Oxalate ester

Peroxyoxalate. The chemical activation of a fluorescer by the reactions of hydrogen peroxide, a catalyst, and an oxalate ester has been the object of several mechanism studies. It was first proposed in 1967 that peroxyoxalate (26) was converted to dioxetanedione (27), a highly unstable intermediate which served as the chemical activator of the fluorescer (fir) (6,9). 

Peroxyoxalate chemiluminescence is the most efficient nonenzymatic chemiluminescent reaction known. Quantum efficiencies as high as 22—27% have been reported for oxalate esters prepared from 2,4,6-trichlorophenol, 2,4-dinitrophenol, and 3-trif1uoromethy1-4-nitropheno1 (6,76,77) with the duorescers mbrene [517-51-1] (78,79) or 5,12-bis(phenylethynyl)naphthacene [18826-29-4] (79). For most reactions, however, a quantum efficiency of 4% or less is more common with many in the range of lO " to 10 ein/mol (80). The inefficiency in the chemiexcitation process undoubtedly arises from the transfer of energy of the activated peroxyoxalate to the duorescer. The inefficiency in the CIEEL sequence derives from multiple side reactions available to the reactive intermediates in competition with the excited state producing back-electron transfer process. 

A modified oxalic ester reaction that is activated by air rather than hydrogen peroxide has been provided by combining a 9,10-dihydroxyanthracene or ben2oin with the ester and fluorescer (259). Oxygen from air is converted to hydrogen peroxide by the dihydroxyanthracene. 

Acid moieties include formic acid itself, formates and orthoesters, formamide, DMF dimethyl acetal and ethyl diethoxyacetate, acids, acid chlorides and anhydrides, the last including a rare [3,4-[Pg.223]

Oxal-ither, oxalic ether (ethyl oxalate), -essigester, m. oxalacetic ester, -essigsaure, /, oxalacetic acid, -ester, m, oxalic ester (specif, ethyt oxalate),... 

PA-4,2 is an even-even PA with a very high melting temperature (390°C). It is prepared from an oxalic ester and 1,4-tetramethylenediamine in a two-step procedure a prepolymerization in solution and a polymerization of the prepolymers in the solid state. 

Oxalic-acid-catalyzed reactions, 384 Oxalic ester... 

Like oxalic acid, oxalic esters and o-phenyldiamines give 2,3(l//,477)-quinox-alinediones that bear substituents according to those on the substrate such condensations appear to be assisted substantially by microwave irradiation. 

In the chemiluminescence-based HPLC detection system, illustrated schematically in Figure 6, the oxalate ester and hydrogen peroxide are introduced to the eluent stream at postcolumn mixer Mj, which then flows through a conventional fluorescence detector with the exciting lamp turned off or a specially built chemiluminescence detector. The two reagents are combined at mixer Mj, rather than being premixed, to prevent the slow hydrolytic reactions of the oxalate ester. 

Scheme 2. Mechanism for hydrogen peroxide-oxalate ester generation of chemiluminescence. Ar = aryl B = a base.

Table VI. RP-HPLC Chemiluminescence Sensitivity in Previous Studies with Oxalate Esters...

To understand how these parameters affected the efficiency of the chemiluminescent reaction, we examined the mechanism originally proposed by Rauhut (26). As shown in Scheme 2, hydrogen peroxide reacts with an oxalate ester, such as 2,4,6-trichlorophenyl oxalate (TCPO), in a two-step process to form a reactive intermediate for which Rauhut suggested structure 1, the 1,2-dioxetanedione. The dioxetanedione then interacts with an acceptor (ACC) to produce two molecules of COj and the excited state of the acceptor. The last stage of the sequence is fluorescence emission from the acceptor. 

Figure 13, indicates that the first mole of phenol is released in <30 s, the same elapsed time for the chemiluminescence to reach a maximum intensity. In fact, the measured rate constant r, for the rise in the chemiluminescence emission, is identical to the rate of the first phenol s release from the oxalate ester. Furthermore, the slower rate of release of the second phenol ligand has a rate constant that is identical to the chemiluminescence decay rate f. Thus, the model allows a quantitative analysis of the reaction mechanism, heretofore not available to us. We intend to continue this avenue of investigation in order to optimize the chemiluminescence efficiencies under HPLC conditions and to delineate further the mechanism for peroxy-oxalate chemiluminescence. 

We have also investigated other oxalate esters as a potential means to improve the efficiency. The most commonly used oxalates are the 2,4,6-trichlorophenyl (TCPO) and 2,4-dinitrophenyl (DNPO) oxalates. Both have severe drawbacks namely, their low solubility in aqueous and mixed aqueous solvents and quenching of the acceptor fluorescence. To achieve better solubility and avoid the quenching features of the esters and their phenolic products, we turned to difluorophenyl oxalate (DFPO) derivatives 5 and 6 (Figure 14). Both the 2,4- and the 2,6-difluoro esters were readily synthesized and were shown to be active precursors to DPA chemiluminescence. In fact, the overall efficiency of the 2,6-difluorophenyl oxalate 5 is higher than for TCPO in the chemical excitation of DPA under the conditions outlined earlier. Several other symmetrical and unsymmet-rical esters were also synthesized, but all were less efficient than either TCPO or 2,6-DFPO (Figure 14). 

Figure 14. Oxalate esters synthesized (A) and oxalate dependence on the chemiluminescence quantum efficiency (B).

Though we and others (27-29) have demonstrated the utility and the improved sensitivity of the peroxyoxalate chemiluminescence method for analyte detection in RP-HPLC separations for appropriate substrates, a substantial area for Improvement and refinement of the technique remains. We have shown that the reactions of hydrogen peroxide and oxalate esters yield a very complex array of reactive intermediates, some of which activate the fluorophor to its fluorescent state. The mechanism for the ester reaction as well as the process for conversion of the chemical potential energy into electronic (excited state) energy remain to be detailed. Finally, the refinement of the technique for routine application of this sensitive method, including the optimization of the effi-ciencies for each of the contributing factors, is currently a major effort in the Center for Bioanalytical Research. 

Hpichlorohydrin is in (57) which is made from an oxalate ester and (59), and hence from (60). 

Figure 12.1.3 The reaction of phenyl oxalate ester and hydrogen peroxide to generate a highly energetic C2O4 intermediate.

Among the different synthetic compounds used for hydrogen peroxide determination, only luminol and oxalate esters have found widespread use and were really evaluated for H2O2 detection. 

Me Capra in particular proposed n> that the chemiluminescence reactions of a large number of organic compounds had this concerted dioxetane decomposition step as key reaction in the production of electronically excited products, namely acridinium salts 25,26,27) indolylperoxides 28>, activated oxalic esters 29>, diphenyl carbene 30>, tetrakis-dimethylamino-ethylene 31 32>, lucigenin 33>, and substituted imidazoles 23>. 

As mentioned in Section II. C., the concerted bond cleavage of 1.2-dioxetane derivatives has been proposed to be of general importance in respect of the excitation step of a large number of chemiluminescence reactions. The first experimental results concerning simple dioxetanes were obtained by M. M. Rauhut and coworkers in their work on activated oxalic ester chemiluminescence 24>. From experimental data on the reaction of e.g. bis (2.4-dinitrophenyl)oxalate with hydrogen peroxide in the presence of rubrene, they concluded that 1.2-dioxetanedione... 

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