Detection quinone formation

The mechanism by which protocatechuic acid is enzymically split has been studied by Stanier and Ingraham (696), who attempted to detect quinone formation by using aniline as a trapping agent, in the... 

Kinetics of the Q Qb QaQb reaction. The kinetics of electron transfer from to Qg following a single laser flash were determined in chromatophores by following the photoinduced electrochromic shift of the L-side bacteriopheophytin, observed at 760 nm [19]. Figure 2 shows these transients measured in chromatophores of the wild-type and revertant strains, corrected for the instantaneous rise and slow decay of P" " (Tiede and Hanson, this volume). The transients detected following formation of the initial P Qa state in the double mutant differed dramatically from those shown in Figure 2. TTie relatively slow rise and decay detected in the double mutant suggested forward and back rate constants of about 110 s and 50 s" respectively, for the Q Qb Qa b equilibrium. It is difficult to be certain that the transients measured in the double mutant are due to electron transfer between the quinones because the time scale of these transients is comparable to that for protein relaxation events associated with the P Q state (Tiede and Hanson, this volume), and the kinetics were not sensitive to inhibitors such as < -phenanthroline or atrazine. However, the loss of sensitivity to inhibitors may be a consequence of the amino acid replacements in the Qg site. A lower sensitivity to inhibitors was also seen for some of the revertant strains. In addition, the transient spectra associated with these kinetics were consistent with to Qg electron transfer. 

For instance morphine (1) can be detected by the formation of various quinones via apomorphine as intermediate [4, 12, 13]. All morphines with an OH group in the 6-position and a double bond (codeine, ethylmorphine etc.) first undergo an acid-catalyzed rearrangement according to the following scheme [12] ... 

Iodine addition to the ter- [13] tiary nitrogen of the opium alkaloids and to the OCH3 group of the brucine with formation of an o-quinone derivative, probably ring opening in the case of phenylbutazone, ketazone and trimethazone detection by IR... 

Wan s group showed that the observed photodehydration of hydroxybenzyl alcohols can be extended to several other chromophores as well, giving rise to many new types of quinone methides. For example, he has shown that a variety of biphenyl quinone methides can be photogenerated from the appropriate biaryl hydroxybenzyl alcohols.32,33 Isomeric biaryls 27-29 each have the benzylic moiety on the ring that does not contain the phenol, yet all were found to efficiently give rise to the corresponding quinone methides (30-32) (Eqs. [1.4—1.6]). Quinone methides 31 and 32 were detected via LFP and showed absorption maxima of 570 and 525 nm, respectively (in 100% water, Table 1.2). Quinone methide 30 was too short lived to be detected by LFP, but was implicated by formation of product 33 that would arise from electrocyclic ring closure of 30 (Eq. 1.4). 

Nirofuran compounds are also effective anti-parasitic drugs. Nifurtimox, for example, is used to treat Chagas disease (caused by Trypansoma cruzi) but has side effects. In exploring the use of alternatives to nifurtimox, Olea-Azar et al. have examined radical formation from two analogues. Radical anions were observed upon electrolytic reduction of the compounds and a nitroxide, believed to be the glutathionyl radical-adduct, was detected upon electrolysis in the presence of DMPO and GSH. Radical adducts were also detected upon incubation of one of the analogues with microsomes from T. Cruzi.m A novel endo-peroxide reductase has been isolated from T. Cruzi. Whereas the flavoenzyme was found to reduce quinones to their semiquinones, nifurtimox underwent a direct, two-electron reduction, without the formation of radicals.129... 

Cumene oxidized relatively slowly, at about 1/13 the rate of p-xylene. This was not caused by the formation of phenol, as might be expected by an acid-catalyzed rearrangement of cumene hydroperoxide. No phenol or product clearly derived from phenol, as by radical attack or by oxidation to a quinone, was detected at any time in the reaction mixture. The two major products were a-methylstyrene and 2-phenylpropylene oxide their concentrations increased with time. The group at Shell also observed the formation of a-methylstyrene and 2-phenylpropylene oxide among the products of cumene oxidation in butyric acid at 140°C. with cobalt and manganese catalysts (30). 

Attempts to isolate 2,3-dimethoxyfuran (156) have, as yet, been fruitless (79JCS(P1)1893), but it may be generated in situ and trapped with the propiolate (155) the initial adducts (157) are unstable under the acidic conditions and yield the biphenyls (158) and (159) (Scheme 67). 2,5-Bis(trimethylsilyloxy)furans, readily available from succinic anhydrides in one step, are also more reactive than furan in Diels-Alder reactions (80TL3423). They readily undergo reaction with both DMAD and ethyl acrylate. Thus at 50 °C in carbon tetrachloride the furan (160) with DMAD followed by detrimethylsilylation gave only the quinone (163). At 80 °C, however, the hydroquinone (164) is the major product. Both the intermediates (161) and (162) may be detected by ]H NMR spectroscopy. The formation... 

Wardman P, Dennis MF, Everett SA, Patel KB, Stratford MRL, Tracy M (2003) Radicals from one-electron reduction of nitro compounds, aromatic N-oxides and quinones the kinetic basis for hypoxia-selective, bioreductive drugs. Biochem Soc Symp 61 171-194 Warman JM, de Haas MP, Hummel A, van Lith D, VerberneJB, Loman H (1980) A pulse radiolysis conductivity study of frozen aqueous solutions of DNA. Int J Radiat Biol 38 459-459 Warman JM, de Haas MP, Rupprecht A (1996) DNA a molecular wire Chem Phys Lett 249 319-322 Warters RL, Lyons BW (1992) Variation in radiation-induced formation of DNA double-strand breaks as a function of chromatin structure. Radiat Res 130 309-318 Warters RL, Hofer KG, Harris CR, Smith JM (1977) Radionuclide toxicity in cultured mammalian cells Elucidation of the primary site of radiation damage. Curr Top Radiat Res Q 12 389-407 Weiland B, Huttermann J (1998) Free radicals from X-irradiated, dry and hydrated lyophilized DNA as studies by electron spin resonance spectroscopy analysis of spectral components between 77 K and room temperature. Int J Radiat Biol 74 341-358 Weinfeld M, Soderlind K-JM (1991) 32P-Postlabeling detection of radiation-induced DNA-damage identification and estimation of thymine glycols and phosphoglycolate termini. Biochemistry 30 1091-1097... 

Figure 16.7. Scheme of charge-transfer reaction mechanism between s-triazine molecule and humic quinone structure, showing formation of SFR that can be detected by EPR measurement (Senesi, 1990a). 

A chromophore such as the quinone, ruthenium complex, C(,o. or viologen is covalently introduced at the terminal of the heme-propionate side chain(s) (94-97). For example, Hamachi et al. (98) appended Ru2+(bpy)3 (bpy = 2,2 -bipyridine) at one of the terminals of the heme-propionate (Fig. 26) and monitored the photoinduced electron transfer from the photoexcited ruthenium complex to the heme-iron in the protein. The reduction of the heme-iron was monitored by the formation of oxyferrous species under aerobic conditions, while the Ru(III) complex was reductively quenched by EDTA as a sacrificial reagent. In addition, when [Co(NH3)5Cl]2+ was added to the system instead of EDTA, the photoexcited ruthenium complex was oxidatively quenched by the cobalt complex, and then one electron is abstracted from the heme-iron(III) to reduce the ruthenium complex (99). As a result, the oxoferryl species was detected due to the deprotonation of the hydroxyiron(III)-porphyrin cation radical species. An extension of this work was the assembly of the Ru2+(bpy)3 complex with a catenane moiety including the cyclic bis(viologen)(100). In the supramolecular system, vectorial electron transfer was achieved with a long-lived charge separation species (f > 2 ms). 

As mentioned above, the natural photosynthetic reaction center uses chlorophyll derivatives rather than porphyrins in the initial electron transfer events. Synthetic triads have also been prepared from chlorophylls [62]. For example, triad 11 features both a naphthoquinone-type acceptor and a carotenoid donor linked to a pyropheophorbide (Phe) which was prepared from chlorophyll-a. The fluorescence of the pyropheophorbide moiety was strongly quenched in dichloromethane, and this suggested rapid electron transfer to the attached quinone to yield C-Phe+-Q r. Transient absorption studies at 207 K detected the carotenoid radical cation (kmax = 990 nm) and thus confirmed formation of a C+-Phe-QT charge separated state analogous to those formed in the porphyrin-based triads. This state had a lifetime of 120 ns, and was formed with a quantum yield of about 0.04. The lifetime was 50 ns at ambient temperatures, and this precluded accurate determination of the quantum yield at this temperature with the apparatus employed. 

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