A C-H...O=C hydrogen bond? Intramolecular hydrogen bonding in a novel semirubin.

(4Z)-8-(5-Carboxypentyl)-9-butyl-2,3-diethyl-dipyrrin-1-one (1), a new analogue of xanthobilirubic acid, (4Z)-8-(carboxyethyl)-2,7,9-dimethyl-3-ethyl-dipyrrin-1-one, was synthesized in four steps from the known 2,3-diethyl-dipyrrin-1-one. Whereas xanthobilirubic acid (which is a model for one-half of bilirubin, the yellow pigment of jaundice) and its homologues with hexanoic and longer acid chains at C-8 engage only in intermolecular hydrogen bonding, 1 is found to engage in intramolecular hydrogen bonding. In CDCl(3) solution, dipyrrinone 1 adopts an anti-Z conformation, and its hexanoic acid COOH is hydrogen-bonded to the lactam H-N-C=O and to the pyrrole C(7)-H but not to the pyrrole NH. The latter constitutes an example of a hydrogen bond of the type C-H...O=C, weak and detected typically in crystals. Dipyrrinone 1 is found by vapor pressure osmometry to be monomeric in CHCl(3), but its methyl ester (2) tends toward being dimeric, like that of methyl xanthobilirubinate, which is dimeric.

Biliary excretion of a stretched bilirubin in UGT1A1-deficient (Gunn) and Mrp2-deficient (TR-) rats.

The metabolism and biliary excretion of a stretched bilirubin analog with a p-xylyl group replacing the central CH2 hinge were investigated in normal rats, Gunn rats deficient in bilirubin conjugation, and TR- rats deficient in bilirubin glucuronide hepatobiliary transport. Unlike bilirubin, the analog was excreted rapidly in bile unchanged in all three rat strains after intravenous administration. In TR- rats biliary excretion of the analog was diminished, but still substantial, demonstrating that the ATP-binding cassette transporter Mrp2 is not required for its hepatic efflux. These effects are attributable to differences in the preferred conformations of bilirubin and the analog.

Chirality inversion in the bilirubin molecular exciton.

The bichromophoric pigment bilirubin acts as a molecular exciton in its UV-visible and circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy. In both polar and nonpolar solvents, an optically active analog, (beta R,beta 'R)-dimethylmesobilirubin-XIII alpha (1), exhibits intense bisignate CD Cotton effects in the region of its long wavelength UV-vis absorption near 400 nm: Delta epsilon(434)(max) + 337, Delta epsilon(389)(max) - 186 (CHCl(3)), and Delta epsilon(431)(max) + 285, Delta epsilon(386)(max) - 177 (CH(3)OH). However, introduction of an amine into a CHCl(3) solution of 1 causes the Cotton effect signs to become inverted, e.g., after addition of NH(3), Delta epsilon(433)(max) - 345, Delta epsilon(389)(max) + 243, and after addition of ethylene diamine, Delta epsilon(435)(max) - 420, Delta epsilon(390)(max) + 299. The sign inversions imply inversion of molecular chirality of the bilirubin and the phenomenon appears to be general for amines, including alpha,omega-diamines. 1,8-Diaminooctane was found to be more effective than longer or shorter chain analogs in producing CD sign inversion.

A hydrogen-bonded 'trimer' of two symmetric dipyridones.

The isomers 3,3'-(1,2-ethynediyl)bis(2-pyridone), (I), and 6,6'-(1,2-ethynediyl)bis(2-pyridone), (II), were designed to form a hydrogen-bonded pair through alignment of their complementary cyclic lactam moieties. Instead, an equimolar mixture of (I) and (II) dissolved in methanol produced crystals of 3,3'-(1,2-ethynediyl)bis(2-pyridone)-6,6'-(1,2-ethynediyl)bis(2-pyridone)-methanol (1/2/2), 0.5C(12)H(8)N(2)O(2) x C(12)H(8)N(2)O(2) x CH(4)O, in which one molecule of (I), situated at a center of symmetry, is hydrogen bonded to two molecules of (II) and to two molecules of methanol.

Synthesis and metabolism of the first thia-bilirubin.

A symmetrical C(10)-thiabilirubin analogue, 8,12-bis(2-carboxyethyl)-2,3,17,18-tetraethyl-7,13-dimethyl-10-thia-(21H,23H,24H)-bilin-1,19-dione (1), was synthesized from 8-(2-carboxyethyl)-2,3-diethyl-7-methyl-10H-dipyrrin-1-one in one step by reaction with sulfur dichloride. The thia-rubin exhibited the expected IR, UV-vis, and NMR spectroscopic properties, which are rather similar to those of mesobilirubin-XIIIalpha. Like bilirubin and mesobilirubin, 1 adopts an intramolecularly hydrogen-bonded conformation, shaped like a ridge-tile but with a steeper pitch. The longer C-S bond lengths and smaller bond angles at C-S-C, as compared to C-CH(2)-C, lead to an interplanar angle between the two dipyrrinones of only 74 degrees -or considerably less than that of bilirubin (approximately 100 degrees). On normal- and reversed-phase chromatography, 1 is substantially less polar than bilirubin. Despite this conformational distortion, 1 is metabolized in normal rats to acyl glucuronides, which are secreted into bile. In mutant (Gunn) rats lacking bilirubin glucuronosyl transferase, 1 (like bilirubin) was not excreted in bile.

Structure and metabolism of natural and synthetic bilirubins.

The secondary structure of bilirubin, with a ridge-tile shape and six intramolecular hydrogen bonds, is more stable than any other conformation and perhaps the most important determinant of its solubility and properties in solution and its hepatic metabolism/excretion. Uncoupling the intramolecular hydrogen bonding, increasing the acidity of the propionic acid, or even increasing its length can decrease the pigment's hydrophobicity and permit its excretion intact across the liver into bile; less intuitively obvious, so can subtle modifications at C(10), the pivotal carbon in the ridge tile.

Acid dissociation constants of bilirubin and related carboxylic acid compounds in bile salt solutions.

Bilirubin, the yellow-orange tetrapyrrole pigment of jaundice, is essentially insoluble in pure water, but is much more soluble in solutions of bile salts such as sodium taurocholate. The biophysical chemistry of bilirubin in bile salt solutions is affected by changes in the pH of the solution in the range 5-9, suggesting that interactions with bile salt molecules and micelles may alter the acidity of the pigment. We have examined this possibility by determining the apparent pKa values for a series of carboxyl 13C-enriched model compounds, including the bilirubin analog mesobilirubin XIIIalpha, in solutions of sodium taurocholate and sodium taurodeoxycholate. Apparent pKa values were determined by 13C NMR titrations in dimethyl sulfoxide-water mixtures. The results show that the acidity of all compounds is decreased, or pKa increased, in micellar bile salt solution relative to pure water and that the effect is greatest for the larger, less water-soluble compounds. We have proposed a model to explain these results and discussed the implications of these findings for the biophysical chemistry of bilirubin in bile.

Semirubin. A novel dipyrrinone strapped by intramolecular hydrogen bonds.

(4Z)-9-(5-Carboxypentyl)-2,3,7,8-tetramethyl-(10H)-dipyrrin- 1-one (1, semirubin), a new dipyrrinone model for one-half of bilirubin, the yellow-orange neurotoxic pigment of jaundice, was synthesized following Friedel-Crafts acylation of 2,3,7, 8-tetramethyl-(10H)-dipyrrin-1-one (5) with the half-ester acid chloride of adipic acid. Unlike other dipyrrinone models for bilirubin, such as the xanthobilirubic acids, which engage only in intermolecular hydrogen bonding, 1 is unique in having been designed and found to engage in intramolecular hydrogen bonding, between the carboxylic acid and the dipyrrinone lactam and pyrrole. This important conformation-determining structural characteristic, shared by 1 and bilirubin, renders them less polar than their methyl esters and leaves them monomeric in nonpolar solvents, where their esters are dimeric. The corresponding 10-oxo analogue (3) of 1 serves as a model for 10-oxo-bilirubin, a presumed bilirubin metabolite in alternate pathways for bilirubin excretion. Like 1, 3 is found to engage in intramolecular hydrogen bonding. Unlike the methyl ester of 1, the ethyl ester of 3 is not intermolecularly hydrogen bonded in nonpolar solvents.

Relative steric size of SCH(3), OCH(3), and CH(3) groups from circular dichroism measurements.

The relative steric size of methyl, methoxy, and methylthio groups was determined from circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy using a sensitive system based on the bilirubin model. In the cyclohexane model, equatorial vs. axial orientation and conformational analysis led to quantitative measurements of orientation preference or steric demand: conformational A-values CH(3) > SCH(3) > OCH(3). A more sterically demanding model for assessing group size has been found in bilirubin analogs, which are yellow pigments that adopt a ridge-tile shape stabilized by a matrix of intramolecular hydrogen bonds. Optically active bilirubins have been shown to exhibit intense bisignate CD Cotton effects from exciton coupling of their two dipyrrinone chromophores held in either of two enantiomeric ridge-tile conformations. Interconversion of these M and P conformational enantiomers of helical chirality is rapid at room temperature but may be displaced toward either enantiomer by intramolecular nonbonded steric interactions that arise when substituents are introduced at equivalent sterically demanding sites, viz., the alpha or beta carbons of the pigment's propionic acid chains. Such substituents shift the conformational equilibrium toward the M or the P-chirality conformer, depending only on the S or R stereochemistry at the alpha and beta sites, and the resulting exciton CD for the approximately 430 nm transition(s) was used to evaluate the relative steric size, SCH(3) > CH(3) > OCH(3).

A new photoisomerization of bilirubin.

Photoirradiation of solutions of natural (4Z,15Z)-bilirubin-IX alpha in chloroform with approximately 366 nm UV light leads rapidly to a new photoisomer that has been characterized by NMR spectroscopy and by its (ground-state reaction) adducts with methanol and other protic nucleophiles. Unlike the previously described Z-->E geometric isomerization important in phototherapy of neonatal jaundice, the new photoisomerization involves regiospecific photoautomerization to afford 2-ethenyl-18-ethylidene- 1,10,19,22,24-pentahydro-2,7,13,17-tetramethyl-1,19- dioxo-21H-biline-8,12-dipropanoic acid.

Aqueous dissociation constants of bile pigments and sparingly soluble carboxylic acids by 13C NMR in aqueous dimethyl sulfoxide: effects of hydrogen bonding.

pKas for the acid dissociation of the carboxyl groups of bilirubin in water have been reported recently to be 8.1-8.4, or higher. These high values were attributed to intramolecular hydrogen bonding. They have led to suggestions that monoanions of bilirubin predominate at physiologic pH and are the species transported most readily into hepatocytes by carriers. Such high aqueous pKas are inconsistent with recent 13C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) measurements on mesobilirubin XIII alpha, done on aqueous solutions containing dimethyl sulfoxide. To investigate whether the presence of dimethyl sulfoxide leads to unreliable values when using 13C NMR spectroscopy to determine pKas of carboxylic acids that can undergo intramolecular hydrogen bonding, we measured the pKas of 13C-labeled fumaric, maleic, and phthalic acids in solutions containing up to 27 vol% dimethyl sulfoxide. In addition, we used 13C NMR to estimate the pKas of 2,2'-methylenebis[5-carbomethoxy-4-methylpyrrole-3-[1-13C] propanoic acid], a model for the two central rings of bilirubin. Our results show that 13C NMR of aqueous dimethyl sulfoxide solutions can be used with confidence to measure pKas of intramolecularly hydrogen-bonded carboxylic acids. They support our previous estimates for the pKas of bilirubin and confirm that intramolecular hydrogen bonding has little effect on the acidity of bilirubins in water. Together with previous studies and chemical arguments they strongly suggest that reported aqueous pKas of > 8, or even > 6, for the carboxyl groups of bilirubin are incorrect and that arguments used to rationalize them are questionable.

Synthesis of water-soluble bile pigments bound to amine-ended monomethoxypolyethyleneglycol: thiol addition and attempted enzymatic reduction of a bilindione derivative.

The water-soluble amide to an NH2-ended monomethoxypolyethyleneglycol (MPEG-NH2, molecular mass of about 2000) of the dipyrrinone xanthobilirubic acid (XBR, 1) and the bis-amides of mesobiliverdin-XIII alpha (MBV, 2) and mesobilirubin-XIII alpha (MBR, 3) have been prepared with high yields. Contrary to what is observed with biliverdin-IX alpha, 4, the enzymatic reduction of the mesobiliverdin derivative 2-MPEGA to the corresponding mesobilirubin 3-MPEGA by the soluble biliverdin reductase/NADPH system in pH 7.4 aqueous phosphate does not occur. In contrast, thiol addition to 2-MPEGA and to 4 under similar conditions is immediate, although this equilibrium is slightly less favourable for 2-MPEGA. These results enable us to discount the intrinsically low reactivity of 2-MPEGA towards thiols as the reason for its lack of enzymatic reduction, and suggest instead that this particular mesobiliverdin cannot fit properly into the enzyme binding site, either because of steric hindrance or the lack of the two propionic acid groups.

Exciton chirality of bilirubin homologs.

Bilirubin, the yellow pigment of jaundice, is a bichromophoric tetrapyrrole that readily adopts either of two enantiomeric, folded conformations shaped like ridge-tiles and stabilized by a network of six intramolecular hydrogen bonds. Interconversion of these M and P helical chirality conformational enantiomers is rapid at room temperature but may be displaced toward either enantiomer by intramolecular non-bonded steric interactions. Introduction of a methyl group at the beta and beta' carbons of the propionic acid chains on the symmetric bilirubin analog, mesobilirubin-XIII alpha, shifts the conformational equilibrium toward the M or the P-chirality intramolecularly hydrogen-bonded conformer, depending only on the S or R stereochemistry at beta and beta', resulting in pigments with intense exciton coupling circular dichroism (CD) for the approximately 430 nm transition(s). Optically active synthetic analogs of bilirubin with propionic acid groups lengthened systematically to heptanoic acid (1-5) were synthesized and examined by spectroscopy to explore the influence of alkanoic acid chain length on conformation and intramolecular hydrogen bonding. In these diacids and their dimethyl esters (6-10), strong exciton chirality CD spectra are observed, and the data are correlated with molecular helicity.

Dissociation constants of water-insoluble carboxylic acids by 13C-NMR. pK(a)s of mesobiliverdin-XIII alpha and mesobilirubin-XIII alpha.

High-field 13C-NMR of 13C-enriched compounds in dilute aqueous d6-Me2-SO solutions provides a simple, accurate method for measuring pK(a)s of sparingly soluble carboxylic acids. Using this method, we found the pK(a)s of mesobilirubin-XIII alpha to be 4.2 and 4.9, much lower values than reported recently for bilirubin, and of mesobiliverdin-XIII alpha to be 3.9 and 5.3.

On the acid dissociation constants of bilirubin and biliverdin. pKa values from 13C NMR spectroscopy.

Biliverdin and bilirubin are naturally-occurring tetrapyrrolic bile pigments containing two propionic acid side chains. These side chains, and their propensity for ionization, are critical in the biological disposition of the pigments. Surprisingly, accurate dissociation constants for the propionic acid groups of biliverdin are unknown, and a wide range of values, extending over some 4 orders of magnitude, has been suggested for the Ka values of the propionic acid groups of bilirubin in aqueous solutions. Recently, pKa values of 6.7-9.3 have been reported for bilirubin--values much greater than the value of approximately 5 typical of propionic acid groups. These curiously high values, currently being used to explain the biological transport and metabolism of bilirubin and related compounds, have been attributed to intramolecular hydrogen bonding. We have determined the pKa values of 99% 13C-enriched (13CO2H) [8(3),12(3)-13C2]mesobilirubin-XIII, alpha, the corresponding biliverdin, and several monopropionic model compounds by 13C NMR spectroscopy. This technique allows direct observation and quantitative measurement of the carboxylic acid and carboxylate anion carbon signals. Analysis of the variation of carboxyl 13C NMR chemical shift with pH gave rubin pKa values of 4.2 and 4.9 and verdin pKa values of 3.9 and 5.3 in aqueous buffers containing only a very small quantity (0.086 mol fraction) of dimethyl sulfoxide. When extrapolated to water, the pKa values are essentially unchanged. The data provide the first experimentally-determined pKa values for a biliverdin. They indicate that intramolecular hydrogen bonding has little effect on the acid dissociation of bilirubin and suggest that the equilibrium acidity of the bilirubin carboxylic acid groups is not abnormally high but similar to the thermodynamic acidity found in other carboxylic acids, as originally suggested by Overbeek et al. (Overbeek, J. T. G., Vink, C. L. J., and Deenstra, H. (1955) Recl. Trav. Chim. Pays-Bas 74, 81-84).

Electrochemical reduction of the biliverdin-serum albumin complex as monitored by absorption and circular dichroism spectroscopy.

The cathodic reduction at the mercury electrode of a biliverdin IX alpha-serum albumin complex at physiological pH in an aqueous buffer containing percentages of DMSO ranging from 4% to 20% is studied by cyclic voltametry and controlled potential coulometry. The progression of pigment disappearance and the (stereochemical) nature of the product are monitored by chromatography, UV-visible absorption and circular dichroism spectroscopy. Upon reduction, albumin-bound biliverdin IX alpha, with a slight preference for the P-helicity, affords the corresponding bound bilirubin IX alpha -with an M-chirality conformation. The complex is reduced at -0.64 V (vs. SCE; 8% DMSO), only a little shifted compared to reduction of free biliverdin IX alpha under the same conditions. In contrast, an analogous bilirubin IX alpha-serum albumin complex is essentially inert towards cathodic reduction under conditions where free bilirubin IX alpha is reduced, indicating a better shielding by the protein of the bilirubin IX alpha molecule from the electrode surface. The presence of relative position (as in the biliverdins IX alpha and XIII alpha) or absence (as in mesobiliverdin IX alpha) of vinyl groups in the pigment does not have a significant effect upon its electroreduction behaviour, indicating that the process is not sensitive to the subtle differences imposed by vinyl groups upon the structure of the corresponding biliverdin-albumin complexes.

On the structure of bilirubin in solution. 13C[1H] heteronuclear Overhauser effect NMR analyses in aqueous buffer and organic solvents.

Select hydrogen-carbon distances have been determined from 13C[1H] heteronuclear Overhauser effects observed in a 99% carbon-13 enriched 13CO2H bilirubin analog, [8(3), 12(3)-13C2]-mesobilirubin XIII alpha. Analysis of the data confirms that the propionic acid carbonyl lies within hydrogen bonding distance to the dipyrrinone lactam and pyrrole N-H groups in chloroform and indicates, surprisingly, that those distances are only slightly longer in dimethyl sulfoxide solvent or when the carboxyl group is ionized in pH 7.4 aqueous buffered solutions of the pigment. The data supports the presence and persistence of folded, intramolecularly hydrogen-bonded bilirubin conformations in solution.

Hepatic uptake, transport and metabolism of alkylated bilirubins in Gunn rats and Sprague-Dawley rats.

We studied the metabolism and biliary excretion of four novel analogs of bilirubin in homozygous Gunn rats and Sprague-Dawley rats. All four compounds closely resemble bilirubin in constitutional structure but two of them contain strategically-placed geminal dimethyl substituents. These substituents destabilize, by steric buttressing, preferred ridge-tile conformational isomers and weaken intramolecular hydrogen bonding. The two analogs which lack geminal dimethyl substituents behaved like bilirubin itself--after intravenous administration they were metabolized to monoglucuronides and diglucuronides in Sprague-Dawley rats and not excreted significantly in bile in Gunn rats. The corresponding gem-dimethyl compounds--which, counter-intuitively, are much more polar than bilirubin--were, nevertheless, not excreted efficiently in bile Gunn rats. But, surprisingly, in Sprague-Dawley rats they were each metabolized predominantly to a single glucuronide metabolite, apparently a monoglucuronide. Thus, apparently minor constitutional changes, provoking subtle alterations of three-dimensional structure and hydrogen bonding, can have marked effects on the metabolism and hepatic processing of bilirubins in vivo.

Structure of 6-(3,3-dimethyl-2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-5-furanyl)-2-pyridone at 145 K.

C11H11NO3, M(r) = 205.21, triclinic, P1, a = 5.725 (1), b = 9.038 (1), c = 10.401 (2) A, alpha = 101.37 (1), beta = 102.63 (1), gamma = 102.83 (1) degrees, V = 494.7 (3) A3, Z = 2, Dx = 1.38 g cm-3, lambda (Mo K alpha) = 1.7107 A, mu = 0.62 cm-1, F(000) = 216, T = 145 K, R = 0.049, wR = 0.063 for 2386 unique observed reflections. The molecules, which are self-associating in solution, are arranged in the crystal in centrosymmetric dimers joined by N--H...O bonds between the amide functional groups. Analysis of displacement parameters indicates that the furanyl and pyridone groups are independently quite rigid, with the furanyl group librating with respect to the hydrogen-bonded pyridone.

Conformation inversion of bilirubin formed by reduction of the biliverdin-human serum albumin complex: evidence from circular dichroism.

As shown by circular dichroism spectroscopy, biliverdin preferentially adopts an M-helicity conformation on human serum albumin in aqueous buffer, pH 7.5, whereas biliverdin exhibits only a weak preference for the P-helicity conformation on bovine serum albumin at the same pH. Upon rapid reduction of the complexes with sodium borohydride, P-helicity bilirubin-IX alpha is obtained on the human albumin complex, and M-helicity bilirubin-IX alpha is obtained on the bovine serum albumin complex. Thus, biliverdin in effect undergoes an inversion of chirality upon reduction. Since the reduction did not afford a rubin with the same helicity as that of the verdin, the observations point to a hitherto undetected conformational mobility of albumin-bound bilirubin.