Significant new insights into the interactions of the potent insulin-enhancing compound bis(maltolato)oxovanadium(IV) (BMOV) with the serum proteins, apo-transferrin and albumin, are presented. Identical reaction products are observed by electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) with either BMOV or vanadyl sulfate (VOSO4) in solutions of human serum apo-transferrin. Further detailed study rules out the presence of a ternary ligand-vanadyl-transferrin complex proposed previously. By contrast, differences in reaction products are observed for the interactions of BMOV and VOSO4 with human serum albumin (HSA), wherein adduct formation between albumin and BMOV is detected. In BMOV-albumin solutions, vanadyl ions are bound in a unique manner not observed in comparable solutions of VOSO4 and albumin. Presentation of chelated vanadyl ions precludes binding at the numerous nonspecific sites and produces a unique EPR spectrum which is assigned to a BMOV-HSA adduct. The adduct species cannot be produced, however, from a solution of VOSO4 and HSA titrated with maltol. Addition of maltol to a VOSO4-HSA solution instead results in formation of a different end product which has been assigned as a ternary complex, VO(ma)(HSA). Furthermore, analysis of solution equilibria using a model system of BMOV with 1-methylimidazole (formation constant log K1 = 4.5(1), by difference electronic absorption spectroscopy) lends support to an adduct binding mode (VO(ma)2-HSA) proposed herein for BMOV and HSA. This detailed report of an in vitro reactivity difference between VOSO4 and BMOV may have bearing on the form of active vanadium metabolites delivered to target tissues. Albumin binding of vanadium chelates is seen to have a potentially dramatic effect on pharmacokinetics, transport, and efficacy of these antidiabetic chelates.

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To shed light on the role of V(V) complexes as pro-drugs for their V(IV) analogues, the kinetics of the reduction reactions of [VO2(ma)2]- or [VO2(ema)2]- (Hma = maltol, Hema = ethylmaltol), with ascorbic acid or glutathione, have been studied in aqueous solution by spectrophotometric and magnetic resonance methods. EPR and 51V NMR studies suggested that the vanadium(V) in each complex was reduced to vanadium(IV) during the reactions. All the reactions studied showed first-order kinetics when the concentration of ascorbic acid or glutathione was in large excess and the observed first-order rate constants have a linear relationship with the concentrations of reductant (ascorbic acid or glutathione). Potentiometric results revealed that the most important species in the neutral pH range is [VO2(L)2]- for the V(V) system where L is either ma- or ema-. An acid dependence mechanism was proposed from kinetic studies with varying pH and varying maltol concentration. The good fits of the second order rate constant versus pH or the total concentration of maltol, and the good agreement of the constants obtained between fittings, strongly supported the mechanism. Under the same conditions, the reaction rate of [VO2(ma)2]- with glutathione is about 2000 times slower than that of [VO2(ma)2]- with ascorbic acid, but an acid dependence mechanism can also be used to explain the results for the reduction with glutathione. Replacing the methyl group in maltol with an ethyl group has little influence on the reduction rate with ascorbic acid, and the kinetics are the same no matter whether [VO2(ma)2]- or [VO2(ema)2]- is reduced.

The hexaaqua complex of ruthenium(II) represents an ideal starting material for the synthesis of isostructural compounds with a [Ru(H(2)O-ax)(H(2)O-eq)(4)L](2+) general formula. We have studied a series of complexes, where L = H(2)O, MeCN, Me(2)SO, H(2)C=CH(2), CO, and F(2)C=CH(2). We have evaluated the effect of L on the cyclic voltammetric response, on the rate and mechanism of exchange reaction of the water molecules, and on the structures calculated with the density functional theory (DFT). As expected, the formal redox potential, E degrees '(+2/+3), increases with the pi-accepting capabilities of the ligands. For L = N(2), the oxidation to Ru(III) is followed by a fast substitution of dinitrogen by a solvent molecule, revealing the poor stability of the Ru(III)-N(2) bond. The water exchange reactions have been followed by (17)O NMR spectroscopy. The variable-pressure and variable-temperature kinetic studies made on selected examples are all in accordance with a dissociative activation mode for exchange. The positive activation volumes obtained for the axial and equatorial water exchange reactions on [Ru(H(2)O)(5)(H(2)C=CH(2))](2+) (DeltaV(ax)() and DeltaV(eq)() = +6.5 +/- 0.5 and +6.1 +/- 0.2 cm(3) mol(-)(1)) are the strongest evidence of this conclusion. The increasing cis-effect series was established according to the lability of the equatorial water molecules and is as follows: F(2)C=CH(2) congruent with CO < Me(2)SO < N(2) < H(2)C=CH(2) < MeCN < H(2)O. The increase of the lability is accompanied by a decrease of the E degrees ' values, but no change was found in the calculated Ru-H(2)O(eq) bond lengths. The increasing trans-effect series, established from the lability of the axial water molecule, is the following: N(2) << MeCN < H(2)O < CO < Me(2)SO < H(2)C=CH(2) < F(2)C=CH(2). A variation of the Ru-H(2)O(ax) bond lengths is observed in the calculated structures. However, the best correlation is found between the lability and the calculated Ru-H(2)O(ax) bond energies. It appears, also, that a decrease of the electronic density along the Ru-O(ax) bond and the increase of the lability can be related to an increase of the pi-accepting capability of the ligand. For L = N(2), the calculations have shown that the Ru(II)-N(2) bond is weak. Consequently, the water exchange reaction proceeds through a different mechanism, where first the N(2) ligand is substituted by one water molecule to produce the hexaaqua complex of Ru(II). The water exchange takes place on this compound before re-formation of the [Ru(H(2)O)(5)N(2)](2+) complex.