On the Basicity of 8-Phenylsulfanyl Quipazine Derivatives: New Potential Serotonergic Agents

A protonation state of serotonergic ligands plays a crucial role in their pharmacological activity. In this research, the basicity of 8-phenylsulfanyl quipazine derivatives as new potential serotonergic agents was studied. The most favorable protonation sites were determined in the gas and aqueous phases. In water, a solvation effect promoting the protonation of the N3 atom overcomes a positive charge delocalization phenomenon favoring a N1 atom protonation. The most stable conformations of neutral and protonated molecules in gas and water were found. It was demonstrated that a diprotonation reaction may occur. The most favorable among the diprotonated structures is the molecule with the N1 and N3 atoms protonated. A calculation of the pKa and pKa2 in water of a set of monosubstituted 8-phenylsulfanyl quipazine derivatives was performed using B3LYP/6-31G(d) and the SMD continuum solvation model. Enthalpic and entropic contributions to the pKa and pKa2 in gas and water were separated for a rationalization of a substituent effect on values of the pKa and pKa2. The relationship of the proton affinity and the solvation enthalpy in water with some reactivity descriptors, such as the Fukui function, the molecular electrostatic potential (MEP), and the global softness, was investigated. The order of the pKa values is the most controlled by the entropy. The diprotonation reaction, despite having an unfavorable enthalpy in water, is driven entropically. Final state effects in the diprotonated species were analyzed with the triadic formula. Results of a calculation of the theoretical basicity of the 8-phenylsulfanyl quipazines indicate that they should be monoprotonated on the N3 atom in the CNS environment. Diprotonation of the studied compounds may occur in very acidic body fluids such as the gastric juice.