Voltammetric oxidation of 2-oxo-1,2,3,4-tetrahydropyrimidin-5-carboxamides: substituent effects

Electrochemical oxidation of a series of 20 substituted 2-oxo-1,2,3,4-tetrahydropyrimidin-5-carboxamides (THPMs) in acetonitrile has been studied using voltammetric methods at a glassy carbon electrode to investigate the influence of the substituents on the 4- and 5-positions of the heterocyclic ring. Analysis of the results shows that the electronic nature and steric hindrance of the substituents, especially their orientations toward the heterocyclic ring, determine their effects on the oxidation potential. Analysis of the computational results obtained at the DFT-B3LYP/6-31++G** level of theory suggests a mechanism in which the first electron removal occurs from either the N(1) of the heterocyclic ring or N(17) of the amide substitution. This process is followed by a fast proton removal resulting in the formation of stable allylic and/or benzylic radicals which then undergo further oxidation to the 2-oxo-1,2-dihydropyrimidin-5-carboxamides (DHPMs).

Origin of the correlation of the rate constant of substrate hydroxylation by nonheme iron(IV)-oxo complexes with the bond-dissociation energy of the C-H bond of the substrate

Mononuclear nonheme iron containing systems are versatile and vital oxidants of substrate hydroxylation reactions in many biosystems, whereby the rate constant of hydroxylation correlates with the strength of the C-H bond that is broken in the process. The thermodynamic reason behind these correlations, however, has never been established. In this work results of a series of density functional theory calculations of substrate hydroxylation by a mononuclear nonheme iron(IV)-oxo oxidant with a 2 His/1 Asp structural motif analogous to alpha-ketoglutarate dependent dioxygenases are presented. The calculations show that these oxidants are very efficient and able to hydroxylate strong C-H bonds, whereby the hydrogen abstraction barriers correlate linearly with the strength of the C-H bond of the substrate that is broken. These trends have been rationalized using a valence bond (VB) curve-crossing diagram, which explains the correlation using electron transfer mechanisms in the hydrogen abstraction processes. We also rationalized the subsequent reaction step for radical rebound and show that the barrier is proportional to the electron affinity of the iron(III)-hydroxo intermediate complex. It is shown that nonheme iron(IV)-hydroxo complexes have a larger electron affinity than heme iron(IV)-hydroxo complexes and therefore also experience larger radical rebound barriers, which may have implications for product distributions and rearrangement reactions. Thus, detailed comparisons between heme and nonheme iron(IV)-oxo oxidants reveal the fundamental differences in monoxygenation capabilities of these important classes of oxidants in biosystems and synthetic analogues for the first time and enable us to make predictions of experimental processes.

Density functional theory studies of oxygen and carbonate binding to a dicopper patellamide complex

In this work we present results of density functional theory (DFT) calculations on dicopper patellamides and their affinity for molecular oxygen and carbonate. Patellamides are cyclic octapeptides that are produced by a cyanobacterium, and may show promise as therapeutics. Thus, carbonate binding to a dicopper patellamide center gives a stable cyclic octapeptide with a twist of almost 90 degrees . The system exists in close-lying open-shell singlet and triplet spin states with two unpaired electrons in orthogonal sigma* orbitals on each metal center. Subsequently, we replaced carbonate with dioxygen and found a stable Cu2(mu-O)2 diamond shaped patellamide core. In this structure the original dioxygen bond is significantly weakened to essentially a single bond, which should enable the system to transfer these oxygen atoms to substrates. We predicted the IR and Raman spectra of the Cu2(mu-O)2 diamond shaped patellamide structure using density functional theory and found a considerable isotope effect on the O-O stretch vibration for 16O2 versus 18O2 bound structures. Our studies reveal that carbonate forms an extremely stable complex with dicopper patellamide, but that additional molecular oxygen to this system does not give a potential oxidant. Therefore, it is more likely that carbonate prepares the system for dioxygen binding by folding it into the correct configuration followed in the proposed catalytic cycle by a protonation event preceding dioxygen binding to enable the system to reorganize to form a stable Cu2(mu-O)2-patellamide cluster. Alternatively, carbonate may act as an inhibitor that blocks the catalytic activity of the system. It is anticipated that the Cu2(mu-O)2-patellamide structure is a potential active oxidant of the dicopper patellamide complex.

Effects of Ion-Carrier Substituents on the Potentiometric-Response Characteristics in Anion-Selective Membrane Electrodes Based on Iron Porphyrins

The potentiometric response characteristics with respect to salicylate anion of several membrane electrodes based on iron(III) tetraphenylporphyrin chloride (FeTPPCl) and derivatives with electrophilic and nucleophilic substituents, incorporated into plasticized polyvinylchloride (PVC) membranes were investigated. Complexes tetraphenyl porphyrin iron(III) chloride (FeTPPCl; A), tetrakis (4-methoxyphenyl) porphyrin iron(III) chloride (Fe(TOCH3PP)Cl; B), tetrakis (2,6-dichlorophenyl) porphyrin iron(III) chloride (Fe(TDClPP)Cl; C), tetrakis (4-nitrophenyl) porphyrin iron(III) chloride (Fe(TNO2PP)Cl; D), and tetrakis (pentafluorophenyl) porphyrin iron(III) chloride (Fe(TPFPP)Cl; E) were used as anion carriers in the membrane electrodes. The sensitivity, working range, detection limit, response mechanism, and selectivity of the membrane sensor toward interference shows a considerable dependence on the type of carrier substituent and the pH value of the sample solution. Potentiometric investigations in solutions of various pH show that the carrier complex containing fluoro substituents (E), which have very strong electron-accepting properties and a high ability to form hydrogen bonds, is capable of serving as a positively charged ionophore. Some other ionophores are capable of serving as both charged and neutral carriers under different conditions. The electrodes prepared in this work show super-Nernstian slopes with respect to salicylate concentration, which tend to a Nernstian response (slope near to -59 mV decade-1) upon an increase of the pH of the test solution. The results of UV/Vis absorption spectroscopy are used for interpretation of the formation of an oxene complex between salicylate and iron porphyrins.

Chromium(III) porphyrin as a selective ionophore in a salicylate-selective membrane electrode

The construction, potentiometric response properties, and applications of a novel ion-selective electrode with high selectivity toward salicylate are described. Chromium(III) tetraphenylporphyrin chloride was used as ion carrier into plasticized PVC membrane. This ionophore is capable of serving as both a positively charged and neutral carrier, depending on the pH of the sample solution. The influence of several variables was investigated to optimize the potentiometric response and selectivity of the electrode. The resulting electrode demonstrates a near-Nernstian response over a wide range of salicylate concentration (10(-6)-10(-1) M). This electrode has a fast response time and micromolar detection limit and could be used over a wide pH range (3-9). The proposed electrode showed very high selectivity for salicylate over a number of common inorganic and organic anions. The specific interaction of salicylate with the central metal of porphyrin is described based on UV-visible absorption spectra. The electrode was successfully applied to the determination of salicylate in pharmaceutical preparations and clinical samples.