Copper(II)-catalyzed oxidation of d-alpha-tocopherol by oxygen in aqueous solution

Ligand dependence in the copper-catalyzed oxidation of hydroquinones

Transition metal-mediated oxidation of hydroquinones is an important physiologic reaction, and copper(II) effectively catalyzes the reaction in phosphate-buffered saline (PBS). Studies reported herein in phosphate buffer alone demonstrate that copper(II) is an ineffective catalyst in the absence of coordinating ligands, but that 1,10-phenanthroline and histamine facilitate the copper(II)-mediated oxidation of hydroquinone and its 2,5- and 2,6-di-tert-butyl analogs to the corresponding benzoquinones. The high concentration of chloride in PBS is the key element that allows copper(II) to work in this system. Although the bis-bathocuproine disulfonate complex of Cu(II), (BC)(2)Cu(II), is a strong stoichiometric oxidant, stoichiometric amounts of copper(II) in the presence of ligands other than BC oxidize hydroquinones very slowly under anaerobic conditions. Thus, the rapid copper(II)-catalyzed reaction operating aerobically does not involve a simple ping-pong reduction of copper(II) to copper(I) by hydroquinone and reoxidation of copper(I) by O(2).

Products of the reaction between α- or γ-tocopherol and nitrogen oxides analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography with UV-visible and atmospheric pressure chemical ionization mass spectrometric detection

The reaction products of alpha- or gamma-tocopherol with nitric oxide in the presence of molecular oxygen were isolated and characterized. The consumption of tocopherols and the formation of the major products were monitored by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) by a gradient elution method. The quantitative analysis of these compounds with UV-Vis detectors, however, was interfered by several minor products having similar UV spectra and retention times as those of the major ones. In order to establish a quantitative analytical method for the products, we investigated other detection methods, and found that atmospheric pressure chemical ionization (APCI), LC-MS was a more selective and better analytical method for these compounds.