Biomimetic oxidation of praziquantel catalysed by metalloporphyrins

Oxidation of praziquantel by iodosylbenzene using iron(III) tetraarylporphyrins and manganese(III) tetraphenylporphyrin as catalysts was studied. The majority of the oxidation products have been identified by sequential LC-MS/MS and NMR analyses. The selectivities of the oxidations by these cytochrome P-450 models are studied and compared. The initial oxidation occurs predominantly at the 7-position.