Tetrazolium salts, formation

Although the formation of tetrazolium salts of structure 92 by the oxidation of formazans under acid conditions has been known for many years, it is only recently that the quatemization of 1,5-disubstituted... 

Solutions of tetrazolium salts, e.g., 53, have been reported to both become colored and bleached under the influence of both UV and visible light. Several workers have attributed this phenomenon to photoreduction to the corresponding formazan (51) and the formation of a fluorescent colorless compound (152) through photooxidation.240- 243 The reduction of 152 under UV or blue light to the intense green radical structure (153) has also been reported (Scheme 21).244 A one-electron reduction product (154) is proposed as a short-lived intermediate in the photoreduction.245... 

Electrochemical methods have been used extensively to elucidate the mechanism of reduction of tetrazolium salts. In aprotic media, the first step is a reversible one-electron reduction to the radical 154 as confirmed by ESR spectroscopy.256,266 As shown in Scheme 26, this radical can then disproportionate to the tetrazolium salt and the formazan anion (166) or take up another electron to the formazan dianion (167). The formation of the dianion through a direct reduction or through the intermediate tetrazolyl anion (168) has also been proposed.272-28 1,294 In aqueous solutions, where protonation/deprotonation equilibria contribute to the complexity of the reduction process, the reduction potentials are pH dependent and a one-electron wave is seldom observed. 

Triphenylformazan behaves as a bidentate ligand forming 2 1 complexes (217) with divalent copper, nickel, and cobalt.377 Formazan metal complexes can be compared to complexes of azo dyes or beta diketones due to structural similarity.301,302 In general, formazan metal complexes have low stability toward acids. However, when electron-donating substituents are added to the aromatic ring, a considerable enhancement in stability is observed. Cationic complexes of type 218 are also known. The complexation of formazan with metal cation can be accompanied by oxidation to the tetrazolium salt and the formation of a complex... 

The use of /r-hydroxo or ju-alkoxo bridged polynuclear complexes of chromium, molybdenum, tungsten, or rhenium in this route leads to the formation of monomeric bis(NHC) complexes, to the elimination of hydrogen, and to the partial oxidation of the metal [Eq.(ll)]. Chelating and nonchelating imidazolium salts as well as benzimidazolium and tetrazolium salts can be used. 

Growth conditions in deep-well microtiter plates were optimized with respect to optimal expression of active enzymes (Fig. 2.2.1.1). The best results were obtained with an expression time of 20 h at 37 °C (Fig. 2.2.1.1, lanes 7-9). Subsequently, E. coli cells were enzymatically disrupted by lysozyme treatment, and the carboligase activity was monitored by a modified tetrazolium salt color assay [16], This color assay is based on the reduction of the 2,3,5-triphenyltetrazolium chloride (TTC) 13 to the corresponding formazan 15, which has an intense red color (Fig. 2.2.1.2A). Before screening ofa BFD variant library, substrates and products were tested in the color assay. Neither substrate, benzaldehyde 4 nor dimethoxy-acetaldehyde 8, reduced TTC 13 however, the product 2-hydroxy-3,3-dimethoxy-propiophenone 10 already caused color formation at low concentrations of 2.5-10 mM (Fig. 2.2.1.2B). Benzoin 12 as the product also gave a color change at a similar concentration (data not shown). 

Comparison117129 of the behaviour of bidentate, tridentate and tetradentate formazans with copper(II) salts has effectively demonstrated that two competing reactions occur copper complex formation (equation 16) and oxidation of the formazan to tetrazolium salt (equation 17). 

The theoretical calculations are consistent with the experimental findings. The data from NMR and Raman spectroscopy for NH-unsubstituted as well as 1-substituted tetrazoles in solutions of strong mineral acids show that the protonation of these heterocycles occurs at the nitrogen atom at position 4 leading correspondingly to the formation of 17/,47/+-tetrazolium ions 108 the protonation of 2-substituted tetrazoles in turn resulted in ions 109 <1997MRC237, 2006RJ01585>. This conclusion was also supported by X-ray diffraction analysis of some crystals of tetrazolium salts... 

Many xenobiotics, including a wide variety of quinones and nitro compounds, will accept an electron from almost any redox flavoenzyme. The microsomal reduction of nitroaromatic compounds, quinones, quinone-imines, some azoaromatic compounds, paraquat, and tetrazolium salts is catalyzed by NADPH-cytochrome P-450 reductase [44], One-electron transfer to these electron acceptors has been proved to be obligatory in the case of quinone and nitro compounds, and is probably obligatory in other cases as well. Therefore, a reduction of an aromatic compound by NADPH-cytochrome P-450 reductase can probably be assumed to form a free radical metabolite. In contrast, free radical formation by reductive dehalogenation is totally cytochrome P-450-dependent, with the reductase being inactive. 

Anodic oxidation of azomethine, hydrazone, oxime, formazane, and semicarbazone structures has been used to initiate the intramolecular cyclization [119] under formation of heterocycles like triazoles [126,127], oxadiazoles [128,129], triazolinones [129], benzoxa-zoles [130,131], benzimidazoles [130,131], pyrazoles [132], indazoles [133], furoxanes [134], and tetrazolium salts [135] (see Chapter 18). Some of these reactions can be performed advantageously by indirect electrolysis using tris(4-bromophenyl)amin or 2,3-dihydro-2,2-dimethylphenothiazine-6(l/7)-one as mediators [119,136]. Two examples are given in Eqs. (19) and (20). 

In aqueous solutions of tetrazolium salts, the formation of a precipitate was observed due to the nature of the formazan. In aqueous-alcoholic solutions, however, no precipitation was observed due to the solubility of the formazan in organic solvents. In such solutions (containing primary or secondary alcohols), the radiolytic reduction is found to be more effective, because the a-hydroxyalkyl radicals that form in the reaction of OH radicals and H atoms with the alcohol, also reduce the tetrazolium ion (Kriminskaya et al. 1987). 

Formation of the 4-alkylated quaternary tetrazolium salt 12 presumably is due to sterical shielding of the neighboring N-atoms by the voluminous Sn(n.Bu)3 residue thus acting as protective group. 

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