Stereoselective formations of K-region and non-K-region epoxides in the metabolism of chrysene by rat liver microsomal cytochrome P-450 isozymes.

The K-region 5,6-epoxide and non-K-region 1,2- and 3,4-epoxides of chrysene were isolated by normal phase high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) from a mixture of products formed in the metabolism of chrysene by liver microsomes from untreated (control), phenobarbital-treated, or 3-methylcholanthrene-treated rats in the presence of an epoxide hydrolase inhibitor, 3,3,3-trichloropropylene 1,2-oxide. Epoxides were characterized by ultraviolet, mass, and circular dichroism spectral and chiral stationary phase HPLC analyses. Each of the metabolically formed epoxides was hydrated by rat liver microsomal epoxide hydrolase to a trans-dihydrodiol. The metabolically formed chrysene 5,6-epoxides were determined by chiral stationary phase HPLC and were found to contain (5S,6R):(5R,6S) enantiomer ratios of 68:32 (control), 71:29 (phenobarbital), and 5:95 (3-methylcholanthrene), respectively. The enantiomers of chrysene 1,2-epoxide and 3,4-epoxide were also resolved by chiral stationary phase HPLC. However, the enantiomeric compositions of the metabolically formed chrysene 1,2- and 3,4-epoxides, which racemized rapidly at room temperature, could not be directly determined. By using molecular oxygen-18 in the in vitro incubation of chrysene and by mass spectral analyses of the resulting oxygen-18-containing dihydrodiol metabolites and their acid-catalyzed dehydration (phenolic) products, both 1,2-epoxide and 3,4-epoxide were found to be converted by microsomal epoxide hydrolase-catalyzed water attack at predominantly (greater than or equal to 97%) the allylic carbons.