The tert-butoxyl radical mediated hydrogen atom transfer reactions of the Parkinsonian proneurotoxin 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine and selected tertiary amines Original Research Article

Previous studies have shown that the hydrogen atom transfer (HAT) reactions of tert-butoxyl radical from the Parkinsonian proneurotoxin 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) occur with low selectivity at the allylic and non-allylic α-C–H positions. In this paper, we report a more comprehensive regiochemical study on the reactivity of the tert-butoxyl radical as well as on the associated primary kinetic deuterium isotope effects for the various hydrogen atom abstractions of MPTP. In addition, the results of a computational study to estimate the various C–H bond dissociation energies of MPTP are presented. The results of the present study show the allylic/non-allylic selectivity is approximately 73:21. The behavior of the tert-butoxyl radical mediated oxidation of MPTP contrasts with this reaction as catalyzed by monoamine oxidase B (MAO-B) that occurs selectively at the allylic α-carbon. These observations lead to the conclusion that the tert-butoxyl radical is not a good chemical model for the MAO-B-catalyzed bioactivation of MPTP.