A laser flash photolysis study of fenofibric acid in aqueous buffered media: unexpected triplet state inversion in a derivative of 4-alkoxybenzophenone

Laser excitation of aqueous solutions of fenofibric acid (FA) at pH 7.4 show the formation of two reaction intermediates, the triplet state and the hydrated electron. The former is longer lived in water than in acetonitrile; its anionic form decays irreversibly by decarboxylation to give a carbanion that protonates before or after rearrangement. Several spectroscopic and quenching studies suggest that in aqueous media the triplet state of FA has a pi,pi* character, in comparison with an n,pi* character in organic media. Further, the known chemistry of the triplet, including decarboxylation and hydrogen abstraction, occurs predominantly from the n,pi* state, and as a consequence, activation energies are higher when the lowest triplet has a pi,pi* character. Photoionization is more important in aqueous than in organic media and involves a biphotonic process. Hydrated electrons are trapped by FA, leading to the corresponding ketyl radical after protonation.     

Femtosecond transient absorption, nanosecond time-resolved resonance Raman, and density functional theory study of fenofibric acid in acetonitrile and isopropyl alcohol solvents

Hydrogen abstraction reaction of fenofibric acid (FA) in acetonitrile and isopropyl alcohol solvents was studied by femtosecond transient absorption (fs-TA) and nanosecond time-resolved resonance Raman (ns-TR(3)) spectroscopy experiments. The singlet excite state ((1)FA) (nπ*) with a maximum transient absorption at 352 nm observed in the fs-TA experiments undergoes efficient intersystem crossing (ISC) to convert into a nπ* triplet state FA ((3)FA) that exhibits two transient absorption bands at 345 and 542 nm. The nπ* (3)FA species does not decay obviously within 3000 ps. In the ns-TR(3) experiments, the nπ* (3)FA is also observed and completely decays by 120 ns. Compared with the triplet states of benzophenone (BP) and ketoprofen (KP), the nπ* (3)FA species seems to have a much higher hydrogen abstraction reactivity so that (3)FA decays fast and generates a FA ketyl radical like species. In isopropyl alcohol solvent, the nπ* (3)FA exhibits similar reactivity and promptly abstracts a hydrogen from the strong hydrogen donor isopropyl alcohol solvent to generate a ketyl radical intermediate. With the decay of the FA ketyl radical, no light absorption transient (LAT) intermediate is observed in isopropyl alcohol solvent although such a LAT species was observed after similar experiments for BP and KP. Comparison of the ns-TR(3) spectra for the species of interest with results from density functional theory calculations were used to elucidate the identity, structure, properties, and major spectral features of the intermediates observed in the ns-TR(3) spectra. This comparison provides insight into the structure and hydrogen abstraction reactivity of the triplet states of BP derivatives.     

Time-resolved resonance Raman identification and structural characterization of a light absorbing transient intermediate in the photoinduced reaction of benzophenone in 2-propanol

A nanosecond time-resolved resonance Raman (ns-TR3) spectroscopic study of the triplet state benzophenone reaction with the 2-propanol hydrogen-donor solvent and subsequent reactions is presented. The TR3 spectra show that the benzophenone triplet state (npi*) hydrogen-abstraction reaction with 2-propanol is very fast (about 10 to 20 ns) and forms a diphenylketyl radical and an associated 2-propanol radical partner. The temporal evolution of the TR3 spectra also indicates that recombination of these two radical species occurs with a time constant of about 1170 ns to produce a LAT (light absorbing transient) intermediate that is identified as the 2-[4-(hydroxylphenylmethylene)cyclohexa-2,5-dienyl]propan-2-ol (p-LAT) species. Comparison of the TR3 spectra with results obtained from density functional theory calculations for the species of interest was used to elucidate the identity, structure, properties, and major spectral features of the intermediates observed in the TR3 spectra. The structures and properties of the reaction intermediates observed (triplet benzophenone, diphenyl ketyl radical, and p-LAT) are briefly discussed.     

Water- and acid-mediated excited-state intramolecular proton transfer and decarboxylation reactions of ketoprofen in water-rich and acidic aqueous solutions

We present an investigation of the decarboxylation reaction of ketoprofen (KP) induced by triplet excited-state intramolecular proton transfer in water-rich and acidic solutions. Nanosecond time-resolved resonance Raman spectroscopy results show that the decarboxylation reaction is facile in aqueous solutions with high water ratios (water/acetonitrile ≥50%) or acidic solutions with moderate and strong acid concentration. These experimental results are consistent with results from density functional theory calculations in which 1) the activation energy barriers for the triplet-state intramolecular proton transfer and associated decarboxylation process become lower when more water molecules (from one up to four molecules) are involved in the reaction system and 2) perchloric acid, sulfuric acid, and hydrochloric acid can shuttle a proton from the carboxyl to carbonyl group through an initial intramolecular proton transfer of the triplet excited state, which facilitates the cleavage of the C-C bond, thus leading to the decarboxylation reaction of triplet state KP. During the decarboxylation process, the water molecules and acid molecules may act as bridges to mediate intramolecular proton transfer for the triplet state KP when KP is irradiated by ultraviolet light in water-rich or acidic aqueous solutions and subsequently it generates a triplet-protonated carbanion biradical species. The faster generation of triplet-protonated carbanion biradical in acidic solutions than in water-rich solutions with a high water ratio is also supported by the lower activation energy barrier calculated for the acid-mediated reactions versus those of water-molecule-assisted reactions.     

PHOTOSENSITIZATION BY FENOFIBRATE. II. In vitro PHOTOTOXICITY OF THE MAJOR METABOLITES

Fenofibric acid, the major metabolite of fenofibrate, was found to be photolabile. Its irradiation in aqueous solution gave rise to two photoproducts, whose formation involves photodecarboxylation of the dissociated acid to an aryloxy-substituted carbanion, which is directly protonated or, alternatively, undergoes a Wittig rearrangement. A comparative in vitro phototoxicity study has been carried out on the anti-hyperlipoproteinemic drug fenofibrate, its metabolites and the photoproducts of fenofibric acid. Fenofibrate, fenofibric acid and its two photoproducts were found to be active when examined by the photohemolysis test and were able to photosensitize peroxidation of linoleic acid, as evidenced by the UV monitoring of dienic hydroperoxides. In summary, the major metabolite of fenofibrate (fenofibric acid), as well as its photoproducts, are phototoxic in vitro . This behavior can be attributed to the fact that the four compounds retain the benzophenone chromophore present in fenofibrate and is indicative of free radicalmediated photosensitization. In agreement with this rationalization, the metabolites with a reduced ketone functionality exhibit no detectable in vitro phototoxicity.     

Studies on the vinyl polymerization photoinitiated by p-benzoylperoxybenzoic acid tert-butylester

p-Benzoylperoxybenzoic acid tert-butylester (BPE) undergoes an efficient photodecomposition producing cleavage of the peroxy bond. The excited triplet benzophenone carbonyl group of the perester is quenched by vinyl monomers (the degree of which depends on the type of monomer used) thus reducing the rate of decomposition of BPE when it is used as a photoinitiator. Radicals generated from the decomposition of BPE are highly efficient in initiating vinyl polymerization. The benzophenone-containing end groups of the polymer chain can be estimated and the carbonyl function is useful for polymer modification.     

Selective formation of triplet alkyl nitrenes from photolysis of beta-azido-propiophenone and their reactivity

Photolysis of beta-azido propiophenone derivatives, 1, with built-in sensitizer units, leads to selective formation of triplet alkyl nitrenes 2 that were detected directly with laser flash photolysis (lambdamax = 325 nm, tau = 27 ms) and ESR spectroscopy (|D/hc| = 1.64 cm-1, |E/hc| = 0.004 cm-1). Nitrenes 2 were further characterized with argon matrix isolation, isotope labeling, and molecular modeling. The triplet alkyl nitrenes are persistent intermediates that do not abstract H-atoms from the solvent but do decay by dimerizing with another triplet nitrene to form azo products, rather than reacting with an azide precursor. The azo dimer tautomerizes and rearranges to form heterocyclic compound 3. Nitrene 2a, with an n,pi* configuration as the lowest triplet excited state of the its ketone sensitizer moiety, undergoes intramolecular 1,4-H-atom abstraction to form biradical 6, which was identified by argon matrix isolation, isotope labeling, and molecular modeling. beta-Azido-p-methoxy-propiophenone, with a pi,pi* lowest excited state of its triplet sensitizer moiety, does not undergo any secondary photoreactions but selectively yields only triplet alkyl nitrene intermediates that dimerize to form 3b.     

IMPORTANCE OF NEIGHBORING GROUP PARTICIPATION IN THE REMARKABLY RAPID PHOTOREDUCTION OF 1,1,4,4-TETRAMETHYL-l,4-DIHYDRO-2,3-NAPHTHALENEDIONE#

Abstract— The photochemistry of 1,1,4,4-tetramethyl-1,4-dihydro-2,3-naphthalenedione (I) in the presence of hydrogen donors has been examined in solution at room temperature by laser flash photolysis. The triplet state of I shows a remarkable reactivity towards hydrogen abstraction, exceeding that of biacetyl by ca. three orders of magnitude, and being comparable, and occasionally exceeding that of triplet benzophenone. This remarkable behavior is attributed to a considerable degree of stabilization of the transition state due to intramolecular hydrogen bonding.     

Quantum chemical study of the mechanism of action of vitamin K carboxylase (VKC). IV. Intermediates and transition states

We studied proposed steps for the enzymatic formation of gamma-carboxyglutamic acid by density functional theory (DFT) quantum chemistry. Our results for one potentially feasible mechanism show that a vitamin K alkoxide intermediate can abstract a proton from glutamic acid at the gamma-carbon to form a carbanion and vitamin K epoxide. The hydrated carbanion can then react with CO2 to form gamma-carboxyglutamic acid. Computations at the B3LYP/6-311G** level were used to determine the intermediates and transition states for the overall process. The activation free energy for the gas-phase path is 22 kcal/mol, with the rate-limiting step for the reaction being the attack of the carbanion on CO2. Additional solvation studies, however, indicate that the formation of the carbanion step can be competitive with the CO2 attack step in high-dielectric systems. We relate these computations to the entire vitamin K cycle in the blood coagulation cascade, which is essential for viability of vertebrates.     

The inter-and intramolecular addition of aromatic ketone triplets to quadricyclenes: Comparison with the corresponding reactivities of norbornadiene,methylenenorbornene, methylenenorbornane and norbornene

Irradiation of acetophenone or benzophenone in the presence of norbornadiene or quadricyclene gives 1: 1-adducts. These arise via reaction of the ketone triplet with the quadricyclene. Similar reactivity is exhibited in an intramolecular sense by 7-phenacylnorbornadiene and the corresponding quadricyclene. Addition of triplet benzophenone to 5-methylene norbornene is regiospecific in contrast to expectations based on a comparison of the reactivities of 2-methylenenorbornane and norbornene. The possibility is raised that, in contrast to the simple olefins and the quadricyclenes, exciplexes formed by reaction of the rigid homoconjugated dienes with the triplet ketone are endo orientated with participation of both double bounds.     

Designing systems for a multiple use of light signals.

The photochemical and photophysical behavior of two dendrimers consisting of a benzophenone core and branches that contain dimethoxybenzene units has been investigated. Such dendrimers can undergo a variety of photochemical and photophysical processes, namely: 1) quenching of the fluorescence and phosphorescence of the dimethoxybenzene units by energy transfer to the benzophenone core (antenna effect), 2) direct and sensitized phosphorescence (and delayed fluorescence) of the benzophenone core, 3) hydrogen abstraction by the triplet excited state of the benzophenone core from solvent molecules, 4) intramolecular hydrogen abstraction by the triplet excited state of the benzophenone core from the dendrimer branches, 5) quenching of the phosphorescence and hydrogen abstraction reaction of the benzophenone core by energy transfer to terbium ions and dioxygen; 6) conversion of the UV light absorbed by the dendrimer branches into visible (Tb3+) or near infrared (O2) emission via the sequence of processes 1) and 5). The results obtained emphasize the great potential of suitably designed dendrimers for a multiple use of light signals.     

Persistent Room-Temperature Radicals from Anionic Naphthalimides: Spin Pairing and Supramolecular Chemistry

N-Substituted naphthalimides (NNIs) have been shown to exhibit highly efficient and persistent room-temperature phosphorescence from an NNI-localized triplet excited state, when the N-substitution is a sufficiently strong donor and mediates an intramolecular charge-transfer (ICT) state upon photo-excitation. This work shows that, when the electron-donating ability of the N-substitution is further increased in the presence of a carbanion or phenoxide, spontaneous electron transfer (ET) occurs and results in radical anions, verified with electron-paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy. However, the EPR-active anion is surprisingly persistent and impervious to nucleophilic and radical reactions under anionic conditions. The stability is thought to originate from an intramolecular spin pairing between the N-donor and the NI acceptor post ET, which is demonstrated in supramolecular chemistry.     

Kinetics and mechanism of sensitized photooxidation of tetramethylammonium salt of 2-(phenylthio)acetic acid in solution: Steady-state and flash photolysis studies

The mechanism for the photo-induced oxidation of the tetramethylammonium salt of 2-(phenylthio)acetic acid was elucidated. The photosensitizer was the benzophenone triplet in acetonitrile solutions. Time-resolved absorption spectra and kinetics were used to follow the intermediates which included the triplet of benzophenone, the ketyl radical of benzophenone, and an ion pair consisting of a radical anion of benzophenone and a tetramethylammonium cation. Rate constants for the growth and decay of the transients were determined along with the quantum yields of the transients. The intermediacy of other radicals was inferred by the products observed following steady-state photolysis. Quantum yields were also determined for photoproducts resulting from the steady-state irradiation. The mechanism was proposed that rationalized the quantitative observations. Of particular note was how the nature of the counter ion effected the secondary reactions of the radicals and the radical ions.     

Horseradish Peroxidase-Catalyzed Generation of Acetophenone and Benzophenone in the Triplet State*

Horseradish peroxidase catalyzes the aerobic oxidation of 2-phenylpropanal and diphenylacetaldehyde at physiological pH to yield acetophenone and benzophenone partly in the triplet state, respectively. These excited products plus formic acid are expected from the thermolysis of dioxetane intermediates. The presence of acetophenone was demonstrated spectrophotometr-ically and the chemiluminescence spectrum (δ_max - 430 nm) was consistent with its triplet state. Energy transfer to 9,10-dibromoanthracene-2-sulfonate ion, a triplet carbonyl counter, but not to anthracene-2-sulfonate ion, a singlet carbonyl acceptor, occurred, confirming the triplet nature of the main emitter. In the case of the diphenylacetaldehydelperoxidase system, benzophenone could also be detected spectrophotometrically but the corresponding chemiluminescence spectrum showed only red emission (δ_max - 630 nm), which was tentatively attributed to singlet oxygen formed by triplet-triplet energy transfer to ground state oxygen. Horseradish peroxidase can be replaced by other he-meproteins such as myoglobin, hemoglobin and micro-peroxidase as catalyst of the chemiluminescent reaction. The distinct emission spectra achieved with different hemeproteins suggest a role of the microenvi-ronment in totally or partly protecting the excited species from oxygen collisions, resulting in emission maxima around 430 nm, 630 nm or both.     

Cyclopolycondensation. XII. Polymerization mechanism of polybenzoxazinones in polyphosphoric acid medium

The polymerization mechanism of polyphosphoric acid (PPA) solution polymerization of an aromatic diaminodicarboxylic acid with aromatic dicarboxylic acid derivatives was studied. By means of NMR methods, the initiation process for the polymerization of polybenzoxazinone in PPA medium was elucidated. The NMR spectra of a series of compounds were taken, and the salt formation of amino groups of monomer with PPA and the equilibrium between the salt and the free amino group were determined. It was established that the polymerization proceeded through the formation of phosphorylated intermediates to give the salt of amino groups of monomer with PPA. In the second step, the amine–PPA salt dissociates into the free amino group and PPA at the polymerization temperature above 140°C. Polymerization proceeds through the attack of “free” amino on phosphorylated carbonyl compounds to form polyamide acid of high molecular weight, and on subsequently being heated in PPA at higher temperatures, it undergoes an intramolecular cyclodehydration along the polymer chain to form polybenzoxazinones.     

The first observation of the effect of dendritic structure to produce the triplet excited state of the core stilbene by dendron excitation

We report that both singlet and triplet energy transfers in stilbene-cored benzophenone dendrimers (trans-BPST) took place quite efficiently. On excitation (290 nm) of stilbene group, the intramolecular singlet energy transfer from the excited core stilbene to the benzophenone part (99.7%) was confirmed by quenching of the fluorescence from the core stilbene. The benzophenone in the excited singlet state is known to undergo intersystem crossing to give its excited triplet state quantitatively. However, the very weak phosphorescence from benzophenone part in trans-BPST was observed even at 77 K. The phosphorescence intensity of trans-BPST is only 1% of that of model compound (4-methylbenzophenone) at 77 K. During the irradiation, the absorption spectra also changed due to the trans-cis isomerization. This is probably due to the ultrafast triplet energy transfer from the benzophenone to produce the triplet state stilbene.     

Tuning Excited‐State Reactivity by Proton‐Coupled Electron Transfer

The reactivity, and even reaction pathway, of excited states can be tuned by proton‐coupled electron transfer (PCET). The triplet state of benzophenone functionalized with a Brønsted acid (³*BP‐COOH) showed a more powerful oxidation capability over the simple triplet state of benzophenone (³*BP). ³*BP‐COOH could remove an electron from benzene at the rate of 8.0×10⁵ m ^?1 s^?1, in contrast to the reactivity of ³*BP which was inactive towards benzene oxidation. The origin of this great enhancement on the ability of the excited states to remove electrons from substrates is attributed to the intramolecular Brønsted acid, which enables the reductive quenching of ³*BP by concerted electron–proton transfer.     

PHOTOINTERACTION OF BENZOPHENONE TRIPLET WITH LYSOZYME

The quenching of the benzophenone triplet by lysozyme and its constituent amino acids in aqueous solutions have been studied. Native lysozyme quenches the benzophenone triplet with a high rate constant, 4 x 10(9) M-1 s-1. The quenching process takes place with production of significant amounts of free ketyl radicals, phi ketyl = 0.56, but with a very low benzophenone consumption yield (0.022). The consumption yield is considerably smaller than that observed for the free amino acids. This difference can be explained in terms of a dominant back hydrogen transfer to the protein in the disproportionation of the free radicals produced. Reduced and carboxymethylated lysozyme shows a higher quenching rate (7.8 x 10(9) M-1 s-1) and a larger benzophenone consumption yield (0.07). The deactivation of the benzophenone triplet by the native protein leads to its inactivation, with a quantum yield of 0.01. Tryptophan and arginine residues are destroyed with a quantum yield of 0.01. In the modified enzyme tyrosine and methionine groups are also consumed.     

AFFINITY-CONTROLLED TRIPLET ENERGY TRANSFER FROM p-BENZOYLBENZYL-BOVINE SERUM ALBUMIN TO LOW MOLECULAR WEIGHT QUENCHERS

Abstract— Methods for the controlled synthesis of modified protein photosensitizers which maximize affinity-controlled energy transfer are discussed. Modified proteins containing covalently linked benzophenone groups were prepared by the reaction of bovine serum albumin with p -benzoylbenzyl bromide under conditions limiting the number and locations of the introduced benzophenone chromophores. The mechanism of energy transfer responsible for quenching of triplet photochemical reactions of the modified proteins was explored using water soluble quenchers. In addition, methods were employed to determine the magnitude of the contribution of the affinity-controlled mechanism for energy transfer in these systems. The utility of sodium- cis -8-methylene-4,9-decadienoate as a triplet energy transfer indicator for macromolecular systems was demonstrated using the modified proteins as sensitizers. The trienoic acid was prepared starting with the known 4-methylene-5-hexenal by the Wittig reaction with 3-ethoxycarbonylpropylidene triphenylphosphorane followed by saponification. Triplet sensitized irradiation of this trienoic acid using p -benzoylbenzyltriethylammonium chloride as sensitizer led to production of endo- and exo-1-vinyl-5-(3-carboxyethyl)bicyclo[2.1.1]hexane along with the trans acid. Characterization of the bicyclohexane products was made on the basis of spectroscopic evidence. Results demonstrate that quenching of the intramolecular photoreactions of the modified proteins by trienoic acid must be a result of triplet energy transfer, since irradiation of these modified proteins in the presence of the trienoic acid salt led to the characteristic triplet photoproduct mixture.     

Reactions of heterocumulenes with organometallic reagents: XVI. Quantum-chemical study on the mechanisms of formation of homo- and heteroannular azacycloheptadienes in reactions of 2-aza-1,3,5-trienes with potassium <Emphasis Type="Italic">tert</Emphasis>-butoxide

Mechanisms of intramolecular transformations of carbanions generated from 2-aza-1,3,5-trienes by the action of potassium tert-butoxide, which could lead to homo- or heteroannular azacycloheptadienes, were studied by quantum-chemical methods in terms of the density functional theory. The corresponding gradient channels were localized for model 1-methylsulfanyl-1-(cyclopentylideneamino)- and 1-methylsulfanyl-1-(cyclohexylideneamino)buta-1,3-dien-2-ols. Analysis of the kinetic and thermodynamic parameters showed that carbanion generated from N-cyclopentylidenebuta-1,3-dien-1-amine undergoes rearrangement mainly into homoannular azacycloheptadiene and that analogous N-cyclohexylidene derivative gives rise to heteroannular isomer. The results of calculations were consistent with the experimental data.