Cyclobutanes uracil dimers

The cycloreversion of the cyclobutane radical cation Pyr +oPyr could proceed in either a concerted or stepwise manner, and many attempts were made to determine the mechanism of this cleavage step. Because the radical cation is delocalized, it is not unreasonable that both the C(5)-C(5 ) and the C(6)-C(6 ) bonds are weakened by oxidation of PyroPyr. The observation of a substantial secondary deuterium isotope effect for the cleavage of the first bond [C(6)-C(6 )] and a small isotope effect for the cleavage of the second bond [C(5)-C(5 )] in various deu-terated uracil-derived cyclobutane dimers was, however, taken as an indication of a stepwise splitting mechanism via the distonic radical cation Pyr+-Pyr [9]. Theoretical studies performed by Rosch, Michel-Beyerle et al. also strongly support the assumption of a successive cycloreversion [10]. 

In order to investigate the single electron donation process from a reduced flavin to a pyrimidine dimer or oxetane lesion, the photolyase model compounds 1-4 depicted in Scheme 4 were prepared [41, 42]. The first model compounds 1 and 2 contain a cyclobutane uracil (1) or thymine (2) dimer covalently connected to a flavin, which is the active electron donating subunit in photolyases. These model systems were dissolved in various solvents... 

A computational study was concerned with the effect of solvation on the radical ion involved in CDP photolyase enzyme-catalysed reversion of thymine and uracil cyclobutane dimers stimulated by visible light <06T6490>. 

Orotic acid readily forms dimers even when irradiated in liquid medium [582, 583]. 5-Bromouracil (5-BrU) in DNA is dehalogenated, rather than forming cyclobutane-type dimers. Such DNA derivatives are more sensitive to ultraviolet irradiation than normal DNAs [584-594], Irradiation of 5-bromo-uracil and derivatives in aqueous medium produces 5,5 -diuracil [590, 591]. However, derivatives such as 3-sbutyl-5-bromo-6-methyluracil have been reported to yield cyclobutane dimers either by irradiation of frozen aqueous solutions, or by catalysis with free radical initiators, such as aluminium chloride, ferric chloride, peroxides or azonitriles [595]. 5-Hydroxymethyluracil is reported to dimerize very slowly in frozen water at 2537 A [596]. The fundamental research in the photochemistry of the nucleic acids, the monomeric bases, and their analogues has stimulated new experiments in certain micro-organisms and approaches in such diverse fields as template coding and genetic recombination [597-616]. 

Photo-CIDNP experiments using anthraquinones as photosensitizers for oxidation of a variety of uracil- and thymine-derived cyclobutane dimers, e.g. c,s-l, t,s-l, c,a-1, t,a-l, and c,s-2, 4, and 5, demonstrated the existence of both Pyr +oPyr and its dissociation product, the monomer radical cation Pyr + [6, 7]. 

There are, nevertheless, experimental indications that a dimer radical cation Pyr +oPyr, even without a linking bridge, must have a certain lifetime. The splitting of t,s-l initiated by the oxidizing nitrate radicals (NCV), generated by photolysis of cerium(IV) ammonium nitrate in acetonitrile, leads besides the repaired uracil 9, also to a cyclobutane dimer species 8, presumably with a hy-... 

The foregoing is of obvious significance in relation to the photochemical behaviour of cyclobutane photodimers of natural pyrimidines such as uracil (III, Scheme 1), thymine, cytosine12,76). Photodissociation of such photodimers to the parent monomers, which proceed with quantum yields ranging from 0.5 to nearly unity, has, indeed, been employed as one of the criteria for identification of such dimers. The validity of this criterion is now, in the light of the behaviour of the dimer electroreduction product of pyrimidone-2, at best somewhat restricted, notwithstanding that the quantum yields for photodissociation of the latter are lower. 

As in the case of electrochemical reduction, the photochemical transformation of 5-fluorouracil derivatives differs from that of the other 5-halogeno uracils. The primary photoproduct of 5-fluorouracil, its glycosides and poly(5-FU) is the photohydrate. However, at shorter wavelengths of irradiation, e.g. 254 nm where the photohydrate exhibits absorption, there is elimination of HF from the 5,6 bond and formation of barbituric acid 129 13I>. There is also some evidence for acetone photosensitized formation of cyclobutane dimers of 5-fluorouracil132), as well as dimer formation in irradiated poly(5-FU)133>. 

As a second example of intersystem crossing mechanism in biochromophores we include here the case of the DNA pyrimidine nucleobases, starting by the uracil molecule [91]. In previous sections we presented a model for the rapid internal conversion of the singlet excited rationalizes the ultrafast decay component observed in these systems, both in the gas phase and in solution. Despite the short lifetimes associated to this state, which is the main contributor to the photophysics of the system, formation of photodimers PyroPyr has been observed for the monomers in solution, as well as in solid state, for oligonucleotides, and DNA [92], Since the sixties, the determination of the mechanism of the photoinduced formation of cyclobutane dimers has been the subject of numerous studies [92, 93-97], One of the most classic models that has been proposed for the photodimerization of Pyr nucleobases in solution invokes photoexcitation of a molecule to a singlet state followed by population of a triplet state by an intersystem crossing mechanism... 

Photoaddition of alkenes to the azathymine (227) affords the adducts (228) the structures of which were determined by -ray crystallography. Acetone-sensitized irradiation of the azauracil derivative (229) yields the cyclobutane (230). Irradiation of the uracil (231) in isotropic solvents is known to yield all four (2-1 2)-dimers in low yield especially at low concentrations. A study has shown that dimerization in smectic media affords a high yield (94X) of the trans-anti dimer (232). In frozen solutions the specificity is reversed and the CIS-anti dimer (233) is formed. The influence of a variety of media on this process was studied in detail. A theoretical treatment of the photochemical addition of alkenes to psoralens such as (234) has been published. ... 

Acetone-sensitized irradiation of uracil (107) with ethene affords the adduct (108) in 75% yield. This compound can be transformed into the cyclobutane derivative (109) in an overall yield of 52%. The intramolecular cyclization of the dinucleotide model (110) has been investigated. The reaction affords the cycloadduct (111) by irradiation using wavelengths > 300 nm. The use of an anionic template for photochemical dimerization of a thymine system has been demonstrated. The thymine forms an assembly (112) with pyrophosphate. Irradiation of this brings about syn- 2 + 2)-cycloaddition of the thymine units. ... 

T Tltraviolet irradiation of aqueous solutions of uracil, cytosine, and thymine derivatives has been shown to lead to the formation of two kinds of photoproducts (4, 13). One type is a dimer of the pyrimidine several such products seem to be formed but the best known are those containing a cyclobutane ring system (shown in I for uracil). 

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