Mechanistic and Catalytic Studies of ß-Nitroalcohol Crosslinking with Polyamine.

ß-Nitroalcohols (ßNAs) are promising corneoscleral crosslinking agents for the treatment of diseases such as keratoconus and myopia. Although it is believed that formaldehyde is released from the crosslinking reactions of ßNAs, the mechanism by which ßNAs react with amine-functionalized polymers has yet to be known. In this study, we present the reaction mechanism of the ßNA crosslinking. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) data provide strong evidence that formaldehyde is released during the reaction. Catalytic studies show that sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO3) and salmon testes DNA accelerate the reaction while hydroxynitrile lyase from Arabidopsis thaliana decelerates the crosslinking reaction. These results suggest that ßNAs are potential self-administered crosslinking agents for future clinical use.

Decoding stereocontrol during the photooxygenation of oxazolidinone-functionalized enecarbamates.

Systematically designed oxazolidinone-derived enecarbamates reveal that solvent and temperature effects on the stereoselectivity during photooxygenation are likely due to the conformational flexibility of the chiral phenethyl side chain (entropy factors); the extent of enantiomeric excess in the photoproduct is dictated by the alkene geometry.

Aliphatic beta-nitroalcohols for therapeutic corneoscleral cross-linking: chemical mechanisms and higher order nitroalcohols.

PURPOSE: The recent tissue cross-linking studies indicate that aliphatic beta-nitroalcohols (BNAs) may be useful as pharmacologic corneoscleral cross-linking agents. The present study was performed to identify the specific chemistry involved under physiologic conditions, with the intent of identifying more effective agents. METHODS: The mechanism of chemical cross-linking at pH 7.4 and 37 degrees C was studied using three techniques. The colorimetric Griess assay was used to follow the release of nitrite from three mono-nitroalcohols (2-nitroethanol [2ne], 2-nitro-1-propanol [2nprop]), and 3-nitro-2-pentanol [3n2pent]). Second, the evolution of 2nprop in 0.2 M NaH(2)PO(4)/Na(2)HPO(4)/D(2)O was studied using (1)H-NMR. Third, thermal shrinkage temperature analysis (T(s)), a measure of tissue cross-linking, was used to support information from (1)the H-NMR studies. RESULTS: A time-dependent release of nitrite was observed for all three mono-nitroalcohols studied. The maximum levels were comparable using either 2ne or 2nprop (approximately 30%). However, much less (approximately 10%) was observed from 3n2pent. Using (1)H-NMR, 2nprop evolved into a unique splitting pattern. No match was observed with reference spectra from three possible products of denitration. In contrast, 2-methyl-2-nitro-1,3-propanediol (MNPD), a nitro-diol, was identified, implying the formation of formaldehyde from a retro-nitroaldol (i.e., reverse Henry) reaction. In support of this mechanism, T(s) shifts induced by the nitro-triol 2-hydroxymethyl-2-nitro-1,3-propanediol (HNPD) were superior to the nitro-diol MNPD which were superior to the mono nitroalcohol 2nprop. CONCLUSIONS: BNAs function as both formaldehyde and nitrite donors under physiologic conditions to cross-link collagenous tissue. Higher order BNAs are more effective than mono nitroalcohols, raising the possibility of using these agents for therapeutic corneoscleral cross-linking.

Nitroalcohol Induced Hydrogel Formation in Amine-Functionalized Polymers.

Certain ß-nitroalcohols degrade under basic conditions or upon heating to form formaldehyde. This reaction provides an elegant approach to generate formaldehyde within a system at a desired time using the stimulus of pH or temperature. Using ß-nitroalcohols as a delivery agent for formaldehyde, polymer crosslinking can be induced via stimulus. Such an approach is akin to those used to prepare "self-healing" polymers, which have received much attention recently. Herein, we describe the use of certain ß-nitroalcohols as a masked formaldehyde delivery system and demonstrate its use as a crosslinking agent of amine functionalized polymers to form hydrogels. We examine the temperature and pH dependence of 2-nitro-1,3-propanediol and 2-(hydroxymethyl)-2-nitro-1,2-propanediol on the rate and extent of gelation and characterize the resulting gel by swelling and FTIR experiments.

Physical and chemical quenching rates and their influence on stereoselective photooxygenation of oxazolidinone-functionalized enecarbamates.

Physical and chemical quenching rate constants were measured for the reaction of singlet oxygen with oxazolidinone-functionalized enecarbamates to investigate the role of vibrational deactivation in product stereoselectivity.

A covalently linked phenanthridine-ruthenium(II) complex as a RNA probe.

A phenanthridine derivative covalently linked to a ruthenium complex yields an imaging probe whose fluorescence intensity and lifetime change substantially in the presence of RNA.

Vibrational deactivation of singlet oxygen: does it play a role in stereoselectivity during photooxygenation?

Oxazolidinone-substituted enecarbamates offer a system to explore vibrational quenching and the strategic placement of CH bonds as a method for manipulating the stereoselectivity of photoreactions.

The reaction of singlet oxygen with enecarbamates: a mechanistic playground for investigating chemoselectivity, stereoselectivity, and vibratioselectivity of photooxidations.

Photochirogenesis, the control of chirality in photoreactions, is one of the most challenging problems in stereocontrolled photochemistry, in which the stereodifferentiation has to be imprinted within the short lifetime of the electronically excited state. Singlet oxygen (1O2), an electronically excited molecule that is known to be sensitive to vibrational deactivation, has been selected as a model case for testing stereoselective control by vibrational deactivation. The stereoselectivity in the reaction of 1O2 with E/Z enecarbamates 1, equipped with the oxazolidinone chiral auxiliary, has been examined for the mode selectivity ([2 + 2]-cycloaddition versus ene-reaction) and the stereoselectivity in the oxidative cleavage of the alkenyl functionality to the methyldesoxybenzoin (MDB) product. Through the appropriate choice of substituents in the enecarbamate, the mode selectivity (ene versus [2 + 2]), which depends on the alkene geometry (E or Z), the steric bulk of the oxazolidinone substituent at the C-4 position, and the C-3' configuration on the side chain, may be manipulated. Phenethyl substitution gives exclusively the [2 + 2]-cycloaddition product, irrespective of the alkene geometry. The stereoselection in the resulting methyldesoxybenzoin (MDB) product is examined in a variety of solvents as a function of temperature by using chiral GC analysis. The extent (% ee) as well as the sense (R versus S) of the stereoselectivity in the MDB formation for the E isomer depends significantly on solvent and temperature, whereas the corresponding Z isomers are not affected by such variations. The complex temperature and solvent effects are scrutinized in terms of the differential activation parameters (DeltaDeltaS++, DeltaDeltaH++) for the photooxygenation of E/Z-enecarbamates in various solvents at different temperatures. The enthalpy-entropy compensations provide a mechanistic understanding of the temperature dependence of the ee values for the MDB product and the difference in the behavior between the Z and E enecarbamates. The E enecarbamates show a relatively high contribution from the entropy term and an appreciable contribution from the enthalpy term; both terms possess the same sign. In contrast, the corresponding relative insensitivity of Z enecarbamates to temperature and solvent variation is convincingly explained by the near-zero DeltaDelta S++ and DeltaDelta H++. Such effects, associated with temperature- and solvent-dependent conformational factors, are most likely dictated by the stereogenic center at the C-3' phenethyl substituent. The high stereocontrol during the photooxygenation of the chiral enecarbamates is shown to be independent of the steric demand of the oxazolidinone substituent at the C-4 position. In view of the reduced stereocontrol on deuteration of the oxazolidinone substituent at the C-4 position, we propose that the unusual stereoselective vibrational quenching of the attacking singlet oxygen (excited-state reactivity), a novel mechanistic concept, works in concert with the usual steric impositions (ground-state reactivity) exercised by the substituents to afford the high stereoselectivity observed in the dioxetane product during the [2 + 2] cycloaddition. Such synergistic interplay is held responsible for the highly stereoselective photooxidative cleavage of the chiral enecarbamates. The efficacy of stereocontrol in this photooxidation is demonstrated by kinetically resolving the epimers of the enecarbamate cleavage product (MDB) in essentially perfect stereoselectivity, a new methodology that we coin "photo-Pasteur-type kinetic resolution".

FRETView: a computer program to simplify the process of obtaining fluorescence resonance energy transfer parameters.

The process of modeling the fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) process for a donor-acceptor pair can be rather challenging, yet few computer programs exist that allow such modeling to be done with relative ease. In order to address this, we have developed a Java-based program, FRETView, which allows numerous FRET parameters to be obtained with just a few mouse clicks. Being a Java-based program, it runs equally well on all the major operating systems such as Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, Solaris. The program allows the user to effortlessly input pertinent information about the donor-acceptor pair, including the absorption and/or emission spectra, and outputs the calculated FRET parameters in table format, as well as graphical plots.

Control of chirality by cations in confined spaces: Photooxidation of enecarbamates inside zeolite supercages.

On photooxygenation of the optically active Z/E enecarbamates 1 (X = i-Pr) and 2 (X = Me) equipped with the oxazolidinone chiral auxiliary in methylene-blue (MB)-incorporated, alkali-metal (M = Li, Na, K, Cs, Rb), exchanged Y-type zeolites (MY-MB), oxidative cleavage of the alkenyl functionality releases the enantiomerically enriched methyldesoxybenzoin (MDB) product. The extent (%ee) and/or the sense (R or S) of the stereoselectivity in the formation of the MDB product depends on the choice of the alkyl substiuent (i-Pr or Me) at the C-4 position of the oxazolidinone chiral auxiliary, the Z/E configuration of the alkene functionality in the enecarbamates, and the type of alkali metal in the zeolite. Most significantly-the highlight of this study-is the reversed sense (R or S) in the stereoselection when the photooxygenation is run in CDCl3 solution versus inside the MY-MB zeolite. As a mechanistic rationale for this novel stereochemical behavior, we propose the combined action of spatial confinement and metal-ion coordination (assessed by density-functional calculations) of the substrate within the zeolite supercage, both of which greatly reduce the freedom of the substrate and entropically manipulate the stereochemical outcome.