Nucleophilic imidazole ring groups

Displacement of a halogen atom of the imidazole ring of a tricyclic 5 6 5 angular system via nucleophilic attack at carbon has been used to incorporate amines, the trifluoromethyl group, or ethers as illustrated for the reaction of 69 with methoxide to give 70 (Equation 10) <2004BML1291>. However, the authors do not comment on the yields obtained in these reactions. 

A sulfonyl chloride group rapidly reacts with amines in the pH range of 9-10 to form stable sulfonamide bonds. Under these conditions, it also may react with tyrosine —OH groups, aliphatic alcohols, thiols, and histidine side chains. Conjugates of sulfonyl chlorides with sulf-hydryls and imidazole rings are unstable, while esters formed with alcohols are subject to nucleophilic displacement (Nillson and Mosbach, 1984 Scouten and Van der Tweel, 1984). The only stable derivative with proteins therefore is the sulfonamide, formed by reaction with e-lysine... 

The mechanism of hydrolysis of cysteine peptidases, in particular cysteine endopeptidases (EC 3.4.22), shows similarities and differences with that of serine peptidases [2] [3a] [55 - 59]. Cysteine peptidases also form a covalent, ac-ylated intermediate, but here the attacking nucleophile is the SH group of a cysteine residue, or, rather, the deprotonated thiolate group. Like in serine hydrolases, the imidazole ring of a histidine residue activates the nucleophile, but there is a major difference, since here proton abstraction does not appear to be concerted with nucleophilic substitution but with formation of the stable thiolate-imidazolium ion pair. Presumably as a result of this specific activation of the nucleophile, a H-bond acceptor group like Glu or Asp as found in serine hydrolases is seldom present to complete a catalytic triad. For this reason, cysteine endopeptidases are considered to possess a catalytic dyad (i.e., Cys-S plus H-His+). The active site also contains an oxyanion hole where the terminal NH2 group of a glutamine residue plays a major role. 

A still different scheme is used for the preparation of the benzimidazole buterizine (74). Alkylation of benzhydrylpiperazine with substituted benzyl chloride 70 gives the intermediate 7U Nucleophilic aromatic displacement on this compound by means of ethyl amine leads to reduction of the nitro group then gives the diamine T. Treatment of that with the orthoformate ester of pentanoic acid serves to form the imidazole ring. There is thus obtained the peripheral vasodilating agent buteri zi ne (74). ... 

Only very few among the common amino acids possess a pK within the range 5.8-7.0. Therefore, the imidazole ring of histidine was suspected very early to represent the group responsible for nucleophilic attack on the substrate (38). The pK of free imidazol is 6.9 (39) that of imidazol, contained in histidine or its peptides, varies between 5.6 and 7.1 (40). Imidazol is well known to form unstable acyl derivatives, which undergo spontaneous hydrolysis because of the presence of the resonating triad unit —-N—C= N— (41). In addition, imidazol and its derivatives catalyze the hydrolysis of certain esters, especially those derived from phenols (42). Likewise, the behavior of imidazol towards thio esters reflects exactly the specificity of ChE s (see IV, 4). Thus, thiol esters are split (43), whereas thiono esters are resistant (21). 

If the 7- or 9-methyl derivative of 2,6,8-trichloropurine (13) is treated with a strong base, substitution occurs at the 8- (15) and not the 6-position (14) as above.59 This result is the opposite of what might be expected as the inductive effect of the methyl group should increase the electronegativity of the imidazole ring and direct nucleophilic attack into the pyrimidine ring. This apparently anomalous behavior... 

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