omega-haloalkyl esters of 5'-adenosine monophosphate as potential active-site-directed reagents for dehydrogenases

A series of esters of adenosine 5'-monophosphate with ethyl, propyl, or hexyl moieties substituted at the omega-position with chlorine or bromine were prepared. The compounds were competitive inhibitors of horse liver alcohol dehydrogenase with respect to coenzyme, NAD+, and had inhibition (dissociation) constants in the range of 40 to 260 microM at pH 8.0, 25 degrees C. The bromoalkyl esters were designed to be active-site-directed inactivators and were chemically reactive as tested with the model compound 4-(p-nitrobenzyl)pyridine. Yeast alcohol dehydrogenase was inactivated by the bromohexyl analog by an active-site-directed mechanism, with a Ki = 1.5 mM and a pseudo-bimolecular rate constant of 0.03 M-1 S-1, which is 150 times larger than the bimolecular rate constant for inactivation by 2-bromoethanol. However, the rates of inactivation of other dehydrogenases treated with 10 mM concentrations of these compounds were generally slower than with the simpler reagent, 2-bromoethanol. Thus, the reactive functional group attached to the AMP moiety may not be properly oriented for affinity labeling of these dehydrogenases. The bromoalkyl esters may be useful for inactivating other enzymes.