No abstract

Salmon sperm DNA, treated with the antitumor agent cis-diamminedichloroplatinum(II) (cis-DDP), was enzymatically degraded to (oligo)nucleotides. Four Pt-containing products were identified by 1H NMR after preparative chromatography on a diethylaminoethyl-Sephacel column at pH 8.8. In all identified adducts, comprising approximately 90% of the total Pt in the DNA, Pt was linked to the N7 atoms of the nucleobases guanine and adenine. The two major adducts were cis-Pt(NH3)2d(pGpG) and cis-Pt-(NH3)2d(pApG), both derived from intrastrand cross-links of cis-DDP on neighboring nucleobases. Only the d(pApG) but not the d(pGpA) adduct could be detected. Two minor adducts were Pt(NH3)3dGMP, resulting from monofunctionally bound cis-DDP to guanine, and cis-Pt(NH3)2d(GMP)2, originating from interstrand cross-links on two guanines as well as from intrastrand cross-links on two guanines separated by one or more bases. For analytical purposes we developed an improved method to determine cis-DDP adducts. Routinely, 40-micrograms samples of enzymatically degraded cis-DDP-treated DNA are now analyzed by separation of the mononucleotides and Pt-containing (oligo)nucleotides on the anion-exchange column Mono Q (FPLC) at pH 8.8 (completed within 14 min) and subsequent determination of the Pt content in the collected fractions by atomic absorption spectroscopy. The method was used to optimize the digestion conditions for cis-DDP-treated DNA. In kinetic studies on the formation of the various adducts, a clear preference of the Pt compound to react with guanines occurring in the base sequence d(pGpG) was established.

The anticancer platinum compound cis-Pt(NH3)2Cl2 (cisplatin) forms covalent cross-linked adducts with DNA, with the intrastrand didentate adduct between two adjacent guanines being the major product. The platinum atom is coordinated at the N7 positions of adjacent guanines. The duplex consisting of d(CCTG*G*TCC) and its complement d(GGACCAGG), where G*G* stands for the cisplatin cross-linked lesion site, has been analyzed by 1D- and 2D-NMR spectroscopy and its structure solved by the NOE-restrained refinement procedure with the aim to understand the structural distortion associated with the lesion. The refined duplex is unwound (approximately -21 degrees) and kinked (approximately 58 degrees) toward the major groove at the G*G* site, and the minor groove is significantly widened. The deoxyriboses of the G4* and G5* nucleotides are of the N-type (C3'-endo) and S-type (C2'-endo) conformations, respectively. The two guanine bases adopt the R-configuration (the alpha/beta angles being 112 degrees/290 degrees, respectively), such that the G5*H8 proton (upfield at 8.19 ppm) senses the ring current shielding effect of the G4* base (G4*H8 at 8.76 ppm). The G4*.C13 base pair is perturbed significantly, consistent with the lack of detection of its imino proton. The intrastrand Pt-G*pG* cross-link is metastable in the present DNA duplex. The molecule is slowly converted into a more stable interstrand didentate adduct (between G4 and G9) promoted by the presence of the nucleophilic chloride ion.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

[CuBr2(2,2'-bipyridine)] catalyses the selective and very mild aerobic oxidation of primary alcohols to aldehydes in acetonitrile:water (2:1) in the presence of 2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidinyl-1-oxy (TEMPO) and a base as cocatalysts.

This paper describes research methodologies for the investigation of the mechanism of vulcanization and discusses the reactivity of thiuram and dithiocarbamate chemicals. The combined knowledge is subsequently applied to thoroughly review the mechanism and chemistry of both thiuram- and dithiocarbamate-accelerated sulfur vulcanization. Integration of the original mechanistic ideas from the 1960s and the results obtained in the past three decades now have led to a more balanced appraisal of events during vulcanization. Questions have been answered, solutions for old problems are proposed, and remaining fields of endeavor are identified.