1H and 13C nmr study of exchange and isomerism in dimethylsulphoxide solutions of neutral methylmercury–xanthosine complexes
The xanthosine (H2Xan) complexes (CH3Hg)(HXan) and (CH3Hg)2(Xan) have been studied in (CD3)2SO solution at room temperature by 1H (90 MHz) and 13C nmr (20.1 MHz) spectroscopy. For (CH3Hg)2(Xan), where the N1-H and N3-H protons have been substituted by CH3Hg+ groups, individual 1H and 13C resonances from the unequivalent CH3Hg+ groups indicate that these cations do not exchange rapidly between the two sites. For solutions of (CH3Hg)(HXan), in which only one of the N—H protons has been substituted, both types of spectra show two sets of resonances for the purine unit as well as for the CH3Hg+ groups. This indicates that the 1:1 complex exists as two linkage isomers (N3—H, N1—Hg) and (N3—Hg, N1—H) in slow exchange. These two isomers are formed in equal amounts. When free xanthosine is added, the N3-mercurated complex exchanges rapidly with the free ligand, whereas the N1-mercurated complex does not exchange.