N(1)-C(5')-linked dimer hydrates of 5-substituted uracils produced by anodic oxidation in aqueous solution

Electrochemical dimerization reactivity has been studied for 5-substituted uracils (5XU) including thymine (1a: X = Me) and 5-halouracil derivatives (1b: X = F; 1c: X = Cl; 1d: X = Br; 1e: X = I). Upon galvanostatic electrolysis of Ar-saturated aqueous solution 1a underwent anodic oxidation to produce N(1)-C(5')- and N(1)-C(6')-linked dimer hydrates, 1-(6'-hydroxy-5',6'-dihydrothymin-5'-yl)thymine (5a) and 1-(5'-hydroxy-5',6'-dihydrothymin-6'-yl)thymine (6a), as the major products. These N-C-linked dimerizations were accompanied by the formation of novel stereoisomeric C(5)-C(5')-linked dimers (meso isomer: 13a[meso]; racemic isomer: 13a[rac]) with a condensed tetrahydrofuran ring skeleton. Similar electrolyses of 5-fluorouracil (1b) and 5-chlorouracil (1c) also afforded the corresponding N(1)-C(5')-linked dimer hydrates, 1-(5'-fluoro-6'-hydroxy-5',6'-dihydrouracil-5'-yl)-5-fluorouracil (5b) and 1-(5'-chloro-6'-hydroxy-5',6'-dihydrouracil-5'-yl)-5-chlorouracil (5c), respectively, while resulting in neither N(1)-C(6')-linked dimer analogues nor C(5)-C(5')-linked dimers, unlike the reactivity of 1a. In contrast to 1a-c, no dimeric products were obtained from 5-bromouracil (1d) and 5-iodouracil (1e). The present electrochemical method was applicable to the cross-dimerization into N(1)-C(5')-linked heterodimer hydrates composed of binary 5-substituted uracils that occurred in competition with the formation of homodimer hydrates. A mechanism of the N(1)-C(5')-linked dimerization of 1a-c has been proposed, by which allyl-type radical intermediates with limiting mesomeric forms of N(1)-centered and C(5)-centered pyrimidine radicals (2a-c [N(1)]/2a-c [C(5)]) are generated via anodic one-electron oxidation and subsequent deprotonation at N(1) and undergo a head-to-tail coupling.