title: High reactivity of alkyl sulfides towards epoxides under conditions of collagen fixation--a convenient approach to 2-amino-4-butyrolactones.
abstract: Epoxy crosslinking agents have been investigated for use in the fabrication of bioprosthetic devices, such as heterograft heart valve prostheses. It has been generally assumed that epoxy crosslinking takes place via amino-epoxy reactions. The present study investigated the hypothesis that the reactions of methionine residues with epoxides also can occur in biomaterial crosslinking. A series of model reactions were studied in which a mono-epoxide was combined with individual alkyl sulfides. In the present studies epoxides rapidly alkylate aliphatic sulfides, including methionine derivatives, in buffered aqueous solutions at room temperature and pH close to neutral, forming sulfonium compounds, which are stable at pH 5-7 at temperatures up to 50 degrees C, except for cases in which methionine derivatives with non-protected carboxy groups are used. The rate of reaction remains practically unchanged within the range of pH from 5 to 12, whereas in strongly alkaline media the reverse reaction occurs. This discovery can provide a better understanding of processes occurring in the fixation of bioprosthetic tissues with polyepoxides. It can also develop into a site-specific method to label methionine residues in proteins. The carboxy group-containing sulfonium betaines derived from N-protected methionines undergo cyclization in unexpectedly mild conditions, which can be used as an efficient method for preparation of N-protected 2-amino-4-butyrolactones with sensitive protective groups.
authors.affiliation: Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Division of Cardiology, Abramson Research Center, PA 19104-4318, USA.
authors.forename: I S
authors.initials: IS
authors.lastname: Alferiev
authors.forename: J T
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Hinson
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ogle
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Breuer
authors.forename: R J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Levy
mesh_terms: D015107:4-Butyrolactone / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000138:chemical synthesis / Q000737:chemistry; D000818:Animals; D001672:Biocompatible Materials / Q000737:chemistry*; D001705:Bioprosthesis; D003094:Collagen / Q000737:chemistry*; D003432:Cross-Linking Reagents / Q000737:chemistry; D004852:Epoxy Compounds / Q000737:chemistry; D005404:Fixatives / Q000737:chemistry; D006801:Humans; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; D008422:Materials Testing; D008715:Methionine / Q000737:chemistry; D013440:Sulfides / Q000737:chemistry; D016707:Tissue Fixation / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D001672:Biocompatible Materials; D003432:Cross-Linking Reagents; D004852:Epoxy Compounds; D005404:Fixatives; D013440:Sulfides; D003094:Collagen; D008715:Methionine; D015107:4-Butyrolactone