Synthesis of 2H,3-4-Dihydro-1,2-benzoselenazin-3-one and derivatives : A new heterocyclic ring system

Glutathione peroxidase-like antioxidant activity of diaryl diselenides: a mechanistic study

The synthesis, structure, and thiol peroxidase-like antioxidant activities of several diaryl diselenides having intramolecularly coordinating amino groups are described. The diselenides derived from enantiomerically pure R-(+)- and S-(-)-N,N-dimethyl(1-ferrocenylethyl)amine show excellent peroxidase activity. To investigate the mechanistic role of various organoselenium intermediates, a detailed in situ characterization of the intermediates has been carried out by (77)Se NMR spectroscopy. While most of the diselenides exert their peroxidase activity via selenol, selenenic acid, and selenenyl sulfide intermediates, the differences in the relative activities of the diselenides are due to the varying degree of intramolecular Se.N interaction. The diselenides having strong Se.N interactions are found to be inactive due to the ability of their selenenyl sulfide derivatives to enhance the reverse GPx cycle (RSeSR + H(2)O(2) = RSeOH). In these cases, the nucleophilic attack of thiol takes place preferentially at selenium rather than sulfur and this reduces the formation of selenol by terminating the forward reaction. On the other hand, the diselenides having weak Se.N interactions are found to be more active due to the fast reaction of the selenenyl sulfide derivatives with thiol to produce diphenyl disulfide and the expected selenol (RSeSR + PhSH = PhSSPh + RSeH). The unsubstituted diaryl diselenides are found to be less active due to the slow reactions of these diselenides with thiol and hydrogen peroxide and also due to the instability of the intermediates. The catalytic cycles of 18 and 19 strongly resemble the mechanism by which the natural enzyme, glutathione peroxidase, catalyzes the reduction of hydroperoxides.

Copper(I)-assisted mild and convenient synthesis of new Se--N heterocycles: access to a promising class of GPx mimics

Benzisoselenazolines 15 and benzisoselenazines 21, designed as low molecular weight mimics of glutathione peroxidases, were synthesized for the first time. Starting from amines 13 and 14, a smooth introduction of selenium in nonactivated aryl bromides using KSeCN in the presence of CuI was developed. An equimolar quantity of CuI and the presence of Et(3)N as a base are necessary to achieve a complete conversion of the starting material. The reaction is feasible in various solvents such as DMF, acetonitrile, and THF. The desired new Se-N heterocycles 15 and 21 were isolated under optimized conditions in yields of 82 and 68%, respectively. Experiments have been conducted with various copper(I) and copper(II) salts, a chloroamine 17, an aryl bromide 18, and an N-acylated amine 19 to show the scope and the limitations of this method. The previously unknown sulfur analogues 20 and 22 have been synthesized in moderate yields using a slightly modified procedure. Finally, a mechanistic scheme has been proposed to discuss some interesting findings, which were obtained during the optimization process of this new introduction of selenium.

Novel Water-Soluble Diorganyl Tellurides with Thiol Peroxidase and Antioxidant Activity

Novel water-soluble diaryl tellurides, alkyl aryl tellurides, and dialkyl tellurides carrying sulfopropyl groups were prepared and found to possess potent peroxide decomposing and chain-breaking antioxidative capacity. The dilithium, disodium, dipotassium, and bis-tetramethylammonium salts of bis(4-hydroxyphenyl) telluride (4) were treated with 2.3 equiv of 1,3-propanesultone in aqueous tert-butyl alcohol to give the corresponding salts 5 of bis-O-sulfopropylated diaryl telluride. A variety of diaryl ditellurides were reduced with sodium borohydride in ethanol. Upon addition of propanesultone to the resulting sodium arenetellurolates, the corresponding 3-aryltellurenylpropanesulfonic acid sodium salts 8 were precipitated. Diphenyl diselenide and dibutyl ditelluride reacted similarly to afford the sodium salts of 3-benzeneselenenylpropanesulfonic acid (9) and 4-telluraoctanesulfonic acid (10), respectively. The glutathione peroxidase-like activity of the water-soluble compounds was assessed at pH = 7.4 by using the coupled GSSG reductase assay. Dialkyl telluride 10 turned out to be the most efficient catalyst. Several alkyl aryl tellurides 8 were also more efficient than any of the previously tested organotellurium compounds in this model. Bulky and electron-withdrawing aryl substituents seemed to reduce activity, whereas electron-donating groups enhanced it. Alkyl aryl selenide 9 was void of any catalytic activity. The novel compounds were also assessed by (1)H NMR spectroscopy for their capacity to catalyze the hydrogen peroxide oxidation of N-acetylcysteine in D(2)O under acidic conditions. In the presence of 0.01 mol % of the organotellurium catalyst, the thiol concentration was reduced to 50% within 12 min for the most active catalyst (compound 5b). Although many of the compounds showed high catalytic activity, it was not possible to rationalize their relative efficiency. The capacity of the novel organotellurium compounds to act as a scavengers of 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) was also investigated. The organotelluriums seem to act primarily as electron donors in their reaction with DPPH. Compounds 8d, 10, and 8b were the most effective scavengers. Bulky or electron-withdrawing aryl substituents caused a reduction in activity, whereas electron-donating ones enhanced it. None of the compounds could match vitamin E in their scavanging capacity.