Cardiovascular disease (CVD) such as hypertension and stroke are serious illnesses that impact on the lives of millions all over the world, with 972 million (26% of the world’s population) suffering from hypertension in year 2000, and an estimated 1.56 billion to be affected by 2025. Hypertension, being one of the most common CVD is associated with the development of stroke, peripheral vascular diseases, myocardial infarction, renal failure as well as cardiac failure. Several studies have shown a seasonal correlation for both the systolic and diastolic blood pressure in mankind. A hypertension trial done by the Medical Research Council in the 1980s showed the average blood pressure being lower in summer than winter, and this difference was more significant in the elderly than the younger population. Other than seasonal variation, blood pressure (including hypertension prevalence) is also noted to correlate with latitude, being higher at places further away from the equator. Other cardiovascular related diseases such as stroke and acute coronary syndrome are also shown occur more frequently in winter. The morbidity and mortality of CVD could be due to various factors including diet, culture, race and social status, but within the United Kingdom, all cause mortality (with cerebral-vascular disease being the major one) correlates with latitude even after accounting for all known risk factors, with CVD risks highest in the north. We propose that this difference in cardiovascular mortality is caused by variations in ultraviolet exposure other than temperature. Known mechanisms of sunlight exposure that affect cardiovascular health include temperature and the ultraviolet B (UVB) mediated photolysis of 7-dehydrocholesterol in the skin to produce 1,25 dihydroxycholecalciferol (Vitamin D). UVB is however a potent skin carcinogen, and calculating risk-benefit ratios for exposure will be important. We believe that independently of vitamin D, nitric oxide plays an important role in blood pressure regulation and cardiovascular health, accounting for seasonal and latitude variation. In 1961, Furchgott demonstrated relaxation of rabbit aorta by irradiating them with ultraviolet light, and in later research he noted this effect is most significant in the ultraviolet A (UVA) spectrum. Recently, Mowbray showed a rich store of various nitro-species within human skin and Oplander showed a reduction of blood pressure in human after giving whole body UVA irradiation. We therefore hypothesize that independently of vitamin D, NO mediates the UVA induced beneficial effects on cardiovascular health. To support our hypothesis, in vivo as well as in vitro studies were conducted. We recruited a total of 63 healthy volunteers and monitored blood pressure, forearm blood flow as well as other cardiovascular parameters before and after UVA irradiation. Blood samples were also taken for the measurement of circulatory nitro-species. We have noted a significant reduction of blood pressure (from 84.5±1.76 to 81.33±1.37 mmHg) and increased forearm blood flow (1.95±0.28 to 2.94±0.47 mL/100mL of tissue/min) after UVA irradiation of human skin; simultaneously, we also noted a rise in circulatory nitrite (0.5±0.04 μM before irradiation to 0.72±0.04 μM) and a drop in circulatory nitrate (11.79±0.64 μM before irradiation and 8.99±0.4 μM). For us to further clarify the role of nitric oxide in different latitude, a monochromator machine that generates specific wavelength of light was been used to irradiate aqueous nitrite solution, and the total amount of nitric oxide release at different latitude was then calculated according to the irradiance of various wavelength across the globe. The results of our studies provide evidence suggesting that nitric oxide release induced by UVA irradiation of the skin can account for the difference in cardiovascular mortality and morbidity by latitude. The current public health advice of avoiding sun exposure to reduce the risk of developing skin cancer may need to be modified.

Nitroaromatic explosives have contaminated millions of acres of soil and water across the globe since World War II with known mutagenic, carcinogenic, and ecotoxicological effects. Recently, the U.S. Army initiated a shift away from traditional explosive compounds, such as trinitrotoluene (TNT) and hexahydrotrinitrotriazine (RDX), towards new, insensitive high explosive formulations. The new formulations approved for use include “IMX-101” and “IMX-104,” which contain 2,4-dinitroanisole (DNAN), 3-nitro-1,2,4-triazol-5-one (NTO), and nitroguanidine (NQ). These mixtures are less prone to accidental detonation making storage, transport, and implementation of these formulations safer for soldiers. Furthermore, initial research indicates that these compounds are less toxic than the older analogues. Despite the apparent benefits, the new explosives have higher solubility (approximately 3-300 times) than the compounds they are replacing, and NTO and NQ are fairly recalcitrant to aerobic biodegradation. The refractory nature and high solubility of the compounds raises concerns about leaching and water contamination considering the previous scale of environmental contamination from production and use of legacy explosives, while feasible strategies for cleaning up the new chemicals from soil and water have not been developed. Therefore, there is a critical need for understanding of the mechanisms of biodegradation these compounds will undergo in the environment and in engineered systems. In addition, a number of questions remain about the photochemistry of the compounds and how they may transform in sunlit surface water. Accordingly, this thesis examines biological transformations of DNAN and NTO in vegetative, fungal, and bacterial organisms, as well as photolysis of NTO and NQ in aqueous solution and DNAN in plant leaves. I identified 34 novel biotransformation products of DNAN using stable-isotope labeled DNAN and high resolution mass spectrometry. Most identified biotransformation products were the result of a nitro-group reduction as the first metabolic step. Arabidopsis plants, a Rhizobium bacterium, and a Penicillium fungus all further metabolized DNAN to produce large, conjugated compounds, and no mineralization was observed in the systems studied. All three organisms reduced both para- and ortho-nitro groups of DNAN, with a dramatic preference for ortho reduction. I found that photodegradation of DNAN and its plant metabolites within Arabidopsis leaves could impact the phytoremediation of DNAN and other contaminants. Soil slurries acclimated to nitroaromatic wastewater degraded DNAN with and without carbon and nitrogen amendments and NTO with added carbon. Organisms capable of degrading DNAN and NTO were isolated, and NTO was transformed to urea, amino-triazolone, and hydroxyl-triazolone. Photolysis of NTO sensitized singlet oxygen formation and yielded hydroxyl-triazolone, nitrite, nitrate, and ammonium. The rate of photolysis of NTO increased over the neutral pH range, and natural organic matter quenched the photolysis of NTO. An unknown volatile product accumulated in the headspace of sealed reactors after NTO photolysis. Singlet oxygen degraded NTO and formed nitrite in stoichiometric yield. Photolysis of NQ produced nitrite and nitrate, but at high pH, the reaction occurred much faster than at neutral pH, and the mass balance of inorganic nitrogen was much lower. Further work should be done to investigate the mechanisms of and products from NTO and NQ photolysis.

The diversity of choices we have to make everyday influence our environment and ourselves in more ways than most of us realise. Anthropogenic substances, such as flame retardants, date back as early as 450 BC when the Egyptians used alum to reduce flammability. The increasing demand for new articles has led to an increased production of chemical substances, for which many are commercially produced without complete knowledge on properties such as persistence, bioaccumulation and toxicology (PBT). Commercial compounds may be properly tested and denominated as “safe” regarding PBT properties, but their degradation products and/or metabolites may cause environmental impact. The availability of uniform and accurate data for prediction of persistence is of key importance for the understanding of chemical fate. A method to determine the susceptibility of chemicals to undergo oxidation in water has been developed and applied on several organohalogens, including PBDEs and OH-PBDEs. The method was used to determine reaction rates and the group of OH-PBDEs were subsequently subjected to photolysis by use of UV-light. Hence, susceptibility to undergo both oxidation and photolysis for the OH-PBDEs were investigated and compared to previously reported degradation rates on PBDEs. As a final step in promoting the prediction of persistence, Quantitative structure-property relationship (QSPR) models were performed on a set of compounds which had undergone photolytic degradation under similar conditions. The QSPRs were used as a preliminary step in predicting photolysis half-lives for chemical substances and to determine which physicochemical descriptors are of greatest importance thereof. This thesis presents the possibility of performing and assessing oxidation transformations on compounds of low and high water solubility, photolysis transformations in various media and using obtained data to predict behaviour via QSPR models, to promote predictions of persistence.

3-(o-(Methylthio)phenyl)-1-phenylprop-2-en-1-one (48) ¡B1-(o-(methylthio)-phenyl)-3-phenylprop-2-en-1-one (49) and 1-(o-(methylthio)phenyl)-3-phenylprop-2-yn-1-one (50) had been studied by means of pyrolysis and photolysis. Under pyrolytic conditions, compound 48 gave phenanthrene (2) as the major product. Both compounds 49 and 50 gave thioflavone (53) as the major product. Under photolytic conditions, compounds 48-50 gave the expected products 2-benzoylbenzo[b]thiophene (51)¡B 2-benzylidenebenzo[b]thiophen-3-one (52) and thioflavone (53), respectively.

1-(o-(Dimethylamino)phenyl)-3-phenylprop-2-en-1-one (62), 3-(o-(dimethylamino)phenyl)-1-phenylpropenone (63) and 1-(o-(dimethyl- amino)phenyl)-3-phenylprop-2-yn-1-one (64) were synthesized and their pyrolytic and photolytic chemistry were studied. Flash vacuum pyrolysis (FVP) of 62 and 64 gave 11H-benzo[a]carbazole (72) and benzo[c]carba-zole (73), FVP of 63 gave phenanthrene (2) and 1-methylquinolin-2(1H)-one (84). Under photolytic conditions, 62 and 64 gave the expected photocyclic products 1-methyl-2-phenylquinolin-4-one (65), while 63 gave the expected photocyclic products (1-methyl-1H-indol-2-yl)phenyl-methanone (66).

1. Generation of nitrenes by means of photolysis of arylmethylazides and its derivatives have been studies. Pyrolysis of 2-azidomethylthiophene¡]44a¡^ gave 2-thiophenecarboxaldehyde¡]77a¡^and (2-thienylmethylidene)-2-thienylamine¡]45a¡^, and pyrolysis of 2-azidomethylbenzo[b]thiophene¡]44b¡^gave the corresponding products. Pyrolysis of 2-azido-1-(2-thienyl)ethanone¡]52a¡^gave 2-thiophenecarboxaldehyde¡]77a¡^, 2-acetylthiophene¡]80a¡^and 2-(thiophene-2-carbonyl)amino-1-(2-thienyl)ethanone¡]83a¡^, and pyrolysis of 2-azido-1-(2-benzo[b]thienyl)ethanone¡]52b¡^gave the corresponding products. 2. Pyrolysis of 3-cyclohexeno[b]furylmethyl benzoate¡]35¡^gave cyclohexeno-4-methylenecyclobuten-3-one¡]25¡^via highly reactive carbene intermediate. At high temperature, compound 25 can continue the reaction of elimination and ring opening to give benzene¡]43¡^, fulvene¡]46¡^, 2-ethylnylcyclohex-1-ene carbaldehyde¡]44¡^ and 4,5-dimethylenecyclopent-2-enone¡]45¡^.

¤@. Photolysis of 2-azido-1-(2- pyridyl)ethanone (68),2-azido-1-(3-pyridyl)ethanone) (69),2-azido-1-(1-methyl-2-pyrryl)ethanone (53) and 2-azido-1-(1-methyl-3-indo yl)ethanone gave Norrish products (71, 7 3-76), (84-86, 89), (92-94) and (93, 95-98). ¤G. Pyrolysis of 2-(azidomethyl)pyridine (9) and 4-(azidomethyl)pyr idine (10) gave the expected products 1,3,5-tri-2-pyridyl-2,4-diaza-1,4-pentadiene (13) and 1,3,5-tri-4-pyridyl-2,4-diaza-1,4-pentadiene (21). ¤T. Pyrolysis of 2-cyclohexeno[b]furylmethyl benzoate (31) gave 2-methylbenzo[b]- furan (40) and benzene products.

The first chapter describe the pyrolytic and photolytic studies of substituted styrylarenes. Flash vacuum pyrolysis (FVP) of (2-(4-methoxystyryl)-N-methylindole) (18) gave (4-vinylphenol) (81)¡B (7-methyl-7H-benzo[c]carbazole) (82)¡B (benzo[c]carbazole) (83)¡B (1,6-dihydrocyclopenta[c]carbazole) (84) and (3,6-dihydrocyclopenta- [c]carbazole) (84'). FVP of 2',3,5-trimethoxystilbene (31) gave 2-(3,5-dihydroxyphenyl)benzo[b]furan) (26) and 2-(3,5-dimethoxy- phenyl)benzo[b]furan (95). FVP of 2-methoxy-4-(methoxymethyl)-1- [2-(4-methoxyphenyl)-1-methylvinyl]benzene (33) gave [2-(4- methoxyphenyl)-3-methylbenzofuran-5-yl]methanol (104)¡B4-(3,5- dimethylbenzofuran-2-yl)phenol (105) and 2-(4-hydroxyphenyl)-3- methylbenzofuran-5-carbaldehyde (106). FVP of 2-(2-chlorostyryl)- benzo[b]furan (44) ¡B2-(2-chlorostyryl)benzo[b]thiophene (45) and 2-(2-chlorostyryl)-N-methylindole (46) gave benzo[b]naphtha[1,2-d]- furan (116)¡Bbenzo[b]naphtho[1,2-d]thiophene (117)¡B7-methyl-7H- benzo[c] carbazole (82) and benzo[c]carbazole (83). FVP of 2-chloro-N-(N-methylindol-2-ylmethylene)aniline (71) gave N-methylindole-2-carbonitrile (124)¡B 7H-indolo[2,3-c]quinoline (125) and indolo[1,2-a]quinoxaline (126). FVP of 2-methoxy -N-(N-methyl- indol-2-ylmethylene)aniline (72) gave N-methylindole-2-carbonitrile (124) ¡B 2-(N-methylindol- 2-yl)benzoxazole (132) and 2-hydroxy- benzonitrile (133). FVP of 2-methylthio-N-(phenylmethylene)aniline (73)¡B2-methylthio-N-(furylmethylene)aniline (74)¡B2-methylthio-N- (benzo[b]thiophen-2-ylmethylene)aniline (75) and 2-methylthio-N- (N-methylindol-2-ylmethylene)aniline (76) gave 2-phenylbenzothiazole (143)¡B2-furylbenzothiazole (144)¡B2-benzo[b]thiophen-2-ylbenzo- thiazole (145)¡B2-(N-methylindol-2-yl)benzothiazole (146)¡B2-(1H- indol-2-yl)benzothiazole (147) and benzothiazole (148).Such a method, via oxygen-carbon bond disconnecting, can synthesize efficiently a nature product, stemofuran A 26. Photolytic study of 2',3,5-trimethoxystilbene (31) gave 1,5,7- trimethoxyphenanthrene) (101). Photolytic studies of 2-(2-chloro- styryl)benzo[b]furan (44) ¡B2-(2-chlorostyryl)benzo[b]thiophene (45) and 2-(2-chlorostyryl)-N-methylindole (46) gave benzo[b]naphtha- [1,2-d]furan (116) and 4-chlorobenzo[b]naphtha[1,2-d]furan (120)¡Bbenzo[b]naphtho[1,2-d]thiophene (117) and 4-chlorobenzo[b]naphtha- [1,2-d]thiophene (120) ¡B7-methyl-7H- benzo[c]carbazole (82) and 4-chloro-7-methyl-7H-benzo[c]carbazole (121). Photolytic studies of 2-methylthio-N-(phenylmethylene)aniline (73)¡B2-methylthio- -N-(furylmethylene)aniline (74)¡B2-methylthio-N-(benzo[b]thiophen-2- ylmethylene)aniline (75) and 2-methylthio-N-(N-methylindol-2- ylmethylene)aniline (76) gave 2-phenylbenzothiazole (143)¡B2-furyl- benzothiazole (144)¡B2-benzo[b]thiophen-2-ylbenzo- thiazole (145)¡B2-(N-methylindol-2-yl)benzothiazole (146)¡B2-(1H-indol-2-yl)benzo- thiazole (147) and 2-(2,4-dimethoxyphenyl)benzothiazole) (60f). Such a method has the potential for preparing drugs and application on material science. (¤G)FVP of 2-inden-1-ylidenemethylthiophene (24) and 2-inden-1-ylidene- methylfuran (25) gave the cyclized products 2-(2'-thienyl)naphthalene (29) and 2-(2'-furyl)naphthalene (32).

1.trans o-methoxystilbene and its derivatives 47a-f had been studied by means of pyrolysis and photolysis. Under pyrolytic conditions, compounds 47a-f gave not only the expected products 52a,c-f, but also their corresponding isomers 53a,c-f . Furthermore, compound 47b gave naphthalene (63) as the major product by opening the furan ring at higher temperature. Under photolytic conditions, compounds 47a-f gave the expected photocyclic products 2a-f and 109a-f.2.Pyrolytic chemistry of N-(N-Methyl-3-indolyl)methyl benzamide (45) hes been studied. Pyrolysis of 45 gave 3-methyl quinoline (38), 4-methyl quinoline (39) and secondary pyrolysis product quinoline (36). 2.Pyrolytic chemistry of N-(N-Methyl-3-indolyl)methyl benzamide (45) hes been studied. Pyrolysis of 45 gave 3-methyl quinoline (38), 4-methyl quinoline (39) and secondary pyrolysis product quinoline (36).

In this study, the effect of a donor ligand on the stabilization of a carbonyl pyrazine tungsten complex was studied. The pentacarbonylpyrazinetungsten(0) complex could be formed from the photolysis of hexacarbonyltungsten(0) in the presence of pyrazine and could be isolated as crystalline solid. However, the complex was found to be unstable in solution, being converted to a bimetallic complex, (CO)5W(pyz)W(CO)5 and free pyrazine molecule. Two complexes exist in solution at equilibrium. The equilibrium constant could be determined by 1H-NMR spectroscopy and found to be 0.0396 at 25&deg / C. To test whether the introduction of a second pyrazine ligand might provide stability for the carbonyl-pyrazine-tungsten complex, W(CO)4(pyz)2 was attempted to be synthesized. The cis-W(CO)4(pyz)2 complex could be generated from the thermal substitution reaction of cis-W(CO)4(piperidine)2 with excess pyrazine in dichloromethane. However, this complex could not be isolated because of the lack of stability. The complex could only be identified by IR spectroscopy in solution. To stabilize the pentacarbonylpyrazinetungsten(0) complex, trimethylphosphite was introduced to the complex as a donor ligand. For this purpose, cis-W(CO)4[P(OCH3)3](thf), photogenerated from W(CO)5[P(OCH3)3] in tetrahydrofuran (thf), was reacted with pyrazine. The replacement of tetrahydrofuran with pyrazine (pyz) yielded cis-W(CO)4[P(OCH3)3](pyz). The complex could be isolated from the reaction solution and characterized by means of IR, 1H-, 13C-, 31P-NMR, and Mass spectroscopies. The introduction of P(OCH3)3 has proved that a donor ligand will strengthen the metal-pyrazine bond and thus stabilizes the complex. As a result of this stabilization, the complex could be isolated as the first example of tungsten pyrazine complexes that contain a donor ligand.