title: An Exceptionally Facile Two-Step Structural Isomerization and Detoxication via a Water-Assisted Double Lossen Rearrangement.
abstract: N-hydroxyphthalimide (NHPI), which is best known as an organocatalyst for efficient C-H activation, has been found to be oxidized by quinoid compounds to its corresponding catalytically active nitroxide-radical. Here, we found that NHPI can be isomerized into isatoic anhydride by an unusually facile two-step method using tetrachloro-1,4-benzoquinone (TCBQ, p-chloranil), accompanied by a two-step hydrolytic dechlorination of highly toxic TCBQ into the much less toxic dihydroxylation product, 2,5-dichloro-3,6-dihydroxy-1,4-benzoquinone (chloranilic acid). Interestingly, through the complementary application of oxygen-18 isotope-labeling, HPLC combined with electrospray ionization quadrupole time-of-flight and high resolution Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometric studies, we determined that water was the source and origin of oxygen for isatoic anhydride. Based on these data, we proposed that nucleophilic attack with a subsequent water-assisted Lossen rearrangement coupled with rapid intramolecular addition and cyclization in two consecutive steps was responsible for this unusual structural isomerization of NHPI and concurrent hydroxylation/detoxication of TCBQ. This is the first report of an exceptionally facile double-isomerization of NHPI via an unprecedented water-assisted double-Lossen rearrangement under normal physiological conditions. Our findings may have broad implications for future research on hydroxamic acids and polyhalogenated quinoid carcinogens, two important classes of compounds of major chemical and biological interest.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Environmental Chemistry and Eco-toxicology, Research Centre for Eco-environmental Sciences, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, PR China.
authors.forename: Feng
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Environmental Chemistry and Eco-toxicology, Research Centre for Eco-environmental Sciences, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, PR China.
authors.forename: Chun-Hua
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Environmental Chemistry and Eco-toxicology, Research Centre for Eco-environmental Sciences, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, PR China.
authors.forename: Lin-Na
authors.initials: LN
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Environmental Chemistry and Eco-toxicology, Research Centre for Eco-environmental Sciences, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, PR China.
authors.forename: Na
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Qu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Environmental Chemistry and Eco-toxicology, Research Centre for Eco-environmental Sciences, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, PR China.
authors.forename: Jie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Shao
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Environmental Chemistry and Eco-toxicology, Research Centre for Eco-environmental Sciences, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, PR China.
authors.forename: Bo
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Shao
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Environmental Chemistry and Eco-toxicology, Research Centre for Eco-environmental Sciences, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, PR China.|Linus Pauling Institute, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR 97331, USA.
authors.forename: Ben-Zhan
authors.initials: BZ
authors.lastname: Zhu
mesh_terms: D002703:Chloranil / Q000737:chemistry; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D004249:DNA Damage / Q000187:drug effects; D004578:Electron Spin Resonance Spectroscopy; D006868:Hydrolysis; D006900:Hydroxylation; D007536:Isomerism; D007553:Isotope Labeling; D010103:Oxygen Isotopes / Q000737:chemistry; D010797:Phthalimides / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000633:toxicity; D010957:Plasmids / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D021241:Spectrometry, Mass, Electrospray Ionization; D014867:Water / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D010103:Oxygen Isotopes; C000615259:Oxygen-18; D010797:Phthalimides; D002703:Chloranil; D014867:Water; C037437:N-hydroxyphthalimide