Tolyporphins-Exotic Tetrapyrrole Pigments in a Cyanobacterium-A Review

Tolyporphins were discovered some 30 years ago as part of a global search for antineoplastic compounds from cyanobacteria. To date, the culture HT-58-2, comprised of a cyanobacterium-microbial consortium, is the sole known producer of tolyporphins. Eighteen tolyporphins are now known-each is a free base tetrapyrrole macrocycle with a dioxobacteriochlorin (14), oxochlorin (3), or porphyrin (1) chromophore. Each compound displays two, three, or four open β-pyrrole positions and two, one, or zero appended C-glycoside (or -OH or -OAc) groups, respectively; the appended groups form part of a geminal disubstitution motif flanking the oxo moiety in the pyrroline ring. The distinct structures and repertoire of tolyporphins stand alone in the large pigments-of-life family. Efforts to understand the cyanobacterial origin, biosynthetic pathways, structural diversity, physiological roles, and potential pharmacological properties of tolyporphins have attracted a broad spectrum of researchers from diverse scientific areas. The identification of putative biosynthetic gene clusters in the HT-58-2 cyanobacterial genome and accompanying studies suggest a new biosynthetic paradigm in the tetrapyrrole arena. The present review provides a comprehensive treatment of the rich science concerning tolyporphins.

Chemical, Thermal, and Radiation Resistance of an Iron Porphyrin: A Model Study of Biosignature Stability

Metal complexes of porphyrins and porphyrin-type compounds are ubiquitous in all three domains of life, with hemes and chlorophylls being the best-known examples. Their diagenetic transformation products are found as geoporphyrins, in which the characteristic porphyrin core structure is retained and which can be up to 1.1 billion years old. Because of this, and their relative ease of detection, metalloporphyrins appear attractive as chemical biosignatures in the search for extraterrestrial life. In this study, we investigated the stability of solid chlorido(2,3,7,8,12,13,17,18-octaethylporphyrinato)iron(III) [FeCl(oep)], which served as a model for heme-like molecules and iron geoporphyrins. [FeCl(oep)] was exposed to a variety of astrobiologically relevant extreme conditions, namely: aqueous acids and bases, oxidants, heat, and radiation. Key results are: (1) the [Fe(oep)]⁺ core is stable over the pH range 0.0-13.5 even at 80°C; (2) the oxidizing power follows the order ClO^- > H₂O₂ > ClO₃^- > HNO₃ > ClO₄^-; (3) in an inert atmosphere, the iron porphyrin is thermally stable to near 250°C; (4) at high temperatures, carbon dioxide gas is not inert but acts as an oxidant, forming carbon monoxide; (5) a decomposition layer is formed on ultraviolet irradiation and protects the [FeCl(oep)] underneath; (6) an NaCl/NaHCO₃ salt mixture has a protective effect against X-rays; and (7) no such effect is observed when [FeCl(oep)] is exposed to iron ion particle radiation. The relevance to potential iron porphyrin biosignatures on Mars, Europa, and Enceladus is discussed.

A Possible Prebiotic Ancestry of Porphyrin-Type Protein Cofactors

In previous experiments that simulated conditions on primordial volcanic islands, we demonstrated the abiotic formation of hydrophobic porphyrins. The present study focused on the question whether such porphyrins can be metalated by prebiotically plausible metal ion sources. We used water-insoluble octaethylporphyrin (H2oep) as a model compound. Experiments were conducted in a nitrogen atmosphere under cyclic wet-dry conditions in order to simulate the fluctuating environment in prebiotic rock pools. Wetting-drying proved to be a crucial factor. Significant yields of the metalloporphyrins (20-78% with respect to H2oep) were obtained from the soluble salts MCl2 (M = Mg, Fe, Co, Ni and Cu) in freshwater. Even almost insoluble minerals and rocks metalated the porphyrin. Basalt (an iron source, 11% yield), synthetic jaipurite (CoS, 33%) and synthetic covellite (CuS, 57%) were most efficient. Basalt, magnetite and FeCl2 gave considerably higher yields in artificial seawater than in freshwater. From iron sources, the highest yields, however, were obtained in an acidic medium (hydrochloric acid with an initial pH of 2.1). Under these conditions, iron meteorites also metalated the porphyrin. Acidic conditions were considered because they are known to occur during eruptions on volcanic islands. Octaethylporphyrinatomagnesium(II) did not form in acidic medium and was unstable towards dissolved Fe2+. It is therefore questionable whether magnesium porphyrins, i.e. possible ancestors of chlorophyll, could have accumulated in primordial rock pools. However, abiotically formed ancestors of the modern cofactors heme (Fe), B12 (Co), and F430 (Ni) may have been available to hypothetical protometabolisms and early organisms.

Primitive Photosynthetic Architectures Based on Self-Organization and Chemical Evolution of Amino Acids and Metal Ions

The emergence of light-energy-utilizing metabolism is likely to be a critical milestone in prebiotic chemistry and the origin of life. However, how the primitive pigment is spontaneously generated still remains unknown. Herein, a primitive pigment model based on adaptive self-organization of amino acids (Cystine, Cys) and metal ions (zinc ion, Zn2+) followed by chemical evolution under hydrothermal conditions is developed. The resulting hybrid microspheres are composed of radially aligned cystine/zinc (Cys/Zn) assembly decorated with carbonate-doped zinc sulfide (C-ZnS) nanocrystals. The part of C-ZnS can work as a light-harvesting antenna to capture ultraviolet and visible light, and use it in various photochemical reactions, including hydrogen (H2) evolution, carbon dioxide (CO2) photoreduction, and reduction of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+) to nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide hydride (NADH). Additionally, guest molecules (e.g., glutamate dehydrogenase, GDH) can be encapsulated within the hierarchical Cys/Zn framework, which facilitates sustainable photoenzymatic synthesis of glutamate. This study helps deepen insight into the emergent functionality (conversion of light energy) and complexity (hierarchical architecture) from interaction and reaction of prebiotic molecules. The primitive pigment model is also promising to work as an artificial photosynthetic microreactor.

The Porphobilinogen Conundrum in Prebiotic Routes to Tetrapyrrole Macrocycles

Attempts to develop a credible prebiotic route to tetrapyrroles have relied on enzyme-free recapitulation of the extant biosynthesis, but this process has foundered from the inability to form the pyrrole porphobilinogen (PBG) in good yield by self-condensation of the precursor δ-aminolevulinic acid (ALA). PBG undergoes robust oligomerization in aqueous solution to give uroporphyrinogen (4 isomers) in good yield. ALA, PBG, and uroporphyrinogen III are universal precursors to all known tetrapyrrole macrocycles. The enzymic formation of PBG entails carbon-carbon bond formation between the less stable enolate/enamine of one ALA molecule (3-position) and the carbonyl/imine (4-position) of the second ALA molecule; without enzymes, the first ALA reacts at the more stable enolate/enamine (5-position) and gives the pyrrole pseudo-PBG. pseudo-PBG cannot self-condense, yet has one open α-pyrrole position and is proposed to be a terminator of oligopyrromethane chain-growth from PBG. Here, 23 analogues of ALA have been subjected to density functional theoretical (DFT) calculations, but no motif has been identified that directs reaction at the 3-position. Deuteriation experiments suggested 5-(phosphonooxy)levulinic acid would react preferentially at the 3- versus 5-position, but a hybrid condensation with ALA gave no observable uroporphyrin. The results suggest efforts toward a biomimetic, enzyme-free route to tetrapyrroles from ALA should turn away from structure-directed reactions and focus on catalysts that orient the two aminoketones to form PBG in a kinetically controlled process, thereby avoiding formation of pseudo-PBG.

Tuning the Structure and Photophysics of a Fluorous Phthalocyanine Platform

Phthalocyanines are an important class of industrial dyes with potential commercial applications ranging from photovoltaics to biomedical imaging and therapeutics. We previously demonstrated the versatility of the commercially available zinc(II) hexadecafluorophthalocyanine (ZnF16Pc) as a platform for rapidly developing functional materials for these applications and more. Because this core-platform approach to dye development is increasingly common, it is important to understand the photophysical and structural consequences of the substitution chemistry involved. We present a fundamental study of a series of ZnF16Pc derivatives in which the aromatic fluorine atoms are progressively substituted with thioalkanes. Clear spectroscopic trends are observed as the substituents change from electron-withdrawing to electron-releasing groups. Additionally, there is evidence for significant structural distortion of the normally planar heterocycle, with important ramifications for the photophysics. These results are also correlated to DFT calculations, which show that the orbital energies and symmetries are both important factors for explaining the excited-state dynamics.

Complexity in structure-directed prebiotic chemistry. Unexpected compositional richness from competing reactants in tetrapyrrole formation

Acyclic reactants afford “partially defective” pyrroles that interfere with chain growth of “normal” pyrroles on the path to tetrapyrrole macrocycles.

Scope and limitations of two model prebiotic routes to tetrapyrrole macrocycles

Aqueous reaction (35 °C, 72 h) of two acyclic compounds, an α-aminoketone + β-ketoester or β-diketone (not shown), affords a pyrrole that self-condenses to give the porphyrinogen.

Synthesis of diverse acyclic precursors to pyrroles for studies of prebiotic routes to tetrapyrrole macrocycles

Some 50 ketones, β-diketones, β-ketoesters and α-aminoketones have been prepared for studies of the formation of trisubstituted pyrroles equipped for self-condensation leading to tetrapyrrole macrocycles.

Complexity in structure-directed prebiotic chemistry. Reaction bifurcation from a β-diketone in tetrapyrrole formation

An unsymmetrical β-diketone with δ-aminolevulinic acid affords both a “defective” and a “normal” pyrrole; upon combinatorial reaction the former terminates chain-growth of the latter on the path to tetrapyrrole macrocycles.

Complexity in structure-directed prebiotic chemistry. Effect of a defective competing reactant in tetrapyrrole formation

A reactive but defective pyrrole, derived from the simple β-diketone acetylacetone, terminates chain-growth in a quantitative combinatorial manner in tetrapyrrole formation.

Statistical considerations on the formation of circular photosynthetic light-harvesting complexes from Rhodopseudomonas palustris

Depending on growth conditions, some species of purple photosynthetic bacteria contain peripheral light-harvesting (LH2) complexes that are heterogeneous owing to the presence of different protomers (containing different αβ-apoproteins). Recent spectroscopic studies of Rhodopseudomonas palustris grown under low-light conditions suggest the presence of a C 3-symmetric LH2 nonamer comprised of two distinct protomers. The software program Cyclaplex, which enables generation and data-mining of virtual libraries of molecular rings formed upon combinatorial reactions, has been used to delineate the possible number and type of distinct nonamers as a function of numbers of distinct protomers. The yield of the C 3-symmetric nonamer from two protomers (A and B in varying ratios) has been studied under the following conditions: (1) statistical, (2) enriched (preclusion of the B-B sequence), and (3) seeded (pre-formation of an A-B-A block). The yield of C 3-symmetric nonamer is at most 0.98 % under statistical conditions versus 5.6 % under enriched conditions, and can be dominant under conditions of pre-seeding with an A-B-A block. In summary, the formation of any one specific nonamer even from only two protomers is unlikely on statistical grounds but must stem from enhanced free energy of formation or a directed assembly process by as-yet unknown factors.

A possible prebiotic origin on volcanic islands of oligopyrrole-type photopigments and electron transfer cofactors

Tetrapyrroles are essential to basic biochemical processes such as electron transfer and photosynthesis. However, it is not known whether these evolutionary old molecules have a prebiotic origin. We have serendipitously obtained pyrroles, which are the corresponding monomers, in laboratory experiments that simulated the interaction of amino acid-containing seawater with molten lava. The thermal pyrrole formation from amino acids, which so far has only been reported for special cases, can be explained by the observation that the amino acids become metal bonded, for example in (CaCl2)3(Hala)2·6H2O (Hala=DL-alanine), when the seawater evaporates. At a few hundred degrees Celsius, sea salt crusts also release hydrochloric acid (HCl). On primordial volcanic islands, the volatile pyrroles and HCl must have condensed at cooler locations, for example, in rock pools. There, pyrrole oligomerization may have occurred. To study this possibility, we added formaldehyde and nitrite, two species for which plausible prebiotic sources are known, to 2,4-diethylpyrrole and HCl. We found that even at high dilution conjugated (oxidized) oligomers, including octaethylporphyrin and other cyclic and open-chain tetrapyrroles, were formed. All experiments were conducted under rigorously oxygen-free conditions. Our results suggest that primitive versions of present-day biological cofactors such as chlorophylls, bilins, and heme were spontaneously abiotically synthesized on primordial volcanic islands and thus may have been available to the first protocells.

Primordial oil slick and the formation of hydrophobic tetrapyrrole macrocycles

The functional end products of the extant biosynthesis of tetrapyrrole macrocycles in photosynthetic organisms are hydrophobic: chlorophylls and bacteriochlorophylls. A model for the possible prebiogenesis of hydrophobic analogues of nature's photosynthetic pigments was investigated by reaction of acyclic reactants in five media: aqueous solution (pH 7, 60°C, 24 h); aqueous solution containing 0.1 M decanoic acid (which forms a turbid suspension of vesicles); or aqueous solution accompanied by dodecane, mesitylene, or a five-component organic mixture (each of which forms a phase-separated organic layer). The organic mixture was composed of equimolar quantities of decanoic acid, dodecane, mesitylene, naphthalene, and pentyl acetate. The reaction of 1,5-dimethoxy-3-methylpentan-2,4-dione and 1-aminobutan-2-one to give etioporphyrinogens was enhanced in the presence of decanoic acid, affording (following chemical oxidation) etioporphyrins (tetraethyltetramethylporphyrins) in yields of 1.4-10.8% across the concentration range of 3.75-120 mM. The yield of etioporphyrins was greater in the presence of the five-component organic mixture (6.6% at 120 mM) versus that with dodecane or mesitylene (2.1% or 2.9%, respectively). The reaction in aqueous solution with no added oil-slick constituents resulted in phase separation-where the organic reactants themselves form an upper organic layer-and the yield of etioporphyrins was 0.5-2.6%. Analogous reactions leading to uroporphyrins (hydrophilic, eight carboxylic acids) or coproporphyrins (four carboxylic acids) were unaffected by the presence of decanoic acid or dodecane, and all yields were at most ∼2% or ∼8%, respectively. Taken together, the results indicate a facile means for the formation of highly hydrophobic constituents of potential value for prebiotic photosynthesis.

Diversity, isomer composition, and design of combinatorial libraries of tetrapyrrole macrocycles

Combinatorial libraries of substituted tetrapyrrole macrocycles, which can now be prepared via a variety of approaches, typically are rich in isomers. Terminology for describing such isomers (due to distinct patterns of peripheral substituents) is delineated in several illustrative examples. A hierarchical relationship exists of molecular formula, condensed formula(s) of substituents, set(s) of pyrrole collocates (conveying each pair of β-pyrrolic substituents), and isomers of substituted tetrapyrrole macrocycles. Isomers with identical pyrrole collocate sets can arise owing to distinct positions or orientations of the (homo- or hetero-substituted) pyrrolic units in a macrocycle. Consideration of a handful of virtual combinatorial libraries illustrates tradeoffs of library size, chemical richness, and isomeric content. As one example, octa-derivatization of a tetrapyrrole scaffold with eight reactants A–H affords 2,099,728 members (99.7% isomers, 82,251 pyrrole collocate sets, and 6,435 condensed formulas) whereas the reversible self-condensation of four pyrroles that bear the same eight entities (AB, CD, EF, GH) affords 538 members (93.5% isomers, 35 pyrrole collocate sets, and 35 condensed formulas). Derivatization affords all combinations and permutations whereas self-condensation of substituted pyrroles carries collocational restrictions. Understanding such tradeoffs and the structural origin of isomerism are important aspects in the design of tetrapyrrole combinatorial libraries.