various ages, suffering from non- ::: alcoholic and alcoholic hepatic steatosis, was devoted to the activity of some enzymes, bearing important implications in ::: the evaluation of the health condition of the hepatic tissue, such as alanine- and aspartate-aminotransferase, γ-glutamyl- ::: transferase and alkaline phosphatase. The results obtained evidence significant differences both between men and women, ::: and between the categories of age under study, in most cases the values recorded being distinctly higher than the ::: reference interval viewed as physiologically normal.