title: Carbethoxylation of coordinated histidine by diethylpyrocarbonate.
abstract: The metastable, reversible carbethoxylation of histidine in the cobalt(III) complexes (ethylene-diamine)(histidine)chlorocobalt(III) chloride, [Co(III)(en)ClHis]Cl, and (diethylenetriamine) (histidine)cobalt(III) dichloride, [Co(III)(dien)His]Cl2, following reaction with diethylpyrocarbonate, was observed using UV spectroscopy. These observations indicate that diethylpyrocarbonate can react with a coordinated imidazole ring. CD transitions associated with coordinated carbethoxyhistidine in [Co(III)(en)ClHis]Cl and [Co(III)(dien)His]Cl2 were also observed. The molar ellipticities of the CD bands observed for carbethoxy [Co(III)(en)ClHis]Cl or carbethoxy [Co(III) (dien)His]Cl2 are much larger than the molar ellipticities of the CD transition associated with carbethoxy N alpha-acetyl-L-histidine, indicating that loss of rotational freedom of the imidazole ring could be a major factor in the enhanced CD.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Howard University, Washington, DC 20059.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: R C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Rosenberg
mesh_terms: D002942:Circular Dichroism; D003035:Cobalt / Q000737:chemistry; D004047:Diethyl Pyrocarbonate / Q000737:chemistry*; D006639:Histidine / Q000737:chemistry*; D007093:Imidazoles / Q000737:chemistry*; D008958:Models, Molecular; D012399:Rotation
chemical_list: D007093:Imidazoles; D003035:Cobalt; D006639:Histidine; D004047:Diethyl Pyrocarbonate