Vitamin K. oxidation

The oxidation of vitamin K hydroquinone monoanion (17) with labelled, 802 in THF leads to vitamin K oxide (18) in which the epoxide oxygen is fully labelled, hi addition, partial incorporation of 180 at the carbonyl oxygen is observed (on the basis of the mass spectrum).215 This is most readily explained by invoking a dioxetane intermediate (19) as opposed to the alternative intermediacy of a 2-hydroperoxide (20), where only the epoxide oxygen would be expected to be labelled. 

Much attention has focused on vitamin K 1 because of its function as an obligatory cofactor in enzymic sequences central to blood clotting. The role of molecular oxygen in the formation of vitamin K oxide 2 has been studied intensively, and the mechanism of the 1 —> 2 transformation has been the subject of much controversy. Oxidation of 1 with basic hydrogen peroxide also gives 2, and two obvious mechanisms can be postulated for this model oxidation. 180 labelling studies have been used to distinguish between these mechanisms. 

Vitamin E has received much publicity as one of several antioxidants that may be useful in treating a variety of disorders, including cardiovascular disease. Vitamin E may inhibit the oxidation of reduced vitamin K. Vitamin K oxidation is necessary for carboxylation of vitamin-K-dependent clotting factors, which must occur for these clotting factors to be fully functional. Increased prothrombin times, induced by combined vitamin E and warfarin therapy, may be managed by discontinuing vitamin E and, if necessary, by administering vitamin K. 

Vitamin K 10 mg, subcutaneous administration, to be repeated for 3 to 7 days until the prothrombin time has been corrected. Be careful when using the intravenous route due to the risk of anaphylaxis and hypotension. Onset of action is within 6-12 hours, full impact is at 24 hours, subsequently lasting up to 7 days. An overdose should be avoided as it can cause a (sudden and dangerous) drop in Quick s value resulting from the formation of vitamin K oxide. 

Extraction of the proton allows the carboxylase to carbox-ylate the glutamate residue. The vitamin K intermediate is converted to vitamin K oxide, which must be reduced back to vitamin K. Vitamin K oxide is recycled back to vitamin K by vitamin K epoxide reductase arid vitamin K quinone reducta.se. Both of these enzymes are dithiol dependent and are inhibited by the 4-hydroxycoumarin anticoagulants. 

The major clinical issue withP450 4F2 is the role in warfarin dose adjustment [1607-1610] due to its activity in vitamin K oxidation [1605]. The issue is not a change in the activity of the enzyme (V433M) but the protein stabihty [1600]. 

Although the industrial synthesis of vitamin remains largely unchanged from its early beginnings, significant effort has been devoted to improvements in the condensation step, the oxidation of dihydrovitarnin to vitamin K, and in economical approaches to vitamin (vide infra). Also, several chemical and biochemical alternatives to vitamin have been developed. 

Work in the mid-1970s demonstrated that the vitamin K-dependent step in prothrombin synthesis was the conversion of glutamyl residues to y-carboxyglutamyl residues. Subsequent studies more cleady defined the role of vitamin K in this conversion and have led to the current theory that the vitamin K-dependent carboxylation reaction is essentially a two-step process which first involves generation of a carbanion at the y-position of the glutamyl (Gla) residue. This event is coupled with the epoxidation of the reduced form of vitamin K and in a subsequent step, the carbanion is carboxylated (77—80). Studies have provided thermochemical confirmation for the mechanism of vitamin K and have shown the oxidation of vitamin KH2 (15) can produce a base of sufficient strength to deprotonate the y-position of the glutamate (81—83). 

As the above mentioned studies with high supplementation dosages exemplarily show, there is no known toxicity for phylloquinone (vitamin Kl), although allergic reactions are possible. This is NOT true for menadione (vitamin K3) that can interfere with glutathione, a natural antioxidant, resulting in oxidative stress and cell membrane damage. Injections of menadione in infants led to jaundice and hemolytic anemia and therefore should not be used for the treatment of vitamin K deficiency. 

The fact that pentacarbonyl carbene complexes react with enynes in a chemo-selective and regiospecific way at the alkyne functionality was successfully applied in the total synthesis of vitamins of the Kj and K2 series [58]. Oxidation of the intermediate tricarbonyl(dihydrovitamin K) chromium complexes with silver oxide afforded the desired naphthoquinone-based vitamin K compounds 65. Compared to customary strategies, the benzannulation reaction proved to be superior as it avoids conditions favouring (E)/(Z)-isomerisation within the allylic side chain. The basic representative vitamin K3 (menadione) 66 was synthesised in a straightforward manner from pentacarbonyl carbene complex 1 and propyne (Scheme 38). 

Encouraged by the short synthesis of K vitamins, the chromium-mediated benzannulation was extended to the synthesis of vitamin E 68 [59]. The problem of imperfect regioselectivity of alkyne incorporation - which did not hamper the approach to vitamin K due to the final oxidation to the quinone - was tackled by demethylation of both regioisomeric hydroquinone monomethyl ethers 67 to give the unprotected hydroquinone. Subsequent ring closure yielded a-tocopherol (vitamin E) 68 (Scheme 39). 

Ubiquinone or Q (coenjyme Q) (Figure 12-5) finks the flavoproteins to cytochrome h, the member of the cytochrome chain of lowest redox potential. Q exists in the oxidized quinone or reduced quinol form under aerobic or anaerobic conditions, respectively. The structure of Q is very similar to that of vitamin K and vitamin E (Chapter 45) and of plastoquinone, found in chloroplasts. Q acts as a mobile component of the respiratory chain that collects reducing equivalents from the more fixed flavoprotein complexes and passes them on to the cytochromes. 

Vitamin K is the cofactor for the carboxylation of glutamate residues in the post-synthetic modification of proteins to form the unusual amino acid y-carboxygluta-mate (Gla), which chelates the calcium ion. Initially, vitamin K hydroquinone is oxidized to the epoxide (Figure 45-8), which activates a glutamate residue in the protein substrate to a carbanion, that reacts non-enzymically with carbon dioxide to form y-carboxyglut-amate. Vitamin K epoxide is reduced to the quinone by a warfarin-sensitive reductase, and the quinone is reduced to the active hydroquinone by either the same warfarin-sensitive reductase or a warfarin-insensitive... 

An intere.sting example in the context of waste minimization is the manufacture of the vitamin K intermediate, menadione. Traditionally it was produced by stoichiometric oxidation of 2-methylnaphthalene with chromium trioxide (Eqn. (8)), which generates 18 kg of solid, chromium containing waste per kg of menadione. Catalytic alternatives have been reported, but selectivities tend to be rather low owing to competing oxidation of the second aromatic ring (the. selectivity in the classical process is only 50-60%). The best results were obtained with a heteropolyanion as catalyst and O2 as the oxidant (Kozhevnikov, 1993). 

Antioxidants in fruits and vegetables including vitamin C and (3-carotene reduce oxidative stress on bone mineral density, in addition to the potential role of some nutrients such as vitamin C and vitamin K that can promote bone cell and structural formation (Lanham-New 2006). Many fruits and vegetables are rich in potassium citrate and generate basic metabolites to help buffer acids and thereby may offset the need for bone dissolution and potentially preserve bone. Potassium intake was significantly and linearly associated with markers of bone turnover and femoral bone mineral density (Macdonald and others 2005). 

In the case of ubiquinones we have already considered the ability of quinones to react with superoxide and other free radicals. Naphthoquinones, vitamin K and its derivatives, especially menadione, are the well known producers of superoxide through redox cycling with dioxygen. However, in 1985, Canfield et al. [254] have shown that vitamin K quinone reduced the oxidation of linoleic acid while vitamin K hydroquinone stimulated lipid peroxidation. Surprisingly, later on, conflicting results were reported by Vervoort et al. [255] who found that only hydroquinones of vitamin K and its analogs inhibited microsomal lipid peroxidation. 

Snyder and Rapoport photolysed phylloquinone (vitamin K-l, 82) in cyclohexane solution with the surface exposed to atmospheric oxygen and moisture. This system was adopted on the assumption that the in vivo photo-oxidation would occur with the hydrocarbon side-chain dissolved in a lipid layer, but the polar naphthoquinone moiety would be in contact with water. Under the... 

T. M. Guenthner, D. Cai, R. Wallin, Co-Purification of Microsomal Epoxide Hydrolase with the Warfarin-Sensitive Vitamin Kx Oxide Reductase of the Vitamin K Cycle , Biochem. Pharmacol. 1998, 55, 169 - 175. 

In order to model the oxygenation of vitamin K in its hydroquinone form, a naph-thohydroquinone derivative with a 1-hydroxy group and 4-ethyl ether was prepared and its alkoxide subjected to oxidation with molecular oxygen. Products consistent with two possible mechanisms were isolated, the epoxy-quinone which must derive from a peroxy anion intermediate at the 4-position, and a 2-hydroxy product which... 

I. 1.4.1] catalyzes the reaction of 2-methyl-3-phytyl-l,4-naphthoquinone with oxidized dithiothreitol and water to produce 2,3-epoxy-2,3-dihydro-2-methyl-3-phytyl-l,4-naphthoquinone and 1,4-dithiothreitol. In the reverse reaction, vitamin K 2,3-epoxide is reduced to vitamin K and possibly to vitamin K hydroquinone by 1,4-dithioer-ythritol (which is oxidized to the disulfide). Some other dithiols and butane-4-thiol can also act as substrates. This enzyme is strongly inhibited by warfarin. 

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