Fine Tune Balance of Hydrophobic-hydrophylic Relationship of Amphiphilic Compounds by Partial Reduction and Methylation

Abstract

Methylation of a hydroxy group annihilate or at least decrease the capacity of that group to form hydrogen bonds. The effect is still more pronounced by the reduction of a hydroxy group to a methylene (deoxy) one. The major methyl donor in the cells of living organisms is S-adenosyl-methionine (Ado-Met). Sometimes, methyl group is donated by N⁵,N¹⁰-THFA or from a cobalt atom of a corrin ring. In spite of the relatively low variety of natural methyl donors (compare with phosphate donors), partially reduced or methylated sugars have been found in glycosterols, polysaccharides, glycosphingolipids, gangliosides, antigenic phenolic glycolipids, inositols, nucleoside-type glycosides. Methylation of nucleic acids is made especially on cytosine and adenine, and of protein on Glu and Asp.