Arene oxides aromatic hydrocarbons

The most striking thing about arene oxides is their involvement in biological processes. Enzymes in the liver oxidize aromatic hydrocarbons to arene oxides, which then react with biological nucleophiles to give compounds used in subsequent reactions or to aid elimination of the arene oxide from the body. Some arene oxides, especially those from polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, are carcinogenic and react with nitrogen nucleophiles of DNA to induce mutations (Section 11.7). 

Dihydro-9,10-epoxyphenanthrene and related arene oxides are of considerable interest as carcinogens formed by polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in vivo.45 Phenanthrene oxide does not isomerize to the corresponding dibenzoxepin under thermal conditions. Photolysis of... 

It is sometimes assumed that every phenol metabolite indicates the formation of an arene oxide intermediate however, as discussed above, arene oxides are not obligate intermediates in the formation of phenols. This is an important distinction because arene oxides and other epoxides are reactive intermediates that can be toxic or even carcinogenic, e.g., epoxides of some polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. The question of whether their formation is obligatory is significant for drug design and development and has implications for toxicity as discussed in Chapter 8. 

In contrast, the primary role of microsomal EH appears to be in detoxifying the metabolically produced epoxides of drugs, e.g., carbamazepine epoxide, the arene oxide of diphenylhydantoin, and the epoxides of environmental contaminants like the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, e.g., benzo[a]pyrene. 

Among oxo-metals, osmium tetroxide is a particularly intriguing oxidant since it is known to oxidize various types of alkenes rapidly, but it nonetheless eschews the electron-rich aromatic hydrocarbons like benzene and naphthalene (Criegee et al., 1942 Schroder, 1980). Such selectivities do not obviously derive from differences in the donor properties of the hydrocarbons since the oxidation (ionization) potentials of arenes are actually less than those of alkenes. The similarity in the electronic interactions of arenes and alkenes towards osmium tetroxide relates to the series of electron donor-acceptor (EDA) complexes formed with both types of hydrocarbons (26). Common to both arenes and alkenes is the immediate appearance of similar colours that are diagnostic of charge-transfer absorp-... 

Jerina, D. M., Dansette, P. M., Lu, A. Y. H., and Levin, W. Hepatic microsomal epoxide hydrase a sensitive radiometric assay for hydration of arene oxides of carcinogenic aromatic hydrocarbons. Mol. Pharmacol. (1977) 13 342-351. 

Another isomerization reaction of arene oxides is equilibrium with oxe-pins [5], Here, the fused six-membered carbocycle and three-membered oxirane merge to form a seven-membered heterocycle, as shown in Fig. 10.2. An extensive computational and experimental study involving 75 epoxides of monocyclic, bicyclic, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons has revealed much information on the structural factors that influence the reaction rate and position of equilibrium [11], Thus, some compounds were stable as oxepins (e.g., naphthalene 2,3-oxide), while others exhibited a balanced equilibrium... 

The microsomal epoxide hydrolases (microsomal EH, mEH), predominantly found in the endoplasmic reticulum, regio- and stereoselectively catalyze the hydration of both alkene and arene oxides, including oxides of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. These enzymes have been purified to homogeneity from various species and tissues [22] [41 - 46], The human microsomal EH contains 455 amino acids (Mr 52.5 kDa) and is the product of the EPHX1 gene [47] (also known as HYL1 [48]). 

Together with glutathione conjugation, hydration is a major pathway in the inactivation and detoxification of arene oxides. Exceptions to this rule will be treated when discussing polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. Arene oxides are good substrates for microsomal EH, as evidenced in Table 10.1, where hydration of selected arene oxides, alkene oxides, and cy-cloalkene oxides by purified rat liver epoxide hydrolase is compared. The hy- ... 

The metabolism of 1,4-dichlorobenzene could involve the formation of an arene oxide intermediate, as has been proposed to occur in the oxidative metabolism of many halogenated aromatic hydrocarbons (Jerina and Daly 1974). 1,4-Dichlorobenzene has not been shown to be mutagenic in microbial or mammalian systems, a result that may be viewed as further suggestive evidence that an arene oxide intermediate is not involved in its metabolism. 

The delocalised radical formed by protonation of the radical-anion is more easily reduced than the starting arene. For some polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, the redox potential for this radical species can be determined using a cyclic voltammetry technique [10]. Reduction in dimethylformamide is carried out to the potential for formation of the dianion. The dianion undergoes rapid monoprotonation and on the reverse sweep at a fast scan rate, oxidation of the monoanion to the radical can be observed. The radical intermediate from pyrene has E° = -1.15 V vs. see in dimethylformamide compared to E° = -2.13 V vs. see for pyrene,... 

Polycychc aromatic hydrocarbons were epoxidized by DMD to arene oxides by Jeyaraman and Murray. ... 

In the aromatic-ring-annelated oxepin series the resonance effect is clearly the major influence dominating other factors (e.g. temperature, solvent, etc.) which affect the oxepin-arene oxide equilibrium. It is however very difficult to exclude the presence of a minor (spectroscopically undetectable) contribution from either tautomer at equilibrium. This problem has been investigated by the synthesis of chiral arene oxides from polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). The presence of oxepin (26) in equilibrium with naphthalene 1,2-oxide has been excluded by the synthesis of the optically active arene oxide which showed no evidence of racemization in solution at ambient temperature via the achiral oxepin (26) <79JCS(Pl)2437>. 

The metabolism of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons by enzymes present in animal livers involves epoxidation as the initial step. As indicated in Section 5.17.1.2, evidence is available to suggest that oxepins (29)-(34) are present as minor contributors to the arene oxide-oxepin equilibrium and thus may legitimately be considered as metabolic intermediates. 

Oxidation to Arene Oxides and Arene Diols. Arene oxides and arene diols have been widely studied particularly concerning the metabolism of polycyclic aromatic compounds and their implication as intermediates responsible for the carcinogenicity and mutagenicity of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.803,804... 

Aromatic hydrocarbons are mainly hydroxylated to phenolic products. Complex (12) hydroxylated benzene in MeCN at 20 °C into phenol in ca. 55% yield, and no isotope effect was found for this reaction. Hydroxylation of toluene mainly occurs at the ring positions, with minor amounts of benzylic oxidation products. Hydroxylation of 4-deuterotoluene by (12) occurred with 70% retention and migration of deuterium in the formation of p-cresol. This high NIH shift value is in the same range as that found for liver microsome cytochrome P-450 hydroxylase, and suggests the transient formation of arene oxide intermediates. 

Epoxidation of aromatic hydrocarbons is an important method for the preparation of arene oxides. m-Chloroperbenzoic acid (MCPBA) is used in a two-phase system that involves treating the hydrocarbon with a large excess ( 10-fold) of MCPBA in methylene chloride-aqueous sodium bicarbonate at room temperature. The yields are moderate (10-60%). Because the arene oxides are sensitive to acids, the presence of sodium bicarbonate buffer is necessary. A number of K-region (see Section VII for a definition) epoxides like phenanthrene 9,10-oxide (1, 59%), 9,10-dimethylphenanthrene 9,10-oxide (2,40%), 9-phenylphenanthrene 9,10-epoxide (3,50%), pyrene 4,5-oxide (4, 14%), and chrysene 4,5-oxide (5,9%) have been prepared by this method.9... 

Another synthetic method involves treating the parent aromatic hydrocarbon with sodium hypochlorite in water-chloroform, using phase transfer agents like tetrabutylammonium hydrogen sulfate or benzyltrimethylam-monium chloride.15 The epoxides are formed in high yields. The rate is pH dependent, and epoxide formation is most facile at pH 8-9. Many K-region arene oxides like 1,165, acenaphthylene 1,2-oxide (19), 1-azaphenanthrene 5,6-oxide (20), 4-azaphenanthrene 5,6-oxide (21), 1,10-phenanthroIine 5,6-oxide... 

The cis- 1,2-glycols, obtainable from the parent aromatic hydrocarbon by osmium tetroxide hydroxylation, can be converted to the corresponding trans-1,2-glycols by oxidation-reduction, using a mixture of dimethyl sulfoxide, sulfur trioxide, and pyridine, followed by lithium aluminum hydride reduction. The trans- 1,2-glycols can be dehydrated to arene oxides using DMF-DMA as mentioned above. Benzo[a]pyrene 4,5-oxide (28) and 7,12-dimethylbenz[a]anthracene 5,6-oxide (30) have been prepared by this method in 68 and 80% yields, respectively.18... 

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