Nuclear Quadrupole Resonance Study of the Nitrogen Mustards and Local Anesthetics.

The density matrix description of pulsed nitrogen -14 nuclear quadrupole resonance (NQR) spin-echoes is presented. The parallel between this problem, when formulated in terms of the fictitious spin- 1/2 operators, and that of spin - 1/2 NMR spin-echoes in liquids is discussed along with the complications which arise in multiple-pulse NQR experiments in powders due to the random orientation of the electric field gradient tensors. The equipment and procedures involved in searching for, detecting and identifying NQR resonances using pulsed techniques are described. The ('14)N NQR spectra of several nitrogen mustard compounds in the solid state are reported and analyzed in the framework of the Townes and Dailey theory. For the aniline derivatives, a correlation exists between l -(sigma), l being the nitrogen lone-pair electron density and (sigma) the average N-C sigma bond electron density, and the enhanced Hammett sigma constant (sigma)('-). An improved correlation is obtained between l-(sigma) and (sigma)(,R)('-), which emphasizes the importance of resonance effects in determining l-(sigma). The increase of hydrolysis and alkylation rates with increasing values of l-(sigma) is in agreement with the identification of the cyclic immonium ion as the intermediate in the hydrolysis and alkylation processes of the aromatic nitrogen mustards. A possible correlation is noted between the ('35)Cl NQR spectra for some of the mustards and measures of toxic and antitumor activity. ('14)N NQR spectra for several local anesthetics in the solid state are also reported and analyzed using the Townes and Dailey approach. The changes in the electron distributions at various nitrogen sites, produced by protonating the tertiary amino nitrogen, are discussed and shown to be in general agreement with expectations bases on the increased electrophilic character of the protonated amino group.