Biogenesis of Triterpene Dimers from Orthoquinones Related to Quinonemethides: Theoretical Study on the Reaction Mechanism

oleh: Mariana Quesadas-Rojas, Gonzalo J. Mena-Rejón, David Cáceres-Castillo, Gabriel Cuevas, Ramiro F. Quijano-Quiñones

Format: Article
Diterbitkan: MDPI AG 2016-11-01

Deskripsi

The biogenetic origin of triterpene dimers from the Celastraceae family has been proposed as assisted hetero-Diels-Alder reaction (HDA). In this work, computational calculation of HDA between natural quinonemethides (tingenone and isopristimerol) and hypothetical orthoquinones has been performed at the M06-2X/6-31G(d) level of theory. We have located all the HDA transition states supporting the biogenetic route via HDA cycloadditions. We found that all reactions take place through a concerted inverse electron demand and asynchronous mechanism. The enzymatic assistance for dimer formation was analyzed in terms of the calculated transition state energy barrier.