Hydrolysis and Desulfurization of the Diastereomeric Phosphoromonothioate Analogs of Uridine 2',3'-Cyclic Monophosphate

Thio effects on the departure of the 3'-linked ribonucleoside from diribonucleoside 3',3'-phosphorodithioate diesters and triribonucleoside 3',3',5'-phosphoromonothioate triesters: implications for ribozyme catalysis

To provide a solid chemical basis for the mechanistic interpretations of the thio effects observed for large ribozymes, the cleavage of triribonucleoside 3',3',5'-phosphoromonothioate triesters and diribonucleoside 3',3'-phosphorodithioate diesters has been studied. To elucidate the role of the neighboring hydroxy group of the departing 3'-linked nucleoside, hydrolysis of 2',3'-O-methyleneadenosin-5'-yl bis[5'-O-methyluridin-3'-yl] phosphoromonothioate (1 a) has been compared to the hydrolysis of 2',3'-O-methyleneadenosin-5'-yl 5'-O-methyluridin-3'-yl 2',5'-di-O-methyluridin-3'-yl phosphoromonothioate (1 b) and the hydrolysis of bis[uridin-3'-yl] phosphorodithioate (2 a) to the hydrolysis of uridin-3'-yl 2',5'-di-O-methyluridin-3'-yl phosphorodithioate (2 b). The reactions have been followed by RP HPLC over a wide pH range. The phosphoromonothioate triesters 1 a,b undergo two competing reactions: the starting material is cleaved to a mixture of 3',3'- and 3',5'-diesters, and isomerized to 2',3',5'- and 2',2',5'-triesters. With phosphorodithioate diesters 2 a,b, hydroxide-ion-catalyzed cleavage of the P--O3' bond is the only reaction detected at pH >6, but under more acidic conditions desulfurization starts to compete with the cleavage. The 3',3'-diesters do not undergo isomerization. The hydroxide-ion-catalyzed cleavage reaction with both 1 a and 2 a is 27 times as fast as that compared with their 2'-O-methylated counterparts 1 b and 2 b. The hydroxide-ion-catalyzed isomerization of the 3',3',5'-triester to 2',3',5'- and 2',2',5'-triesters with 1 a is 11 times as fast as that compared with 1 b. These accelerations have been accounted for by stabilization of the anionic phosphorane intermediate by hydrogen bonding with the 2'-hydroxy function. Thio substitution of the nonbridging oxygens has an almost negligible influence on the cleavage of 3',3'-diesters 2 a,b, but the hydrolysis of phosphoromonothioate triesters 1 a,b exhibits a sizable thio effect, k(PO)/k(PS)=19. The effects of metal ions on the rate of the cleavage of diesters and triesters have been studied and discussed in terms of the suggested hydrogen-bond stabilization of the thiophosphorane intermediates derived from 1 a and 2 a.

Hydrolytic reactions of the phosphorodithioate analogue of uridylyl(3',5')uridine: kinetics and mechanisms for the cleavage, desulfurization, and isomerization of the internucleosidic linkage

The hydrolytic reactions of the phosphorodithioate analogue of uridylyl(3',5')uridine [3',5'-Up(s)2U] were followed by HPLC over a wide pH range at 363.2 K. Under acidic and neutral conditions, three reactions compete: (i) desulfurization to a mixture of the (Rp)- and (Sp)-diastereomers of the corresponding 3',5'- and 2',5'-phosphoromonothioates [3',5'- and 2',5'-Up(s)U], which are subsequently desulfurized to a mixture of uridylyl(3',5')- and -(2',5')uridine [3',5'- and 2',5'-UpU], (ii) isomerization to 2',5'-Up(s)2U, and (iii) cleavage to uridine, in all likelihood via a 2',3'-cyclic phosphorodithioate (2',3'-cUMPS2). Under alkaline conditions (pH > 8), only a hydroxide ion catalyzed hydrolysis to uridine via 2',3'-cUMPS2 takes place. At pH 3-7, all three reactions are pH-independent, the desulfurization being approximately 1 order of magnitude faster than the cleavage and isomerization. At pH < 3, all the reactions are hydronium ion catalyzed. On going to very acidic solutions, the cleavage gradually takes over the desulfurization and isomerization. Accordingly, the cleavage overwhelmingly predominates at pH < 0. The overall hydrolytic stability of 3',5'-Up(s)2U is comparable to that of (Sp)- and (Rp)-3',5'-Up(s)U (and to that of 3',5'-UpU, except at pH < 2). The rate of the hydroxide ion catalyzed hydrolysis of 3',5'-Up(s)2U is 37% and 53% of that of (Sp)- and (Rp)-3',5'-Up(s)U, respectively. The reactions, however, differ with the respect of the product accumulation. While the phosphoromonothioates produce a mixture of 2'- and 3'-thiophosphates as stable products, 3',5'-Up(s)2U is hydrolyzed to uridine without accumulation of the corresponding dithiophosphates. At pH < 3, where the hydrolysis is hydronium ion catalyzed, the kinetic thio-effect of the second thio substitution is small: under very acidic conditions (Ho -0.69), (Sp)-3',5'-Up(s)U reacts 1.6 times as fast as 3',5'-Up(s)2U, but the reactivity difference decreases on going to less acidic solutions. In summary, the hydrolytic stability of 3',5'-Up(s)2U closely resembles that of the corresponding phosphoromonothioate. While replacing one of the nonbridging phosphate oxygens of 3',5'-UpU with sulfur stabilizes the phosphodiester bond under acidic conditions by more than 1 order of magnitude, the replacement of the remaining nonbridging oxygen has only a minor influence on the overall hydrolytic stability.

A re-investigation of the thio effect at the hammerhead cleavage site

The effect of introducing a phosphorothioate at the hammerhead cleavage site was investigated using a kinetically well-characterized hammerhead. In buffers containing Mg ion, the RP-phosphorothioate isomer cleaved 2000- to 80 000-fold slower than the SPisomer or the unmodified RNA substrate. Addition of low concentrations of several thiophilic metal ions, especially Cd2+, to these reactions is sufficient to fully restore the cleavage rate of the RPsubstrate without affecting cleavage rate of the all-oxygen or SPsubstrate. Thus, a model proposing coordination of a divalent metal ion to the pro-R oxygen at the hammerhead cleavage site appears justified.

Phosphoester Hydrolysis and Intramolecular Transesterification of Ribonucleoside 2'- and 3'-Phosphoromonothioate Triesters: Kinetics and Mechanisms for the Reactions of 5'-O-Methyluridine 2'- and 3'-Dimethylphosphoromonothioates

The hydrolytic reactions of the monothioate analogs of 5'-O-methyluridine 2'- and 3'-dimethylphosphates have been followed over a wide acidity range, H(0) = -1.7 ([HCl] = 5 mol L(-)(1)) to pH 9. Two reactions were found to compete: mutual interconversion of the 2'- and 3'-isomers and phosphoester hydrolysis to a mixture of phosphorothioate diesters, viz., the R(P) and S(P) diastereomers of 2',3'-cyclic thiophosphate and 2'/3'-monomethylthiophosphates (i.e., three pairs of diastereomers). No marked desulfurization could be observed. The interconversion and hydrolysis both show first-order dependence of rate on acidity at pH < 0, the isomerization being 3-4 times as fast as the phosphoester hydrolysis. Under less acidic conditions, the hydrolysis remains pH-independent up to pH 7, while the isomerization becomes hydroxide-ion-catalyzed (first-order in [OH(-)]) already at pH 2. The hydrolysis is susceptible to general base catalysis in carboxylic acid buffers, the Brönsted beta value being 0.8. In contrast, no conclusive evidence for buffer-catalyzed isomerization could be obtained. All these reactions are suggested to proceed via a pentacoordinated thiophosphorane intermediate, obtained at pH < 1 by an attack of the neighboring hydroxy function on a protonated (monocationic) thiophosphate group and at pH > 2 by an attack of a deprotonated hydroxy function (oxyanion) on a neutral thiophosphate. The monocationic intermediate (pH < 1) may collapse to hydrolysis and isomerization products without further catalysis (departure of alcohol). The monoanionic thiophosphorane (pH > 2) also gives isomerization products without catalysis (departure of 2'/3'-oxyanion), whereas breakdown to the hydrolysis products needs either a specific or a general acid catalysis process (departure of methanol). Accordingly, the observed general-base-catalyzed hydrolysis most likely consists of consecutive specific base/general acid catalysis. The phosphorothioate triesters studied are, under very acidic conditions, more than 2 orders of magnitude more stable than their oxyphosphate counterparts, whereas the rate-retarding "thio effect" (k(P)(=)(O)/k(P)(=)(S)) is much smaller with the hydroxide ion-catalyzed reactions (ca. 4) and almost negligible with the pH-independent hydrolysis.