Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons epoxidations

Epoxides are often encountered in nature, both as intermediates in key biosynthetic pathways and as secondary metabolites. The selective epoxidation of squa-lene, resulting in 2,3-squalene oxide, for example, is the prelude to the remarkable olefin oligomerization cascade that creates the steroid nucleus [7]. Tetrahydrodiols, the ultimate products of metabolism of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, bind to the nucleic acids of mammalian cells and are implicated in carcinogenesis [8], In organic synthesis, epoxides are invaluable building blocks for introduction of diverse functionality into the hydrocarbon backbone in a 1,2-fashion. It is therefore not surprising that chemistry of epoxides has received much attention [9]. 

Hulbert, P. B. Grover, P. L. Chemical rearrangement of phenol-epoxide metabolites of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons to quinone-methides. Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 1983, 117, 129-134. 

Methods for the synthesis of the biologically active dihydrodiol and diol epoxide metabolites of both carcinogenic and noncarcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons are reviewed. Four general synthetic routes to the trans-dihydrodiol precursors of the bay region anti and syn diol epoxide derivatives have been developed. Syntheses of the oxidized metabolites of the following hydrocarbons via these methods are described benzo(a)pyrene, benz(a)anthracene, benzo-(e)pyrene, dibenz(a,h)anthracene, triphenylene, phen-anthrene, anthracene, chrysene, benzo(c)phenanthrene, dibenzo(a,i)pyrene, dibenzo(a,h)pyrene, 7-methyl-benz(a)anthracene, 7,12-dimethylbenz(a)anthracene, 3-methylcholanthrene, 5-methylchrysene, fluoranthene, benzo(b)fluoranthene, benzo(j)fluoranthene, benzo(k)-fluoranthene, and dibenzo(a,e)fluoranthene. 

It is sometimes assumed that every phenol metabolite indicates the formation of an arene oxide intermediate however, as discussed above, arene oxides are not obligate intermediates in the formation of phenols. This is an important distinction because arene oxides and other epoxides are reactive intermediates that can be toxic or even carcinogenic, e.g., epoxides of some polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. The question of whether their formation is obligatory is significant for drug design and development and has implications for toxicity as discussed in Chapter 8. 

In contrast, the primary role of microsomal EH appears to be in detoxifying the metabolically produced epoxides of drugs, e.g., carbamazepine epoxide, the arene oxide of diphenylhydantoin, and the epoxides of environmental contaminants like the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, e.g., benzo[a]pyrene. 

An example of three types of reactive substrates includes the metabolically generated epoxides of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, e.g., benzo[a]pyrene-4,5-epoxide (25), the diuretic ethacrynic acid, and the hypnotic agent bromisoval as shown in Figure 7.16. 

The Epoxide-Dihydrodiol Pathway of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons... 

Diol epoxides, a very special and highly reactive subclass of alkene oxides encountered in the metabolism of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. 

Another isomerization reaction of arene oxides is equilibrium with oxe-pins [5], Here, the fused six-membered carbocycle and three-membered oxirane merge to form a seven-membered heterocycle, as shown in Fig. 10.2. An extensive computational and experimental study involving 75 epoxides of monocyclic, bicyclic, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons has revealed much information on the structural factors that influence the reaction rate and position of equilibrium [11], Thus, some compounds were stable as oxepins (e.g., naphthalene 2,3-oxide), while others exhibited a balanced equilibrium... 

The microsomal epoxide hydrolases (microsomal EH, mEH), predominantly found in the endoplasmic reticulum, regio- and stereoselectively catalyze the hydration of both alkene and arene oxides, including oxides of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. These enzymes have been purified to homogeneity from various species and tissues [22] [41 - 46], The human microsomal EH contains 455 amino acids (Mr 52.5 kDa) and is the product of the EPHX1 gene [47] (also known as HYL1 [48]). 

Together with glutathione conjugation, hydration is a major pathway in the inactivation and detoxification of arene oxides. Exceptions to this rule will be treated when discussing polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. Arene oxides are good substrates for microsomal EH, as evidenced in Table 10.1, where hydration of selected arene oxides, alkene oxides, and cy-cloalkene oxides by purified rat liver epoxide hydrolase is compared. The hy- ... 

In the pH range of 5 - 10, H20-catalyzed hydrolysis is the predominant mechanism (see Fig. 10.11, Pathway b), resulting in the formation of the (8R,9R)-dihydrodiol (10.133, Fig. 10.30). Thus, aflatoxin B1 exo-8,9-epoxide is possibly the most reactive oxirane of biological relevance. Such an extreme reactivity is mostly due to the electronic influence of 0(7), as also influenced by stereolectronic factors, i.e., the difference between the exo- and endo-epoxides. The structural and mechanistic analogies with the dihydro-diol epoxides of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (Sect. 10.4.4) are worth noting. 

M. Shou, F. J. Gonzalez, H. V. Gelboin, Stereoselective Epoxidation and Hydration at the K-Region of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons by cDNA-Expressed Cytochromes P450 1A1, 1A2, and Epoxide Hydrolase , Biochemistry 1996, 35, 15807 - 15813. 

J. M. Sayer, R. E. Lehr, D. L. Whalen, H. Yagi, D. M. Jerina, Structure-Activity Indices for the Hydrolysis of Diol Epoxides of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons , Tetrahedron Lett. 1982, 23, 4431 - 4434. 

The metabolism of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons by enzymes present in animal livers involves epoxidation as the initial step. As indicated in Section 5.17.1.2, evidence is available to suggest that oxepins (29)-(34) are present as minor contributors to the arene oxide-oxepin equilibrium and thus may legitimately be considered as metabolic intermediates. 

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons were epoxidized by DMD to arene oxides by... 

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