Nizhnik YP, Hansen E, Howard C, Zeller M, Rosokha SV. Complexes of Zinc-Coordinated Heteroaromatic N-Oxides with Pyrene: Lewis Acid Effects on the Multicenter Donor-Acceptor Bonding.
Molecules 2024;
29:3305. [PMID:
39064884 PMCID:
PMC11279733 DOI:
10.3390/molecules29143305]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/28/2024] [Revised: 07/10/2024] [Accepted: 07/10/2024] [Indexed: 07/28/2024] Open
Abstract
4-Nitroquinoline-N-oxide (NQO) and 4-nitropyridine-N-oxide (NPO) are important precursors for the synthesis of substituted heterocycles while NQO is a popular model mutagen and carcinogen broadly used in cancer research; intermolecular interactions are critical for their reactions or functioning in vivo. Herein, the effects of the coordination of N-oxide's oxygen atom to Lewis acids on multicenter donor-acceptor bonding were explored via a combination of experimental and computational studies of the complexes of NQO and NPO with a typical π-electron donor, pyrene. Coordination with ZnCl2 increased the positive electrostatic potentials on the surfaces of these π-acceptors and lowered the energy of their LUMO. Analogous effects were observed upon the protonation of the N-oxides' oxygen or bonding with boron trifluoride. The interaction of ZnCl2, NPO, or NQO and pyrene resulted in the formation of dark co-crystals comprising π-stacked Zn-coordinated N-oxides and pyrene similar to that found with protonated or (reported earlier) BF3-bonded N-oxides. Computational studies indicated that the coordination of N-oxides to zinc(II), BF3, or protonation led to the strengthening of the multicenter bonding of the nitro-heterocycle with pyrene, and this effect was related both to the increased electrostatic attraction and molecular-orbital interactions in their complexes.
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