Probing the Mechanism for 2,4'-Dihydroxyacetophenone Dioxygenase Using Biomimetic Iron Complexes.

In this study, we report the synthesis and characterization of [Fe(T1Et4iPrIP)(2-OH-AP)(OTf)](OTf) (2), [Fe(T1Et4iPrIP)(2-O-AP)](OTf) (3), and [Fe(T1Et4iPrIP)(DMF)3](OTf)3 (4) (T1Et4iPrIP = tris(1-ethyl-4-isopropyl-imidazolyl)phosphine; 2-OH-AP = 2-hydroxyacetophenone, and 2-O-AP- = monodeprotonated 2-hydroxyacetophenone). Both 2 and 3 serve as model complexes for the enzyme-substrate adduct for the nonheme enzyme 2,4'-dihydroacetophenone (DHAP) dioxygenase or DAD, while 4 serves as a model for the ferric form of DAD. Complexes 2-4 have been characterized by X-ray crystallography which reveals T1Et4iPrIP to bind iron in a tridentate fashion. Complex 2 additionally contains a bidentate 2-OH-AP ligand and a monodentate triflate ligand yielding distorted octahedral geometry, while 3 possesses a bidentate 2-O-AP- ligand and exhibits distorted trigonal bipyramidal geometry (τ = 0.56). Complex 4 displays distorted octahedral geometry with 3 DMF ligands completing the ligand set. The UV-vis spectrum of 2 matches more closely to the DAD-substrate spectrum than 3, and therefore, it is believed that the substrate for DAD is bound in the protonated form. TD-DFT studies indicate that visible absorption bands for 2 and 3 are due to MLCT bands. Complexes 2 and 3 are capable of oxidizing the coordinated substrate mimics in a stoichiometric and catalytic fashion in the presence of O2. Complex 4 does not convert 2-OH-AP to products under the same catalytic conditions; however, it becomes anaerobically reduced in the presence of 2 equiv 2-OH-AP to 2.

Automated drug design of kinase inhibitors to treat Chronic Myeloid Leukemia.

Medicinal chemistry has in the past been dominated by learned insights from experienced organic chemists. However, with the advent of computer based methods, computer aided drug design has become prominent. We have compared here the ability of locally sourced expert medicinal chemists to purely automated methods and found that the automated method produces a better potential candidate drug than the expert input. The example chosen is based on inhibitors to Abl-kinase and the successful anti-leukaemic drug imatinib. The proposed molecule is a simple modification of nilotinib and has a docking energy of 4.2 kJ/mol better than the best intuitive molecule.

Photocatalytic Reduction of Carbon Dioxide to CO and HCO2H Using fac-Mn(CN)(bpy)(CO)3.

Studies are reported regarding the use of Mn(CN)(bpy)(CO)3 (1) as a catalyst for CO2 reduction employing [Ru(dmb)3](2+) as a photosensitizer in mixtures of dry N,N-dimethylformamide-triethanolamine (N,N-DMF-TEOA) or acetonitrile-TEOA (MeCN-TEOA) with 1-benzyl-1,4-dihydronicotinamide as a sacrificial reductant. Irradiation with 470 nm light for up to 15 h yields both CO and HCO2H with maximum turnover numbers (TONs) as high as 21 and 127, respectively, with product preference dependent on the solvent. Further data suggests that upon single electron reduction this catalyst avoids the formation of a Mn-Mn dimer and instead undergoes a disproportionation reaction, which requires 2 equiv of [Mn(CN)(bpy)(CO)3](•-) to generate 1 equiv each of the active catalyst [Mn(bpy)(CO)3](-) and the starting compound 1. Additional characterization by cyclic voltammetry (CV) and infrared spectroelectrochemistry (IR-SEC) indicates that the stability of the singly reduced [Mn(CN)(bpy)(CO)3](•-) differs slightly in the N,N-DMF-TEOA solvent system compared to the MeCN-TEOA system. This contributes to the observed selectivities for HCO2H vs CO production.

Docking and DFT studies on ligand binding to Quercetin 2,3-dioxygenase.

Simple molecular docking calculations on quercetin, kojic acid and diethylcarbamatodithoic acid using the software package MOE are shown to be close to the geometries reported in the X-ray crystal structures of the protein co-crystallized with the respective ligands. Furthermore, DFT optimization of the docked conformations is shown to reproduce the essential features of previous studies on quercetin, showing that docking can be used to provide good starting structures for mechanistic study. The flavone ligand, lacking the hydroxyl group of the quercetin is shown by docking to be unable to approach closely the copper atom, indicating the necessity of the presence of the hydroxyl group and providing a prediction of the likely binding environment of this ligand.

Photocatalytic degradation of agricultural antibiotics using a UV-LED light source.

With a view to developing a UV-LED photocatalytic reactor for small and remote water systems, the degradation of three representative agriculturally produced contaminants, two antibiotics and an endocrine disruptor hormone, was evaluated in a bench 365 nm LED photoreactor using a slurry of the well-known Degussa P25® (TiO2) as photocatalyst. Use of an additional electron capture additives O2 and H2O2 was also assessed. Loss of the parent organic compounds was tracked by HPLC or UV absorbance and mineralization, where feasible, was studied with TOC analysis with conventional instrumentation. In all cases, degradation is significant with moderate light dose. Lab data suggest log reduction with light delivery less than 2.2 kWhr per cubic meter light delivery.

N,N'-dimethylformamide-derived products from catalytic oxidation of 3-hydroxyflavone.

The biomimetic conversion of 3-hydroxyflavone in the presence of a copper(II) catalyst, dioxygen, and N,N'-dimethylformamide to oxidation products as well as two previously unreported solvent-derived products is seen. The two solvent-derived products were characterized, and their crystal structures were determined.

UVA-visible photo-excitation of guanine radical cations produces sugar radicals in DNA and model structures.

This work presents evidence that photo-excitation of guanine radical cations results in high yields of deoxyribose sugar radicals in DNA, guanine deoxyribonucleosides and deoxyribonucleotides. In dsDNA at low temperatures, formation of C1'* is observed from photo-excitation of G*+ in the 310-480 nm range with no C1'* formation observed > or =520 nm. Illumination of guanine radical cations in 2'dG, 3'-dGMP and 5'-dGMP in aqueous LiCl glasses at 143 K is found to result in remarkably high yields (approximately 85-95%) of sugar radicals, namely C1'*, C3'* and C5'*. The amount of each of the sugar radicals formed varies dramatically with compound structure and temperature of illumination. Radical assignments were confirmed using selective deuteration at C5' or C3' in 2'-dG and at C8 in all the guanine nucleosides/tides. Studies of the effect of temperature, pH, and wavelength of excitation provide important information about the mechanism of formation of these sugar radicals. Time-dependent density functional theory calculations verify that specific excited states in G*+ show considerable hole delocalization into the sugar structure, in accord with our proposed mechanism of action, namely deprotonation from the sugar moiety of the excited molecular radical cation.

Solid-state structures and magnetic properties of halide-bridged, face-to-face bis-nickel(II)-macrocyclic ligand complexes: ligand-mediated interchanges of electronic configuration.

Dramatic differences are found between the ambient and 100 K X-ray structures of [L(2)Ni2Br2](ClO4)2 (L(2) = alpha,alpha'-bis{(5,7-dimethyl-1,4,8,11-tetraazacyclotetradeca-6-yl)-o-xylene), in which the bromide-bridged, bimetallic, macrocyclic ligand complexes of nickel(II) are held face-to-face and in which each bimetallic complex has a net triplet spin multiplicity. The ambient structure of this complex consists of very highly ordered, infinite chains of alternating R and S isomers in which the identical Ni(II) coordination spheres are near to the average expected for the high- and low-spin Ni(II) coordination sites, and there is appreciable stereochemical strain in the linkage of the macrocyclic ligands to the phenyl ring. In contrast, every other dinickel complex of the 100 K structure is displaced about 40 pm along the infinite chains to form tetrameric repeat units (pairs of dinickel complexes), in which each dinickel complex has well-defined high-spin and low-spin Ni(II) coordination sites; the high-spin sites are adjacent in the tetramers, and the stereochemical strain in the linkage to the phenyl spacer is relaxed. The molecular magnetic moments and structural contrasts are similar for the 100 K structure and the previously reported ambient structure of [L(2)Ni2Br3](ClO4) complex for which the molecular magnetic moments also correspond to a single triplet state per complex. The halide-bridged, monochloro- and monobromo dinickel complexes also have triplet spin multiplicity, and they crystallize with a coordinated perchlorate completing the axial coordination of the high-spin Ni(II) site, while the other Ni(II) site of these halide-bridged complexes has equatorial Ni-N bond lengths typical of low-spin Ni(II) coordination. The bridging halide is sandwiched between the face-to-face macrocyclic ligand Ni(II) moieties and slightly off the Ni-Ni axis in all of the complexes. The temperature dependence of the magnetic moments of the series of complexes indicates that their singlet-triplet energy gaps are small, with zero point energy differences that are generally less than 10(3) cm(-1). The very weak metal-metal electronic coupling, the triplet state spin multiplicity of each dinickel complex, and the averaged high-spin/low-spin coordination environments of the ambient structure implicate a vibronic mechanism for the electronic configurational exchange in the dibromo and tribromo complexes. The single molecular vibrational mode that correlates with the configurational exchange in these complexes includes the concerted motion of the bridging bromide between the Ni(II) centers. Activation of this vibrational mode is sufficient to effect the configurational exchange. These complexes present especially clear examples of the effects of the coupling of nuclear vibrational motions to the interchange of electronic configuration between two different centers.