1H and 13C NMR characterization of hemiamidal isoniazid-NAD(H) adducts as possible inhibitors of InhA reductase of Mycobacterium tuberculosis

Isoniazid (INH) is easily oxidized with manganese(III) pyrophosphate, a chemical model of the KatG protein involved in activation of INH inside the bacteria Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Performed in the presence of NAD(+), this oxidation generates a family of isomeric INH-NAD(H) adducts, which have been shown to be effective inhibitors of InhA, an enzyme essential in mycolic acid biosynthesis. In this work, we fully characterized by (1)H and (13)C NMR spectroscopy four main species of INH-NAD(H) adducts that coexist in solution. Two of them are open diastereoisomers consisting of the covalent attachment of the isonicotinoyl radical at position four of the nicotinamide coenzyme. The other two result from a cyclization involving the amide group from the nicotinamide and the carbonyl group from the isonicotinoyl radical to give diastereoisomeric hemiamidals. Although an INH-NAD(H) adduct with a 4S configuration has been characterized within the active site of InhA from Xray crystallography and this bound adduct interpreted as an open form (Rozwarski et al., Science 1998, 279, 98-102), it is legitimate to raise the question about the effective active form(s), open or cyclic, of INH-NAD(H) adduct(s). Is there a single active form or are several forms able to inhibit the InhA activity with different levels of inhibitory potency?     

Photochemistry of Isothiocoumarin (= 1H-[2]benzothiopyran-1-one)

Irradiation (λ = 350 nm) of 1H-[2]benzothiopyran-1-one ( 2 ) in the solid state affords selectively and in good yield 6aα, 6bα, 12bα, 12cα -tetrahydrocyclobuta[1, 2-c:4, 3-c′]bis([2]benzothiopyran)-5, 8-dione ( 3 ), the head-to-head (HH) cis-cisoid-cis-cyclodimer of 2 , X-Ray analysis of 2 confirms that this reaction proceeds according to the well-established topochemical principles. The same dimer 3 is obtained in low yields on irradiation of 10⁻¹ M solutions of 2 in either MeOH or MeCN, while no conversion at all is observed in benzene. On irradiation of 2 in MeCN in the presence of tetrachloroethene, the [2 + 2] photocycloadduct 4 is formed in good yield, the conversion 2 → 4 being efficiently quenched by naphthalene. In contrast, no reaction is observed -on irradiation of 2 in the presence of 2, 3-dimethylbut-2-ene, neither in polar nor in apolar solvents.     

Nouveaux exemples d'acétonides d'aldéhydosucres furanniques

Further examples of O-isopropylidenaldehydosugars in the furanose series Formyl-bearing furanose derivatives 1–3 (α-D -xylo or α-D -erythro configurations) and 5–8 (configurations α-D -ribo, α-D -lyxo, β-L -threo and D -arabino) have been prepared by classical synthetic steps and their properties mainly spectroscopic, reported. The coupling constant between the formyl and the vicinal proton is always small. Like other members of the series, these new aldehydosugars constitute very useful and flexible synthetic intermediates.     

A CNDO study of steric effects in biphenyl

The conformation of biphenyl is studied by the CNDO method. A fixed length of the twisted bond allows no minimum for the total energy between the values 0° and 90° of the angle of twist.     

The electrostatic field of B-DNA

The electrostatic field associated with one complete turn of B-DNA is presented. Two base sequences poly (dG) · poly (dC) and poly (dA) · poly (dT) are studied and the effects of sodium counterions bound to the nucleic acid are investigated. The contrasts between the electrostatic potential and the electrostatic field of the macromolecules are discussed and the possible applications of the field are considered.     

Intrinsic and Intramolecular Lipophilicity Effects in O-Glucuronides

In this study, we compared the lipophilicity of O-glucuronides and their aglycones. Distribution coefficients (log D) and P values of neutral species (log P) were determined by centrifugal partition chromatography (CPC) in octanol/buffer systems. Two-phase potentiometry was also used to measure the log P value of some lipophilic solutes. The experimentally determined global influence of glucuronidation on lipophilicity, obtained as the difference (decrement) log P_{(glucuronide)} ? log P_(aglycone), was found to be ?1.30 ± 0.16 (n = 4) for glucuronides of alcohols (methyl, menthyl, neomenthyl, and chloramphenicol O-glucuronide). The mean decrement was ?2.06 ± 0.31 (n = 9) for glucuronides of phenols (phenyl, p-nitrophenyl, 1-naphthyl, 6-bromo-2-naphthyl, 4-methylumbelliferyl, 3-coumarinyl, phenolphthalein, 4′-benzophenonyl O-glucuronide, and diflunisal phenolic glucuronide). For the acylglucuronide of diflunisal and its rearrangement isomers, the mean decrement was ?1.80 ± 0.08 (n = 4; range ?1.7 to ?1.9). Differences in through-bond proximity effects as parametrized in the CLOGP algorithm seem to account for much of this difference. Conformational factors may also play a role, although it appears modest and unassessable for the glucuronides investigated here. The results imply that in vivo glucuronidation should have a stronger influence on the excretion of phenols than on that of alcohols.     

Molecular orbital studies on the conformation of GABA (γ-aminobutyric acid)

In distinction to Extended Hückel Theory which predicts as the most stable conformation of free zwitterionic GABA a totally extended form, PCILO and SCF ab initio studies show that the intrinsically preferred conformation of the isolated molecule is a highly folded one, resulting from strong interactions between the two charged ends. Computations are also carried out for hydrated GABA in the supermolecule approach allowing moreover for the flexibility of binding of some of the water molecules of the first hydration shell. They predict the coexistence in solution of a large number of conformations showing different degrees of folding (or extension), a result confirmed by recent NMR studies. This and a number of similar results show that we have to adapt our thinking on the role of conformations in pharmacological activity to this situation, which was frequently obscured by the more abundant results of X-ray crystallography yielding a single conformation.     

Characterization of peptides by liquid chromatography/electrospray ionization mass spectrometry using silver nitrate as a post-column complexant

Two model peptides, des-Arg1-bradykinin (DAB) and bradykinin (B), were cationized by Ag+ after their separation by reversed-phase liquid chromatography (RPLC) prior to mass spectrometry (MS). Silver nitrate solution was used as a post-column reagent. The RPLC and MS experimental conditions were optimized using flow injection in order to obtain sufficiently abundant silver adducts to permit MS/MS experiments. The use of water-methanol with 0.1% formic acid as mobile phase allowed a good chromatographic separation of the two peptides with a polymeric stationary phase and sufficiently abundant silver-containing adducts, [M + Ag + H]2+ and [M + 2Ag]2+. The gas-phase dissociation of [DAB + Ag + H]2+ and [DAB + 2Ag]2+ led to interpretable mass spectra during the on-line cationization experiment. Most of the ions obtained by dissociating [DAB + Ag + H]2+ and [DAB + 2Ag]2+ species are silver-containing ions but the ions produced depend on the parent. The ions coming from the dissociation of the doubly charged silver adducts [DAB + Ag + H]2+ or [DAB + 2Ag]2+ are of interest compared with those coming from the singly charged silver species or doubly charged protonated species. The fragmentation of the doubly charged silver adducts provides ions over the entire mass range. Although the presence of several prolines in des-Arg1-bradykinin prevents the formation of some expected ions, the observation of triplets [an-H + Ag]+, [bn-H + Ag]+ and [bn + OH + Ag]+ produced by the dissociation of on-line Ag(+)-cationized peptides could contribute to greater success of automatic sequencing of peptides.     

Electron spin resonance detection of radiosterilization of pharmaceuticals: application to four nitrofurans

The detection and dosimetry of radiosterilization of pharmaceuticals is a growing concern to numerous government regulatory agencies worldwide. In the absence of suitable detection methods, attention was focused on electron spin resonance (ESR) spectrometry. This paper reports experimental data on ESR dosimetry of irradiated nitrofurans (nitrofurantoin, nifuroxazide, nifurzide and nifurtoinol). Whereas the ESR spectrum of a non-irradiated sample shows no signal, a signal, that is dependent on the irradiation dose is observed with irradiated samples. The number of free radicals was calculated by comparing the second integral from radiosterilized samples and a Bruker strong pitch reference; the values were in the range 1.1 x 10(18)-1.5 x 10(19) radicals mol-1 (G = 0.003-0.03). In addition to qualitative detection, ESR spectrometry can be used for dose determination. When a bi-exponential function is applied to the variation of the peak-to-peak amplitude versus dose, the function correlates well with the data. However, an exponential function, easier to use than a bi-exponential function, will probably be sufficient for dose determination by retrospective dosimetry. Decay of radicals upon storage was modelled using a bi-exponential function. From this, the time limit from the irradiation (25 kGy) for identification of irradiated nitrofurans by ESR can be evaluated. With regard to the commercial aspects of drugs, radicals should be detected up to 2 years after irradiation. The kinetic decrease makes discrimination between irradiated and non-irradiated nitrofurans possible even after storage for up to 2 years, except for nifurtoinol.     

Synthesis of isoxazolo[4,5-d]pyridazin-4(5H)-ones and 4-acyl-5-hydroxy-3(2H)-pyridazinones

The title compounds were prepared from ethyl 5-acyl- or 5-(1-hydroxyethenyl)isoxazole-4-carboxylates which in turn were prepared from ethyl 3-methylamino-2-butenoate or 3(2H)-furanones.