Chemistry of the diazeniumdiolates. 3. Photoreactivity

We have found O(2)-substituted diazeniumdiolates, compounds of structure R(2)N-N(O)=NOR' that are under development for various possible pharmaceutical uses, to be rather photosensitive. With R = ethyl and R' = methyl, benzyl, or 2-nitrobenzyl, the observed product distributions suggest that two primary pathways are operative. A minor pathway involves the extrusion of nitrous oxide (N(2)O) with simultaneous generation of R(2)N(*) and R'O(*), which may then form amines, aldehydes, and alcohols. The major reaction pathway is an interesting photochemical cleavage of the N=N bond to form a nitrosamine (R(2)NN=O) and an oxygen-substituted nitrene (R'ON). The intermediacy of the O-nitrene was inferred from the production of abundant oxime, via rearrangement of the O-nitrene to a C-nitroso compound (R'ON --> O=NR'), and subsequent tautomerization to the more stable oxime. Involvement of the O-nitrene was confirmed by trapping with 2,3-dimethyl-2-butene to form the aziridine and with oxygen to generate the nitrate ester. 2-Nitro substitution on the benzyl derivative had surprisingly little effect on the reaction course. For each compound examined, minor amounts of nitric oxide (NO), presumably produced by secondary photolysis of the nitrosamine, were observed. Time-resolved infrared experiments provided additional support for the above reaction pathways and confirmed that the nitrosamine is a primary photoproduct. We have also found that the relative contributions of the reaction pathways can be altered in certain derivatives. For example, when R' = 2,4-dinitrophenyl, the contribution of the nitrosamine/O-nitrene-forming pathway was diminished. Pharmacological implications of these results are discussed.     

High-resolution solid-state 19F-NMR spectroscopy of the sorption and diffusion of fluorine-containing aromatic molecules in polymeric media

High-resolution ¹⁹F solid-state NMR spectroscopy was employed to study the sorption properties of hexafluorobenzene (HFB) and 3,5-bis (trifluoromethyl) aniline (TFMA) in polystyrene (PS) and butyl rubber (BR). The NMR spectra indicate that the penetrants undergo dual-mode sorption in the glassy polymer (PS), but are highly mobile in the rubbery polymer (BR). In addition, the NMR method was utilized in the experimental determination of diffusion coefficients for the HFB/PS, TFMA/PS, and HFB/BR systems through desorption studies. The diffusion results for the TFMA/PS case agree very well with those previously obtained via resonance nuclear reaction analysis. © 1993 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Crystal and molecular structure of 4-(3-indolyl)butyric acid-picric acid 2/2 π complex

The title compound, IBA-PIC, is 2C₁₂H₁₃NO₂·2C₆H₃N₃O₇, triclinic,P¯1,a=7.137(1),b=15.355(4),c=18.282(5) Å,=79.72(2),=79.85(2), =76.87(2)°. The structure was solved by direct methods and refined by least-squares techniques to anR factor of 0.068 for 3395 observed reflections. The IBA-PIC complex occurs as two independent molecules with different conformations. The crystallographic evidence for a prominent overlapping between the phenyl and indole rings corroborates earlier conclusions from UV spectroscopy. Molecules of both IBA and picric acid lie approximately parallel to (100) in layers and -bonding interactions across the 3.55 Å spacing. The angles between the indole ring and carboxyl-group planes are 82.9 and 86.9° for the A and B molecules, respectively.     

Quasi-Complete Solvation of C-Phenylcalix[4]resorcinarene in the Crystalline State. Single Crystal X-ray Diffraction Study

The crystal structure of C-phenylcalix[4]resorcinarene in a very solvated environment (DMSO) has been determined. The asymmetric unit contains nine molecules of DMSO and one molecule of water for each molecule of the resorcinarene. The C-phenylcalix[4]resorcinarene adopts an approximate C2_v symmetry (boat conformation, also known as flattened-cone conformation) in which two opposite resorcinol rings are almost parallel, while the other two are nearly coplanar.4,6,10,12,16,18,22,24-Octahydroxy-2,8,14,20-tetraphenyl-calix(4) arene.Supplementary data related to this article are deposited with the British Library as Supplementary Publication No. 82308 (3 pages).     

Time-resolved IR detection and study of an iminooxirane intermediate

[reaction: see text] Iminooxirane 4 has been generated by the reaction of phenylchlorocarbene (2) with phenyl isocyanate (3) and studied by nanosecond time-resolved infrared spectroscopy. Iminooxirane 4 (1830 cm(-1)) isomerizes to alpha-lactam 5 (1880 cm(-1)) at an observed rate of 3 x 10(4) s(-1). Peak assignments were confirmed by a combination of B3LYP calculations and isotopic labeling. An acyclic transition state was found computationally for the isomerization reaction.     

Identification of a vibrational frequency corresponding to H-atom translocation in hypericin

Using time-resolved infrared spectroscopy, ab initio quantum mechanical calculations and synthetic organic chemistry a region in the infrared spectrum of triplet hypericin has been found between 1400 and 1500 cm-1 corresponding to the translocation of the hydrogen atom between the enol and the keto oxygens, O...H...O. This result is discussed in the context of the photophysics of hypericin and of eventual measurements to observe directly the excited-state H-atom transfer.     

Synthesis of New Chiral Aziridinoalcohols

Diasteromerically and enantiomerically pure aziridinoalcohols 4, 5, 6 and 7 were obtained from the reaction of racemic methyl 2, 3-dibromopropionate 1 with R and S-(2-phenylglycinol) 2 and 3 respectively. The products were separated via flash chromatography on silica gel in good yield.     

A simple synthesis of cytotoxic endoperoxide lactones

A series of dihydrobenzofuran-2-one 3 have been submitted to various dienophiles: whereas maleic anhydride led only to the adducts 4a,b, singlet oxygen gave the expected new endoperoxide lactones 5a-d, 6 and 7a,b, three of them showing interesting cytotoxicity towards various cancer cell lines.     

Role of the metal ion in formyl-peptide bond hydrolysis by a peptide deformylase active site model

The catalytic mechanism of peptide deformylase enzymes containing zinc, iron, cobalt, and nickel dications was explored in the gas phase and in the protein environment. The study was performed at the density functional level using three model systems to simulate the active site. The work had the aim to evaluate the effect of metal substitution on the hydrolytic properties and the possible different performances of the various catalysts. Results indicated that all of the metallic forms are active to hydrolyze the formyl-peptide bond and that the reaction pathways do not show significant peculiarities on going from a particular metal ion to another. No significant modification of the reaction paths occurs in solvent.