Reactivity of syringyl quinone methide intermediates in dehydrogenative polymerization. Part 2: pH effect in horseradish peroxidase-catalyzed polymerization of sinapyl alcohol

Abstract

Abstract The solvent pH effect in the horseradish peroxidase (HRP)-catalyzed polymerization of sinapyl alcohol (S-alc) and analogously, sinapyl alcohol γ-O-glucoside (isosyringin, iso-S) was investigated particularly focusing on the behavior of syringyl-type quinone methide intermediates (S-type QMs) under acidic conditions. At first, the HRP-catalyzed polymerization of iso-S at pH 6.5–2.5, which produces water-soluble dehydrogenation polymer (DHP) intermediates in a homogeneous phase, was monitored by UV spectroscopy and gel permeation chromatography with photodiode array detection (GPC-PDA). Under acidic conditions at pH below 4.5, unstablilized S-type QMs from iso-S are rapidly quenched resulting in efficient productions of DHPs, although substantial loss of HRP activity and the resulting insufficient polymerization were inevitable at pH below 3.5. In addition, it was found that a small addition of guaiacyl-type comonomer (isoconiferin, iso-G) effectively promotes the polymerization of iso-S under acidic conditions, in which the comonomer serves as a radical mediator to facilitate the HRP-catalyzed oxidations of iso-S. Next, the HRP-catalyzed polymerization of S-alc at various pH values was conducted and the resulting DHPs were characterized by GPC and NMR measurements. The yields of isolated DHPs significantly increased as solvent pH decreased below 4.5. The structural analyses of the DHPs demonstrated that reaction selectivity of S-type QMs during the polymerization drastically changed at pH below 4.5: they react efficiently with water molecules as solvent leading to the formation of benzyl alcohol type β-O-4 substructures preferentially to the formation of α-O-aryl type substructures. Consequently, the data in this study demonstrated that acidic conditions at pH below 4.5 are favored in the dehydrogenative polymerization of S-alc from the viewpoint of the reactivity of S-type QMs.