Influence of the methyl group in isoprene epoxides on reactivity compared to butadiene epoxides: Biological significance.

Reactions of the epoxides of 1,3-butadiene and isoprene (2-methyl-1,3-butadiene) with oxygen, nitrogen and sulfur nucleophiles have been compared to enable a better molecular understanding of the relative human toxicities of these epoxides. Hydrolysis of rac.-ethenyloxirane in (18O)water gave 77% (2-18O)but-3-ene-1,2-diol and 23% (1-18O)but-3-ene-1,2-diol. The R:S ratio for but-3-ene-1,2-diol from hydrolysis of (S)-ethenyloxirane was 75:25. Hence, hydrolysis of ethenyloxirane occurs by competing SN2 attack at C-2 and C-3 in 3:1 ratio, with no SN1 component. Hydrolysis of rac.-2-ethenyl-2-methyloxirane gave 2-hydroxy-2-methylbut-3-en-1-ol (73%) and 27% of a 2:1 mixture of the E- and Z-isomers of 4-hydroxy-2-methylbut-2-en-1-ol. In (18O)water (2-18O)2-hydroxy-2-methylbut-3-en-1-ol was obtained. Formation of these products occurs via SN1 ionisation to resonance-stabilised allylic cations which are captured by water. Reaction of rac.-ethenyloxirane with l-valine methyl ester gave diastereoisomeric adducts from SN2 attack of the valine amino at both C-2 (substituted position) and C-3 of the oxirane. The corresponding reaction of rac.-2-methyl-2-ethenyloxirane gave diastereoisomeric adducts, (R, S)- and (S, S)-N-(2-hydroxy-2-methyl-3-buten-1-yl)-l-valine methyl ester, from SN2 attack of the valine amino solely at C-3. Reactions of rac.-2-ethenyl-2-methyloxirane with cysteine derivatives occurred at C-2 in neutral polar media (SN1 reaction) or at C-3 in basic media (SN2), whereas for ethenyloxirane products arose from attack at both C-2 and C-3. Reaction of meso-butadiene diepoxide (meso-2,2'-bioxirane) with l-valine methyl ester gave mainly 2:1 adducts, dimethyl 2,2'-(((2R,3S)-2,3-dihydroxybutane-1,4-diyl)bis(azanediyl))-(2S,2'S)-bis(3-methyl-butanoates), whereas 2-methyl-2,2'-bioxirane gave a mixture of 1:1 [methyl 2-(3,4-dihydroxy-3-methylpyrrolidin-1-yl)-3-methylbutanoates] and 2:1 adducts. Meso-2,2'-bioxirane reacted with N-acetylcysteine methyl ester in methanol to afford meso-thiolane-3,4-diol, by elimination of N-acetyldehydroalanine methyl ester from a precursor cyclic adduct. Similarly, 2-methyl-2,2'-bioxirane gave solely 3-methylthiolane-3,4-diols. Thus, the methyl group of isoprene has a subtle effect on the reactivity of its epoxides relative to those of butadiene and therefore, in the context of their toxicology, could abrogate crosslinking of nitrogen functions in biomolecules related to mutagenicity and carcinogenicity.

Photochemistry of 2-butenedial and 4-oxo-2-pentenal under atmospheric boundary layer conditions.

Unsaturated 1,4-dicarbonyl compounds, such as 2-butenedial and 4-oxo-2-pentenal are produced in the atmospheric boundary layer from the oxidation of aromatic compounds and furans. These species are expected to undergo rapid photochemical processing, affecting atmospheric composition. In this study, the photochemistry of (E)-2-butenedial and both E and Z isomers of 4-oxo-2-pentenal was investigated under natural sunlight conditions at the large outdoor atmospheric simulation chamber EUPHORE. Photochemical loss rates, relative to j(NO2), are determined to be j((E)-2-butenedial)/j(NO2) = 0.14 (±0.02), j((E)-4-oxo-2-pentenal)/j(NO2) = 0.18 (±0.01), and j((Z)-4-oxo-2-pentenal)/j(NO2) = 0.20 (±0.03). The major products detected for both species are a furanone (30-42%) and, for (E)-2-butenedial, maleic anhydride (2,5-furandione) (12-14%). The mechanism appears to proceed predominantly via photoisomerization to a ketene-enol species following γ-H abstraction. The lifetimes of the ketene-enol species in the dark from 2-butenedial and 4-oxo-2-pentenal are determined to be 465 s and 235 s, respectively. The ketene-enol can undergo ring closure to yield the corresponding furanone, or further unimolecular rearrangement which can subsequently form maleic anhydride. A minor channel (10-15%) also appears to form CO directly. This is presumed to be via a molecular elimination route of an initial biradical intermediate formed in photolysis, with an unsaturated carbonyl (detected here but not quantified) as co-product. α-Dicarbonyl and radical yields are very low, which has implications for ozone production from the photo-oxidation of unsaturated 1,4-dicarbonyls in the boundary layer. Photochemical removal is determined to be the major loss process for these species in the boundary layer with lifetimes of the order of 10-15 minutes, compared to >3 hours for reaction with OH.

Modeling the formation and reactions of benzene metabolites.

One or more of the muconaldehyde isomers is a putative product of benzene metabolism. As muconaldehydes are highly reactive dienals and potentially mutagenic they might be relevant to the carcinogenicity of benzene. Muconaldehydes may be derived through the action of a cytochrome P450 mono-oxygenase on benzene oxide-oxepin, which are established metabolites of benzene. Oxidation of benzene oxide-oxepin either by the one-electron oxidant cerium(IV) ammonium nitrate (CAN) or by iron(III) tris(1,10-phenanthroline) hexafluorophosphate in acetone at -78 degrees C or acetonitrile at -40 degrees C gave (E,Z)-muconaldehyde, which was a single diastereoisomer according to analysis by (1)H NMR spectroscopy. Reaction of toluene-1,2-oxide/2-methyloxepin with CAN gave (2E,4Z)-6-oxo-hepta-2,4-dienal. Similarly, the action of CAN on 1,6-dimethylbenzene oxide-2,7-dimethyloxepin gave (3Z,5E)-octa-3,5-diene-2,7-dione. In vivo, benzene oxide-oxepin could suffer one-electron oxidation by cytochrome P450 mono-oxygenase giving (E,Z)-muconaldehyde. The observations presented may be relevant to the toxicology of benzene oxide-oxepin and other arene oxide-oxepins as we have previously shown that (E,Z)-muconaldehyde, analogously to (Z,Z)-muconaldehyde, affords pyrrole adducts with the exocyclic amino groups of the DNA bases adenine and guanine. Independent of their possible toxicological significance, the experiments described provide preparatively useful routes to (E,Z)-muconaldehyde and its congeners. Methods are also described for the trapping and analysis of reactive benzene metabolites, e.g. using the Diels-Alder reaction with the dienophile 4-phenyl-1,2,4-triazoline-3,5-dione to trap arene oxides and with the diene 1,3-diphenylisobenzofuran to trap enals.

Determination of dihydroxynaphthalenes in human urine by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry.

A gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) method was developed for measuring 1,2-dihydroxynaphthalene (1,2-DHN) and 1,4-dihydroxynaphthalene (1,4-DHN) in urine. The method involves enzymatic digestion of urinary conjugates to release the DHNs which were then analyzed as trimethylsilyl derivatives by GC-MS. For 1,2-DHN and 1,4-DHN, respectively, the assay limits of detection were 0.21 and 0.15 microg/l, the assay limits of quantitation were 0.69 and 0.44 microg/l, and the coefficients of variation were 14.7 and 10.9%. This method was successfully applied to determine urinary levels of 1,2-DHN and 1,4-DHN in coke workers (14 top workers and 13 side-bottom workers) and 21 matching control workers from the steel industry of northern China. The geometric mean (GM) levels of 1,2-DHN were approximately 100 and 30 times higher than those of 1,4-DHN in exposed and control subjects, respectively. The GM levels 1,2-DHN and 1,4-DHN were significantly higher for coke workers (1,2-DHN: top workers--552 microg/l, side-bottom workers--260 microg/l; 1,4-DHN: top workers--3.42 microg/l, side-bottom workers--3.56 microg/l) than for controls (1,2-DHN: 38.8 microg/l; 1,4-DHN: 1.21 microg/l) (por=0.623; p<0.0001). Also, levels of 1,2-DHN were significantly correlated with those of serum albumin adducts of l,2-naphthoquinone (rs=0.492, p=0.0004). These results indicate that 1,2- and 1,4-DHN are good biomarkers for assessment of naphthalene exposure in coke workers. Since the DHNs are precursors of the naphthoquinones, which have been implicated as toxic products of naphthalene metabolism, measurements of urinary DHNs may have toxicological significance.

Evidence for the formation of Michael adducts from reactions of (E,E)-muconaldehyde with glutathione and other thiols.

Glutathione induces the rapid isomerization of (Z,Z)-muconaldehyde to (E,E)-muconaldehyde via (E,Z)-muconaldehyde, probably via reversible Michael addition of the thiol to one of the enal moieties of the muconaldehyde. Reactions of (E,E)-muconaldehyde with glutathione (in the presence and absence of equine glutathione S-transferase), phenylmethanethiol, N-acetyl-l-cysteine, and N-acetyl-l-cysteine methyl ester were investigated using mass spectrometric techniques. In each case, evidence was obtained for the formation of Michael adducts, e.g., reaction between (E,E)-muconaldehyde and glutathione gave 4-glutathionyl-hex-2-enedial and 3,4-bis-glutathionyl-hexanedial. These experiments suggest that (Z,Z)-muconaldehyde, a putative metabolite of benzene, could lead to the long established urinary metabolite of benzene, (E,E)-muconic acid, via glutathione-mediated isomerization to (E,E)-muconaldehyde.

Reactions of benzene oxide with thiols including glutathione.

S-Phenylmercapturic acid is a minor metabolite of benzene used as a biomarker for human benzene exposures. The reaction of intracellular glutathione with benzene oxide-oxepin, the initial metabolite of benzene, is presumed to give 1-(S-glutathionyl)-cyclohexa-3,5-dien-2-ol, which undergoes dehydration to S-phenylglutathione, the precursor of S-phenylmercapturic acid. To validate the proposed route to S-phenylglutathione, reactions of benzene oxide-oxepin with glutathione and other sulfur nucleophiles have been studied. The reaction of benzene oxide with an excess of aqueous sodium sulfide, followed by acetylation, gave bis-(6-trans-5-acetoxycyclohexa-1,3-dienyl)sulfide, the structure of which was proved by X-ray crystallography. Reactions of benzene oxide-oxepin in a 95:5 (v/v) mixture of phosphate buffer in D2O with (CD3)2SO were monitored by 1H NMR spectroscopy. In the absence of glutathione, the half-life of benzene oxide-oxepin was ca. 34 min at 25 degrees C and pD 7.0. The half-life was not affected in the range of 2-15 mM glutathione in the presence and absence of a commercial sample of human glutathione S-transferase (at pH 7.0, 8.0, 8.5, or 10.0). The adduct 1-(S-glutathionyl)-cyclohexa-3,5-diene-2-ol was identified in these reaction mixtures, especially at higher pH, by mass spectrometry and by its acid-catalyzed decomposition to S-phenylglutathione. Incubation of benzene oxide with N-acetyl-L-cysteine at 37 degrees C and pH 10.0 and subsequent mass spectrometric analysis of the mixture showed formation of pre-S-phenylmercapturic acid and the dehydration product, S-phenylmercapturic acid. The data validate the premise that benzene oxide-oxepin can be captured by glutathione to give (1R,2R)- and/or (1S,2S)-1-(S-glutathionyl)-cyclohexa-3,5-dien-2-ol, which dehydrate to S-phenylglutathione. The capture is a relatively inefficient process at pH 7 that is accelerated at higher pH. These studies account for the observation that the metabolism of benzene is dominated by the formation of phenol. The pathway leading to S-phenylmercapturic acid is necessarily minor on account of the low efficiency of benzene oxide capture by glutathione at pH 7 vs spontaneous rearrangement to phenol.

In vitro studies of the influence of glutathione transferases and epoxide hydrolase on the detoxification of acrylamide and glycidamide in blood.

Enzymes involved in the metabolism of xenobiotic substances are often polymorphic in humans. Such genetic polymorphisms may result in inter-individual differences in detoxification of certain chemicals, and as a consequence, possibly affect health-risk assessments. This present work concerns studies of the influence of polymorphic enzymes in the detoxification of acrylamide and its metabolite glycidamide. Enzymes that enhance conjugation with glutathione (GSH), the glutathione transferases (GSTs), may influence the detoxification of both acrylamide and glycidamide, whereas the enzyme epoxide hydrolase (EH) should only catalyse the hydrolysis of glycidamide. In this study, the doses of acrylamide or glycidamide measured as specific adducts to hemoglobin (Hb) were analysed in blood samples after in vitro incubation with these compounds. Blood samples from individuals with different genotypes for GSTT1 and GSTM1 were studied. No significant differences in adduct levels depending on genotype were noted. In a parallel experiment, incubation with ethylene oxide was used as positive control. In this experiment individuals carrying GSTT1 showed lower adduct level increments from ethylene oxide than individuals lacking GSTT1. Furthermore, addition of ethacrynic acid or laurylamine, compounds which inhibit GST and EH, respectively, did not affect the adduct levels. These results suggest that neither GSTs nor EH have any significant effect on the blood dose, measured as Hb-adducts over time, after exposure to acrylamide or glycidamide.

2,6-diarylaminotetrahydropyrans from reactions of glutaraldehyde with anilines: models for biomolecule cross-linking.

Glutaraldehyde reacts with weakly nucleophilic anilines, e.g., 3-fluoro-4-nitroaniline, which are models for amino groups in DNA, to give meso-2,6-disubstituted tetrahydropyrans, e.g., meso-2,6-di-(3-fluoro-4-nitroanilino)tetrahydropyran, that were characterized spectroscopically and by X-ray crystal structure analysis. This contrasts with the outcome of reactions with more strongly nucleophilic amines, which give rise to N-substituted 1,4-dihydropyridines. The mechanism of formation of the tetrahydropyrans is proposed to involve initial attack of the amine on one of the aldehyde groups of glutaraldehyde to give a carbinolamine intermediate. The ensuing cyclization to a tetrahydropyran, rather than dehydration to an imine leading to a dihydropyridine, is explained as a result of a competition between the lone pair of the amino function of the carbinolamine and the two lone pairs of the hydroxyl group. The formation of the tetrahydropyran is more likely with an amino function of low nucleophilicity, whereas dehydration to an imine leading to a dihydropyridine is favored with an amino function of higher nucleophilicity. The formation of tetrahydropyrans may be relevant to the toxicology of glutaraldehyde by providing a mechanistic basis for DNA adduction or DNA-protein cross-linking.

Trapping of benzene oxide-oxepin and methyl-substituted derivatives with 4-phenyl- and 4-pentafluorophenyl-1,2,4-triazoline-3,5-dione.

4-Phenyl-1,2,4-triazoline-3,5-dione and its pentafluoro analogue are efficient reagents for trapping arene oxides, e.g. benzene oxide-oxepin, affording crystalline adducts that can be quantitatively analysed by HPLC and MS techniques.

Evidence for phosphate adducts in DNA from mice treated with 4-(N-Methyl-N-nitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanone (NNK).

The weakly alkylating capacity of phosphotriesters (PTE) has been used for the determination of adducts to phosphate groups in DNA by specific transfer to the strongly nucleophilic compound cob(I)alamin [Cbl(I)]. When enzymatically degraded liver DNA from mice treated with 1-(N-methyl-N-nitrosamino)-4-(3-[3H]pyridyl)-4-oxobutane ([3H]NNK) was added to Cbl(I), a 4-(3-[3H]pyridyl)-4-hydroxy-1-butyl-cobalamin ([3H]PHB-Cbl) complex was formed and determined by HPLC and liquid scintillation counting. The PHB-Cbl formed was compared with a synthetic standard verified by LC/MS and 1H NMR and corresponds to phosphate adducts formed from the pyridyloxobutylating species from NNK and from the pyridylhydroxybutylating species from NNAL, NNK being to a large extent converted to NNAL in vivo. It was concluded that about 22% of the total level of pyridyl (oxo or hydroxy) butyl adducts to DNA was bound to phosphate groups.