Mimetics of the selenoenzyme glutathione peroxidase: Novel structures and unusual catalytic mechanisms

Glutathione peroxidase (GPx) mimetics comprise an important class of selenium-containing antioxidants that catalyze the destruction of biologically harmful peroxides in the presence of stoichiometric thiol reductants. The synthesis of two novel cyclic selenium compounds and their evaluation as GPx mimetics was achieved. The first is a cyclic seleninate ester that is formed in situ from the oxidation of allyl 3-hydroxypropyl selenide. The second is a spirodioxyselenurane that is similarly formed from di(3-hydroxypropyl) selenide. Both compounds were shown to be remarkably active catalysts in an assay based on the reduction of t-butyl hydroperoxide with benzyl thiol. The mechanisms of the catalytic cycles of the two novel selenium compounds were elucidated and were found to be distinct from each other and from that of GPx.