Islatravir Dimer: Crystal Form Dependence of a Radiation-Induced Degradation Product.

A rare example of crystal form-dependent, gamma radiation-induced degradation is presented. Islatravir is known to exist in several polymorphic forms, but only one of these forms shows the generation of a specific dimer degradation product under gamma irradiation. Extended gamma irradiation studies demonstrated that only one of the known crystalline forms shows an appreciable rate of dimer formation. Additionally, this dimer is not observed to form under other forced stress conditions. We present the structural elucidation of this dimer impurity and rationalize its form-dependent generation based on the analysis of the underlying crystal structure.

Protection against Aß-induced neuronal damage by KU-32: PDHK1 inhibition as important target.

A feature of most neurodegenerative diseases is the presence of "mis-folded proteins" that form aggregates, suggesting suboptimal activity of neuronal molecular chaperones. Heat shock protein 90 (Hsp90) is the master regulator of cell responses to "proteotoxic" stresses. Some Hsp90 modulators activate cascades leading to upregulation of additional chaperones. Novobiocin is a modulator at the C-terminal ATP-binding site of Hsp90. Of several novobiocin analogs synthesized and tested for protection against amyloid beta (Aß)-induced neuronal death, "KU-32" was the most potent in protecting primary neurons, but did not increase expression of other chaperones believed to help clear misfolded proteins. However, KU-32 reversed Aß-induced superoxide formation, activated Complex I of the electron transfer chain in mitochondria, and blocked the Aß-induced inhibition of Complex I in neuroblastoma cells. A mechanism for these effects of KU-32 on mitochondrial metabolism appeared to be the inhibition of pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase (PDHK), both in isolated brain mitochondria and in SH-SY5Y cells. PDHK inhibition by the classic enzyme inhibitor, dichloroacetate, led to neuroprotection from Aß25-35-induced cell injury similarly to KU-32. Inhibition of PDHK in neurons would lead to activation of the PDH complex, increased acetyl-CoA generation, stimulation of the tricarboxylic acid cycle and Complex I in the electron transfer chain, and enhanced oxidative phosphorylation. A focus of future studies may be on the potential value of PDHK as a target in AD therapy.

Probing Protein Conformation Destabilization in Sterile Liquid Formulations through the Formation of 3,4-Dihydroxyphenylalanine.

This work demonstrates the use of a fluorescent probe to screen protein conformational changes in mixtures of monoclonal antibodies and determine the region of where such changes may originate through a footprinting mass spectrometry approach. The oxidative stress of mixtures of two different immunoglobulins (IgG1, IgG2, or IgG4) performed in the presence of 2,2'-azobis(2-amidinopropane dihydrochloride) results in sequence-specific tyrosine oxidation reactions depending on the time of incubation of the IgG molecules and the nature of the excipients present in the formulation. The combination of a fluorescence assay, based on the detection of 3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine (DOPA) and mass spectrometry analyses, permits the identification of protein conformation changes. In a mixture of IgG2 and IgG4, a destabilization of IgG4 in the presence of IgG2 is observed. The destabilized region involves the Fab region of IgG4 between Tyr63 and Tyr81 and potentially multiple regions of IgG2.

Absolute Quantitation of Proteins by Coulometric Mass Spectrometry.

Accurate quantification is essential in the fields of proteomics, clinical assay, and biomarker discovery. Popular methods for absolute protein quantitation by mass spectrometry (MS) involve the digestion of target protein and employ isotope-labeled peptide internal standards to quantify chosen surrogate peptides. Although these methods have gained success, syntheses of isotope-labeled peptides are time-consuming and costly. To eliminate the need for using standards or calibration curves, herein we present a coulometric mass spectrometric (CMS) approach for absolute protein quantitation, based on the electrochemical oxidation of a surrogate peptide combined with mass spectrometric measurement of the oxidation yield. To demonstrate the utility of this method, several proteins were analyzed such as model proteins ß-casein, and apomyoglobin as well as circadian clock protein KaiB isolated from Escherichia coli. In our experiment, tyrosine-containing peptides were selected as surrogate peptides for quantitation, considering the oxidizable nature of tyrosine. Our data showed that the results for surrogate peptide quantity measured by our method and by traditional isotope dilution method are in excellent agreement, with the discrepancy of 0.3-3%, validating our CMS method for absolute quantitation. Furthermore, therapeutic monoclonal antibody (mAb) could be quantified by our method as well. Due to the high specificity and sensitivity of MS and no need to use isotope-labeled peptide standards, our CMS method would be of high value for the absolute proteomic quantification.

Xanthine oxidase-mediated oxidative stress promotes cancer cell-specific apoptosis.

The natural compound Alternol was shown to induce profound oxidative stress and apoptotic cell death preferentially in cancer cells. In this study, a comprehensive investigation was conducted to understand the mechanism for Alternol-induced ROS accumulation responsible for apoptotic cell death. Our data revealed that Alternol treatment moderately increased mitochondrial superoxide formation rate, but it was significantly lower than the total ROS positive cell population. Pre-treatment with mitochondria-specific anti-oxidant MitoQ, NOX or NOS specific inhibitors had no protective effect on Alternol-induced ROS accumulation and cell death. However, XDH/XO inhibition by specific small chemical inhibitors or gene silencing reduced total ROS levels and protected cells from apoptosis induced by Alternol. Further analysis revealed that Alternol treatment significantly enhanced XDH oxidative activity and induced a strong protein oxidation-related damage in malignant but not benign cells. Interestingly, benign cells exerted a strong spike in anti-oxidant SOD and catalase activities compared to malignant cells after Alternol treatment. Cell-based protein-ligand engagement and in-silicon docking analysis showed that Alternol interacts with XDH protein on the catalytic domain with two amino acid residues away from its substrate binding sites. Taken together, our data demonstrate that Alternol treatment enhances XDH oxidative activity, leading to ROS-dependent apoptotic cell death.

Enrichment of Relevant Oxidative Degradation Products in Pharmaceuticals With Targeted Chemoselective Oxidation.

The ability to produce and isolate relatively pure amounts of relevant degradation products is key to several aspects of drug product development: (a) aid in the unambiguous structural identification of such degradation products, fulfilling regulatory requirements to develop safe formulations (International Conference on Harmonization Q3B and M7); (b) pursue as appropriate safety evaluations with such material, such as chronic toxicology or Ames testing; (c) for a specified degradation product in a late-stage regulatory filing, use pure and well-characterized material as the analytical standard. Producing such materials is often a resource- and time-intensive activity, either relying on the isolation of slowly formed degradation products from stressed drug product or by re-purposing the drug substance synthetic route. This problem is exacerbated if the material of interest is an oxidative degradation product, because typical oxidative stressing (H2O2 and radical initiators) tends to produce a myriad of irrelevant species beyond a certain stress threshold, greatly complicating attempts for isolating the relevant degradation product. In this article, we present reagents and methods that may allow the rapid and selective enrichment of active pharmaceutical ingredient with the desired oxidative degradation product, which can then be isolated and used for purposes described above.

Identification of D-Amino Acids in Light Exposed mAb Formulations.

PURPOSE: We previously demonstrated that D-amino acids can form as a result of photo-irradiation of a monoclonal antibody (mAb) at both λ = 254 nm and λ > 295 nm (λmax = 305 nm), likely via reversible hydrogen transfer reactions of intermediary thiyl radicals. Here, we investigate the role of various excipients (sucrose, glucose, L-Arg, L-Met and L-Leu) on D-amino acid formation, and specifically the distribution of D-amino acids in mAb monomers and aggregates present after light exposure. METHODS: The mAb-containing formulations were photo-irradiated at λ = 254 nm and λmax = 305 nm, followed by fractionation of aggregate and monomer fractions using size exclusion chromatography. These aggregate and monomer fractions were subjected to hydrolysis and subsequent amino acid analysis. RESULTS: Both aggregate and monomer fractions collected from all formulations showed the formation of D-Glu and D-Val, whereas the formation of D-Ala was limited to the aggregate fraction collected from an L-Arg-containing formulation. Interestingly, quantitative analysis revealed higher yields of D-amino acids in the L-Arg-containing formulation. CONCLUSIONS: Generally, D-amino acids accumulated to similar extents in monomers and aggregates.

Fragmentation of a Monoclonal Antibody by Peroxotungstate.

PURPOSE: Tungsten and tungsten oxide leachates found in glass pre-filled syringes were identified to initiate protein precipitation and aggregation. Here, we tested the possibility of tungsten and tungsten oxide to induce the chemical degradation of proteins via reaction with hydrogen peroxide, a possible impurity present in protein formulations, to yield peroxotungstate. METHODS: A monoclonal antibody (mAb) was incubated with various concentrations of peroxotungstate and the reaction mixtures analyzed by SDS-PAGE and mass spectrometry. RESULTS: Exposure of a mAb to 1.07-1070 ppm peroxotungstate (based on tungsten content) at temperatures of 4°C and 22°C (pH 5-7) induced protein fragmentation. The extent of fragmentation increased with higher temperatures, lower pH and higher peroxotungstate concentrations. The mAb fragments were identified to contain different combinations of heavy chains (H) and light chains (L). Analogous mAb fragments were generated when the protein was exposed to H2O2 and orthotungstate at levels as low as 5 ppm. In addition, extracts from tungsten pins used to manufacture glass pre-filled syringes, in combination with H2O2 caused comparable fragmentation of the mAb. Mass spectrometric identification of the fragments suggests fragment generation by oxidative disulfide bond cleavage between the heavy and light chains, confirmed by mass spectrometry data on product formation. The mechanism of oxidative fragmentation was separately confirmed with insulin. CONCLUSION: Fragmentation of the mAb by peroxotungstate is proposed to occur through inter-chain disulfide bond oxidation to form thiosulfinate (CyS(═O)SCy) and thiosulfonate [CyS(═O)2SCy], followed by hydrolysis.

Dual Effect of Histidine on Polysorbate 20 Stability: Mechanistic Studies.

PURPOSE: L-Histidine (L-His) and polysorbate 20 (PS20) are two excipients frequently included in parenteral products to stabilize biotherapeutics. The objective of the current work was to investigate the impact of L-His on PS20 stability in aqueous solutions when subjected to forced oxidation and accelerated stability testing. METHODS: The stability of PS20 in L-His buffer was compared with that in acetate buffer. Forced oxidation of PS20 in these two buffer systems was initiated by a free radical generator, 2,2'-azobis (2-amidinopropane) hydrochloride (AAPH), while accelerated stability tests were carried out at 40°C. Ultra-performance liquid chromatography mass spectrometry was utilized to monitor intact PS20 and to analyze degradation products. RESULTS: Our results demonstrate a dual effect of L-His on PS20 stability. During exposure to AAPH, L-His protects PS20 from oxidation. Stable isotope labeling of L-His with 13C was employed for mechanistic investigations. The protection of L-His was abrogated when acetate was added to L-His buffer, implying that the anti-oxidative activity of L-His may be compromised by specific counter ions. The replacement of L-His by various His derivatives led to significant changes in the protection of PS20 against AAPH-induced degradation. In contrast to forced degradation, the addition of L-His promoted oxidative PS20 degradation during accelerated storage at 40°C in solution, generating mainly short chain POE-laurates. CONCLUSION: L-His exhibits a dual effect on the stability profile of PS20, protecting against AAPH-induced oxidation but promoting oxidative degradation during accelerated stability testing.

Photodegradation Pathways of Protein Disulfides: Human Growth Hormone.

PURPOSE: Comprehensive product characterization was performed for the photodegradation of protein disulfides, representatively of human growth hormone (somatotropin; hGH), in order to provide a product database, which will be useful for the general analysis of protein stability. METHODS: HGH was photo-irradiated at λ = 254 and λ > 295 nm and tryptic digests were analyzed by HPLC-MS to investigate light-induced disulfide degradation pathways. RESULTS: A total of 60 products were detected, and structures/tentative structures were assigned to the products by MS2 and MS3 analysis. The main products were reduced Cys residues, dithiohemiacetal, thioether and disulfide scrambling products. In addition, we detected Cys degradation products such as Cys thioaldehyde, dehydroalanine (Dha), Ala, Ser semialdehyde, Ser, S-sulfocysteine, and Gly. Frequently, the tryptic fragments contained more than one modification, i.e. a Cys degradation product in close proximity to a dehydrated amino acid. Several novel cross-links were detected between Cys and Tyr, Cys, Ser and Phe, Cys and Trp, and Trp and Tyr. Photo-induced protein fragmentation was detected specifically at or in close proximity to the disulfide bond between T6 and T16. An in-house packed 75 cm nano-column enabled us to resolve various isomers/diastereomers of the photo-degradation products. CONCLUSION: A comprehensive analysis of photodegradation products revealed a variety of novel photo-products, including cross-links, originating from disulfide degradation. The mechanisms of product formation are discussed.

The Botanical Drug Substance Crofelemer as a Model System for Comparative Characterization of Complex Mixture Drugs.

Crofelemer is a botanical polymeric proanthocyanidin that inhibits chloride channel activity and is used clinically for treating HIV-associated secretory diarrhea. Crofelemer lots may exhibit significant physicochemical variation due to the natural source of the raw material. A variety of physical, chemical, and biological assays were used to identify potential critical quality attributes (CQAs) of crofelemer, which may be useful in characterizing differently sourced and processed drug products. Crofelemer drug substance was extracted from tablets of one commercial drug product lot, fractionated, and subjected to accelerated thermal degradation studies to produce derivative lots with variations in chemical and physical composition potentially representative of manufacturing and raw material variation. Liquid chromatography, UV absorbance spectroscopy, mass spectrometry, and nuclear magnetic resonance analysis revealed substantial changes in the composition of derivative lots. A chloride channel inhibition cell-based bioassay suggested that substantial changes in crofelemer composition did not necessarily result in major changes to bioactivity. In 2 companion papers, machine learning and data mining approaches were applied to the analytical and biological data sets presented herein, along with chemical stability data sets derived from forced degradation studies, to develop an integrated mathematical model that can identify CQAs which are most relevant in distinguishing between different populations of crofelemer.

Chemical Stability of the Botanical Drug Substance Crofelemer: A Model System for Comparative Characterization of Complex Mixture Drugs.

As the second of a 3-part series of articles in this issue concerning the development of a mathematical model for comparative characterization of complex mixture drugs using crofelemer (CF) as a model compound, this work focuses on the evaluation of the chemical stability profile of CF. CF is a biopolymer containing a mixture of proanthocyanidin oligomers which are primarily composed of gallocatechin with a small contribution from catechin. CF extracted from drug product was subjected to molecular weight-based fractionation and thiolysis. Temperature stress and metal-catalyzed oxidation were selected for accelerated and forced degradation studies. Stressed CF samples were size fractionated, thiolyzed, and analyzed with a combination of negative-ion electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) and reversed-phase-HPLC with UV absorption and fluorescence detection. We further analyzed the chemical stability data sets for various CF samples generated from reversed-phase-HPLC-UV and ESI-MS using data-mining and machine learning approaches. In particular, calculations based on mutual information of over 800,000 data points in the ESI-MS analytical data set revealed specific CF cleavage and degradation products that were differentially generated under specific storage/degradation conditions, which were not initially identified using traditional analysis of the ESI-MS results.

An Efficient and Rapid Method to Monitor the Oxidative Degradation of Protein Pharmaceuticals: Probing Tyrosine Oxidation with Fluorogenic Derivatization.

PURPOSE: The loss of potency of protein therapeutics can be linked to the oxidation of specific amino acid residues leading to a great variety of oxidative modifications. The comprehensive identification of these oxidative modifications requires high-resolution mass spectrometry analysis, which requires time and expensive resources. Here, we propose a fluorogenic derivatization method of oxidized Tyr and Phe yielding benzoxazole derivatives, as an orthogonal technique for the rapid screening of protein oxidation. METHODS: Four model proteins, IgG1, human growth hormone (hGH), insulin and bovine serum albumin (BSA) were exposed to oxidation via peroxyl radicals and metal-catalyzed reactions and efficiently screened by fluorogenic derivatization of Tyr and Phe oxidation products. Complementary LC-MS analysis was done to identify the extent of methionine oxidation in oxidized proteins. RESULTS: The Fluorogenic derivatization technique can easily be adapted to a 96-well plate, in which several protein formulations can be screened in short time. Representatively for hGH, we show that the formation of benzoxazole parallels the oxidation of Met to methionine sulfoxide which enables estimation of Met oxidation by just recording the fluorescence. CONCLUSIONS: Our rapid fluorescence based screening allows for the fast comparison of the stability of multiple formulations.

Profiling the Photochemical-Induced Degradation of Rat Growth Hormone with Extreme Ultra-pressure Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry Utilizing Meter-Long Microcapillary Columns Packed with Sub-2-µm Particles.

In recent years protein therapeutics have seen increasing use in the therapeutic arena. As with traditional small molecule drug substances, one is obligated to ensure purity and stability of the various dosage forms. With these higher molecular weight therapeutics a common approach for analytical characterization is enzymatic digestion followed by gradient elution liquid chromatography with mass spectrometry detection to create a peptide map (bottom-up protein analysis). Due to the difficult to separate mixtures frequently encountered, there is the need for advanced chromatographic systems featuring increased resolution and/or peak capacity that can be operated in the gradient elution format. Presently we describe an extreme ultra-pressure liquid chromatography (XUPLC) system that has been implemented as an in-house add-on to a commercial ultra-pressure chromatography system. This add-on allows operation at the 38 Kspi range, accommodates the use of capillary columns in excess of one meter packed with sub-2 µm particles and can be operated in the gradient elution format. To evaluate the utility of this system, rat growth hormone was used as a model protein and was exposed to light (λ 254 nm) to create a stress environment. When enzymatic digests of control and stressed protein were analyzed with the XUPLC system using MS detection, greater than 92% peptide coverage was achieved, including the identification some peptides where pre-oxidation of Met residues had occurred, as well as chemistry specifically related to the photolysis of protein disulfide linkages. When the same samples were analyzed by commercial UPLC and compared to the XUPLC results, the utility of the increased peak capacity available with the XUPLC was apparent as previously co-eluting peaks were now well resolved. In particular one specific degradation route was identified where a pair of isobaric cis/trans diastereomerically related peptides were well resolved by XUPLC while they were unresolved by UPLC. Clearly the use of this system operating at the higher pressure regime with long capillary columns is and will be useful in continued investigations of protein stability, especially in cases where only subtle differences in the amino acid residues have occurred during degradation.

Degradation Mechanisms of Polysorbate 20 Differentiated by 18O-labeling and Mass Spectrometry.

PURPOSE: To investigate the mechanisms of polysorbate (PS) degradation with the added objective of differentiating the hydrolysis and oxidation pathways. METHODS: Ultra-performance liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS) was utilized to characterize all-laurate polysorbate 20 (PS20) and its degradants. 18O stable isotope labeling was implemented to produce 18O-labeled degradation products of all-laurate PS20 in H218O, with subsequent UPLC-MS analysis for location of the cleavage site on the fatty acid-containing side chain of PS20. RESULTS: The analysis reveals that hydrolysis of all-laurate PS20 leads to a breakdown of the ester linkage to liberate free lauric acid, showing a distinct dependence on pH. Using a hydrophilic free radical initiator, 2,2-azobis(2-amidinopropane) dihydrochloride (AAPH) to study the oxidative degradation of all-laurate PS20, we demonstrate that free lauric acid and polyoxyethylene (POE) laurate are two major decomposition products. Measurement of 18O incorporation into free lauric acid indicated that hydrolysis primarily led to 18O incorporation into free lauric acid via "acyl-cleavage" of the fatty acid ester bond. In contrast, AAPH-exposure of all-laurate PS20 produced free lauric acid without 18O-incorporation. CONCLUSIONS: The 18O-labeling technique and unique degradant patterns of all-laurate PS20 described here provide a direct approach to differentiate the types of PS degradation.

Photo-oxidation of IgG1 and Model Peptides: Detection and Analysis of Triply Oxidized His and Trp Side Chain Cleavage Products.

PURPOSE: Triply oxidized histidine in an IgG1 monoclonal antibody was noticed when exposed to ICH light conditions. In order to understand the role of light source, irradiation wavelengths and primary sequence, specifically those of a nearby tryptophan, we synthesized and exposed several peptides to ICH light conditions and analyzed the products using LC-MS analysis. METHODS: Protein and peptide samples were photo-irradiated under ICH conditions as well as with monochromatic light at λ = 254 nm and analyzed using either LTQ Orbitrap or a LTQ-FT ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometer respectively. RESULTS: A triply oxidized His residue was detected along with a second doubly oxidized His residue in an IgG1. Both of these oxidized His residues are located near Trp residues. In order to investigate the role of Trp photosensitization in His oxidation we synthesized model peptides and Ala mutants. Peptides exposed to ICH light stress conditions revealed a small percent of triply oxidized His in the Trp-containing peptide sequences but not in their corresponding Ala mutants. CONCLUSIONS: The differences in product formation under different photo-irradiation conditions underline the importance of light source, irradiation wavelengths and primary sequence in the photosensitivity of proteins.

Neighboring π-Amide Participation in Thioether Oxidation: Conformational Control.

The electrochemical oxidation of thioethers is shown to be facilitated by neighboring amide participation. (1)H NMR spectroscopic analysis in acetonitrile solution of two conformationally constrained compounds with such facilitation shows that two-electron participation by the amide π2 orbital can occur to stabilize the developing sulfur radical cation.

Site-Specific Hydrolysis Reaction C-Terminal of Methionine in Met-His during Metal-Catalyzed Oxidation of IgG-1.

The metal-catalyzed oxidation by [Fe(II)(EDTA)](2-)/H2O2 of IgG-1 leads to the site-specific hydrolysis of peptide bonds in the Fc region. The major hydrolytic cleavage occurs between Met428 and His429, consistent with a mechanism reported for the site-specific hydrolysis of parathyroid hormone (1-34) between Met8 and His9 (Mozziconacci, O.; et al. Mol. Pharmaceutics 2013, 10 (2), 739-755). In IgG-1, to a lesser extent, we also observe hydrolysis reactions between Met252 and Ile253. After 2 h of oxidation (at pH 5.8, 37 °C) approximately 5% of the protein is cleaved between Met428 and His429. For comparison, after 2 h of oxidation, the amount of tryptic peptides containing a Met sulfoxide residue represents less than 0.1% of the protein. The effect of this site-specific hydrolysis on the conformational stability and aggregation propensity of the antibody was also examined. No noticeable differences in structural integrity and conformational stability were observed between control and oxidized IgG-1 samples as measured by circular dichroism (CD), fluorescence spectroscopy, and static light scattering (SLS). Small amounts of soluble and insoluble aggregates (3-6%) were, however, observed in the oxidized samples by UV-visible absorbance spectroscopy and size exclusion chromatography (SEC). Over the course of metal-catalyzed oxidation, increasing amounts of fragments were also observed by SEC. An increase in the concentration of subvisible particles was detected by microflow imaging (MFI).

Comparative Evaluation of the Chemical Stability of 4 Well-Defined Immunoglobulin G1-Fc Glycoforms.

As part of a series of articles in this special issue evaluating model IgG1-Fc glycoforms for biosimilarity analysis, 3 well-defined IgG1-Fc glycoforms (high mannose-Fc, Man5-Fc, and N-acetylglucosamine-Fc) and a nonglycosylated Fc protein (N297Q-Fc) were examined in this work to elucidate chemical degradation pathways. The 4 proteins underwent a combination of accelerated thermal stability studies and 4 independent forced degradation studies (UV light, metal-catalyzed oxidation, peroxyl radicals, and hydrogen peroxide) at pH 6.0. Our results highlight chemical degradations at Asn315, Met428, Trp277, and Trp313. A cross-comparison of the different Fc glycoforms, stress conditions, and the observed chemical reactions revealed that both the deamidation of Asn315 and the transformation of Trp277 into glycine hydroperoxide were glycan dependent during incubation for 3 months at 40 °C. Our data will show that different glycans not only affect chemical degradation differently but also do lead to different impurity profiles, which can affect chemical degradation.

Low-temperature NMR characterization of reaction of sodium pyruvate with hydrogen peroxide.

It was proposed that the reaction of sodium pyruvate and H2O2 generates the intermediate 2-hydroperoxy-2-hydroxypropanoate, which converts into acetate, CO2, and H2O ( Aleksankin et al. Kernenergie 1962 , 5 , 362 - 365 ). These conclusions were based on the products generated in (18)O-enriched water and H2O2 reacting with pyruvic acid at room temperature; however, the lifetime of 2-hydroperoxy-2-hydroxypropanoate at room temperature is too short for direct spectroscopic observation. Therefore, we applied the combination of low-temperature and (13)C NMR techniques to verify, for the first time, the formation of 2-deuteroperoxy-2-deuteroxypropanoate in mixtures of D2O and methanol-d4 and to monitor directly each species involved in the reaction between D2O2 and (13)C-enriched pyruvate. Our NMR results confirm the formation of 2-deuteroperoxy-2-deuteroxypropanoate, where the respective chemical shifts are supported by density functional theory (DFT) calculations. At near-neutral apparent pD (pD*) and -35 °C, the formation of 2-deuteroperoxy-2-deuteroxypropanoate occurred with k = 2.43 × 10(-3) dm(3)·mol(-1)·s(-1). The subsequent decomposition of 2-deuteroperoxy-2-deuteroxypropanoate into acetate, CO2, and D2O occurred with k = 2.58 × 10(-4) s(-1) at -35 °C. In order to provide a full kinetic analysis, we also monitored the equilibrium of pyruvate and methanol with the hemiacetal (2-deuteroxy-2-methoxypropanoate). The kinetics for the reaction of sodium pyruvate and D2O2 were fitted by taking into account all these equilibria and species.