Linear and Cyclic Enkephalin Pseudopeptides. Use of RP-HPLC to Separate and Identify Diastereomers Formed during Synthesis

Abstract

During the course of synthesis of both a linear and a cyclic enkephal in pseudopeptide containing a ψ[CH₂S] amide bond replacement, two isomeric products were produced in each case in virtually equimolar quantities. RP-HPLC was used to: 1) isolate and characterize both pairs of products; 2) confirm their sulfide content by partial oxidation to their ψ[CH₂SO] equivalents, with two new pairs of diastereomeric sulfoxides formed in each case, and 3) confirm that the isomers were formed by epimerization of the C-terminal alpha carbon of the pseudopeptide, H-Tyr-D-Ala-Gly-Pheψ[CH₂S]Leu-OH and its cyclic counterpart in an early synthetic step. Both the presence and the absolute configurations of the new epimeric center were further established by RP-HPLC. This involved acid catalyzed hydrolysis and comparison of the resulting HPLC-isolated pseudodipeptides with authentic species of Pheψ[CH₂S]Leu and Pheψ[CH₂S]D-Leu prepared by controlled stereochemical routes.     

Collisional activation study of cyclic polysulfides

Cyclic polysulfides isolated from higher plants, model compounds and their electron impact induced fragment ions have been investigated by various mass spectrometric methods. These species represent three sets of sulfur compounds: C₃H₆S_x (x=1?6), C₂H₄S_x (x=1?5) and CH₂S_x (x=1?4). Three general fragmentation mechanisms are discussed using metastable transitions: (1) the unimolecular loss of structural parts (CH₂S, CH₂ and S_x); (2) fragmentations which involve ring opening reactions, hydrogen migrations and recyclizations of the product ions ([M? CH₃]⁺, [M? CH₃S]⁺, [M? SH]⁺ and [M? CS₂]^+˙); and (3) complete rearrangements preceding the fragmentations ([M? S₂H]⁺ and [M? C₂H₄]^+˙). The cyclic structures of [M]^+˙ and of specific fragment ions have been investigated by comparing the collisional activation spectra of model ions. On the basis of these results the cyclic ions decompose via linear intermediates and then recyclizations of the product ions occur. The stabilities of the fragment ions have been determined by electron efficiency vs electron energy curves.     

Chemoenzymatic Posttranslational Modification Reactions for the Synthesis of Ψ[CH2NH]‐Containing Peptides

The Ψ[CH₂NH] reduced amide bond is a peptide isostere widely used in the development of bioactive pseudopeptides. Reported here is a method of chemoenzymatic posttranslational modification for the synthesis of Ψ[CH₂NH]‐containing peptides converted from ribosomally expressed peptides. The posttranslational conversion composed of an enzymatic cyclodehydration and facile two‐step chemical reduction achieves deoxygenation of a specific amide bond present in a nonprotected peptide in water. This method generates the Ψ[CH₂NH] bond in peptides and is applicable to various peptide sequences, potentially enabling the preparation of a library of Ψ[CH₂NH]‐containing peptides.     

Chemoenzymatic Posttranslational Modification Reactions for the Synthesis of Ψ[CH2NH]-Containing Peptides

The Ψ[CH₂NH] reduced amide bond is a peptide isostere widely used in the development of bioactive pseudopeptides. Reported here is a method of chemoenzymatic posttranslational modification for the synthesis of Ψ[CH₂NH]-containing peptides converted from ribosomally expressed peptides. The posttranslational conversion composed of an enzymatic cyclodehydration and facile two-step chemical reduction achieves deoxygenation of a specific amide bond present in a nonprotected peptide in water. This method generates the Ψ[CH₂NH] bond in peptides and is applicable to various peptide sequences, potentially enabling the preparation of a library of Ψ[CH₂NH]-containing peptides.     

Metastable ion study of organosilicon compounds. Part V—tetramethoxysilane and trimethoxymethylsilane

The fragmentations of tetramethoxysilane ((CH₃O)₄Si (1)) and trimethoxymethylsilane ((CH₃O)₃SiCH₃ (3)) induced by electron impact were investigated by mass-analysed ion kinetic energy (MIKE) spectrometry and a deuterium-labelling study. These molecular ions begin to fragment by the loss of CH₃ or CH₃O. These fragmentations are followed by the loss of an aldehyde molecule (H₂CO), as commonly observed in the mass spectra of alkoxysilanes. Almost complete scrambling of the methoxy hydrogens takes place in the metastable molecular ion, [1]⁺˙, prior to the decomposition. On the other hand, a moderate extent of scrambling of the hydrogens takes place in [3]⁺˙. The fragmentations of [1]⁺˙ and [3]⁺˙ were compared with those of the corresponding carbon analogues, tetramethoxymethane ((CH₃O)₄C (2)) and 1,1,1-trimethoxyethane ((CH₃O)₃CCH₃ (4)), respectively.     

Complexes of iron(II) with cysteine-containing peptides in the gas phase

Gas-phase interactions of peptides that contain cysteine with iron(II) atoms were examined by using fast-atom bombardment and tandem mass spectrometry. Specific and strong interactions of iron and sulfur from the thiol group of the cysteine side chain occur in the gas phase and are the basis for highly specific fragmentation to give abundant [a _n ?⁺ ions. For peptides that contain two cysteines, an internal ion, which results from the interaction of Fe and both thiol groups, is formed upon collisional activation. The mechanism for the formation of [a _n ?2H+Fe]⁺ fragment ions requires the metal to be coordinated at sulfur in close proximity to the site of reaction. Iron-bis(pentapeptide) complexes, which form under the same conditions, decompose predominantly to lose a pentapeptide molecule and, to a lesser extent, to give [a _a ?2H+Fe]⁺ ions.     

Reactions within and between adjacent dimethylamino groups: Collision-induced dissociation tandem mass spectrometric study of the 1,9-bis(dimethylamino)phenalenium cation

The electron impact (EI) ionization-induced fragmentation pathways of the new 1,9-bis(dimethylamino) phenalenium cation [1]⁺ were investigated. The peri-dimethylamino substituents of [1]⁺ are incorporated in a trimethine cyanine substructure and show strong steric interactions. A mechanism is proposed for the unusual elimination of CH₃N?CH₂, HN(CH₃)₂ and (CH₃)₃N from [1]⁺ and for the accompanying cyclizations to heterocyclic ions: prior to fragmentation, the intact cation [1]⁺ rearranges, by reciprocal CH₃ and H transfers, to new isomeric cations which decompose subsequently in a characteristic way. A wealth of consistent information on dissociation pathways and fragment structures is provided by collision-induced dissociation tandem mass spectra, collision-induced dissociation mass-analysed ion kinetic energy spectra and exact mass measurements of the salt cation and of its primary fragment ions. The liquid secondary ion mass spectrum of [1]⁺ is very similar to its EI mass spectrum.     

Fragmentation of the deprotonated ions of peptides containing cysteine, cysteine sulfinic acid, cysteine sulfonic acid, aspartic acid, and glutamic acid

We examined the fragmentation of the electrospray-produced [M-H]- and [M-2H]2- ions of a number of peptides containing two acidic amino acid residues, one being aspartic acid (Asp) or glutamic acid (Glu), and the other being cysteine sulfinic acid [C(SO2H)] or cysteine sulfonic acid [C(SO3H)], on an ion-trap mass spectrometer. We observed facile neutral losses of H2S and H2SO2 from the side chains of cysteine and C(SO2H), respectively, whereas the corresponding elimination of H2SO3 from the side chain of C(SO3H) was undetectable for most peptides that we investigated. In addition, the collisional activation of the [M-H]- ions of the C(SO2H)-containing peptides resulted in the cleavage of the amide bond on the C-terminal side of the C(SO2H) residue. Moreover, collisional activation of the [M-2H]2- ions of the above Asp-containing peptides led to the cleavage of the backbone N-Calpha bond of the Asp residue to give cn and/or its complementary [zn-H2O] ions. Similar cleavage also occurred for the singly deprotonated ions of the otherwise identical peptides with a C-terminal amide functionality, but not for the [M-H]- ions of same peptides with a free C-terminal carboxylic acid. Furthermore, ab initio calculation results for model cleavage reactions are consistent with the selective cleavage of the backbone N-Calpha bond in the Asp residue.     

Gas-phase fragmentation reactions of protonated glycerol and its oligomers: Metastable and collision-induced dissociation reactions,associated deuterium isotope effects and the structure of [C3H5O]+, [C2H5O]+, [C2H4O]+. and [C2H3O]+ ions

The chemistry of glycerol subjected to a high-energy particle beam was explored by studying the mass spectral fragmentation characteristics of gas-phase protonated glycerol and its oligomers by using tandem mass spectrometry. Both unimolecular metastable and collision-induced dissociation reactions were studied. Collision activation of protonated glycerol results in elimiation of H₂O and CH₃OH molecules. The resulting ions undergo further fragmentations. The origin of several fragment ions was established by obtaining their product and precursor ion spectra. Corresponding data for the deuterated analogs support those results. The structures of the fragment ions of compositions [C₃H₅O]⁺, [C₂H₅O]⁺, [C₂H₄O]^+. and [C₂H₃O]⁺ derived from protonated glycerol were also identified. Proton-bound glycerol oligomers fragment principally via loss of neutral glycerol molecules. Dissociation of mixed clusters of glycerol and deuterated glycerol displays normal secondary isotope effects.     

Mass spectrometric and quantum mechanical analysis of gas-phase formation, structure, and decomposition of various b2 ions and their specifically deuterated analogs

B ions represent an important type of fragment ions derived from protonated peptides by cleavage of an amide bond with N-terminal charge retention. Such species have also been discussed as key intermediates during cyclic peptide fragmentation. Detailed structural information on such ion types can facilitate the interpretation of multiple step fragmentations such as the formation of inner chain fragments from linear peptides or the fragmentation of cyclic peptides. The structure of different b₂ ion isomers was investigated with collision-induced dissociations (CID) in combination with hydrogen/deuterium (H/D) exchange of the acidic protons. Special care was taken to investigate fragment ions derived from pure gas-phase processes. Structures deduced from the results of the CID analysis were compared with structures predicted on the basis of quantum chemical density functional theory (DFT) calculations to be most stable. The results pointed to different types of structures for b₂ ion isomers of complementary amino acid sequences. Either the protonated oxazolone structure or the N-terminally protonated immonium ion structure were proposed on the basis of the CID results and the DFT calculations. In addition, the analysis of different selectively N-alkylated peptide analogs revealed mechanistic details of the processes generating b ions.     

Metastable decomposition of peptide [M + H]+ ions via rearrangement involving loss of the C-terminal amino acid residue

A novel fragmentation of metastable peptide [M + H]⁺ ions is described. Loss of the C-terminal amino acid residue is accomqanied by retention of one of the carboxyl oxygens, as judged by ¹⁸O-labeling. The retained ⁸O label is located at the new C-terminus. Sequential mass spectrometric analyses indicate that the structure of the first-generation product ion is indistinguishable from that of the [M + H]⁺ ion of the peptide with one fewer amino acid residues. Thus, for example, the metastable decompositions of ions of m/z 904 are similar whether they correspond to des-Arg⁹-bradykinin [M + H]⁺ ions or to fragments derived from bradykinin [M + H]⁺ ions. No corresponding rearrangements have been observed for peptides with C-terminal amide or ester functions. The mechanism of this fragmentation may be considered to be analogous to that previously suggested for fragmentations of [M + alkali metal cation]⁺ ions. For the examples of bradykinin and related peptides, the rearrangement is strongly promoted when arginine is the amino acid residue lost. The same fragmentation is also favored by the presence of an arginine residue at or near the N-terminus. The strong influence of peptide amino acid composition, including residues remote from the C-terminus, on the prevalence of this fragmentation suggests mechanistic complexities that require further elucidation.

     

Dehydration of peptide [M + H]+ ions in the gas phase

The loss of water from protonated peptides was studied using [¹⁸O]-labeling of the C-terminal carboxyl group. The structures (including the location of the isotopic label) of first-generation product ions were examined by sequential product ion scanning (MS³ and MS⁴) using a hybrid sector/quadrupole mass spectrometer. Water loss may involve carboxylic acid groups, side-chain hydroxyls, or peptide backbone oxygens. Although one of these three pathways often predominates, more than one dehydration route can be operative for a single peptide structure. When peptide backbone oxygen is lost, the dehydration can occur at one or two primary sites along the backbone, with the location of the site(s) varying among peptides. When water loss involves the C-terminal carboxyl group, the resulting ion may undergo extensive intraionic oxygen isotope exchange. This evidence for complex intraionic interactions further emphasizes the significance of gas-phase conformation in determining the fragmentations of peptide ions.     

Differentiation of aminomethyl corrole isomers by mass spectrometry

Two new isomeric aminomethyl corrole derivatives of [5,10,15‐tris(pentafluorophenyl)corrolato]gallium(III) were synthesized with pyridine (py) molecules as axial ligands. When investigated by electrospray ionization mass spectrometry, in the positive and the negative ion modes, these compounds showed an unusual gas‐phase behavior that could be used for their differentiation. In the positive ion mode, the differentiation was achieved through the formation of diagnostic fragment ions formed from [M‐py + H]⁺ precursors, by (CH₃)₂NH and HF losses. An unusual addition of water to the main fragment ions provides an alternative route for isomer identification. Semi‐empirical calculations were performed to elucidate the structures and stabilities of the main ionic species formed in the positive ion mode. In the negative ion mode isomer discrimination is accomplished via the fragmentation of the methoxide adduct ions [M‐py + CH₃O]^‐ through (CH₃)₂ N^. and HF losses. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Alkane elimination from ionized alkanols

The energetics, metastable characteristics and daughter ion structures for the loss of small alkane molecules from ionized 2-propanol, 2-butanol and 3-pentanol have been examined in detail. [2-Propanol]^+˙ ions lose CH₄ to generate the keto and enol forms of [C₂H₄O]^+˙ and the same daughter ions are produced by loss of C₂H₆ from [2-butanol]^+˙. Ionized 3-pentanol does not lose CH₄ but readily eliminates C₂H₆ to produce the enol ion [CH₃CH?CHOH]^+˙. The last reaction was shown to proceed by a simple 1,2 elimination mechanism in the μs time-frame; isotope effects are also discussed.     

Pathways for Water Loss from Doubly Protonated Peptides Containing Serine or Threonine

The doubly-protonated peptides Ala-Ala-Xaa-Ala-Ala-Ala-Arg show extensive loss of H₂O when Xaa = Ser or Thr. Using quasi-MS³ techniques the fragmentation reactions of the [M + 2H – H₂O]⁺² ions have been studied in detail. For both Ser and Thr, the [M + 2H – H₂O]⁺² ions show three primary fragmentation reactions, elimination of CH₃CH = NH, elimination of one Ala residue, and elimination of two Ala residues, in all cases forming doubly-charged products. From a study of the further fragmentation of these products, it is concluded that elimination of two Ala residues results in formation of a three-membered aziridine ring by interaction with the adjacent amide function as H₂O is lost. The elimination of one Ala residue results in formation of a five-membered oxazoline ring through interaction with the N-terminal adjacent carbonyl function as H₂O is lost. The elimination of CH₃CH = NH appears to involve formation of an eight-membered ring by interaction with the remote N-terminal carbonyl function as H₂O is lost. However, this initial structure undergoes rearrangement through interaction with the adjacent C-terminal carbonyl function prior to further fragmentation. The [MH – H₂O]⁺ ion of Ala-Ala-Ser-Ala-Ala-Ala also shows elimination of CH₃CH = NH, one Ala residue and two Ala residues.     

Fragmentation of protonated O,O-dimethyl O-aryl phosphorothionates in tandem mass spectral analysis

A study was carried out on the fragmentation of 12 protonated O,O-dimethyl O-aryl phosphorothionates by tandem quadrupole mass spectrometry. Some of the studied compounds are used in agriculture as pesticides. Energy-resolved and pressure-resolved experiments were performed on the [M + H]⁺ ions to investigate the dissociation behavior of the ions with various amounts of internal energy. On collisionally activated dissociation, the [M + H]⁺ ions decompose to yield the [M + H ? CH₃OH]⁺, (CH₃O)₂PS⁺ (m/z 125), and (CH₃O)₂PO⁺ (m/z 109) ions as major fragments. The ions [M + H ? CH₃OH]⁺ and (CH₃O)₂PS⁺ probably arise from the [M + H]⁺ ions of the O,O-dimethyl O-aryl phosphorothionates with the proton on the sulfur or on the oxygen of the phenoxy group. The origin of the hydroxy proton of the methanol fragment was in many cases, surprisingly, the phenyl group and not the reagent gas. This was confirmed by using deuterated isobutane, C₄D₁₀, as reagent gas in Cl. The fragment ions (CH₃O)₂PO⁺ and [ZPhS]⁺ are the results of thiono-thiolo rearrangement reaction. The precursor ion for the ion (CH₃O)₂PO⁺ arises from most compounds upon chemical ionization, whereas the precursor ion for the ion [ZPhS]⁺ arises only from a few compounds upon chemical ionization. The observed fragments imply that several sites carry the extra proton and that these sites get the proton usually upon ionization. The stability order and some characteristics of three protomers of O,O-dimethyl O-phenyl phosphorothionate were investigated by ab initio calculations at the RHF/3-21G* level of theory.     

Rearrangement reactions of 2-nitrothiobenzamides upon electron impact

The decomposing molecular cations derived from (substituted) 2-nitrothiobenzamides fragment by complex rearrangement reactions. When the alkyl substituents (R) attached to N are methyl, the major fragmentations are [M]⁺˙ → [M? SO]^+˙ and [M? SO]^+˙ → [(M? SO)^+˙–R˙]⁺. This remains a basic pathway when R ? Et, but other rearrangements are also observed. For example, when R=Et, additional competitive processes are [M]^+˙ → [M? HO˙]⁺ and [M]^+˙ → [M? C₂H₄O]⁺˙.     

Assessing the Viability of the Methylsulfinyl Radical-Ozone Reaction

Although integral to remote marine atmospheric sulfur chemistry, the reaction between methylsulfinyl radical (CH₃SO) and ozone poses challenges to theoretical treatments. The lone theoretical study on this reaction reported an unphysically large barrier of 66 kcal mol⁻¹ for abstraction of an oxygen atom from O₃ by CH₃SO. Herein, we demonstrate that this result stems from improper use of MP2 with a single-reference, unrestricted Hartree-Fock (UHF) wavefunction. We characterized the potential energy surface using density functional theory (DFT), as well as multireference methodologies employing a complete active-space self-consistent field (CASSCF) reference. Our DFT PES shows, in contrast to previous work, that the reaction proceeds by forming an addition adduct [CH₃S(O₃)O] in a deep potential well of 37 kcal mol⁻¹. An O−O bond of this adduct dissociates via a flat, low barrier of 1 kcal mol⁻¹ to give CH₃SO₂+O₂. The multireference computations show that the initial addition of CH₃SO+O₃ is barrierless. These results provide a more physically intuitive and accurate picture of this reaction than the previous theoretical study. In addition, our results imply that the CH₃SO₂ formed in this reaction can readily decompose to give SO₂ as a major product, in alignment with the literature on CH₃SO reactions.     

The gas enhanced negative ion mass spectra of polychloroanisoles

Methane or a methane–oxygen mixture was used as an enhancement gas to obtain negative ion mass spectra of polychloroanisoles. Dichloroanisoles did not react with oxygen but the more highly chlorinated anisoles did. Compounds with hydrogen ortho to the methoxy group had [M? 1]^? ions, while others gave . The fragment arose through loss of an ortho chlorine and amethyl hydrogen. The loss of HCl followed by oxygen displacement of a remaining ortho or para chlorine produced [M? 55]^? ions; the para position was the preferred site of displacement. Another ion-molecule reaction with oxygen leads to [M? CH₂Cl]^?. The fragmentations resemble those of chlorinated aromatics such as the polychlorodibenzodioxins.     

Structure and formation of gaseous [C4H6O]+˙ ions: 1—The enolic ions [CH2C(OH)?CHCH2]+˙ and [CH2CH?CHCH(OH)]+˙ and their relationship with their keto counterparts

The [C₄H₆O]^+˙ ion of structure [CH₂?CHCH?CHOH]^+˙ (a) is generated by loss of C₄H₈ from ionized 6,6-dimethyl-2-cyclohexen-1-ol. The heat of formation ΔH_f of [CH₂?CHCH?CHOH]^+˙ was estimated to be 736 kJ mol^?1. The isomeric ion [CH₂?C(OH)CH?CH₂]^+˙ (b) was shown to have ΔH_f, ? 761 kJ mol^?1, 54 kJ mol^?1 less than that of its keto analogue [CH₃COCH?CH₂]^+˙. Ion [CH₂?C(OH)CH?CH₂]^+˙ may be generated by loss of C₂H₄ from ionized hex-1-en-3-one or by loss of C₄H₈ from ionized 4,4-dimethyl-2-cyclohexen-1-ol. The [C₄H₆O]^+˙ ion generated by loss of C₂H₄ from ionized 2-cyclohexen-1-ol was shown to consist of a mixture of the above enol ions by comparing the metastable ion and collisional activation mass spectra of [CH₂?CHCH?CHOH]^+˙ and [CH₂?C(OH)CH?CH₂]^+˙ ions with that of the above daughter ion. It is further concluded that prior to their major fragmentations by loss of CH₃˙ and CO, [CH₂?CHCH?CHOH]⁺˙ and [CH₂?C(OH)CH?CH₂]^+˙ do not rearrange to their keto counterparts. The metastable ion and collisional activation characteristics of the isomeric allenic [C₄H₆O]^+˙ ion [CH₂?C?CHCH₂OH]^+˙ are also reported.