Theoretical study of 5-aminolevulinic acid (5ALA) and some pharmaceutically important derivatives

5-Aminolevulinic acid (5ALA) is the key synthetic building block in protoporphyrin IX (PpIX), the heme chromophore in mitochondria. The addition of extracorporeal 5ALA and its alkyl ester derivatives are in current clinical use in photodynamical diagnostics and photodynamic therapy of tumors and skin disorders. In the current study density functional theory calculations are performed on 5ALA and its methyl, ethyl, and hexyl esters, in order to explore the basic chemical properties of these species. It is concluded that even in aqueous media the zwitterionic form of 5ALA is less stable than the non-zwitterionic one, that the local environment (lipid vs water) affects the energetics of reaction considerably, and that the hexyl species is most prone to hydrolysis of the three alkyl ester derivatives.