Acta Crystallographica Section B

Structural Science

Volume 52, Part 3 (June 1996)


research papers



Acta Cryst. (1996). B52, 487-499    [ doi:10.1107/S0108768195011773 ]

Hydrogen-bond patterns in 1,4-dihydro-2,3-quinoxalinediones: ligands for the glycine modulatory site on the NMDA receptor

M. Kubicki, T. W. Kindopp, M. V. Capparelli and P. W. Codding

Abstract: The crystal structures of five 1,4-dihydro-2,3-quinoxalinediones, antagonists of the NMDA modulatory glycine binding site on the excitary amino acid (EAA) receptor complex, have been determined: (I) 6,7-dinitro-1,4-dihydro-2,3-quinoxalinedione (DNQX); (II) 5,7-dinitro-1,4-dihydro-2,3-quinoxalinedione (MNQX); (III) 6-nitro-1,4-dihydro-2,3-quinoxalinedione hydrate; (IV) 6,7-dichloro-1,4-dihydro-2,3-quinoxalinedione; (V) 5,7-dichloro-1,4-dihydro-2,3-quinoxalinedione dimethylformamide. The crystal structure of the most active compound (II) contains a unique intramolecular N-H...O(NO2) hydrogen bond, which may be important for activity, as semiempirical calculations show that this bond is stable over a wide range of dihedral angles between the planes of the molecule and of the nitro group. In the other compounds the intermolecular hydrogen bonds connect molecules into three-dimensional networks. In compounds (I), (III) and (IV) head-to-tail: [pi]-stacking is found between molecules connected by a center of symmetry. The geometries of the hydrogen-bonded -NH-C=O fragments show evidence of [pi]-cooperativity or resonance-assisted hydrogen bonding. Graph-set analysis of the hydrogen-bond patterns of quinoxalinedione derivatives shows a tendency to form two types of hydrogen-bonding motifs: a centrosymmetric dimeric ring and an infinite chain. Even though this pattern may be modified by the presence of additional hydrogen-bond acceptors and/or donors, as well as by solvent molecules, general similarities have been found. Comparison of all quinoxalinedione structures suggests that the hydrogen-bonding pattern necessary for the biological activity at the glycine binding site contains one donor and two acceptors.

 bibliographic record in  format

  Find reference:   Volume   Page   
  Search:     From   to      Advanced search

Copyright © International Union of Crystallography
IUCr Webmaster