Palladium(II) complexes with organic ligands are promising as medicines [1] that interact with functional groups of biological systems to give the corresponding coordination entities [2]. In the study of reactions of the palladium ion with bioligands, its interactions with inorganic compounds contained in an organism's fluids should also be considered. It is not improbable that inorganic ligands (H 2 O , Cl -, etc.) competing with biologically active substances for the metal ion can reduce its toxicity. On the other hand, coordination of inorganic ligands by the metal cation can diminish the efficiency of palladium-based medicines; for this reason, mixed-ligand complexes of palladium(II), in which the opposite trends are more or less counterbalanced, are acceptable as medicines.It is expedient to use the chloride ion as an inorganic ligand since it is contained in biological fluids. For instance, blood plasma is simulated by 0.86% (0.147 mol/l) NaCl, while the gastric juice is simulated by 0.1 M HCl [3].2-Pyrrolidone (2-pyrrolidinone, pyrrolidine-2-one, 2-oxopyrrolidine, and γ -butyrolactam) is a promising ligand for the formation of biologically active complexes with platinum metal cations [4]; 2-pyrrolidone can exhibit lactam-lactim tautomerism [5,6]. In sufficiently acidic media, protonation of 2-pyrrolidone (which is possible both at the N and O atoms) can compete with its coordination by metal cations.
In[7], dichlorobis(pyrrolin-2-ol)palladium [Pd ( C 4 H 7 NO ) 4 Cl 2 ] was synthesized by the reaction of palladium(II) chloride with 2-pyrrolidone in aqueous acetone and its crystal and molecular structures were determined by X-ray diffraction analysis [8]. The structure consists of an electrically neutral complex and two 2-pyrrolidone molecules attached to it by intermolecular éç ··· é hydrogen bonds [8]. The most important features of the complexation is the lactim (pyrroline-2-ol) structure of the organic ligand, N-coordination, and the cis -structure of dichlorobis(pyrroline-2-ol)palladium [8].Usually, complexation reactions yield trans -isomeric products [9, 10]. However, it is cis -isomers that are of interest as potential antitumor preparations. For this reason, it is important to explain the stereoselectivity of complexation.The goal of this study was to calculate, by quantumchemical methods, the tautomerism and regioselectivity of the protonation of 2-pyrrolidone in the gas phase and an aqueous solution and to justify the stereoselectivity of the complexation between palladium(II), chloride ion, and pyrroline-2-ol.
EXPERIMENTALQuantum-chemical calculations for the gas phase were performed by the AM1 [11] and PM3 methods Abstract -According to the AM1, PM3, HF/6-31G(d,p), and MP2/6-31G(d,p)//HF/6-31G(d,p) calculations, it is the lactam tautomer of 2-pyrrolidone that is thermodynamically most stable in both the gas phase and an aqueous solution. Analysis of the PM3 data with consideration of the medium showed that the tautomeric equilibrium of 2-pyrrolidone (pyrroline-2-ol) in aqueous solution is shift...