Cobalt complexes peptides

Complexes of other amino acids or their derivatives with cobalt(II) that have been investigated include dipeptides (120) these complexes have long been known to absorb dioxygen. For example, the mononuclear cobalt(II) complex of N, N,N", N "-diglycylethylenediaminete-traacetic acid (121) absorbs one mole of dioxygen per two moles of complex. This system has been proposed as a simple, convenient model system for the study of dioxygen complexes of cobalt(II) peptides in solution because of its relatively slow conversion to the irreversibly formed cobalt(III) dioxygen complex. 

The rate of hydrolysis of peptides by cobalt(III) complexes is 10" times faster than hydrolysis with no metal present. " Unlike the hydrolysis of amino acid esters, where the rate of hydrolysis is dependent on how the ester is bonded to the cobalt(III) complex, peptides are hydrolyzed equally if they are bound to the cobalt(III) complex in a monodentate fashion (throngh the carbonyl oxygen) or in a bidentate fashion (throngh the amino nitrogen and carbonyl oxygen). 

The active site of methionine aminopeptidase contains a binuclear cobalt complex that is required for activity, although a number of divalent metal ions support turnover to varying degrees. X-ray crystallographic studies on the enzyme in complexes with transition state analogs suggests that the binuclear metal cluster serves to stabilize the tetrahedral intermediate in peptide hydrolysis. ... 

Co(in) complexes promote similar reactions. When four of the six octahedral positions are occupied by amine ligands and two cis positions are available for further reactions, it is possible to study not only the hydrolysis itself, but the steric preferences of the complexes. In general, these compounds catalyze the hydrolysis of N-terminal amino acids from peptides, and the amino acid that is removed remains as part of the complex. The reactions apparently proceed by coordination of the free amine to cobalt, followed either by coordination of the carbonyl to cobalt and subsequent reaction with OH or H2O from the solution (path A in Figure 12-15) or reaction of the carbonyl carbon with coordinated hydroxide (path B). As a result, the N-terminal amino acid is removed from the peptide and left as part of the cobalt complex in which the a-amino nitrogen and the carbonyl oxygen are bonded to the cobalt. Esters and amides are also hydrolyzed by the same mechanism, with the relative importance of the two pathways dependent on the specific compoimds used. 

The cobalt(III)-promoted hydrolysis of amino acid esters and peptides and the application of cobalt(III) complexes to the synthesis of small peptides has been reviewed. The ability of a metal ion to cooperate with various inter- and intramolecular acids and bases and promote amide hydrolysis has been investigated. The cobalt complexes (5-10) were prepared as potential substrates for amide hydrolysis. Phenolic and carboxylic functional groups were placed within the vicinity of cobalt(III) chelated amides, to provide models for zinc-containing peptidases such as carboxypeplidase A. The incorporation of a phenol group as in (5) and (6) enhanced the rate of base hydrolysis of the amide function by a factor of 10 -fold above that due to the metal alone. Intramolecular catalysis by the carboxyl group in the complexes (5) and (8) was not observed. The results are interpreted in terms of a bifunctional mechanism for tetrahedral intermediate breakdown by phenol. 

Dicobalt-hexacarbonyl-alkyne complexes are another class of organometallic compounds with good stability imder physiological conditions. Complexation of the alkyne proceeds smoothly under mild conditions by reaction with Co2(CO)g imder loss of two molecules of CO [79]. The applicability of this reaction to peptides was shown by Jaouen and coworkers by the reaction of Co2(CO)g with protected 2-amino-4-hexynoic acid (Aha) and dipeptides thereof (Boc-Phe-Aha-OMe and Ac-Aha-Phe-OMe) [80]. Similarly, Cp2Mo2(CO)4 complexes of these alkynes were obtained. It has been shown that the C-terminal Met" in SP can be replaced by isostere analogs without appreciable loss of physiological activity. The same is true for the C-terminal Met in neurokinin A (NKA), another tachykinin peptide hormone (Scheme 5.16). Alkyne analogs of SP and NKA were obtained by replacement of these methionines with norleucine acetylene residues. Alternatively, Lys in NKA may be replaced by an alkyne derivative which can also be complexed to Co2(CO)g as shown in Scheme 5.16. Complexation with Co2(CO)g proceeds smoothly in about 50% yield for all derivatives [81]. After HPLC purification, these cobalt alkyne peptides were comprehensively characterized spectroscopically. Most notably, they exhibit typical IR absorptions for the metal carbonyl moieties between 2000-2100 cm [3]. Recently, there is renewed interest in Co2(CO)5(alkyne) complexes because of their cytotoxicity [82-84]. 

In biological systems, vitamin Bjj consists of an apoenzyme-coenzyme complex. The coenzyme is a cobalt complex that can be isolated by denaturation of the peptide. The chemistry and biochemistry of coenzyme are the subject of a several compilations and reviews. ... 

Cobalt(ll) forms many complexes which can exhibit oxygen-carrying properties (2,19). Reversible oxygen uptake in solutions of cobalt (ll)-histidine (33-36), and cobalt (II) in the presence of a-amino acids and peptides (37—39) has been known for some time. The reaction of cobalt (II) with dipeptide was first observed in enzymic studies involving glycyl-glycine (40). 

Coordinated a-amino amides can be formed by the nucleophilic addition of amines to coordinated a-amino esters (see Chapter 7.4). This reaction forms the basis of attempts to use suitable metal coordination to promote peptide synthesis. Again, studies have been carried out using coordination of several metals and an interesting early example is amide formation on an amino acid imine complex of magnesium (equation 75).355 However, cobalt(III) complexes, because of their high kinetic stability, have received most serious investigation. These studies have been closely associated with those previously described for the hydrolysis of esters, amides and peptides. Whereas hydrolysis is observed when reactions are carried out in water, reactions in dimethyl-formamide or dimethyl sulfoxide result in peptide bond formation. These comparative results are illustrated in Scheme 91.356-358 The key intermediate (126) has also been reacted with dipeptide... 

A three-site system for peptide synthesis around a cobalt(III) complex has been studied. Instead of a quadridentate ligand as used in the above experiments, Wu and Busch chose the tridentate ligand diethylenetriamine. The formation of dipeptide and tetrapeptide complexes is shown in Scheme 92.360 The ester carbonyl group in the 0-bonded amide intermediate (127) cannot be activated by coordination because it cannot reach the metal ion. Isomerization to the jV-bonded amide complex (128) occurs with base and enables coordination and therefore activation of the ester carbonyl group. 

The copper(II)-promoted hydrolysis of glycylglycine has been studied in some detail.120 Copper(II) ions catalyze the hydrolysis of glycylglycine in the pH range 3.5 to 6 at 85 °C.120 The pH rate profile has a maximum at pH 4.2, consistent with the view that the catalytically active species in the reaction is the carbonyl-bonded complex. The decrease in rate at higher pH is associated with the formation of a catalytically inactive complex produced by ionization of the peptide hydrogen atom. This view has subsequently been confirmed by other workers,121 in conjunction with an IR investigation of the structures of the copper(II) and zinc(II) complexes in D20 solution.122 Catalysis by cobalt(II),123 and zinc(II), nickel(II) and manganese(II) has also been studied.124-126... 

The above studies indicate that metal ions catalyze the hydrolysis of amides and peptides at pH values where the carbonyl-bonded species (25) is present. At higher pH values where deprotonated complexes (26) can be formed the hydrolysis is inhibited. These conclusions have been amply confirmed in subsequent studies involving inert cobalt(III) complexes (Section 61.4.2.2.2). Zinc(II)-promoted amide ionization is uncommon, and the first example of such a reaction was only reported in 1981.103 Zinc(II) does not inhibit the hydrolysis of glycylglycine at high pH, and amide deprotonation does not appear to occur at quite high pH values. Presumably this is one important reason for the widespread occurrence of zinc(Il) in metallopeptidases. Other metal ions such as copper(II) would induce amide deprotonation at relatively low pH values leading to catalytically inactive complexes. 

Peptide bond formation using non-labile cobalt(III) complexes has now been developed to a useful synthetic level (Section 61.4.2.2.4), but few attempts have been made to use other metal centres. The formation of glycine peptide esters in the presence of copper(II) has been noted.133 Treatment of glycine esters with copper(II) (other metal ions can also be used) in a non-aqueous solvent at room temperature gave di-, tri- and tetra-glycine peptide esters. After carbobenzyloxyla-tion, the peptide esters were separated by column chromatography, and no evidence was obtained... 

The use of kinetically inert cobalt(III) complexes has led to important developments in our understanding of the metal ion-promoted hydrolysis of esters, amides and peptides. These complexes have been particularly useful in helping to define the mechanistic pathways available in reactions of this type. Work in this area has been the subject of a number of reviews.21-24 Although most of the initial work was connected with cobalt(III), investigations are now being extended to other kinetically inert metal centres such as Rhin, lrni and Ru111. 

A variety of N-O-chelated glycine amide and peptide complexes of the type [CoN4(GlyNR R2)]3+ have been prepared and their rates of base hydrolysis studied.169 The kinetics are consistent with Scheme 8. Attack of solvent hydroxide occurs at the carbonyl carbon of the chelated amide or peptide. Amide deprotonation gives an unreactive complex. Rate constants kOH are summarized in Table 16. Direct activation of the carbonyl group by cobalt(III) leads to rate accelerations of ca. 104-106-fold. More recent investigations160-161 have dealt with... 

Table 16 Rate Constants for the Base Hydrolysis of Ester, Amide and Peptide Bonds in Various Cobalt(III) Complexes (25 °C, / = 1.0 M)a...

The dependence of the principal components of the nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) chemical shift tensor of non-hydrogen nuclei in model dipeptides is investigated. It is observed that the principal axis system of the chemical shift tensors of the carbonyl carbon and the amide nitrogen are intimately linked to the amide plane. On the other hand, there is no clear relationship between the alpha carbon chemical shift tensor and the molecular framework. However, the projection of this tensor on the C-H vector reveals interesting trends that one may use in peptide secondary structure determination. Effects of hydrogen bonding on the chemical shift tensor will also be discussed. The dependence of the chemical shift on ionic distance has also been studied in Rb halides and mixed halides. Lastly, the presence of motion can have dramatic effects on the observed NMR chemical shift tensor as illustrated by a nitrosyl meso-tetraphenyl porphinato cobalt (III) complex. 

---