A theoretical approach to the mechanism of biological oxidation of organophosphorus pesticides.

Organophosphorus pesticides are the most common classes involved in poisonings related to pesticides. We used enzymatic activity of chloroperoxidase on the metabolism of some phosphorothioate pesticides published previously and molecular mechanics methods to perform a theoretical approach of the mechanism of biological oxidation of this class of pesticides. The molecular structure of eight pesticides were optimized by molecular mechanics methods using the CAChe program package for biomolecules, ver. 3.11 (Oxford Molecular Ltd., Campbell, CA). Total energy resulted from the structure optimization process and the partial charges of both phosphorus and sulfur were computed for every pesticide. Phosphorus partial charge and enzymatic activity were significantly related by linear regression analysis (r=0.82, P<0.05). Analyzing our results and using previously reported enzymatic activity of chloroperoxidase on these pesticides, we deduced chemical events involved in activation of the active site of chloroperoxidase and proposed a novel mechanism of oxidation for this class of pesticides. This mechanism will also help to understand the oxidation process of pesticides by cytochrome P450, and production of toxic metabolites.