No abstract

Complexes of the types LPtCl2 and [L2Pt]X2 [L = substituted 3-(pyridin-2'-yl)-1,2,4-triazine] were synthesized and characterized by NMR spectroscopy and, for the first time, by X-ray crystallography in an effort to determine the coordination properties of this novel class of inorganic medicinal agents possessing HIV-1 virucidal activity. The agents containing either one or two sp2 N-donor bidentate ligands are referred to as ptt (platinum triazine) agents. The X-ray structures of three LPtCl2 compounds revealed the expected pseudo-square-planar geometry. The X-ray structure of [(pyPh2t)2Pt](BF4)2 [pyPh2t = 3-(pyridin-2'-yl)-5,6-diphenyl-1,2,4-triazine] has the expected trans relationship of the unsymmetrical L and is essentially planar, an unusual property for a Pt(II) complex with two bidentate sp2 N donors. HIV-1 is an RNA virus; the guanosine ribonucleoside (Guo) binds (MepyMe2t)PtCl2 at both (inequivalent) available coordination sites to form [(MepyMe2t)Pt(Guo)2]2+ [MepyMe2t = 3-(4'-methylpyridin-2'-yl)-5,6-dimethyl-1,2,4-triazine]. This adduct has four nearly equally intense Guo H8 signals attributed to two pairs of head-to-tail (HT) and head-to-head (HH) conformers, which interchange rapidly within each pair. However, equilibration between pairs requires rotation of the Guo cis to the MepyMe2t pyridyl ring, and the H6' proton on this ring projects toward the Guo and hinders Guo rotation about the Pt-N7 bond. Thus, the HT/HH pairs do not interchange; such behavior is rare. Guo did not add to [(MepyMe2t)2Pt]2+, a result suggesting the possibility that the virucidal activity of LPtCl2 and [L2Pt]2+ ptt agents arises respectively from covalent and noncovalent (possibly intercalative interactions favored by [L2Pt]2+ planarity) binding to biomolecular targets.

Rapid rotation of guanine base derivatives about Pt-N7 bonds results in fluxional behavior of models of the key DNA intrastrand G-G cross-link leading to anticancer activity of Pt(II) drugs (G = deoxyguanosine). This behavior impedes the characterization of LPtG2 models (L = one bidentate or two cis-unidentate carrier ligands; G = guanine derivative not linked by a phosphodiester group). We have examined the formation of LPtG2 adducts with G = 5'- and 3'-GMP and L = sp(2) N-donor bidentate carrier ligands [5,5'-dimethyl-2,2'-bipyridine (5,5'-Me2bipy), 3-(4'-methylpyridin-2'-yl)-5,6-dimethyl-1,2,4-triazine) (MepyMe2t), and bis-3,3'-(5,6-dialkyl-1,2,4-triazine) (R4dt)]. NMR spectroscopy provided conclusive evidence that these LPt(5'-GMP)2 complexes exist as interconverting mixtures of head-to-tail (HT) and head-to-head (HH) conformers. For a given G, the rates of G base rotation about the Pt-N7 bonds of LPtG2 models decrease in the order Me4dt > Et4dt > MepyMe2t > 5,5'-Me2bipy. This order reveals that the pyridyl ring C6 atom + H atom grouping is large enough to impede the rotation, but the equivalently placed triazine ring N atom + N lone pair grouping is sterically less impeding. For the first time, the two possible HH conformers (HHa and HHb) in the case of an unsymmetrical L have been identified in our study of (MepyMe2t)Pt(5'-GMP)2. Although O6-O6 clashes involving the two cis G bases favor the HT over the HH arrangement for most LPtG2-type complexes, the HH conformer of (R4dt)Pt(5'-GMP)2 adducts has a high abundance (approximately 50%). We attribute this high abundance to a reduction in O6-O6 steric clashes permitted by the overall low steric effects of R4dt ligands. Under the reaction conditions used, 3'-GMP forms a higher abundance of the LPt(GMP)2 adduct than does 5'-GMP, a result attributable to more favorable second-sphere communication in the LPt(3'-GMP)2 adduct than in the LPt(5'-GMP)2 adduct.

Platinum anticancer drug DNA intrastrand cross-link models, LPt(d(G*pG*)) (G* = N7-platinated G residue, L = R(4)dt = bis-3,3'-(5,6-dialkyl)-1,2,4-triazine), and R = Me or Et), undergo slow Pt-N7 bond rotation. NMR evidence indicated four conformers (HH1, HH2, ΔHT1, and ΛHT2); these have different combinations of guanine base orientation (head-to-head, HH, or head-to-tail, HT) and sugar-phosphodiester backbone propagation relative to the 5'-G* (the same, 1, or opposite, 2, to the direction in B DNA). In previous work on LPt(d(G*pG*)) adducts, Pt-N7 rotation was too rapid to resolve conformers (small L with bulk similar to that in active drugs) or L was too bulky, allowing formation of only two or three conformers; ΛHT2 was not observed under normal conditions. The (R(4)dt)Pt(d(G*pG*)) results support our initial hypothesis that R(4)dt ligands have Goldilocks bulk, sufficient to slow G* rotation but insufficient to prevent formation of the ΛHT2 conformer. Unlike the (R(4)dt)Pt(5'-GMP)(2) adducts, ROESY spectra of (R(4)dt)Pt(d(G*pG*)) adducts showed no EXSY peaks, a result providing clear evidence that the sugar-phosphodiester backbone slows conformer interchange. Indeed, the ΛHT2 conformer formed and converted to other conformers slowly. Bulkier L (Et(4)dt versus Me(4)dt) decreased the abundance of the ΛHT2 conformer, supporting our initial hypothesis that steric crowding disfavors this conformer. The (R(4)dt)Pt(d(G*pG*)) adducts have a low abundance of the ΔHT1 conformer, consistent with the proposal that the ΔHT1 conformer has an energetically unfavorable phosphodiester backbone conformation; its high abundance when L is bulky is attributed to a small d(G*pG*) spatial footprint for the ΔHT1 conformer. Despite the Goldilocks size of the R(4)dt ligands, the bases in the (R(4)dt)Pt(d(G*pG*)) adducts have a low degree of canting, suggesting that the ligand NH groups characteristic of active drugs may facilitate canting, an important aspect of DNA distortions induced by active drugs.