Dioxetanes oxidation

Sauter, M. and Adam, W. (1995) Oxyfunctionalization of benzofurans by singlet oxygen, dioxiranes, and peracids chemical model studies for the DNA-damaging activity of benzofuran dioxetanes (oxidation) and epoxides (alkylation). Accounts of Chemical Research, 28 (7), 289-298. 

Subsequent studies (63,64) suggested that the nature of the chemical activation process was a one-electron oxidation of the fluorescer by (27) followed by decomposition of the dioxetanedione radical anion to a carbon dioxide radical anion. Back electron transfer to the radical cation of the fluorescer produced the excited state which emitted the luminescence characteristic of the fluorescent state of the emitter. The chemical activation mechanism was patterned after the CIEEL mechanism proposed for dioxetanones and dioxetanes discussed earher (65). Additional support for the CIEEL mechanism, was furnished by demonstration (66) that a linear correlation existed between the singlet excitation energy of the fluorescer and the chemiluminescence intensity which had been shown earher with dimethyl dioxetanone (67). 

The first detailed investigation of the reaction kinetics was reported in 1984 (68). The reaction of bis(pentachlorophenyl) oxalate [1173-75-7] (PCPO) and hydrogen peroxide cataly2ed by sodium saUcylate in chlorobenzene produced chemiluminescence from diphenylamine (DPA) as a simple time—intensity profile from which a chemiluminescence decay rate constant could be determined. These studies demonstrated a first-order dependence for both PCPO and hydrogen peroxide and a zero-order dependence on the fluorescer in accord with an earher study (9). Furthermore, the chemiluminescence quantum efficiencies Qc) are dependent on the ease of oxidation of the fluorescer, an unstable, short-hved intermediate (r = 0.5 /is) serves as the chemical activator, and such a short-hved species "is not consistent with attempts to identify a relatively stable dioxetane as the intermediate" (68). 

Enaminoketones undergo a clean oxidative cleavage to a-diketones, presumably through a dioxetane intermediate.180... 

The early stages in the oxidation of disilene have been treated theoretically for the parent molecule H2Si=SiH2.95 The first intermediate along the reaction coordinate is the open-chain trans diradical 64 (Scheme 16), which is in equilibrium with a gauche form, 65. From the latter, closure to the 1,2-dioxetane 66 would probably be rapid. The open-chain form can react with a second molecule of disilene to give the diradical 67, which could collapse into two molecules of the disilaoxirane 68. If similar steps are followed in the oxidation of 3, they must be quite rapid, since the relative configuration at the silicon atoms is maintained in both products, 59a and 61a.93... 

Formed by fluorine oxidation of the dilithium salt of hexafluoroacetone hydrate, it is unstable and explosive. The chloropentafluoro homologue is similar. Proponents of their use as reagents claim that the dimethyl and methyltrifluoromethyl analogues are not explosive this seems improbable, especially since the less stressed lower dioxetanes (homodioxiranes) are all dangerous. 

Other speculative mechanisms [26] may be proposed based on the presence of singlet oxygen and C = C in oxidized polymer. The reaction of the latter may lead to the transient formation of dioxetanes, the decomposition of which has an even higher quantum yield of luminescence than CIEEL mechanism [27],... 

In heterogeneous domains of oxidized PP, terminal dioxetane groups may be formed from 1,3-peroxyl hydroperoxides radicals in the sequence of reactions depicted in Scheme 7. 

The oxidative ring cleavage undergone by purpurogallin quinone 14 is assumed to provide the excitation energy necessary to cause the tropolones to act as fluorescers. Perhaps dioxetane derivatives are key intermediates, as in the anthracene derivatives discussed in (IV. D.). 

The bioluminescence of the American firefly (Photinus pyralis) is certainly the best-known bioluminescent reaction, thanks to the work of Me Elroy and coworkers and E. H. White and his group (for references see P, p. 138, 6,168,169)) The substrate of this enzyme-catalyzed chemiluminescent oxidation is the benzothiazole derivative 107 (Photinus luciferin) which yields the ketone 109 in a decarboxylation reaction. The concept of a concerted cleavage of a dioxetane derivative has been applied to this reaction 170> (see Section II. C.). Recent experiments with 18C>2 have challenged this concept, as no 180-containing carbon dioxide was detected from the oxidation of 107 171>. 

As mentioned in the introductory section, other bioluminescent systems will not be discussed in detail in this review. However, the dioxetane approach has been validated in the bioluminescence mechanism of Cypridina hilgendorfii, Latia, and bacteria 90,178,179,180). As in Cypridina luciferin 119, a Schiff s base grouping is apparently involved in the bioluminescent oxidation the same may be true of Latia nerit-oides 120. 

Certain Schiff bases, i.e. 122, were synthesized as model compounds for Latia luciferin. This compound exhibits strong blue chemiluminescence ( max 385 nm) on oxidation with oxygen in DMSO/potassium t.-butylate, the main products being acetone and 2-formamido pyridine 124. The mechanism suggested by Me Capra and Wrigglesworth includes the concerted bond cleavage of a dioxetane derivative 123. 

As mentioned earlier (see p. 122) the previously postulated dioxetane intermediate in firefly bioluminescence has been challenged as no 180 is in-corporated in the carbon dioxide released during oxidation of firefly luciferin with 18C>2. In view of the crucial significance of the 180. experiments De Luca and Dempsey 202> rigorously examined the reliability of their tracer method. They conclude from their experiments that all available evidence is in favour of a linear, not a cyclic peroxide intermediate — in contrast to Cypridina bioluminescence where at least part of the reaction proceeds via a cyclic peroxide (dioxetane) as concluded from the incorporation of 180 into the carbon dioxide evolved 202,203). However, the dioxetane intermediate is not absolutely excluded as there is the possibility of a non-chemiluminescent hydrolytic cleavage of the four-membered ring 204>. 

The brilliant emissions resulting from the oxidation of certain oxalic acid derivatives, especially in the presence of a variety of fluorophores, are the bases of the most active area of current interest in CL. This group of chemiluminescent reactions has been classified as peroxyoxalate chemistry because it derives from the excited states formed by the decomposition of cyclic peroxides of oxalic acid derivatives called dioxetanes, dioxetanones, and dioxetanediones. 

The most commonplace substrates in energy-transfer analytical CL methods are aryl oxalates such as to(2,4,6-trichlorophenyl) oxalate (TCPO) and z s(2,4-dinitrophenyl) oxalate (DNPO), which are oxidized with hydrogen peroxide [7, 8], In this process, which is known as the peroxyoxalate-CL (PO-CL) reaction, the fluorophore analyte is a native or derivatized fluorescent organic substance such as a polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbon, dansylamino acid, carboxylic acid, phenothiazine, or catecholamines, for example. The mechanism of the reaction between aryl oxalates and hydrogen peroxide is believed to generate dioxetane-l,2-dione, which may itself decompose to yield an excited-state species. Its interaction with a suitable fluorophore results in energy transfer to the fluorophore, and the subsequent emission can be exploited to develop analytical CL-based determinations. 

Peroxyoxalate-based CL reactions are related to the hydrogen peroxide oxidation of an aryl oxalate ester, producing a high-energy intermediate. This intermediate (l,2-dioxetane-3,4-dione) forms, in the presence of a fluorophore, a charge transfer complex that dissociates to yield an excited-state fluorophore, which then emits. This type of CL reaction can be used to determine hydrogen peroxide or fluorophores including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, dansyl- or fluores-camine-labeled analytes, or, indirectly, nonfluorescers that are easily oxidized (e.g., sulfite, nitrite) and quench the emission. The most widely used oxalate... 

The reaction mechanism for the aerobic oxidation of the pz to seco-pz can be attributed to a formal 2 + 2 cycloaddition of singlet oxygen to one of the pyrrole rings, followed by cleavage (retro 2 + 2) of the dioxetane intermediate to produce the corresponding seco-pz (160). This mechanism is shown in Scheme 29 for an unsymmetrical bis(dimethylamino)pz. Further photophysical studies show that the full reaction mechanism of the photoperoxidation involves attack on the reactant by singlet oxygen that has been sensitized by the triplet state of the product, 159. As a consequence, the kinetics of the process is shown to be autocatalytic where the reactant is removed at a rate that increases with the amount of product formed. 

The intermediate dioxetane 36 is probably formed via ring opening and subsequent Baeyer-Villiger-type oxidation [2]. 

Lipid hydroperoxides are also generated in singlet molecular oxygen mediated oxidations and by the action of enzymes such as lipoxygenases and cyclooxygenases. Chemiluminescence (CL) arising from lipid peroxidation has been used as a sensitive detector of oxidative stress both in vitro and in vivo . Several authors have attributed ultra-weak CL associated with lipid peroxidation to the radiative deactivation of O2 and to triplet-excited carbonyls (63, 72) (equations 35 and 36) " . It has been proposed that the latter emitters arise from the thermolysis of dioxetane intermediates (61, 62) (equation 35), endoperoxide (73) (equation 37) and annihilation of aUtoxyl, as well as peroxyl radicals ... 

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