Laboratory of nitrogen compounds

The laboratory was founded in 1980 by Prof., Dr.Sci. L.B. Volodarsky on the basis of the research group established in 1974.

The major scientific trends:

· Development of new methods of synthesis for bifunctional organic hydroxylamine derivatives including N- and N,O-alkylhydroxyamines, oximes, nirones, hydroxamic acids etc.;
· Synthesis of nitrogen heterocyclic compounds in the series of hydrogenated derivatives of diazete, pyrrole, imidazole, oxazole, triazole, pyrazine, oxadiazine, etc. and their N-oxides;
· Chemistry and application of stable nitroxides: new methods of synthesis of nitroxides; spin labels and probes; paramagnetic ligands and nitroxide biradicals;
· Chemistry of cyclic nitrones; development of new methods of synthesis and functionalization of cyclic nitrones, their synthetic application including electrophylic and nucleophylic reactions and 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition; synthesis of new spin traps.

The laboratory holds one of the leading positions in the field of nitroxide chemistry. Original methods have been created for synthesis and chemical modification of nitroxides of imidazoline, imidazolidine, and pyrroline series. Nitroxides were found to be applicable in various branches of science.

A series of pH-sensitive spin probes and nitroxides with pH-dependent ESR spectra are successfully used for measuring local pH values over the range from 0 to 14 in heterogeneous and biological samples both in vitro and in vivo.

Nitroxide biradicals containing disulfide bond have been used as thiol-specific reagents for EPR determination of SH-groups in high- and low-molecular weight compounds.

Nitronylnitroxides – effective scavengers of nitric oxide in solutions – were successfully used to detect nitric oxide released from NO-donors and generated in biological samples.

Stable nitroxides with chelating groups – “paramagnetic ligands” – form coordination compounds with transition metal ions, the latter display ferromagnetic and anti-ferromagnetic properties.

A number of heterocyclic compounds obtained in the laboratory have revealed a remarkable biological activity. Among them there are such compounds as 1,2-dihydrodiazete 1,2-dioxides, which were found to be NO-donors and showed a pronounced vasodilatory and anti-aggregant activity.

Cyclic aldonitrones of imidazoline, 2H-imidazole and dihydropyrazine series were successfully applied as spin traps.

The laboratory is engaged in mutual projects with universities and scientific research centers of Russia, UK, the USA, Germany, Holland, etc. In 1994 a series of works “Imidazoline Nitroxyl Radicals” was awarded State Prize of the Russian Federation in the field of science and engineering.