Purine-substituted imidazolium mesomeric betaines and their tautomeric N-heterocyclic carbenes. Formation of a cyclic borane adduct

Anionic N-Heterocyclic Carbenes from Mesoionic Imidazolium-4-pyrrolides: The Influence of Substituents, Solvents, and Charge on their 77Se NMR Chemical Shifts

Mesoionic compounds are the starting material for the synthesis of unique anionic N-heterocyclic carbenes. Herein, mesoionic imidazolium pyrrolides synthesized from pyrrole-2-carbaldehyde via various N-alkyl-4-pyrroyl-imidazoles are described. These were converted into nine new 4-(pyrrol-2-yl)-substituted imidazolium salts and transformed into the mesoionic title compounds using an anion exchange resin. The DFT-calculated (B3LYP/6-311++G**) CREF values indicate a great potential for the formation of anionic N-heterocyclic carbenes by deprotonation, which were generated and reacted with selenium to obtain selenoureas. The 77Se NMR shifts investigated under systematic variation of conditions are dependent on the substitution pattern (ΔδSe = 133 ppm) and the steric demand of the substituents. Solvent dependencies of the 77Se NMR shifts were investigated applying toluene-d8, THF-d8, CDCl3, CD2Cl2, pyridine-d5, acetone-d6, DMSO-d6, CD3CN, AcOD, and MeOD. The influences of the referencing method on the 77Se shifts using external or internal Me2Se or Ph2Se2 and solvent can add up to ΔδSe = ca. 80 ppm. In addition, we observed a temperature dependence of both the selenoureas and the reference reagent Ph2Se2 as well as a 77Se shift difference of the analyte caused by interaction with internally added Ph2Se2. The negative charge of deprotonated selenoureas shifts the values by an additional -20 ppm.

Pyrazoles in the Intersection of Mesomeric Betaines and N-Heterocyclic Carbenes: Formation of NHC Selenium Adducts of Pyrazolium-4-aminides

Starting from 4-nitropyrazole, eight mesoionic pyrazolium-4-aminides were prepared by a six-step reaction sequence. The deprotonation of 1,2-disubstituted 4-amido-1H-pyrazolium salts by an anion exchange resin in its hydroxide form is the final step of the synthesis. A tautomeric equilibrium between the mesoionic compounds (pyrazolium-4-aminides) and N-heterocyclic carbenes (pyrazol-3-ylidenes) can be formulated; however, the NHC tautomers were not detected by means of NMR spectroscopy in polar aprotic solvents such as DMSO-d 6 or MeCN-d 3. Apart from tautomerism, anionic N-heterocyclic carbenes can be formulated as a result of a deprotonation of the mesoionic compounds­. Trapping reactions were performed with selenium, which resulted in the formation of pyrazole-3-selenones. Methylation at the selenium atom gave the corresponding 3-(methylselanyl)-4-amido-1H-pyrazolium salts, which were deprotonated to give new mesomeric betaines, 3-(methylselanyl)-1H-pyrazolium-4-aminides as unique compounds­. DFT-calculations as well as 77Se NMR spectroscopic measurements were carried out.

Zn2+ detection of a benzimidazole 8-aminoquinoline fluorescent sensor by inhibited tautomerization

A new fluorescent chemosensor based on 8-aminoquinoline L1 bearing a benzimidazole moiety was synthesized, which exists as two predominant tautomers L1A and L1B in diluted DMSO-d6 solution. Among various metal ions, L1 showed a highly selective and sensitive turn-on fluorescence response to the presence of Zn2+ ions in methanol. The detection limit for Zn2+ by L1 was calculated to be 1.76 × 10-7 M. The 1 : 1 complexation ratio of the L1-Zn complex was confirmed through Job plot measurements. Complexation studies were performed by FT-IR, NMR and HR-ESI MS measurements and DFT calculations. With the gained insight, it was possible to successfully apply L1 in water sample analysis.

N-Heterocyclic Carbenes as Key Intermediates in the Synthesis of Fused, Mesoionic, Tricyclic Heterocycles

Coupling between 5-bromoimidazo[1,5-a]pyridinium salts and malonate or arylacetate esters leads to a facile and straightforward access to the new mesoionic, fused, tricyclic system of imidazo[2,1,5-cd]indolizinium-3-olate. Mechanistic studies show that the reaction pathway consists of nucleophilic aromatic substitution on the cationic, bicyclic heterocycle by an enolate-type moiety and in the nucleophilic attack of a transient free N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) species on the ester group; the relative order of these two steps depends on the nature of the starting ester. This work highlights the valuable implementation of free NHC species as key intermediates in synthetic chemistry, beyond their classical use as stabilizing ligands or organocatalysts.

Computational and Experimental Druggability Assessment of Human DNA Glycosylases

Due to a polar or even charged binding interface, DNA-binding proteins are considered extraordinarily difficult targets for development of small-molecule ligands and only a handful of proteins have been targeted successfully to date. Recently, however, it has been shown that development of selective and efficient inhibitors of 8-oxoguanine DNA glycosylase is possible. Here, we describe the initial druggability assessment of DNA glycosylases in a computational setting and experimentally investigate several methods to target endonuclease VIII-like 1 (NEIL1) with small-molecule inhibitors. We find that DNA glycosylases exhibit good predicted druggability in both DNA-bound and -unbound states. Furthermore, we find catalytic sites to be highly flexible, allowing for a range of interactions and binding partners. One flexible catalytic site was rationalized for NEIL1 and further investigated experimentally using both a biochemical assay in the presence of DNA and a thermal shift assay in the absence of DNA.