Cytotoxic activity of intermediates and side products of echinochrome synthesis

The cytotoxic activity of the principal intermediates and side products of echinochrome synthesis toward gametes of the sea urchin Strogylocentrotus intermedius was studied. Di-and trichloro naphthazarin derivatives with two vicinal Cl atoms were the most active. __________ Translated from Khimiya Prirodnykh Soedinenii, No. 3, pp. 228–231, May–June, 2008.     

7-Ethyl-2,3,5,6,8-pentahydroxy-1,4-naphthoquinone (echinochrome A): A DFT study of the antioxidant mechanism. 1. Interaction of echinochrome A with hydroperoxyl radical

The molecular geometry and electronic structure of hydroxy-substituted naphthazarin (NZ)-7-ethyl-2,3,5,6,8-pentahydroxy-1,4-naphthoquinone (echinochrome A, (Et)NZ(β-OH)₃, 1) were calculated by the B3LYP/6-311G(d) method. The influence of the (i) character of the β-OH groups dissociation and (ii) conformational mobility of molecule 1 and the anions, radicals, and radical anions derived from 1 on the energy of their reactions with hydroperoxyl radical was studied by the (U)B3LYP/6-31G and (U)B3LYP/6-311G(d) methods. The enol-enolic tautomerism due to the transfer of hydrogen atoms of α-OH groups and rotational isomerism of the β-OH groups at the C(2) and C(3) atoms and of the α-OH groups at the C(5) and C(8) atoms were studied. The equilibrium in the gas-phase reaction 1 + ^•OOH ⇄ (Et)(HO-β)₂NZ(β-O^•) + HOOH (1) (quenching of hydroperoxyl radical) is shifted to the separated reagents. Heterolysis of the O—H bond in one of the three β-hydroxy groups considerably reduces the energy of subsequent O—H bond homolysis in either of the two remaining β-hydroxy groups. As a consequence, the reaction (Et)(HO-β)₂NZ(β-O⁻) + ^•OOH ⇄ (Et)(HO-β,⁻O-β)NZ(β-O^•) + HOOH (2) (quenching of hydroperoxyl radical) becomes exothermic and the equilibrium is shifted to the formation of hydrogen peroxide. The Gibbs energy gain in reaction (2) varies from −6.4 to −10.9 kcal mol⁻¹ depending on which β-hydroxy group is involved in the O—H bond homolysis. Published in Russian in Izvestiya Akademii Nauk. Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 3, pp. 400–415, March, 2007.