Flavocytochrome b2 catalyzes the oxidation of lactate to pyruvate. Primary deuterium and solvent kinetic isotope effects have been used to determine the relative timing of cleavage of the lactate OH and CH bonds by the wild type enzyme, a mutant protein lacking the heme domain, and the D282N enzyme. The DVmax and D(V/Klactate) values are both 3.0, 3.6 and 4.5 for the wild type enzyme, flavin domain and D282N enzymes, respectively. The D20Vmax values are 1.38, 1.18, and 0.98 for the wild type enzyme, the flavin domain, and the D282N enzyme; the respective D20(V/Klactate) values are 0.9, 0.44, and 1.0. The Dkred value is 5.4 for the wild type enzyme and 3.5 for the flavin domain, whereas the D2Okred is 1.0 for both enzymes. The V/Klactate value for the flavin domain increases 2-fold at moderate concentrations of glycerol. The data are consistent with the lactate hydroxyl proton not being in flight in the transition state for CH bond cleavage and there being an internal equilibrium prior to CH bond cleavage which is sensitive to solution conditions. Removal of the hydroxyl proton may occur in this pre-equilibrium. Tryptophan 2-monooxygenase catalyzes the oxidative decarboxylation of tryptophan to indoleacetamide, carbon dioxide and water. Sequence alignments identified this enzyme as a member of the L-amino acid oxidase family. The tyrosine and arginine residues in L-amino acid oxidase that bind the carboxylate of o-aminobenzoate are conserved and correspond to Tyr413 and Arg98 in tryptophan 2-monooxygenase. Mutation and characterization of the Y413A, Y413F, R98K and R98A enzymes indicate that these residues are in the active site and interact with the substrate. Deletion of the OH group of Tyr413 increases the Kd for the substrate and makes CH bond cleavage totally rate limiting. The pH V/Ktrp rate profile for the Tyr413 mutant enzymes shows that this residue must be protonated for activity. For both the R98A and R98K enzymes flavin reduction is rate limiting. The Vmax and V/Ktrp pH profiles indicate that the unprotonated form of the substrate is the active form for activity.

Transition metal catalyzed reactions have an important place in synthetic chemistry, but the mechanistic details for many of these reactions remain undetermined. Through a combination of experimentally determined 13C kinetic isotope effects (KIEs) and density functional theory (DFT) calculations, some of these reactions have been investigated. The cyclopropanation of an olefin catalyzed by rhodium (II) tetrabridged complexes has been shown to proceed through an asynchronous, but concerted mechanism. DFT does not provide an accurate transition structure for the reaction of an unstabilized carbenoid with an olefin, but it does predict an early, enthalpically barrierless transition state which is consistent with the reactivity of unstabilized carbenoids. For the case of stabilized carbenoids, the theoretical structures predict the KIEs accurately and a new model is proposed to explain the selectivity observed in Rh2(S-DOSP)4-catalyzed cyclopropanations. The chain-elongation step of atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) has been shown to be indistinguishable from that of free radical polymerization (FRP) for the CuBr/2,2??-bipyridine system. While DFT calculations predict an earlier transition state than observed, the calculations suggest that with increasing levels of theory the predicted KIEs come closer to the observed KIEs. A recently proposed [2 + 2] mechanism for the cyclopropenation of alkynes catalyzed by Rh2(OAc)(DPTI)3 has been shown not to be a viable pathway. Rather, the experimental KIEs are predicted well by canonical variational transition state theory employing the conventional mechanism for cyclopropenation via a tetrabridged rhodium carbenoid. DFT calculations also suggest an alternative explanation for the observed enantioselectivity. The 13C KIEs for metal-catalyzed aziridination have been measured for three separate catalytic systems. While the KIEs do not completely define the mechanism, all of the reactions exhibit similar KIEs, implying similar mechanisms. A surprising feature of this system is the presumed nitrene intermediate??s triplet spin state. This complicates the DFT analysis of this system.

Tyrosine hydroxylase (TyrH) catalyzes the pterin-dependent hydroxylation of tyrosine to form dihydroxyphenylalanine. The enzyme requires one atom of ferrous iron for activity. Using deuterated 4-methylphenylalanine substrates, intrinsic primary and secondary isotope effects of 9.6 ± 0.9 and 1.21 ± 0.08 have been determined for benzylic hydroxylation catalyzed by TyrH. The large, normal secondary isotope effect is consistent with a mechanism involving hydrogen atom abstraction to generate a radical intermediate. The similarity of the isotope effects to those measured for benzylic hydroxylation catalyzed by cytochrome P-450 suggests that a high-valent, ferryl-oxo species is the hydroxylating species in TyrH. Uncoupled mutant forms of TyrH have been utilized to unmask isotope effects on steps in the aromatic hydroxylation pathway which also implicate a ferryl-oxo intermediate. Inverse secondary isotope effects were seen when 3,5-2H2-tyrosine was used as a substrate for several mutant enzyme forms. This result is consistent with a direct attack by a ferryl-oxo species on the aromatic ring of tyrosine forming a cationic intermediate. Rapid-freeze quench Mössbauer studies have provided preliminary spectroscopic evidence for an Fe(IV) intermediate in the reaction catalyzed by TyrH. The role of the iron atom in the regulatory mechanism has also been investigated. The iron atom in TyrH, as isolated, is in the ferric form and must be reduced for activity. The iron can be reduced by a number of one-electron reductants including tetrahydrobiopterin, ascorbate, and glutathione; however, it appears that BH4 (kred = 2.8 ± 0.1 mM-1 s-1) is the most likely candidate for reducing the enzyme in vivo. A one-electron transfer would require a pterin radical. Rapid-freeze quench EPR experiments aimed at detecting the intermediate were unsuccessful, suggesting that it decays very rapidly by reducing another equivalent of enzyme. The active Fe(II) form can also become oxidized by oxygen (210 ± 30 M-1 s-1); this increases the affinity of catecholamine inhibitors. Serine 40 can be phosphorylated to relieve the inhibition; however, results with S40E TyrH show phosphorylation does not have an effect on the rate constant for reduction of the enzyme but causes a 40% decrease in the rate constant of oxidation.

Several organic reactions that could potentially involve coarctate transition states were investigated by a combination of experimental and theoretical studies. In the thermal fragmentation of ∆-1,3,4-oxadiazolines, the mechanism supported by kinetic isotope effects and theoretical calculations is a three-step process that does not demonstrate any special stabilization in coarctate transition states. Rather than undergoing a direct coarctate conversion to product, the mechanism avoids coarctate steps. The last step is a concerted coarctate reaction, but being concerted may be viewed as being enforced by the necessity to avoid high-energy intermediates. In the deoxygenation of epoxides with dichlorocarbene, the stabilization from the transition state aromaticity is not great enough to compete with the preference for asynchronous bonding changes. KIEs and calculations suggested that the reaction occurs in a concerted manner but with a highly asynchronous early transition state with much more Cα-O bond breaking than Cβ-O bond breaking. In the Shi epoxidation, a large β-olefinic 13C isotope effect and small α-carbon isotope effect indicated an asynchronous transition state with more advanced formation of the C-O bond to the β-olefinic carbon. The calculated lowest-energy transition structures are generally those in which the differential formation of the incipient C-O bonds, the "asynchronicity," resembles that of an unhindered model, and the imposition of greater or less asynchronicity leads to higher barriers. In reactions of cis-disubstituted and terminal alkenes using Shi's oxazolidinone catalyst, the asynchronicity of the epoxidation transition state leads to increased steric interaction with the oxazolidinone when a π-conjugating substituent is distal to the oxazolidinone but decreased steric interaction when the π-conjugating substituent is proximal to the oxazolidinone. Dynamic effects were studied in Diels-Alder reaction between acrolein and methyl vinyl ketone. This reaction yields two products in a ratio of 3.0 ± 0.5. Theoretical studies shows that only one transition structure is involved in the formation of both. Quasiclassical trajectory calculations on an MP2 surface give a prediction of a product ratio of 45:14 (3.2:1), which is in good agreement with the experimental observation.

In order to rationally optimize a reaction, it is necessary to have a thorough understanding of its mechanism. Consequently, great effort has been made to elucidate a variety of reaction mechanisms. However, the fundamental ideas needed to understand reaction mechanisms are not yet fully developed. Throughout the literature, one encounters numerous examples of experimental observations that are not explainable by conventional mechanistic ideas and methods. The research described in this dissertation employs a unique approach towards the identification and analysis of systems whose observations cannot be explained by conventional transition state theory (TST). The nucleophilic substitution of 4,4-dichloro-but-3-en-2-one by sodium-para-tolyl-thiolate was explored. It was deduced that the reaction was concerted and consequently, the product selectivity observed in the reaction cannot be explained by TST. Dynamic effects play a major role in the observed selectivity and this is further supported by the results of dynamic trajectory simulations. Using computational studies, the ethanolysis of symmetric aryl carbonates was also shown to be concerted, provided that the substrate possesses good leaving groups. Furthermore, extensive precedence has been set by Gutthrie, Santos, Schelgel, and others, detailing concerted substitutions at acyl carbon. The Fujiwara hydroarylation is thought to occur by either a C-H activation mechanism or an electrophilic aromatic substitution (EAS). The KIEs associated with this reaction have been determined and provide strong support for the latter. Computational studies also displayed fair agreement with experimentally determined KIEs, further supporting the EAS mechanism. Isotopic perturbation of equilibria is invaluable in helping to determine whether a structure exists as a single structure or whether it is a time average of two equilibrating structures. The bromonium cation of tetramethylethylene and hydrogen pthalate have been wrongly reported as existing as equilibrating structures. The time averaged geometries have been determined in each case, via a variety of methods and the myth of equilibrating structures in the above cases has been debunked.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1975. / Typescript. Vita. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 301-311).

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This thesis can be divided into two parts.The aim of the studies described in the first part of the thesis isto make clear the dominating processes in the selective decorrpositionof certain solutes that follow low-terrperature radiolysis of crystalline hydrocarbons. 1. The isotope effect in the production of radicals has been studiedby Electron Spin Resonance and Gas Chromatography/MassSpectrometry in the C10H22/C10D22 system. Two independent methodshave never been used on the same system in this contextbefore. The methods gave the same ratio of protiated to deuteratedradicals. 2. The isotope effect in the production of hydrogen gas has beenstudied with Mass Spectrometry in the C10H22/C10D22 system. 3. The amount of reactive D-atoms has been measured in C10D22 using an olefin, C10H20, as a scavanger. 4. The effect of an electron scavenger, C8H16Cl2, in C10H22 has been investigated. Two processes for the explanation of the isotope effects are discussed. a. transfer of excitation energy b. selective abstraction. The results show that reactive D-atoms are present in the C10D22 system and suggest that the isotope effects can be explained by selectiveabstraction. The effect of the electron scavenger can beexplained by energy transfer, but not entirely by selective abstraction. In the second part of the thesis, a method to simulate Electron SpinResonance spectra for the case of a Hamiltonian containing nuclearinteractions is described. The method has been applied to the S = 1 case. It is suggested that the method can be generalized to an arbitraryelectronic spin state, and to include second order nuclear corrections. / digitalisering@umu

The aromatic amino acid hydroxylases phenylalanine hydroxylase (PheH), tyrosine hydroxylase (TyrH) and tryptophan hydroxylase (TrpH) utilize tetrahydropterin and molecular oxygen to catalyze aromatic hydroxylation. All three enzymes have similar active sites and contain an iron atom facially coordinated by two histidines and a glutamate. The three enzymes also catalyze the benzylic hydroxylation of 4- methylphenylalanine. The intrinsic primary and ?-secondary isotope effects for benzylic hydroxylation and their temperature dependences are nearly identical for the three enzymes, suggesting that the transition states, the tunneling contributions and the reactivities of the iron centers are the same. When molecular oxygen and the tetrahydropterin are replaced by hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), these enzymes catalyze the hydroxylation of phenylalanine to form tyrosine and meta-tyrosine with nearly identical second order rate constants. When the H2O2-dependent reaction is carried out with cyclohexylalanine or 4-methylphenylalanine, the products are 4-HO-cyclohexylalanine and 4-hydroxymethylphenylalanine, respectively. These experiments provide further evidence that the intrinsic reactivities of the iron centers in these enzymes are the same. Wild-type PheH and the uncoupled mutant protein V379D exhibit normal and inverse isotope effects, respectively, with deuterated phenylalanines. When the reaction is monitored by stopped-flow absorbance spectroscopy, three steps are visible. The first step is the reversible binding of O2, the second step is 5-7 fold faster than the turnover number, setting a limiting value for the rate constant for O2 activation, and the last step is non-enzymatic. There is no burst in the pre-steady state formation of tyrosine. These results are consistent with formation of the new C-O bond to form tyrosine as the ratelimiting step of the reaction. The reaction of TrpH with both tryptophan and phenylalanine was studied by stopped-flow absorbance spectroscopy and rapid-quench product analysis. With either amino acid as substrate, four steps can be distinguished. The first step is the reversible binding of O2 to the Fe(II) center; this results in an absorbance signature with a maximum at 420 nm. This O2 complex decays with a rate constant that is 18-22 fold faster than the turnover number with either amino acid, setting a the lower limit for the rate constant for O2 activation. The rate constant for the third step agrees well with the pre-steady state of formation of 5-hydroxytryptophan or tyrosine from rapid-quench product analysis. The rate constant for the fourth step agrees well with the turnover number. Overall, these results show that O2 activation is fast and turnover with each amino acid is limited by hydroxylation and release of a product, with the former step being about 4-fold faster than the latter.

The mechanism of three important aldol reactions and a biomimetic transamination is investigated using a combination of experimental kinetic isotope effects (KIEs), standard theoretical calculations and dynamics trajectory simulations. This powerful mechanistic probe is found to be invaluable in understanding intricate details of the mechanism of these reactions. The successful application of variational transition state theory including multidimensional tunneling to theoretically predict isotope effects, described in this dissertation, represents a significant advance in our research methodology. The role of dynamic effects in aldol reactions is examined in great detail. The study of the proline catalyzed aldol reaction has revealed an intriguing new dynamic effect - quasiclassical corner cutting - where reactive trajectories cut the corner between reactant and product valleys and avoid the saddle point. This phenomenon affects the KIEs observed in this reaction in a way that is not predictable by transition state theory. The study of the Roush allylboration of aldehydes presents an example where recrossing affects experimental observations. The comparative study of the allylboration of two electronically different aldehydes, which are predicted to have different amounts of recrossing, suggests a complex interplay of tunneling and recrossing affecting the observed KIEs. The Mukaiyama aldol reaction has been investigated and the results unequivocally rule out the key carbon-carbon bond forming step as rate-limiting. This raises several interesting mechanistic scenarios - an electron transfer mechanism with two different rate-limiting steps for the two components, emerges as the most probable possibility. Finally, labeling studies of the base catalyzed 1,3- proton transfer reaction of fluorinated imines point to a stepwise process involving an azomethine ylide intermediate. It is found that dynamic effects play a role in determining the product ratio in this reaction.