Racemisation in Chemistry and Biology.

The two enantiomers of a compound often have profoundly different biological properties and thus their liability to racemisation in aqueous solutions is an important piece of information. The authors reviewed the available data concerning the process of racemisation in vivo, in the presence of biological molecules (e.g., racemase enzymes, serum albumin, cofactors and derivatives) and under purely chemical but aqueous conditions (acid, base and other aqueous systems). Mechanistic studies are described critically in light of reported kinetic data. The types of experimental measurement that can be used to effectively determine rate constants of racemisation in various conditions are discussed and the data they provide is summarised. The proposed origins of enzymatic racemisation are presented and suggest ways to promote the process that are different from processes taking place in bulk water. Experimental and computational studies that provide understanding and quantitative predictions of racemisation risk are also presented.

Quantitative Prediction of Rate Constants for Aqueous Racemization To Avoid Pointless Stereoselective Syntheses.

Racemization has a large impact upon the biological properties of molecules but the chemical scope of compounds with known rate constants for racemization in aqueous conditions was hitherto limited. To address this remarkable blind spot, we have measured the kinetics for racemization of 28 compounds using circular dichroism and 1 H NMR spectroscopy. We show that rate constants for racemization (measured by ourselves and others) correlate well with deprotonation energies from quantum mechanical (QM) and group contribution calculations. Such calculations thus provide predictions of the second-order rate constants for general-base-catalyzed racemization that are usefully accurate. When applied to recent publications describing the stereoselective synthesis of compounds of purported biological value, the calculations reveal that racemization would be sufficiently fast to render these expensive syntheses pointless.

Dipeptidyl nitrile inhibitors of Cathepsin L.

A series of potent Cathepsin L inhibitors with good selectivity with respect to other cysteine Cathepsins is described and SAR is discussed with reference to the crystal structure of a protein-ligand complex.

Mechanistic studies on the synthesis of bicalutamide.

Bicalutamide, a therapeutically important anti-androgen used in the treatment of hormone-sensitive cancers, may be synthesised from the appropriate halohydrin or epoxide. We report here studies aimed at demonstrating unambiguously that preparation of bicalutamide and its thioether analogue from the chlorohydrin under basic conditions proceeds via opening of an intermediate epoxide by the appropriate sulfinate or thiolate nucleophile, that the analogous anionic sulfur nucleophiles react under the same conditions and that the S(N)2 pathway involving direct displacement of chloride by the nucleophile does not operate. The proposed mechanism is confirmed by the quantitative fitting of sequential reaction kinetics, taking into account the competing dimerisation of the thiolate nucleophile that occurs under basic conditions. The O-methyl analogue of the chlorohydrin is unreactive towards thiolate under the same conditions, although a slower cyclisation to the beta-lactam was observed. The implications of these observations for the analogous preparation of thioethers and sulfones are discussed.

Cytosol-mimetic chemistry: kinetics of the trypsin-catalyzed hydrolysis of p-nitrophenyl acetate upon addition of polyethylene glycol and N-tert-butyl acetoacetamide.

The sensitivity of an enzyme to its environment has provoked much interest both for its immediate relevance to biochemistry and for the use of enzymes in chemical synthesis. The intercellular or extracellular environment in which an enzyme naturally operates is crowded with macromolecular, small-molecule, and ionic solutes and hence is markedly different from the dilute aqueous buffer solutions commonly cited for comparisons of biochemical processes. We report the results of a kinetic study into the effects of such a crowded solution on the rate of an enzyme-mediated process-the trypsin-catalyzed hydrolysis of a nonnatural substrate ester. The catalytic rate constant decreases linearly with solvent polarity, but substrate binding is independent of the concentration of added crowding agent up to 395 g/L.

Aqueous solutions that model the cytosol: studies on polarity, chemical reactivity and enzyme kinetics.

Concentrated solutions of a series of organic compounds have been prepared and the effects of these solutes on the properties of the solvent system assessed as a function of their concentration and nature. Polarity, as measured by Reichardt's E(T)(30) probe, exhibits a linear variation with both solute and water concentration for simple solutes. Non-linear behaviour was also observed and is associated with preferential solvation or binding of the E(T)(30) probe molecule by the added solute. The observed trends in polarity are mirrored in the effects of these solutes on chemical reactivity and enzyme kinetics. Environmental effects on the kinetics of hydrolysis of 4-nitrophenyl dichloroacetate, the hydronium-ion catalysed hydrolysis of 2-(4-nitrophenoxy)-tetrahydropyran, the acyl transfer reaction between 4-nitrophenyl acetate and TRIS, the Diels-Alder reaction between 1,4-naphthoquinone and cyclopentadiene and the trypsin-catalysed hydrolysis of 4-nitrophenyl acetate are reported and discussed in terms of the properties of the solutes and the mechanistic requirements of these reactions. Linear correlations were observed between the logarithms of the rate constants for the acetal hydrolysis, acyl transfer and Diels-Alder reactions with water concentration. Since the latter varies linearly with E(T)(30), this indicates a linear free energy relationship between solution polarity and chemical reactivity.