O estado excitado triplete de cetonas pode oxidar substratos biológicos acarretando danos a diversas biomoléculas como aminoácidos, nucleosídeos e mesmo DNA. Como parte de nossos estudos acerca da interação entre carbonilas e fenóis, foi investigada a reatividade do estado excitado triplete de tiocromanona (1) frente a fenóis, em acetonitrila, empregando a técnica de fotólise por pulso de laser de nanossegundo. As constantes de velocidade de supressão obtidas variaram de (1,1 ± 0,1) × 10 8 L mol -1 s -1 (4-cianofenol) a (5,8 ± 1,0) × 10 9 L mol -1 s -1 (hidroquinona). Um gráfico de Hammett para a reação do triplete de 1 com uma série de fenóis contendo substituintes polares resultou em uma constante de reação r = -0,90. Este valor negativo para a constante de reação r está plenamente de acordo com um mecanismo envolvendo uma transferência acoplada elétron/ próton no processo de transferência de hidrogênio do fenol para a carbonila triplete.Triplet ketones are known to oxidize biological substrates which can lead to damage of several biomolecules such as amino acids, nucleosides and DNA. As part of our systematic study on the interaction between carbonyl compounds and phenols, the triplet reactivity of thiochromanone (1) towards substituted phenols, in acetonitrile, was investigated employing the laser flash photolysis technique. The quenching rate constants ranged from (1.1 ± 0.1) × 10 8 L mol -1 s -1 (4-cyanophenol) to (5.8 ± 1.0) × 10 9 L mol -1 s -1 (hydroquinone). A Hammett plot for the reaction of triplet 1 with phenols containing polar substituents resulted in a reaction constant r = -0.90. This negative value observed for the reaction constant r is in accord with a mechanism in which the hydrogen transfer from phenols to the triplet carbonyl involves a coupled electron/proton transfer.Keywords: thiochromanone, laser flash photolysis, triplet excited state, hydrogen donors
IntroductionIn the last few years the phenolic hydrogen abstraction by carbonyl compounds in the triplet excited state has been extensively studied employing experimental and theoretical methods. [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16] The mechanism for this process is now well established and involves the initial formation of a hydrogen-bonded exciplex in the triplet excited state, followed by electron transfer and, subsequently, an ultrafast proton transfer. 4,9-16 DFT calculations clearly showed that for the triplet complex (exciplex) ketone-phenol the hydrogen transfer is predominantly occurring. 8 The very fast quenching rate constants of triplet carbonyls towards phenols is consequence of both the low reduction potential of the former as well as the low oxidation potential of the later. 4,16 Experimentally, this coupled electron/proton transfer mechanism ultimately results in the formation of the ketyl-aryloxyl radical pair.Triplet ketones are known to oxidize biological substrates such as amino acids, nucleosides and DNA. Due to this, topical or systemic administration of drugs containing the carbonyl chromophore c...