Synthesis of pteroylglutamic acid-3',5'-2H2 by trifluoroacetic acid catalyzed exchange with deuterium oxide

Pteroylglutamic acid (PGA) was deuterated by trifluoroacetic acid catalyzed exchange with deuterium oxide. The product, pteroylglutamic acid-3',5'-2H2, was specifically deuterated in the aromatic protons of the p-aminobenzoyl (PABA) moiety; the protons on C7 and C9 and in the glutamic acid residue were not exchanged. Deuterium incorporation was measured by chemical ionization mass spectrometry (CI-MS). Pteroylglutamates were cleaved by a base-catalyzed, oxidative hydrolysis to PABA, which was converted to the methyl ester, N-trifluoroacetate for analysis by gas chromatography-chemical ionization-mass spectrometry. Products from the exchange typically contained 1 percent 2H1 and 90 percent 2H2 species. The procedure may be used to label specifically various analogs of PGA with deuterium in the PABA portion of the molecule