No abstract

Reaction of deoxyguanosine in glacial acetic acid with chloroethylene oxide, a proposed reactive metabolite of vinyl chloride, led to a single, strongly fluorescent product in nearly quantitative yield. The u.v. spectra indicated alkylation of N-7 of guanine, which was confirmed following reduction of the reaction product by sodium borohydride to 7-(2-hydroxyethyl)guanine, and the synthesis of the same modified guanine via a stereoselective 7-N hydroxy alkylation using 2,3-epoxy-1-propanol. In agreement with the expected structure 7-(2-oxoethyl)guanine reacted with the carbonyl specific reagent 2,4-dinitrophenylhydrazine (2,4-DNPH). However, its i.r. and proton n.m.r. spectra did not support the existence of a simple aldehyde group. Moreover, the 2,4-dinitrophenylhydrazone was labile, 7-(2-oxoethyl)guanine being produced when excess 2,4-DNPH was removed. This instability was interpreted as being due to the reversible formation of a hemiacetal ring between O6 of the guanine residue and the aldehyde carbon of the 2-oxoalkyl group resulting in O6,7-(1'-hydroxyethano)guanine. This conformation was supported by the occurrence in field desorption mass spectra of the ions of m/e = 175 and 292 which are interpreted as O6,7-ethenoguanine and O6,7-ethenodeoxyguanosine resulting from the elimination of H2O of the hydroxyethano residue. O6,7-(1'-hydroxyethano)guanine might be expected to cause faulty base pairing during replication of DNA, which may be the molecular basis of the carcinogenicity of vinyl chloride.

The roles of chloroethylene oxide (CEO) and chloroacetaldehyde (CAA) in carcinogenicity of vinyl chloride (VC) have been studied by comparing biological effects of VC exposure with those of 2,2'-dichlorodiethylether (bis(chloroethyl)ether, BCEE) as a metabolic precursor of CAA. Biological end-points investigated were covalent protein binding, nucleic acid (RNA and DNA) alkylation and the potency of the two chemicals to induce preneoplastic ATPase-deficient foci in rat liver. After exposure of rats to [1-14C]BCEE, BCEE derived radioactivity was bound to liver proteins. Analysis of hydrolysates of liver RNA and DNA gave no indication for the formation of either 7-N-(2-oxoethyl)guanine, 1,N6-ethenoadenine or 3,N4-ethenocytosine residues within the nucleic acids. After application of VC, BCEE or chloroethanol [CE), also a precursor of CAA) to young rats, only animals exposed to VC developed preneoplastic hepatocellular ATPase-deficient foci. From these investigations it is concluded, that CEO (which is not formed during metabolism of BCEE and CE), not CAA, is the ultimate carcinogenic principle in VC carcinogenicity.

The fungus Botrytis cinerea, which belongs to the class of ascomycetes, has been analysed for its sterol composition. It is able to produce ergosterol, cerevisterol, lanosterol/dihydrolanosterol and cholesterol besides β-sitosterol. The identification of the sterols is carried out with different analytical methods including mass spectrometry. In the extracts of the mycelium also squalene has been identified