E0009

Synthesis and Structures of Selenium-based Compounds as Therapeutic and Chemopreventive Agents: 2-Selenobenzyl-1-benzoic acid and 2-Se-(2-methyl-2-propenyl)-1-benzoic acid. Federico Martinez-Ramos1, and Manuel Soriano-García2. 1Depto de Química Inorgánica, Escuela Nacional de Ciencias Biológicas del IPN, Prolongación de Carpio y Plan de Ayala, D. F. 11340, MÉXICO and 2Instituto de Química, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Circuito Exterior, Ciudad Universitaria, México D. F. 04510, MÉXICO.

Selenium is known to be as an important dietary antioxidant and essential component of the active sites of a number of enzymes, and several additional mammalian selenoproteins. Dietary selenium deficiency has been linked to diseases as diverse as cancer, hearth disease, arthritis and AIDS. Thus, the pharmacology, biology and biochemistry of selenium metabolism have become subjects of considerable interest, which are spurring efforts to develop synthetic selenium-containing compounds as possible therapeutic and chemopreventive agents. We are currently working on the synthesis of selenium-based compound as chemotherapeutic agents, such as 2-Selenobenzyl-1-benzoic acid (I) and 2-Se-(2-methyl-2-propenyl)-1-benzoic acid (II). Crystals of compound (I) belong to monoclinic (compound II, triclinic) system with cell dimensions: a = 8.105(1), b = 5.840(1), c = 26.030(2) Å and _ = 94.560(5)º, space group P21/c and Z = 4 (compound II, a = 5.845(1), b = 8.149(1), c = 11.462(1) Å and _ = 97.05 (1), _ = 90.14(1), γ = 90.12 (1)º, space group P-1 and Z = 2). Both structures were solved by direct methods and refined by full-matrix least-squares method. The final R-values for I and II are 0.048 and 0.047, respectively. The conformational analysis of both structures will be discussed during the presentation.

Institute of Chemistry, UNAM, supported this work.