HO2 ELIMINATION FROM α-HYDROXYALKYLPEROXYL RADICALS IN AQUEOUS SOLUTION

Abstract— In aqueous solutions α-hydroxyalkylperoxyl radicals undergo a spontaneous and a base catalysed HO₂ elimination. From kinetic deuterium isotope effects, temperature dependence, and the influence of solvent polarity it was concluded that the spontaneous reaction occurs via an HO₂ elimination followed by the dissociation of the latter into H⁺ and O₂^-. The rate constant of the spontaneous HO₂ elimination increases with increasing methyl substitution in α-position ( k (CH₂(OH)O₂) < 10s^-1 k (CH₃CH(OH)O₂) = 52s^-1 k ((CH₃)₂C(OH)O₂) = 665 s^-1). The OH^- catalysed reaction is somewhat below diffusion controlled. The mixture of peroxyl radicals derived from polyhydric alcohols eliminate HO₂ at two different rates. Possible reasons for this behaviour are discussed. The mixture of the six peroxyl radicals derived from d -glucose are observed to eliminate HO₂ with at least three different rates. The fastest rate is attributed to the HO₂ elimination from the peroxyl radical at C-l ( k > 7000s^-1). Because of the HO₂ eliminations the peroxyl radicals derived from d -glucose do not undergo a chain reaction in contrast to peroxyl radicals not containing an α-OH group. In competition with the first order elimination reactions the α-hydroxylalkylperoxyl radicals undergo a bimolecular decay. These reactions are briefly discussed.     

On the effect of covalently appended quinolones on termini of DNA duplexes

Quinolones are gyrase inhibitors that are widely used as antibiotics in the clinic. When covalently attached to oligonucleotides as 5'-acylamido substituents, quinolones were found to stabilize duplexes of oligonucleotides against thermal denaturation. For short duplexes, such as qu-T*GCGCA, where qu is a quinolone residue and T is a 5'-amino-5'-deoxythymidine residue, an increase in the UV melting point of up to 27.8 degrees C was measured. The stabilizing effect was demonstrated for all quinolones tested, namely nalidixic acid, oxolinic acid, pipemidic acid, cinoxacin, norfloxacin, and ofloxacin. The three-dimensional structure of (oa-T*GCGCA)2, where oa is an oxolinic acid residue, was solved by two-dimensional NMR spectroscopy and restrained molecular dynamics. In this complex, the oxolinic acid residues disrupt the terminal T1:A6 base pairs and stack on the G2:C5 base pairs. The displaced adenosine residues bind in the minor groove of the core duplex, while the thymidine residues pack against the oxolinic acid residues. The "molecular cap" thus formed fits tightly on the G:C base pairs, resulting in increased base-pairing fidelity, as demonstrated in UV melting experiments with the sequence oa-T*GGTTGAC and target strands containing a mismatched nucleobase. The structure of the "molecular cap" with its disrupted terminal base pair may also be helpful for modeling how quinolones block re-ligation of DNA strands in the active site of gyrases.     

Synthesis of [(MeCyt)2H]I-structure and stability of a dimeric threefold hydrogen-bonded 1-methylcytosinium 1-methylcytosine cation

Reaction of trimethylsilyl-protected cytosine with methyl iodide afforded N1-methylated product. Subsequent treatment with ethanol resulted in cleavage of the protection group forming [(MeCyt)2H]I (4). Identity of was confirmed by microanalysis, mass spectrometry, 1H and 13C NMR spectroscopy and by single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis. Crystals of consist of dimeric [(MeCyt)2H]+ cations and I- anions. These ions are arranged in the crystal such that there is a strong base stacking (mean stacking distance 3,467 angstroms) and, furthermore, pi interactions between I- and cytosine rings (mean distance 3,737 angstroms). The dimeric [(MeCyt)2H]+ cations are centrosymmetric having three strong hydrogen bonds, namely two terminal N4-H...O' ones (N4...O' 2.815(4) angstroms) and a central N3-H...N3' (N3...N3' 2.813(4) angstroms) one. Quantum chemical calculations on the DFT level of theory show that the gas phase structure of the dimeric cation exhibits two different terminal N-HO hydrogen bonds, a stronger (N4...O' 2.722 angstroms) and a weaker one (N4'...O 2.960 angstroms). The central N3-HN3[prime or minute] hydrogen bond (N3...N3' 2.852 angstroms) was characterized to have an unsymmetrically located proton and a typical double minimum potential with a very low activation barrier. The interaction energy between [(MeCyt)H]+ and MeCyt yielding [(MeCyt)2H]+ was calculated to be -42.4 kcal mol(-1)(ZPE and BSSE corrected). Comparison with the interaction energy (calculated on the same level of the theory) between cytosine and guanine yielding the triply hydrogen-bonded Watson-Crick dimer (-24.2 kcal mol(-1)) revealed a much higher stability of the hydrogen bonds in [(MeCyt)2H]+.     

New Monoterpene-Substituted Dihydrochalcones from Piper aduncum

Five New unusual monoterpene-substituted dihydrochalcones, the adunctins A–E (1″S)-1-{2′-hydroxy-4′-methoxy-6′-[4″-methyl-1″-(1?-methylethyl)cyclohex-3″ -en-1″ -yloxy]phenyl}-3-phenylpropan-1-one ( 1 ), (5aR*,8R*,9aR*)-3-phenyl-1-[5′,8′,9′,9′a-tetrahydro-3′-hydroxy-1′-methoxy-8′-(1″-methylethyl)-5′-a-methyldibenzo-[b,d]furan-4′-yl]propan-1-one ( 2 ), (2′R*,4″S*)-1-{6′-hydroxy-4′-methoxy-4″-(1?-methylethyl)spiro[benzo[b]-furan-2′(3′H),1″ -cyclohex-2″ -en]-7′-yl}-3-phenylpropan-1-one ( 3 ), (2′R*,4″R*)-1-{6′-hydroxy-4′-methylethyl-4″-(1?-methylethyl)spiro[benzo[b]furan-2′(3′H),1″-cyclohex-2″-en]-7′-yl}-3-phenypropan-1-one ( 4 ), and (5′aR*,6′S*, 9′R*,9′aS*)-1-[5′a,6′,7′,8′,9′a-hexahydro-3′,6′-methoxy-6′-methyl-9′-(1″-methylethyl)dibenzo[b,d]-furan-4′-yl]-3-phenylpropan-1-one ( 5 ) were isolated from the leaves of Piper aduncum (Piperaceae) by preparative liquid chromatography. In addition, (?)-methyllindaretin ( 6 ), trans-phytol, and α-tocopherol ( = vitamin E) were also isolated and identified. The structures were elucidated by spectroscopic methods, including 1D- and 2D-NMR spectroscopy as well as single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis. The antibacterial and cytotoxic potentials of the isolates were also investigated.     

Synthese und Charakterisierung von Aquapentachloroplatinaten(IV) – Struktur von [K(18-Krone-6)][PtCl5(H2O)]

Synthesis and Characterization of Aquapentachloroplatinates(IV) – Structure of [K(18-crown-6)][PtCl₅(H₂O)] The crown ether complex of the aquapentachloroplatinic acid of the composition [H₁₃O₆][PtCl₅(H₄O₂)] · 2(18-cr-6) ( 2 ) reacts with K₂CO₃ and [NⁿBu₄]OH in aqueous solution to give [K(18-cr-6)][PtCl₅(H₂O)] ( 5 a ) and [NⁿBu₄][PtCl₅(H₂O)] · ¹/₂ (18-cr-6) · H₂O ( 5 b ), respectively. Both compounds were characterized by microanalysis, vibrational (IR, Raman) and NMR (¹H, ¹³C, ¹⁹⁵Pt) spectroscopy. The X-ray structure analysis of 5 a (orthorhombic, pnma; a = 16,550(4), b = 18,044(3), c = 7,415(1) Å; Z = 4; R1 = 0,0183; wR2 = 0,0414) reveals that the crystal is threaded by chains built up of [PtCl₅(H₂O)]^? and [K(18-cr-6)]⁺ units. There are tight K …? Cl contacts (d(K? Cl1)) = 3,0881(9) Å and O_W? H? O_cr hydrogen bridges (d(O1 …? O2) = 2,806(3) Å) between these units. The coordination polyhedron [PtCl₅O] has approximately C_4v symmetry.     

Reductive electron transfer in phenothiazine-modified DNA is dependent on the base sequence

A new DNA assay has been designed, prepared and applied for the chemical investigation of reductive electron transfer through the DNA. It consists of 5-(10-methyl-phenothiazin-3-yl)-2'-deoxyuridine (Ptz-dU, 1) as the photoexcitable electron injector and 5-bromo-2'-deoxyuridine (Br-dU) as the electron trap. The Ptz-dU-modified oligonucleotides were synthesised by means of a Suzuki-Miyaura cross-coupling protocol and subsequent automated phosphoramidite chemistry. Br-dU represents a kinetic electron trap, since it undergoes a chemical modification after its one-electron reduction that can be analysed by piperidine-induced strand cleavage. The quantification of the strand cleavage yields from irradiation experiments reveals important information about the electron-transfer efficiency. The performed DNA studies focused on the base sequence dependence of the electron-transfer efficiency with respect to the proposal that C*- and T*- act as intermediate electron carriers during electron hopping. From our observations it became evident that excess-electron transfer is highly sequence dependent and occurs more efficiently over T-A base pairs than over C-G base pairs.     

Sizable concentration-dependent frequency shifts in solution NMR using sensitive probes

With the growing use of high fields and ultrasensitive probes, radiation damping emerges as a significant feedback interaction in modern solution NMR. Motivated by recent observations of mysterious concentration-dependent frequency shifts, experiments carried out on a cryoprobe at 600 MHz have revealed a time-averaged frequency shift of up to +83/-81 Hz. The sizable frequency shifts arise from deviations in the phase of the radiation damping field from perfect orthogonality relative to the net transverse magnetization. The frequency shift is shown to depend on the longitudinal magnetization and probe tuning conditions through experiments and numerical simulations. Such unexpected shifts in the solvent precession frequency provide a physical explanation for the empirical practice of adjusting the irradiation frequency of the saturating B1 field in solvent presaturation to achieve optimal suppression. Additional applications of the radiation damping induced frequency shift to solvent suppression and NMR methodology are discussed.     

A ring-fission/C–C bond cleavage reaction with an N-alkyl-N-methyl-N-[(5-phenyl-1,2,4-oxadiazol-3-yl)methyl]amine

The reaction of N-(3,4-dichlorophenethyl)-N-methylamine (1) with 3-chloromethyl-5-phenyl-1,2,4-oxadiazole (2) was investigated. Employment of an equimolar amount of 1 and 2 in the presence of potassium carbonate led to the expected tertiary amine 3 (N-[(3,4-dichlorophenyl)ethyl]-N-methyl-N-[(5-phenyl-1,2,4-oxadiazol-3-yl)methyl]amine), whereas an excess of 1 and prolonged reaction time resulted in ring fission of the oxadiazole system in 3 and finally in the formation of N′-benzoyl-N-[(3,4-dichlorophenyl)ethyl]-N-methylguanidine (4) and N,N′-bis[(3,4-dichlorophenyl)ethyl]-N,N′-dimethylmethanediamine (5). The structures of products 3–5 were determined by means of ¹H and ¹³C NMR-spectroscopy, mass spectrometry and IR-spectroscopy, for 3 (as picrate) and 4 also X-ray structure analysis was employed. A possible mechanism of the reaction pathway leading to compounds 4 and 5 is proposed.     

Photostability and thermal stability of indocyanine green

The photo-fading of the S0-S1 absorption band of the infrared dye indocyanine green sodium iodide (ICG-NaI) has been studied by cw laser excitation to the S1 band. Monomeric solutions in water, heavy water, aqueous sodium azide, human plasma, methanol and dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) as well as J-aggregated solutions in H2O and D2O have been investigated. A leucoform of indocyanine green seems to be formed by photodegradation. The degradation slows down with exposure time. The initial degradation yield, phi D,0, is determined. In monomeric and dimeric water, heavy water and sodium azide solutions the initial photostability is of the order of phi D.0 approximately 10(-3), in the organic solvents methanol and DMSO it is of the order of phi D.0 approximately 10(-5), and in human plasma it is phi D.0 approximately 2 x 10(-6). J-aggregates at high concentration are very stable. The thermal stability of the ICG-NaI solutions at room temperature in the dark is compared with their photostability. The thermal degradation time of monomeric and dimeric ICG-NaI in water, heavy water and sodium azide solutions is t(th) approximately 10 days, while no thermal degradation is observed for ICG-NaI J-aggregates and ICG-NaI in methanol, DMSO and human plasma.     

Methyl methacrylate polymerization at samarium(II)-grafted MCM-41

Sm(II)-modified periodic mesoporous silica (PMS), Sm[N(SiHMe₂)₂]₂(THF)_x@MCM-41, was used for the synthesis of Sm(II) alkyl, alkoxide, and indenyl surface species via secondary ligand exchange. The performance of the novel Sm(II)-based organometallic–inorganic hybrid materials as initiators for the graft polymerization of methyl methacrylate (MMA) is reported. All of the Sm(II) hybrid materials including the new PMMA–PMS composites were characterized via N₂ physisorption, elemental analysis, FTIR spectroscopy, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The organic–inorganic composites revealed complete pore blockage as well as enrichment and strong adhesion of the polymer at the exterior of the porous silica material.