Investigating the Role of the Geminal Dimethyl Groups of Coenzyme A: Synthesis and Studies of a Didemethyl Analogue Original Research Article

An analogue 2 of coenzyme A (CoA) has been prepared in which the geminal methyl groups are replaced with hydrogens. An NMR titration study was conducted and shifts in frequency of protons in the pantetheine portion of the molecule upon titration of the adenine base were observed as has been previously reported with CoA. These studies indicate that the geminal dimethyl groups are not essential for adoption of a partially folded conformation in solution. Based on 1H–1H coupling constants, the distribution of conformations about the carbon–carbon bonds in the region of the methyl deletion were estimated. The results suggest that the conformer distribution is similar to that of CoA, but with small increases in population of the anti conformers. A simple model compound containing the didemethyl pantoamide moiety was prepared and subjected to similar conformational analysis. The coupling constants and predicted conformer distribution were almost identical to that of the CoA analogue, indicating that the conformer distribution is controlled by local interactions and not influenced by interactions between distant parts of the CoA molecule. The acetyl derivative of 2 was a fairly good substrate for the acetyl-CoA utilizing enzymes carnitine acetyltransferase, chloramphenicol acetyltransferase, and citrate synthase, with 1.3- to 10-fold increased Km values and 2.5- to 11-fold decreases in Vmax. The combined results indicate that the geminal dimethyl groups of CoA have modest effects on function and minimal effects on conformation.