ZUM MECHANISMUS MASSENSPEKTROMETRISCHER FRAGMENTIERUNGSREAKTIONEN BEI A/B-CIS- VERKNüPFTEN 3α-HYDROXYSTEROIDEN MIT UND OHNE 11-KETOGRUPPE

Mass spectra of steroids containing a carbonyl group in position 11 and a 3α-hydroxy group in a cis connected A/B ring system are characterised by very strong [M – 72]⁺· key ions and may therefore be clearly differentiated from the spectra of their isomers. The mechanism of this fragmentation reaction was investigated by deuterium labelling and the DADI technique. The 3α-hydroxy group is eliminated together with the 9α-H atom. Next a hydrogen atom is transferred from the A ring to the B/C/D ring system. This causes the cleavage of the C-3? C-4 bond and expulsion of C atoms 1 to 4 as butadiene. In 3α-hydroxy-5α-androstanes possessing no 11-keto group an analogous [M – 18]⁺. fragment is fromed, followed by the elimination of ethylene originating mostly from C-1 and C-2.     

Two new polyhydroxysterols produced by Fusarium solani,an endophytic fungus from Chloranthus multistachys

A highly antagonistic endophytic fungus, designated strain CL39, was originated from the leaves of Chloranthus multistachys collected in Wulong of Chongqing municipality of China in November 2015. The strain was identified as Fusarium solani based on morphological characteristics, 5.8S gene and internal transcribed spacer sequence analysis. Two new compounds, 2β, 9α-dihydroxy-5α-methoxyergosta-7, 22-diene (1), 2β, 6β-dihydroxy-5α-methoxyergosta-7, 22-diene (2) have been isolated from the culture broth of the strain. Structures of the new compounds were elucidated by detailed analysis of their spectroscopic data aided by the comparison with reported data of related derivatives, and found to belong to the polyhydroxylated steroids with a hydroxyl at C-2 instead of C-3, a rare structure among the steroids. The extract of this strain and all isolated compounds were evaluated for their antagonistic activities.     

Configurational assignment by 13C NMR of stereoisomeric 3-bromo-3-acyl derivatives of 5α- and 5β- androstane

The configurational assignment of stereoisomeric 3-bromo-3-acyl derivatives of steroids in both the 5α and 5β series has been carried out by comparing the ¹³C chemical shifts of C-3. A downfield shift is observed for C-3, bearing a bromine and an acyl group, on going from the isomer with an equatorial bromine to that with an axial bromine. This rule has been established by comparison of the ¹³C chemical shifts of model compounds in 4-tert-butylcyclohexanes of known configuration.     

Zur lokalisierung funktioneller gruppen in steroiden mit hilfe der massenspektrometrie X : 5-Hydroxy-cholestane und 3,5-dihydroxy-cholestane sowie deren acetylderivate

Mass spectra of steroids with hydroxygroups in position 3 and 5 are characterized by ions produced by elimination of C-1 to C-4. These degradation reactions are especially important for steroids with a 5β-configurated hydroxygroup.In addition 3α,5β-dihydroxysteroids loose the carbon atoms of ring A together with C-6 in a structure specific cleavage process, enabling an unambigiuous determination of the configuration. Apart from these degradation reactions caused by the presence of functional groups derivatives of cholestanes show the well known cleavage processes of ring D. 3α,5-Dihydroxycholestanes may be differentiated from their 3β-isomeres by the preferential production of an ion of mass 247.     

Analysis of oxosteroids by nano-electrospray mass spectrometry of their oximes

A method for the analysis of neutral oxosteroids by electrospray mass spectrometry is described. The oxosteroids are converted into their oximes by treatment with hydroxyammonium chloride in aqueous methanol. Intense peaks corresponding to protonated oxime molecules are observed in nano-electrospray mass spectra. The detection limits for the oximes of progesterone, pregnenolone and dehydroepiandrosterone were 2.5, 5 and 25 pg/microL, respectively, approximately 20 times lower than for the underivatised steroids. The signal intensities were proportional to the concentration of the steroids in the range of 500 to 2.5 pg/microL. Fragmentation by collision-induced dissociation (CID) was studied using oximes of 28 model steroids carrying an oxo group at C-3, C-17 or C-20. Some of the steroid oximes were labelled with deuterium or (15)N. Fragment ions were observed which yielded useful structural information. Upon CID, protonated oximes of 3-oxo-Delta(4)-steroids produced abundant ions by cleavage through the B-ring and by loss of the side chain, while protonated oximes of saturated 3-oxosteroids did not give abundant ions by cleavage through the B-ring. Protonated oximes of 20-oxosteroids unsubstituted at C-21, C-17 or C-16 produced a characteristic ion at m/z 86 containing the side chain, C-16 and C-17. Protonated oximes of steroids containing only a 17-oxo group gave fewer ions of diagnostic value. Coupled with the selective isolation of steroid oximes from a biological matrix this method of derivatisation and CID may be used for the analysis of neutral oxosteroids in biological samples.     

Preparatively useful transformations of steroids and morphine alkaloids by Mucor piriformis

A versatile fungus isolated in our laboratory and identified asMucor piriformis has been shown to effect novel and preparatively useful transformations in steroids and morphine alkaloids. The organism very effectively carries out hydroxylation of various C₁₉ and C₂₁ steroids at 7 and 14-positions. Although the organism is capable of catalysing hydroxylation at 6β and 1lα-positions, these are not the major activities. The 14α-hydroxylase appears to have a broad substrate specificity. However, steroids with a bulky substitution at C-17 α-position or without the 4-en-3-one group are not accepted as substrates by the 14α-hydroxylase system. Studies have demonstrated how various C₁₉ and C₂₁ steroids can be modified to yield new structures which are either difficult to prepare by traditional methods or hitherto unknown. The organism also very efficiently and selectively carries out the N-dealkylation of thebaine and its N-variants. Interestingly, the nor-compound formed does not get further metabolized. Since thebaine is very often used as a starting material to synthesize various morphine agonists as well as antagonists, and one of the steps involved in their preparation is the N-dealkylation reaction, the microbial process could certainly offer an alternative approach.     

Relative thermodynamic stabilities of 2-substituted 4-methylene-1,3-dioxolanes and 4-methyl-1,3-dioxoles

The relative thermodynamic stabilities of 24 pairs of carbon-carbon double-bondexo-endo isomeric 2-substituted 4-methylene-1,3-dioxolanes (a) and 4-methyl-1,3-dioxoles (b) have been determined by base-catalyzed chemical equilibration in DMSO solution. In all cases, theendo isomer (b) is the favored species at thermodynamic equilibrium. A single alkyl substitutent on C-2 gives only a negligible contribution to the relative stability of the isomeric forms, but the presence of two alkyl groups on C-2 increases the relative stability of theendo isomer by 2–3 kL mol^–1. A still higher effect in favor of theendo isomer is produced by introduction of a single alkoxy group on C-2; this effect is further slightly accentuated by 2,2-dialkoxy substitution at C-2. The origin of the favorable effect of 2-alkoxy substitution on the relative stability of theendo isomer is not clear, but it seems to arise from an unexpected stability of theendo isomer rather than from an enhanced destabilization of theexo form.     

Mass spectrometric analysis of androstan-17β-ol-3-one and androstadiene-17β-ol-3-one isomers

Mass spectrometric identification and characterization of steroids using electrospray ionization and tandem mass spectrometry has advantages in drug testing and doping control analysis attributable to limitations of gas chromatography followed by electron ionization mass spectrometry. Steroids with an androstadiene-17beta-ol-3-one nucleus and double bonds located either at C-1 and C-4, C-4 and C-9, or C-4 and C-6 were used to determine characteristic fragmentation pathways. Diagnostic dissociation routes are proposed using deuterium labeling, MS3 experiments, and analyses of structurally closely related compounds. Steroids such as boldenone (androst-1,4-diene-17beta-ol-3-one) produced characteristic product ions at m/z 121, 135, and 147. Compounds with double bonds at C-4 and C-9 generated abundant product ions at m/z 145 and 147. Conjugated double bonds at C-4 and C-6 gave rise to an intense and characteristic signal at m/z 133. Stereochemical differentiation between 5alpha- and 5beta-isomers of androstan-17beta-ol-3-ones was possible because of significant differences in relative abundance of product ions generated by elimination of acetone from alpha,beta-saturated 3-keto steroids.     

Enriched 13C NMR of a metallated α-sulphinyl ester; temperature effect

Lithium and magnesium enolates of an α-sulphinyl ester 83% ¹³C enriched at C-1 and C-2 are studied by ¹³C NMR at different temperatures. It is shown that two metaliated species are present in the case of lithium which exchange at ?60°C, ΔG≠ ?60° = 37.8 KJ mol^?1 (9.05 Kcal mol^?1) and that there is no rapid exchange between the non-metallated ester and the metallated species (on the NMR time scale). In the case of magnesium, two or three metallated species are formed, according to the temperature which do not exchange up to 0 °C.     

The calculation of hydroxyl group C-13 substituent chemical shifts in steroids and other rigid systems

A four parameter equation, for the calculation of one-bond secondary OH group C-13 substituent chemical shifts in steroids and other rigid systems, is deduced from literature data by the use of a multiple regression analysis. The magnitude of the coefficients are shown to be consistent with deviations from simple additivity of C-13 shifts in various systems. Conformational information in non-rigid systems is evident from differences between the calculated and observed SCS values.     

Characterization of chemically modified steroids for doping control purposes by electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry

The discovery of the designer steroid tetrahydrogestrinone (THG) in elite athletes' doping control samples in 2003 demonstrated the availability of steroid derivatives prepared solely for doping purposes. Modern mass spectrometers utilizing electrospray ionization and collisionally activated dissociation (CAD) of analytes allow the structural characterization of steroids and their derivatization sites by the elucidation of fragmentation behaviors. A total of 21 steroids comprising either a 4,9,11-triene, a 3-keto-4-ene or a 3-keto-1-ene nucleus were investigated regarding their dissociation pathways, deuterated analogues were synthesized and fragmentation routes were postulated, permitting the identification of steroidal structures and modifications. Compounds based on a 4,9,11-triene steroid with an ethyl residue at C-13 (gestrinone analogues) generate abundant fragment ions at m/z 241 and 199, whereas the substitution of the C-13 ethyl group by a methyl residue (trenbolone analogues) results in a shift of m/z 241 to 227. Substances related to testosterone with a 3-keto-4-ene structure give rise to abundant fragment ions at m/z 109 and 97 whereas steroids with a 3-keto-1-ene nucleus eliminate the A-ring including the carbons C-1-C-4, in addition to C-19 that is proposed to migrate from C-10 to C-1 under CAD conditions.     

Steroids and steroidases—XIX : Comparison of diazomethane and tiffeneau-demjanov homologations of 5α-3-oxosteroids. Evidence for predominant equatorial approach of the C-3 carbonyl group by diazomethane

Quantitative comparisons of the product ratios of the mechanistically similar diazomethane and Tiffeneau-Demjanov homologations of 17β-hydroxy-5α-androstan-3-one and 5α-cholestan-3-one have shown that equatorial approach of diazomethane to the C-3 CO group predominates to the extent of 70–79%. The data for both the C-17β-OH and -C₈H₁₇ substituted steroids are in close agreement thereby confirming that the C-17 substituents do not exert any significant long range effect on the reactions studied.     

New phenylboronic esters derived from inositol [1]

We have prepared two new tetracyclic phenylboronic esters 4 and 5 derived from myo-inositol and from 1,2-O-isopropylidene-myo-inositol, respectively. The structures of these compounds were established from NMR and IR spectra, elemental analyses, and an X-ray diffraction study in the case of 4 . Compound 4 is a tetracyclic derivative of the less stable conformer of inositol (five axial hydroxy groups and one equatorial) with two dioxaboroline rings at opposite faces of the six-membered ring, one formed between the boron atom and the axial hydroxyl groups at C-3 and C-5 and the other between the boron atom and the hydroxyl groups at C-4 and C-6, and a dioxaborolidine ring bridging C-1 and C-2 at axial and equatorial positions. A similar structure was found for 5 with the difference that bridging C-1 and C-2 there is a dioxolane ring. The boron atoms are planar with their attached atoms, stabilized by retrocoordination between the boron and oxygen and carbon atoms, respectively. The two phenyl rings that are in the same face of the molecule are essentially parallel, with a dihedral angle between planes of 28.26 ± 0.79°.     

Configuration assignment of 24R- and 24S-isomers of 29-oxygenated steroids by 1H and 13C nmr spectroscopy

Epimeric 24-hydroxyethyl and 24-carboxymethyl steroids were synthesized, their ¹H and ¹³C-NMR spectra recorded and the signals assigned. Based on those assignements information regarding the stereochemistry of the C-24 carbon of the steroids under study was obtained.     

Chemical constituents and biological activities of the genus Linaria (Scrophulariaceae)

This is a review on 95 references dealing with the genus Linaria (Scrophularioideae-Antirrhineae tribe), a known genus of the Scrophulariaceae family, which comprises about 200 species mainly distributed in Europe, Asia and North Africa. The use of some Linaria species in folk medicine has attracted the attention for chemical and biological studies. This report is aimed to be a comprehensive overview on the isolated or identified known and often new metabolites from the 41 Linaria species so far cited. It is organised presenting first the phytochemical classes of alkaloids, polyphenols including flavonoids, the latter being quite diffused and mostly present as flavones, flavonols and their glycosides, and terpenoids including iridoids and steroids. Second, the results from biological investigation on plant extracts, pure natural products isolated from Linaria species and some synthetic derivatives are reported, with antitumour, anti-acetylcholinesterase, anti-inflammatory and analgesic, antioxidant and antibacterial activities.     

Solution Conformations,Photophysics, and Photochemistry of Bile Pigments; Bilirubin and Biliverdin,Dimethyl Esters and Related Linear Tetrapyrroles

Bilirubin and biliverdin dimethyl esters (BRE and BVE, respectively) and related linear tetrapyrroles have been studied using a combination of photochemical and spectroscopic techniques, the latter including absorption, fluorescence fluorescence excitation, medium-induced circular dichroism, and proton magnetic resonance. Both types of tetrapyrroles form mixtures of different topological isomers in very dilute solutions. In the case of the bilirubins the heterogeneity of the solutions is caused by two coexisting conformers with different orientations of the A/B and C/D pyrromethenone moieties with repect to each other. The spectral properties of one conformer resemble the isolated parent pyrromethenone, whereas those of the other result from electronic coupling of the two subchromophores presumably held in a “ridge tile” -like orientation. C? C rotations at the C-5 and C-15 bridges substantially compete in both components with the photochemical channels (E→Z isomerization and lumirubin formation) for the radiationless deactivation of the excited singlet state. The more rigid “ridge tile” component additionally undergoes hydrogen bond-mediated deactivation, and it photoisomerizes more efficiently. The situation is markedly more complex with the biliverdins. In order to obtain a more detailed insight into the mechanisms of the radiationless excited-state processes, time-resolved optoacoustic spectroscopy and ultrafast absorption (pump-probe) and fluorescence detection (single-photon-timing) techniques were used to supplement the stationary methods. The solution mixtures are composed of a (family of) helically coiled all-Z, all-syn species, and of species differing from the former by stretched arrangements of the rings B and C around the central C-10 bridge (E-anti, E-syn, and Z-anti). Two excited singlet states with picosecond lifetimes are attributed to either one or two coiled ground-state forms, and two remarkably long-lived nanosecond excited states arise each from a stretched ground state. The radiationless deactivation of the shorter-lived of the picosecond states is brought about by ultrafast intramolecular proton transfer between the B/C nitrogen atoms, in addition to the C? C rotational modes operative in both. Z→E photoisomerization is also an appreciable deactivation channel of excited biliverdin dimethyl ester. It is confined to the central C-10 double bond and selectively affords a stretched isomer (10E-anti), which thermally reforms the coiled starting meterial at room temperature via a sequence of tautomerization and C? C rotation. Heating or ultrasonic treatment can reverse this sequence and drive it farther to populate another stretched isomer (10E-syn) which is thermally stable at room temperature. This stretched form aggregates (presumably to dimers) already at concentrations at which the coiled species still appears to be fully monomeric.     

Structural studies of carbanionic species α to a phosphoryl group; anion from ketophosphonate comparison with related enoxysilanes and p-ylid

The structure of the carbanionic species 4 formed from diethyl(2-oxopropyl)phosphonate and t-BuOK has been studied by ¹H, ¹³C and ³¹P NMR. In an associating medium (pyridine), a single chelated (C) carbanionic species 4Z (C) is observed. Two slowly interconverting species 4Z and 4E co-exist when the anion-cation interaction is loose, i.e. in Me₂SO and when the gegenion K⁺ is complexed to (2,2,2)cryptand in Me₂SO. The anionic carbon of 4Z and 4E is planar, and they have a strong enolate character as shown by the barrier to rotation around the C-1? C-2 bond (ΔG_c?～92 KJ mol^?1). Their structures are compared to those of the related E and Z 1-diethylphosphonato-2-trimethylsilyloxypropenes and to (acetylmethylene)triphenylphosphorane.     

Zur lokalisierrung funktioneller gruppen mit hilfe der massenspektrometrie—IX : 17 β-hydroxy-androstan-3,6-dione, 3-hydroxy-androstan-6,17-dione und 3,17β-dihydroxy-androstan-6-one

Mass spectra of steroids with a 3β-configurated hydroxy-group and a keto-function in position 6 are characterized in the case of cis-connection of the A/B-ring system by a key ion at M-71, whereas if the rings A and B are trans-connected the production of a key ion of mass 139 is preferred. The substitution of the 3-hydroxy group by a keto-function alters the main fragmentation routes: In the case of cis-connection of the A/B-ringsystem a key ion corresponding to the loss of C-3 to C-7 is observed, while by trans-connection of the A/B-ringsystem C-1 and C-2 are lost as C₂H₅-radical.     

Iodo-18 pregnanes—II: Reactivite des iodo-18 pregnanol-(20R), et iodo-18 pregnanone-20

The influence of neighbouring groups at C-20 in the nucleophilic substitution at C-18 of steroids has been studied.The synthesis of derivatives at C-18 of members of the androstane series has been effected and is discussed.     

NMR analysis and synthesis of 6- and 8-C-methylisoflavones

NMR data for eighteen 6- and 8-C-methylisoflavones provide conclusive evidence that in isoflavones, the C-8 proton and C-8 methyl signals occur downfield from the C-6 proton and C-6 methyl signals. Other useful NMR correlations and the synthesis of five new C-methylisoflavones are described.