STEREOCHEMISTRY AND TAUTOMERISM OF STENTORIN, ISOSTENTORIN, AND FRINGELIT-D - FORCE-FIELD INVESTIGATIONS

Stereochemistry and tautomerism of stentorin, isostentorin, and fringelit D were investigated using an MM2 derived force field method. For these pigments, the 7,14-dioxo tautomers were derived to be the most stable ones, with a gap of about 50 kJ/mol separating them from the less stable species. The three quinones display propeller and double butterfly conformers. The double butterfly conformers were found to be slightly more stable than the propeller conformers. Compared to hypericin the interconversion barriers between these conformers and between enantiomeric conformers of the same type are lower. They were estimated to be in the order of 40 kJ/mol; thus an isolation of enantiomers is improbable.