Identification and characterization of a tetracycline semiquinone formed during the oxidation of minocycline
摘要:
Oxidation of minocycline under slightly alkaline conditions produces a semiquinone free radical with hyperfine splittings that are atypical for a p-semiquinone. At high pH or on complexation with calcium and strontium, somewhat different spectra are observed, which are associated, respectively, with removal of the proton of the C-12 hydroxy group or with metal binding to the C-11-C-12-beta-diketone system. The initial oxidation of minocycline is a two-electron process with no detectable free-radical intermediate. Hydrolysis of the dimethylamino group of this oxidation product yields a quinone. The reduced form of the quinone has been isolated and, by comparison of its NMR spectra to those of minocycline, has been identified as the quinol, 7-hydroxy-6-deoxy-6-demethyltetracycline. Complete analyses of the H-1 NMR spectra of both minocycline and 7-hydroxy-6-deoxy-6-demethyltetracycline are presented. Reverse dismutation of the quinone and its hydroquinone gives a p-semiquinone radical: the first reported tetracycline semiquinone. A hyperfine splitting of 7 G, which is atypical for a p-semiquinone, is attributed to an axial beta-hydrogen proton adjacent to a position with a beta-carbonyl group.