Role of the tautomerism of 2-azaadenine and 2-azahypoxanthine in substrate recognition by xanthine oxidase

The tautomerism of 2-azaadenine and 2-hypoxanthine has been examined in the gas phase and in aqueous solution. The tautomerism in the gas phase has been studied by means of semiempirical and ab initio quantum-mechanical computations, as well as density-functional calculations. The influence of the aqueous solvent on the relative stability between tautomers has been estimated from self-consistent reaction field calculations performed with different high-level continuum models. The results provide a detailed picture of the tautomeric preference for these purine bases. The importance of tautomerism in the substrate recognition by xanthine oxidase is discussed. Finally, the rate of oxidation of 2-azaadenine and 2- hypoxanthine by xanthine oxidase is discussed in terms of the recognition model at the enzyme active site.     

可乐定分子构象异构和互变异构的理论研究

采用HF/6-31G*方法, 对氨基型和亚胺型可乐定中性分子以及质子化的可乐定分子进行了构象分析. 之后采用B3LYP/6-31G**方法对处于势能面上的能量极小构象异构体进行全自由度几何优化和频率分析. Onsager反应场溶剂模型用于水相的计算. 结果表明, 在气相和水相中可乐定中性分子主要以亚胺型存在, 这同已有实验结果一致. 进一步, 寻找构象异构化过渡态和氨基型亚胺型互变异构化过渡态, 探讨质子化和水溶剂化效应对异构化过程的几何结构和能量的影响. 为了考察氯苯的共轭效应对可乐定互变异构体稳定性的影响, 在B3LYP/6-31G**水平上, 研究了2-氨基-2-咪唑啉的互变异构化反应机理.     

Prototropic tautomers of 5‐methylcytosine and enthalpy changes of their protonation,deprotonation, and deamination: Hybrid density functional B3LYP study

Molecular and thermodynamic properties such as geometric parameters, dipole moments, vibrational frequencies, the first ionization potentials, relative tautomerization energies, and tautomeric equilibrium constants of all prototropic tautomers of 5‐methylcytosine have been studied at the hybrid density functional level B3LYP/6‐31+G(d,p). The methylation on the C5 atom does not lead to significant geometric deformation of the pyrimidine structures of the corresponding tautomers of cytosine, which maintains the similar stability order. The tautomeric species 2‐oxo‐4‐amino [T(0)], 2‐hydroxy‐4‐amino [T(1‐2s) and T(1‐2t)], and trans‐2‐oxo‐4‐imino [T(3‐4t)] are predominated in the gas phase. The zwitterionic conformers of tautomerism [T(1‐4)] and protonation [P(4), P(1‐2s‐4), P(1‐2t‐4), and P(1‐3‐4)] are investigated for the first time due to their close relationship with deamination during genetic repair. Enthalpy changes (Δ_rH) of protonation, deprotonation, and deamination are calculated for these tautomeric species at room temperature; it is noted that the relative enthalpies [δ(ΔH)] of the tautomers are rationalized well in terms of a second‐order polynomial of the sum of the mean Δ_rH values of protonation and deprotonation processes. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem, 2002     

AM1 and PM3 Study of Tautomerism of Hypoxanthine in the Gas and Aqueous Phases

Heats of formation, entropies, Gibbs free energies, relative tautomerisation energies, tautomeric equilibrium constants, dipole moments, and ionization potentials for the eight possible tautomers of hypoxanthine have been studied using semiempirical AM1 and PM3 quantum-chemical calculations at the SCF level in the gas and aqueous phases, with full geometry optimization. The COSMO solvation model was employed for aqueous solution calculations. The calculations show that the two keto tautomers H17 and H19 are the predominant species at room temperature in the gas and aqueous phase. However, the tautomer H17 is the more dominant species in gas phase, while the H19 tautomer is the more dominant species in the aqueous phase. Comparison with available experimental data provides support for the results derived from theoretical computations. The entropy effect on the Gibbs free energy of hypoxanthine is very small and there is little significance for the tautomeric equilibria of the base. The enthalpic term is dominant in the determination of the equilibrium constant.     

Structure of neutral molecules and monoanions of selected oxopurines in aqueous solutions as studied by NMR spectroscopy and theoretical calculations

A methodology enabling investigation of a multicomponent tautomeric and acid-base equilibria by (13)C NMR spectroscopy supported by theoretical calculations has been proposed. The effectiveness of this method has been illustrated in a study of 2-oxopurine, 6-oxopurine (hypoxanthine), 8-oxopurine, and 2,6-dioxopurine (xanthine) in neutral and alkaline aqueous solutions. For each compound a series of (13)C NMR spectra were recorded at pH ranges in which neutral molecules, monoanions and/or dianions occurred in dynamic equilibrium. The carbon chemical shifts for these three forms of the investigated compounds were retrieved from the analysis of pH-dependence of the measured, dynamically averaged values of these parameters. The structures of several stable tautomers of the neutral and monoanionic oxopurine forms were predicted from theoretical calculations and nuclear magnetic shielding constants for (13)C nuclei in these tautomers were calculated. At both calculation steps (molecular geometry optimization and calculation of NMR parameters) the PBE1PBE/6-311++G(2d,p) level of theory was used. The populations of the most stable tautomers were determined from the experimental data analysis exploiting the fact that they were population-weighted averages of the chemical shifts of particular tautomers. It has been shown that only the oxo forms of the investigated oxopurines are present in aqueous solutions and that the determined populations in most cases remain in a qualitative agreement with the calculated free energies of the appropriate tautomers. The obtained results are in general agreement with other literature reports on oxopurine tautomerism and confirm importance of the hydration phenomena for the investigated systems. The data analysis has shown that the best compliance between theory and experiment is obtained when the hydration phenomenon is modeled by discrete hydration augmented by PCM (polarizable continuum solvation model).     

Tautomerism in 4-hydroxypyrimidine, S-methyl-2-thiouracil, and 2-thiouracil

The keto-enol tautomerism of 4-hydroxypyrimidine and of the related molecules S-methyl-2-thiouracil and 2-thiouracil has been investigated using synchrotron-based techniques. The populations of the constituent tautomers and thermodynamic parameters have been obtained by analysis of core-level photoemission spectra. The effect of substituents on the stability of tautomers has been revealed. Attaching additional OH (or SH) groups to the aromatic ring stabilizes the dioxo (or oxo-thione) forms. However, substitution of hydrogen in position 2 by an S-CH(3) group (that is, in going from 4-hydroxypyrimidine to S-methyl-2-thiouracil) does not significantly affect the tautomeric equilibrium.     

A Quantum-Chemical and Correlation Study of the Ionization of Purpurin

Anthraquinoid tautomers participate in the ionization of purpurin. The tautomerism takes place in both ground and excited states of the molecules; the excited state is more sensitive to the tautomerism. The solvation and ionization shift the tautomeric equilibria. In the experimental absorption spectra of purpurin, the major bands correspond to the 9,10-, 1,4-, and 1,10-anthraquinoid tautomers; anions with the 9,10-anthraquinoid structure are not detected. The position and intensity of the π,π* bands, and also the quantum-chemical parameters linearly correlate with the degree of ionization of purpurin.     

Synthesis and ring-chain tautomerism of substituted 4-hydroxy-hexahydropyrimidine-2-thiones

The synthesis of a number of substituted 4-hydroxyhexahydropyrimidine-2-thiones has been effected. The prototropic ring-chain tautomerism of compounds of this type in chloroform solution has been investigated by IR spectroscopy. The dependence of the relative stability of the cyclic tautomeric forms on the structures of the compounds studied has been elucidated.     

Tautomerism of xanthine and alloxanthine: A model for substrate recognition by xanthine oxidase

Summary Tautomerism of neutral xanthine and alloxanthine has been examined both in the gas phase and in aqueous solution. The tautomeric preference in the gas phase has been studied by means of semiempirical and ab initio quantum-mechanical computations with inclusion of correlation effects at the Møller-Plesset level, and from density-functional calculations. The influence of solvent on the relative stability between tautomers has been estimated from self-consistent reaction field calculations performed with different models. The results provide a detailed picture of tautomerism for these biologically relevant purine bases. The functional implications in the recognition by xanthine oxidase are analyzed from inspection of the interaction patterns of the most stable tautomeric forms. A model for the recognition of these purine derivatives in the enzyme binding site is discussed.     

Tautomers of 4,5-dihydroxy-1,8-bis(dimethylamino)naphthalene and related boron compounds: A quantum-chemical study

The quantum-chemical method PBE0/cc-pV(D,T)Z was applied to determine structural parameters, relative energies, and dipole moments of the prototropic tautomers of 4,5-dihydroxy-1,8-bis(dimethylamino) naphthalene. According to the calculations, this compound can exist in the gas phase as low-polar molecules with one asymmetric intramolecular hydrogen bond. In a polarizable medium a pair of zwitter-ionic tautomers dominate of similar energy with two asymmetric intramolecular hydrogen bonds. These tautomers and a hypothetic heterocyclic analog containing a BH ₂ ⁺ group instead of a proton between the nitrogen atoms are characterized by a high value of dipole moment and first hyperpolarizability. Mutual transformation of enantiomers (mirror antipodes) when transferring a proton from the hydroxy group to a neighboring atom in the O-boron-containing zwitter-ion is an example of strictly degenerate prototropic tautomerism.     

Tautomerism in Athraquinones: II. α-Hydroxy-substituted Anthraquinones

The fine structure of experimental π_l,π*-absorption bands of the α hydroxyanthraquinones originates from the prototropic anthraquinoid tautomerism. The tautomeric transformations occur both in the ground and excited states of the molecules; therewith the excited states are more sensitive to the tautomerization than the ground ones. The wavelength and intensity of the π_l,π*-bands, the values of all quantum-chemical characteristics studied for the tautomers of α hydroxyanthraquinones are linearly related to the number of hydroxy groups. The effect of the isomerism of di- and trihydroxyanthraquinones on this relationship was considered.__________Translated from Zhurnal Organicheskoi Khimii, Vol. 41, No. 5, 2005, pp. 722–729.Original Russian Text Copyright © 2005 by Fain, Zaitsev, Ryabov.     

Infrared spectra and tautomerism of isocytosine; an ab initio and matrix isolation study

Prototropic tautomerism of isocytosine has been investigated using both theoretical ab initio and experimental matrix isolation IR methods. The coexistence of the amino-hydroxy and amino-oxo N(3)H forms, with a clear predominance of the hydroxy form, was observed. The tautomerization constant [oxo]/[hydroxy] obtained from experimental and calculated IR intensities was 0.11 at the micro-oven temperature of 400 K. The ab initio prediction of the relative energies of the tautomers is in reasonable agreement with the experimental estimation. The change of the tautomeric form oxo→hydroxy upon UV irradiation was used to separate the IR spectra of both tautomers. A theoretically assisted interpretation of the IR spectra of both observed tautomers is proposed.     

A spectrochemometric approach to tautomerism and hydrogen-bonding in 3-acyltetronic acids

3-Acyltetronic acids bearing different 3- and 5-substituents have been examined focussing on tautomerism and inter- and intramolecular hydrogen-bonding properties of these β,β′-tricarbonyl compounds in solution as well as in the solid state. Spectroscopic methods like NMR, IR, Raman-spectroscopy as well as X-ray diffractometry and MAS-NMR for the solid state have been applied. In a solution of CDCl₃, the acids exist as cis/trans pair both involving the 3-acyl group in a ratio 60/40. The pair also involving the carbonyl group at C-4 is tautomeric and the most abundant, whereas the other isomer only shows one form with an exo-cyclic double bond. NMR and IR measurements are in agreement. In the solid state, only one of the four possible tautomers is found. DFT-calculations on the B3LYP/6-31G** level helped to verify the assignment of the IR- and NMR-spectra and yielded an estimation of the relative thermodynamic stabilities of the tautomers of several 3-acyltetronic acids. Low temperature NMR experiments gave an insight into the equilibria. Deuterium isotope effects on the ¹³C NMR chemical shifts have been observed for 5,5-dimethyl 3-pivaloyltetronic acid at low temperature in order to examine the fast internal equilibria.     

Towards the comprehensive, rapid, and accurate prediction of the favorable tautomeric states of drug-like molecules in aqueous solution

Generating the appropriate protonation states of drug-like molecules in solution is important for success in both ligand- and structure-based virtual screening. Screening collections of millions of compounds requires a method for determining tautomers and their energies that is sufficiently rapid, accurate, and comprehensive. To maximise enrichment, the lowest energy tautomers must be determined from heterogeneous input, without over-enumerating unfavourable states. While computationally expensive, the density functional theory (DFT) method M06-2X/aug-cc-pVTZ(-f) [PB-SCRF] provides accurate energies for enumerated model tautomeric systems. The empirical Hammett–Taft methodology can very rapidly extrapolate substituent effects from model systems to drug-like molecules via the relationship between pK_T and pK_a. Combining the two complementary approaches transforms the tautomer problem from a scientific challenge to one of engineering scale-up, and avoids issues that arise due to the very limited number of measured pK_T values, especially for the complicated heterocycles often favoured by medicinal chemists for their novelty and versatility. Several hundreds of pre-calculated tautomer energies and substituent pK_a effects are tabulated in databases for use in structural adjustment by the program Epik, which treats tautomers as a subset of the larger problem of the protonation states in aqueous ensembles and their energy penalties. Accuracy and coverage is continually improved and expanded by parameterizing new systems of interest using DFT and experimental data. Recommendations are made for how to best incorporate tautomers in molecular design and virtual screening workflows.     

New Type of Prototropic Tautomerism Involving Carbon,Hydrogen, and Oxygen Atoms

A low-molecular weight analog of the vinyl chloride–maleic anhydride copolymer, chloromethylsuccinic anhydride gives rise to a new type of prototropic tautomerism, cyclic anhydride–enol, with formation of quasiaromatic enol and dienol derivatives. The ratio of the anhydride and enol tautomers in solution at room temperature is 7 : 1.     

The tautomerism of 1,2,3-triazole, 3(5)-methylpyrazole and their cations

The annular tautomerism of 1,2,3-triazole and 3(5)-methylpyrazole is discussed by means of a combination of theoretical calculations and experimental (ICR) gas-phase basicities and acidities. In the gas phase 1,2,3-triazole exists as the 2H-tautomer, whereas both tautomers of 3(5)-methylpyrazole are of similar energy. The solvent effects on these prototropic equilibria are discussed taking into account solvent properties as polarity/polarizability, acidity, and basicity. In nonhydrogen bonding solvents, the difference in dipole moments between both tautomers plays a role that has usually been underestimated.     

Systematic effect of benzo-annelation on oxo-hydroxy tautomerism of heterocyclic compounds. Experimental matrix-isolation and theoretical study

Oxo-hydroxy tautomerism and phototautomerism of 2-quinolinone, 1-isoquinolinone, 3-hydroxyisoquinoline, 2-quinoxalinone, and 4-quinazolinone were studied using the matrix-isolation technique. These compounds contain a benzene ring fused with a heterocyclic ring of 2-pyridinone, 2-pyrazinone, or 4-pyrimidinone. It turned out that direct attachment of a benzene ring to a heterocycle leads to a very pronounced increase of the relative stability of oxo tautomers (in comparison with the tautomerism of the parent compounds 2-pyridinone, 2-pyrazinone, and 4-pyrimidinone). The only exception concerns 3-hydroxyisoquinoline, where fusion with a benzene ring enforces rearrangement of the double- and single-bond system in the oxo tautomer. This destabilizes substantially the oxo form with respect to the hydroxy tautomer. The ratios of population of the oxo and hydroxy tautomers observed in Ar matrixes correspond to the tautomeric equilibria of the compounds in the gas phase. These equilibria were well reproduced by theoretical calculations carried out at the QCISD and QCISD(T) levels. The combined experimental and theoretical results reveal links between aromaticity and tautomerism. Moreover, a UV-induced phototautomeric reaction transforming the oxo forms into the hydroxy tautomers was observed for all (except 3-hydroxyisoquinoline) studied compounds. This photoeffect allowed separation of the IR spectra of the tautomers in question.     

X-ray spectroscopy of heterocyclic biochemicals: xanthine, hypoxanthine, and caffeine

The electronic structures of the purine derivatives xanthine, hypoxanthine and caffeine have been investigated in the gas phase using C, N, and O 1s X-ray photoemission (XPS) and near edge X-ray absorption fine structure (NEXAFS) spectroscopy. The results have been interpreted by means of ab initio calculations using the third-order algebraic-diagrammatic construction (ADC(3)) method for the one-particle Green's function and the second-order ADC method (ADC(2)) for the polarization propagator. The carbon, nitrogen and oxygen K-edge NEXAFS spectra of xanthine and caffeine are very similar, since the molecules differ only by substitution of three hydrogen atoms by methyl groups. For hypoxanthine, the electronic structure and spectra differ considerably from xanthine as the purine ring is more highly conjugated, and there is one less oxo group. Effects due to oxo-hydroxy tautomerism were not observed. However, the two oxo tautomeric forms of hypoxanthine oxo-N(9)-H and oxo-N(7)-H are populated in the gas phase, and the C 1s spectra can be simulated only by taking account of these two tautomers, with appropriate Boltzmann population ratios which we have also calculated. For xanthine and caffeine, single tautomeric forms were observed.     

Structure and tautomerism of 4-substituted 3(5)-aminopyrazoles in solution and in the solid state: NMR study and Ab initio calculations

Annular tautomerism of 3(5)-aminopyrazoles containing a cyano, thiocyanato, or aryl substituent in the 4-position has been studied by ¹H and ¹³C NMR in solution, cross-polarization and magic-angle spinning ¹³C NMR in the solid state, and ab initio quantum chemical calculations (B3LYP/6-31G**). The title compounds in the solid state exist as 3-amino tautomers. A rare case of slow (on the NMR time scale) annular prototropic tautomerism has been observed in DMSO-d ₆: signals of particular tautomers (3- and 5-aminopyrazoles) have been detected in the NMR spectra. 4-Cyano and 4-thiocyanato derivatives exist preferentially as 5-amino tautomers, whereas 4-methoxy analog is represented mainly by the 3-amino tautomers. Ab initio calculations (B3LYP/6-31G**) for the gas phase and DMSO solution (in terms of the polarizable continuum model) have shown increase of the relative stability of more polar 5-amino tautomer in going to DMSO.