Singlet-oxygen generation in the catalytic reaction of dioxiranes with nucleophilic anions.
Nucleophilic anions such as Cl(-), I(-), Br(-), t-BuO(-), O(2)(-) and OH(-) efficiently catalyze the decomposition of dimethyldioxirane (DMD) and methyl(trifluoromethyl)dioxirane (TFD). Singlet oxygen ((1)O(2)) is formed in these catalytic reactions, as demonstrated by the characteristic infrared chemiluminescence (IR-CL) at 1268 nm. The yield of (1)O(2) generation, measured by the IR-CL method, lies in the range between 2 and 98%, which depends on the particular anion employed. For the bromide ion, the catalytic decomposition of the dioxirane is in competition with the oxidation of Br(-) to elemental bromine.
Deuterium kinetic isotope effects and the mechanism of the bacterial luciferase reaction.
A combined experimental and theoretical investigation of the deuterium isotope effects on the bacterial luciferase reaction is described. The experimental studies focus on determining if the unusual aldehydic deuterium isotope effect of approximately 1.5 observed in these reactions is an intrinsic isotope effect resulting from a single rate-limiting step or is a composite of multiple rate-limiting steps. The isotope effect observed is not significantly affected by variation in the aldehyde chain length, changes in the pH over a range of 6-9, use of alphaC106A and alphaC106S site-directed mutants, or chloride substitution at the 8-position of the reduced flavin, though the isotope effect is decreased when the 8-methoxy-substituted flavin is used as a substrate. From these observations it is concluded that the aldehydic isotope effect arises from the change in rate of a single kinetic step. A stopped-flow kinetic analysis of the microscopic rate constants for the reactions of 1-[1H]decanal and 1-[2H]decanal in the bacterial luciferase reaction was carried out, and aldehyde hydration isotope effects were determined. From the results it is estimated that the aldehydic deuterium isotope effect is approximately 1.9 after formation of an intermediate flavin C4a-hydroperoxy hemiacetal. Ab initio calculations were used to examine the transformation of the aldehyde into a carboxylic acid and to predict isotope effects for possible mechanisms. These calculations indicate that the mechanism involving rate-limiting electron transfer from the flavin C4a-hydroxide to an intermediate dioxirane is consistent with the enigmatic aldehydic isotope effect and that the intermediacy of a dioxirane is energetically plausible.
Bleaching kraft pulps with in-situ generated dioxiranes
The catalytic properties of aliphatic ketones to promote bleaching reactions of peroxymonosulfate with kraft softwood pulp was studied. The in-situ generation of substituted dioxiranes from keto compounds and peroxymonosulfate was demonstrated to be an effective bleaching technology. This bleaching system was shown to be very sensitive to the nature of the alkyl groups attached to the carbonyl group. Studies reported in this paper suggest that acetone may have the optimal structural features for catalyzing the bleaching properties of peroxymonosulfate