Novel mechanism for priming aromatic polyketide synthases

In this issue of Chemistry & Biology, a novel priming mechanism is proposed for aromatic polyketide biosynthesis, with an iterative type I polyketide synthase generating a starter unit primed for a type II polyketide synthase. This novel priming system participates in hedamycin biosynthesis, a DNA alkylating agent.     

Cathodically activated nucleophilic aromatic substitution of hydrogen: a novel electrochemical mechanism

Cathodically activated nucleophilic aromatic substitution of hydrogen (SNArH) is reported for the first time; the 1,3,5-trinitrobenzene radical anion reacts with the nucleophile N-methylformamide leading to high yields of the sigma H-complex radical anion; this intermediate can be easily oxidised electrochemically by means of a three-electron mechanism giving rise to the nucleophilic aromatic substitution product (NASH product) in good yield.     

The mechanism of aromatic nitration by tetranitromethane

Aromatic nitrations by tetranitromethane are shown to be photo-chemically initiated and are believed to proceed via trinitromethyl nitrite.     

The mechanism of spin polarization in aromatic free radicals

 The spin-polarization mechanism in aromatic systems is analyzed with reference to the prototypical phenoxyl, cyclohexadienyl and benzyl radicals. In particular, a decomposition into “first-order” and “second-order” contributions is proposed, which helps to rationalize the different nature of the spin density for atoms in α or in β positions with respect to the radical center. The different weights of the two contributions are discussed on the basis of Hartree–Fock and density functional computations. Received: 17 September 1999 / Accepted: 3 February 2000 / Published online: 29 June 2000     

The mechanism of the Fischer-Hepp rearrangement of aromatic N-nitroso-amines

Rate equations have been deduced for two possible mechanisms for the Fischer-Hepp rearrangement of aromatic N-nitroso-amines in acid solution: (a) for the commonly assumed intermolecular process involving de-nitrosation to the secondary amine and a free nitrosating agent, followed by a direct C-nitrosation of the secondary amine by this nitrosating agent, and (b) for a mechanism whereby rearrangement and de-nitrosation occur concurrently, by two separate reactions of the protonated N-nitroso-amine. All the experimental evidence supports mechanism (b), whilst most of it is incompatible with (a). Particularly diagnostic of the mechanism are (1) the observed rearrangement: de-nitrosation product ratios under certain limiting conditions, (2) the question of halide ion catalysis, and (3) the rate form found under the limiting condition of a large excess of added secondary amine.     

The bystander effect is a novel mechanism of UVA-induced melanogenesis

We successfully identified the bystander effect in B16 murine melanoma cells exposed to UVA irradiation. The effect was identified based on melanogenesis following the medium transfer of the B16 cells, which had been cultured for 24 h after being exposed to UVA irradiation, to nonirradiated cells (bystander cells). Our confirmation study of the functional mechanism of bystander cells confirmed the reduced levels of mitochondrial membrane potential 1-4 h after the medium transfer. In addition, we observed increased levels of intracellular oxidation after 9-12 h, and the generation of melanin radicals, including long-lived radicals, 24 h after medium transfer. Further analysis of bystander factors revealed that the administration of EGTA treatment at the time of medium transfer led to an inhibition of melanogenesis and to neutralization of the mitochondrial membrane potential level, as well as to the restoration of intracellular oxidation levels to those of controls. The results demonstrated that the UVA irradiation bystander effect in B16 cells, as indicated by melanogenesis, was induced by the increase in intracellular oxidation due to the mitochondrial activity of calcium ions, which were among the bystander factors involved in the increase.     

Synthesis of functionalized polycyclic compounds via a novel aromatic oxy-Cope rearrangement

Polycyclic compounds have been prepared by aromatic dianionic oxy-Cope rearrangements involving the π bonds of two phenyl rings in a [3,3] sigmatropic rearrangement.     

A novel method for introducing a polyfluoroalkyl group into aromatic compounds

Introduction of a polyfluoroalkyl group into aromatic compounds was achieved by Friedel-Crafts reaction using (1-chloro-1-hydroperfluoroalkyl) sulfides 1, and the subsequent desulfurizing-difluorination of the resulting product using IF₅/Et₃N-nHF. Perfluoroethyl, 1,1,2,2,3,3-hexafluoropropyl, and 1,1,2,2,3,3,4,4,5,5-decafluoropentyl groups were introduced to various aromatic compounds by this method. Selective perfluoroethylation of uracil at the 5-position was also performed.     

Hydrogenation of simple aromatic molecules: a computational study of the mechanism

Quantum chemistry calculations have been used to study the metal-free hydrogenation reactions of a variety of simple aromatic, heteroaromatic, and related linear conjugated systems. We find that the barrier for uncatalyzed 1,4-hydrogenation is always substantially lower (by approximately 200 kJ mol-1) than that for 1,2-hydrogenation, despite similar reaction enthalpies. The presence of hydrogen fluoride as a catalyst is found to decrease the 1,2-hydrogenation barriers but, in most cases, to slightly increase the 1,4-hydrogenation barriers when a constrained geometric arrangement is employed. These qualitative observations are consistent with orbital symmetry considerations, which show that both the uncatalyzed 1,4-hydrogenation and the catalyzed 1,2-hydrogenation are formally symmetry-allowed processes. An extreme example of the catalyzed 1,2-hydrogenation of benzene is provided by the involvement of a second molecule of hydrogen, which leads to a substantial lowering of the barrier. The effect of catalysis was further investigated by applying a selection of additional catalysts to the 1,2- and 1,4-hydrogenation of benzene. A decreasing barrier with increasing catalyst acidity is generally observed for the catalytic 1,2-hydrogenation, but the situation is more complex for catalytic 1,4-hydrogenation. For the uncatalyzed 1,4-hydrogenation of aromatic systems containing one or more nitrogen heteroatoms, the barriers for [C,C], [C,N], and [N,N] hydrogenations are individually related to the reaction enthalpies by the Bell-Evans-Polanyi principle. In addition, for a given reaction enthalpy, the barriers for [C,C] hydrogenation are generally lower than those for [C,N] or [N,N] hydrogenation. Finally, we find that the distortion experienced by the reactants in forming the transition structure represents a secondary factor that influences the reaction barrier. The correlation between these quantities allows the 1,4-hydrogenation barriers to be predicted from a ground-state property.     

The mechanism of enzymatic and biomimetic oxidations of aromatic sulfides and sulfoxides

Biomimetic and enzymatic oxidations of benzyl sulfides and sulfoxides lead to products (sulfoxides or sulfones) different from those obtained with bona fide electron transfer oxidations (products of C---H and/or C---S bond cleavage), which suggests the operation of an oxygen transfer mechanism.     

Novel tert-butyl migration in copper-mediated phenol ortho-oxygenation implicates a mechanism involving conversion of a 6-hydroperoxy-2,4-cyclohexadienone directly to an o-quinone

Copper mediated ortho-oxygenation of phenolates may proceed through the generation of a 6-peroxy-2,4-cyclohexadienone intermediate. To test this theory, we studied the fate of sodium 4-carbethoxy-2, 6-di-tert-butylphenolate, where the ortho-oxygenation sites are blocked by tert-butyl groups. Using the Cu(I) complex of N, N-bis(2-(N-methylbenzimidazol-2-yl)ethyl)benzylamine, isolation of the major oxygenated product and characterization by single-crystal X-ray crystallography and NMR spectroscopy revealed it to be 4-carbethoxy-3,6-di-tert-butyl-1,2-benzoquinone, resulting from a 1, 2-migration of a tert-butyl group. The independently prepared 6-hydroperoxide is transformed by the Cu(I)- (or Cu(II)-) ligand complex to the same o-quinone. The observed 1,2-migration of the tert-butyl group appears to reflect an electron demand created by rearrangement of the postulated peroxy intermediate. A mechanism proceeding alternatively through a catechol and subsequent oxidation to the o-quinone seems ruled out by a control study demonstrating that the requisite intermediate to catechol formation would instead eliminate the 2-tert-butyl group.     

Evidence for a novel mechanism of microbial cellulose degradation

There are two well studied mechanisms that are used by cellulolytic microorganisms to degrade the cellulose present in plant cell walls and a third less well studied oxidative mechanism used by brown rot fungi. The well studied mechanisms use cellulases to hydrolyze the β-1,4 linkages present in cellulose, however the way in which cellulases are presented to the environment are quite different for each mechanism. Most aerobic microorganisms secrete a set of cellulases outside the cell (free cellulase mechanism) while most anaerobic microorganisms produce large multi enzyme complexes on their outer surface (cellulosomal mechanism). Their genomic sequences suggest that the aerobic bacterium, Cytophaga hutchinsonii and the anaerobic bacterium, Fibrobacter succinogenes, do not use either of these mechanisms for degrading cellulose, as these organisms only code for normal endocellulases not for processive cellulases like exocellulases and processive endocellulases which are used in both of the well studied mechanisms.     

The mechanism of fluorescence quenching of aromatic compounds by acids: ZDO calculations

The fluorescence quenching of cyano, hydroxy, methoxy, and amino derivatives of naphthalene, anthracene and pyrene by acids in polar solvents has been studied by quantum-chemistry methods in semi-empirical approximation. Quenching mechanisms, including protonation of the aromatic nucleus and electron transfer have been considered. It is shown that the mechanism of radiationless deactivation in encounter complexes of reagents consists in the specific interaction of the solvated proton with certain carbon atoms of the aromatic nucleus, not in the electron transfer. It is found that the rate constant of radiationless deactivation correlates with the charge at the corresponding carbon atom of the excited molecule. It is shown that the fluorescence quenching is determined mainly by the nature of the fluorescent state and electron donor-acceptor properties of the aromatic nucleus and the substituent. The present model makes it possible to predict the fluorescent properties of some aromatic compounds in the presence of acids.     

The degradation mechanism using TG-MS technique of some aromatic polyethers containing flexible spacers

The paper presents a thermogravimetric study of some aromatic poly- and copolyethers, using mass spectrometry technique combined with thermogravimetric analysis. The polymers were synthesized by phase transfer catalysis technique, using bis(2-chloroethyl)-ether or 1,6-dichlorohexane as flexible spacers and various bisphenols (4,4'-dihydroxydiphenyl, 4,4'-dihydroxyazobenzene and bisphenol A). The presence of azobenzenic moieties in the chain induces a liquid crystalline behavior, but, due to the high values of the transition temperature, some precautions during the thermal characterisation are necessary. In the case of azobenzenic samples, the degradation reactions begin, as a function of the chemical structure, around 230-250°C. A degradation mechanism based on chain transfer reactions was proposed. The chain flexibility influences the thermal degradation mechanism, in the case of rigid polymers the chain transfer reactions being less probable. For the flexible chains, the thermal stability is not essentially influenced by the copolymerisation ratio between the two aromatic bisphenols. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Acid-catalyzed nucleophilic aromatic substitution: experimental and theoretical exploration of a multistep mechanism

The mechanism for the acid-mediated substitution of a phenolic hydroxyl group with a sulfur nucleophile has been investigated by a combination of experimental and theoretical methods. We conclude that the mechanism is distinctively different in nonpolar solvents (i.e., toluene) compared with polar solvents. The cationic mechanism, proposed for the reaction in polar solvents, is not feasible and the reaction instead proceeds through a multistep mechanism in which the acid (pTsOH) mediates the proton shuffling. From DFT calculations, we found a rate-determining transition state with protonation of the hydroxyl group to generate free water and a tight ion pair between a cationic protonated naphthalene species and a tosylate anion. Kinetic experiments support this mechanism and show that, at moderate concentrations, the reaction is first order with respect to 2-naphthol, n-propanethiol, and p-toluenesulfonic acid (pTsOH). Experimentally determined activation parameters are similar to the calculated values (Delta H exp not equal =105+/-9, Delta H calcd not equal =118 kJ mol(-1); Delta G exp not equal =112+/-18, Delta G calcd not equal =142 kJ mol(-1)).