Chemi- and Bioluminescence Reactions of Coelenterazine

Coelenterazine emits chemiluminescence when dissolved in dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) or dimethylformamide (DMF) containing a trace amount of base. It also emits bioluminescence in aqueous media in the presence of a coelenterazine luciferase, such as Renilla luciferase or Oplophorus luciferase. In both cases, the luminescence reactions require molecular oxygen. The capability of coelenterazine to produce luminescence is attributed to the presence of the imida-zopyrazinone structure in the molecule. 

the 2-methyl derivative of the imidazopyrazinone (above) dissolved in DMSO spontaneously emits blue light (A.max 450 nm) in the presence of air (Goto, 1968), like the 2-benzyl derivative (Amax 475 nm), the 2-methyl-6(p-hydroxyphenyl) derivative (MCLA 7max 468 nm), and coelenterazine (Amax 465 nm) under similar conditions (Fig. 5.3). The comparison of the luminescence spectra of these compounds shows that the 6-position substituent has little influence on the luminescence spectrum of coelenterazine derivatives, despite the apparent conjugation between the 6-phenyl ring and the imidazopyrazinone ring in the structures of MCLA and coelenterazine. 

Based on the available knowledge on the chemiluminescence and bioluminescence reactions of various luciferins (firefly, Cypridina, Oplophorus and Renilla), the luminescence reaction of coelenterazine is considered to proceed as shown in Fig. 5.4 (p. 171). The reaction is initiated by the binding of O2 at the 2-position of the coelenterazine molecule, giving a peroxide. The peroxide then forms a four-membered ring dioxetanone, as in the case of the luminescence 

Formation of the excited amide anion of coelenteramide as the light emitter in the luminescence reaction of coelenterazine was experimentally supported by the experiment of Hori et al. (1973a), in which 2-methyl analogue of coelenterazine was used as the model compound. The summary of their work is as follows In the presence of oxygen, la and lb in DMF emitted bright blue luminescence (Amax 480 and 470 nm, respectively), and produced the reaction products Ha and lib, respectively. The fluorescence emission of lib (Amax 470 nm) and that of the spent chemiluminescence reaction of lb, both in DMF plus a base (potassium r-butoxide), were identical to the chemiluminescence emission of lb in DMF. The fluorescence emission of Ha 

The decomposition of dioxetanone may involve the chemically initiated electron-exchange luminescence (CIEEL) mechanism (McCapra, 1977 Koo et al., 1978). In the CIEEL mechanism, the singlet excited state amide anion is formed upon charge annihilation of the two radical species that are produced by the decomposition of dioxetanone. According to McCapra (1997), however, the mechanism has various shortfalls if it is applied to bioluminescence reactions. It should also be pointed out that the amide anion of coelenteramide can take various resonance structures involving the N-C-N-C-O linkage, even if it is not specifically mentioned. 

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