The syntheses are described for centrally expanded bilirubin analogs: b-homorubins with propionic and butyric acid groups in the positions corresponding to the propionic acids of bilirubin. Their syntheses were accomplished by coupling two equivalents of a reactive monopyrrole (5-(bromomethylene)pyrrolin-2-one) to a dipyrrylethane. The corresponding b-homoverdins and dehydro-b-homoverdins were prepared by dehydrogenating the rubins or their dimethyl esters using DDQ. As supported by NMR measurements and molecular mechanics calculations, the homorubins are found to engage in conformation-determining intramolecular hydrogen bonding between the dipyrrinone and carboxylic acid moieties. Likewise, the homoverdins are believed to favor intramolecularly hydrogen-bonded conformations.
Five new homorubin analogs of bilirubin with their two dipyrrinone components conjoined to (CH2)2, (CH2)3, and (CH2)4 units were synthesized with propionic acid chains shortened to acetic and elongated to butyric, and examined by spectroscopy and molecular mechanics computations for an ability to form conformation-determining hydrogen bonds. With m designating the number of conjoining CH2 units and n indicating the number of CH2 units of the alkanoic acid chains of (m.n)-homorubins, (2.1), (3.2), (4.2), and (4.3) homorubins were prepared and compared with previously synthesized (2.2) and (2.3), which adopt intramolecularly hydrogen bonded conformations in CHCl3.
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