Novel 2,5-hexanedione analogues. Substituent-induced control of the protein cross-linking potential and oxidation susceptibility of the resulting primary amine-derived pyrroles.

The neurotoxic gamma-diketone, 2,5-hexanedione (2,5-HD), induces neurofilamentous swellings at prenodal sites in proximal axons as a consequence of pyrrolation of lysine epsilon-amino groups on neurofilament proteins. However, there is disagreement as to whether pyrrole formation and the associated alteration of noncovalent interactions is sufficient to cause neurofilament accumulation, or whether pyrrole autoxidation and subsequent protein-protein cross-linking is an obligatory event. To investigate gamma-diketones that might form pyrroles inert to autoxidative-induced cross-linking, we synthesized 1,1,1-trifluoro-2,5-hexanedione, 3-(trifluoromethyl)-2,5-hexanedione (3-TFMHD), and two 3-(dialkylaminocarbonyl)-2,5-diketones and assessed their rates of pyrrole formation with amines, the oxidation susceptibility of the resulting pyrroles, and the protein cross-linking potential in vitro, relative to those of 3-methyl-2,5-hexanedione. 1,1,1-Trifluoro-2,5-hexanedione does not form pyrroles, but the three 2,5-HD analogues with an electron-withdrawing 3-substituent all rapidly formed pyrroles that were inert to autoxidation. Although 3-TMFHD nonetheless still induced cross-linking of ribonuclease A, by a nonoxidative mechanism independent of the pyrrole, the two 3-(dialkylaminocarbonyl)-2,5-diketones did not exhibit any protein cross-linking. As these two gamma-diketones possess aqueous-organic partitioning properties similar to those of 2,5-HD, they should serve as useful mechanistic probes in further studies.