Imidazole and imidazolium porphyrins: gas-phase chemistry of multicharged ions.

Electrospray ionization mass spectrometry/mass spectrometry in the positive ion mode was used to investigate the gas-phase chemistry of multicharged ions from solutions of porphyrins with 1,3-dimethylimidazolium-2-yl (DMIM) and 1-methylimidazol-2-yl (MIm) meso-substituents. The studied compounds include two free bases and 12 complexes with transition metals (Cu(II), Zn(II), Mn(III), and Fe(III)). The observed multicharged ions are either preformed or formed during the electrospraying process by reduction or protonation and comprise closed-shell and hypervalent mono-radical and bi-radical ions. The observed extensive and abundant fragmentation of the DMIM and MIm meso-substituents is a characteristic feature of these porphyrins. Fragments with the same mass values can be lost from the meso-substituents either as charged or neutral species and from closed-shell and hypervalent radical ions. Reduction processes are observed for both the free bases and the metallated DMIM porphyrins and occur predominantly by formation of hypervalent radicals that fragment, at low energy collisions, by loss of methyl radicals with formation of the corresponding MIm functionalities. These findings confirm that, when using electrospray ionization, reduction is an important characteristic of cationic meso-substituted tetrapyrrolic macrocycles, always occurring when delocalization of the formed hypervalent radicals is possible. For the Fe(III) and Mn(III) complexes, reduction of the metal centers is also observed as the predominant fragmentation of the corresponding reduced ions through losses of charged fragments testifies. The fragmentation of the closed-shell ions formed by protonation of the MIm porphyrins mirrors the fragmentation of the closed-shell ions of their DMIM counterparts.

Nonclassic metallointercalators with dipyridophenazine: DNA interaction studies and leishmanicidal activity.

Complexes [Cu(CH3COO)(dppz)2]CH3COO (1) and [Zn(dppz)2](BF4)2 (2) with the intercalator dipyridophenazine (dppz) were prepared to obtain metallointercalators with increased geometrical flexibility compared to octahedral ones. Biophysical results (thermal denaturation, circular dichroism, rheometry, atomic force microscopy) indicate a strong interaction with DNA by intercalation and the existence of a positive cooperative effect with groove binding being preferred at low concentration of complexes. Induced circular dichroism (ICD) studies with DNA show that compounds 1 and 2 have a preferred orientation when binding to DNA. Since the compounds lack functional groups to permit hydrogen bonds, a combined intercalation/covalent binding mode is plausible. Further studies by QTof-ESI-MS and tandem experiments with GC oligonucleotides strongly support this dual-binding mode, since binding requires loss of one dppz unit with the copper center remaining attached to DNA even after another dppz loss. DNA saturation by the copper compound occurs at about one-half the concentration required for the zinc complex. Molecular modeling results suggest that it is caused by the increased ability of Cu(II) to distort to a more planar structure during interaction with DNA. Compounds 1 and 2 are active against a viscerotropic Leishmania infantum strain at submicromolar concentrations (IC50 = 0.57 and 0.46 µM, respectively), being more active than the reference drug miltefosine (M) (15.97 µM). They are also more cytotoxic than the control on human macrophages (MTD25 = 0.41 (1), 0.63 (2)). Besides miltefosine, the zinc compound is the only one with a MTD25/IC50 ratio above 1 on the promastigote phase (1.39) and was further studied on the amastigote form with a significant improvement in the therapeutic index (2.51). Combined analysis of DNA biophysical studies, parasite activity, and cytotoxicity measurements suggests that intercalation correlates with leishmanicidal activity, while cytotoxicity results are justified by a combination of DNA intercalation and possible radical formation in the case of Cu(II), most probably hydroxyl and/or singlet oxygen radicals.

Differentiation of aminomethyl corrole isomers by mass spectrometry.

Two new isomeric aminomethyl corrole derivatives of [5,10,15-tris(pentafluorophenyl)corrolato]gallium(III) were synthesized with pyridine (py) molecules as axial ligands. When investigated by electrospray ionization mass spectrometry, in the positive and the negative ion modes, these compounds showed an unusual gas-phase behavior that could be used for their differentiation. In the positive ion mode, the differentiation was achieved through the formation of diagnostic fragment ions formed from [M-py + H](+) precursors, by (CH(3) )(2) NH and HF losses. An unusual addition of water to the main fragment ions provides an alternative route for isomer identification. Semi-empirical calculations were performed to elucidate the structures and stabilities of the main ionic species formed in the positive ion mode. In the negative ion mode isomer discrimination is accomplished via the fragmentation of the methoxide adduct ions [M-py + CH(3) O](-) through (CH(3) )(2) N(.) and HF losses.

Reduction and adduct formation from electrosprayed solutions of porphyrin salts.

The solutions of four meso-tetrakis(N-alkylpyridinium-4-yl)porphyrin salts and of the p-toluenesulfonate salt of meso-tetrakis(4-trimethylammoniumphenyl)porphyrin, in methanol, were studied by electrospray mass spectrometry, in order to investigate the influence of the type of counter ion, the length of the substituent N-alkyl groups of the four (N-alkylpyridinium-4-yl)porphyrins and the presence of an aromatic (alkylpyridinium) or aliphatic (trimethylammonium) nitrogen, in ion formation. In our experimental conditions, adducts with the counter ions were formed only for the meso-tetrakis(4-trimethylammoniumphenyl)porphyrin and were not observed for the other porphyrins, even when the counter ion was the same. In contrast, formation of reduced species, such as the [M(4+) + e(-)]3+, [M(4+) + 2e(-)]2+, [M(4+) + 4e(-) + 2H(+)]2+, and [M(4+) + 5e(-) + 2H(+)]+ ions was observed only for the (N-alkylpyridinium-4-yl)porphyrins and the appearance of these species is apparently solvent related and may occur via counter ion/solvent adducts.

Reduction of cationic free-base meso-tris-N-methylpyridinium-4-yl porphyrins in positive mode electrospray ionization mass spectrometry.

Reductions involving more than one electron with formation of the M+ and [M+2H]+ ions were observed for electrosprayed meso-tris(N-methylpyridinium-4-yl)porphyrin iodides, MI3. These reductions were studied by using different solvents and flow rates. Formation of the [M+2H]+ ions occurred only for protic solvents and to a larger extent at lower flow rates. The type of the fourth substituent does not seem to affect the reduction processes. Formation of the two reduced species, M+ and [M+2H]+ ions, may occur through the participation of counter ion/solvent clusters. Reduction of multiply charged, non-metallated species with formation of [M+nH]+ ions (n > 1) was not observed before in positive mode electrospray mass spectrometry.

Characterization of isomeric cationic porphyrins with beta-pyrrolic substituents by electrospray mass spectrometry: the singular behavior of a potential virus photoinactivator.

Electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) and tandem mass spectrometry (ESI-MS/MS) have been used to differentiate the 2- and 4-methylpyridyl isomers of free-base and metallated cationic beta-vinylpyridylporphyrins. The analysis by ESI-MS/MS of the deuterated analogs and semiempirical calculations of structural and electronic parameters were also undertaken. The two free-base isomers are easily differentiated by ESI-MS/MS but the presence of a metallic center renders differentiation of the metallated isomers less effective. The data acquired show that of all the studied compounds, the free-base 2-methylpyridyl isomer, which was operative in the in vitro photoinactivation of Herpes simples virus, has a different gas-phase behavior. Local distortion of the macrocycle due to the presence of the beta-vinylpyridyl substituent occurs for all the compounds, but a different electron density distribution can account for the observed gas-phase behavior of this potential virus photoinactivator.

Cycloreversion and other gas-phase reactions of neutral and cationic pyrrolidine-fused chlorins and isobacteriochlorins under ion bombardment and electrospray.

Neutral and cationic pyrrolidine-fused chlorins and isobacteriochlorins derived from meso-tetrakis(pentafluorophenyl)porphyrin undergo cycloreversion reactions in the gas phase, either when desorbed from a liquid matrix by ion bombardment or when electrosprayed. Cycloreversion occurs through loss of either neutral or charged moieties, with and without hydrogen and methyl radical migration, and both as high- and low-energy collision processes. For the doubly charged isobacteriochlorin, one-electron reduction with methyl loss occurs under ion bombardment and electrospray, through hypervalent pyrrolidinium radical formation.