Sydnonimines as exogenous NO donors

Chemical oxidation of a series of sydnonimine derivatives followed by NO release was studied. Substances having alkylamine substituents in the position 3 were shown to be considerably more potent NO donors in comparison with those having alkyl or aralkyl substituents in the position 3. It was suggested that the effect is mainly due to lowering of the activation energy of NO release upon stabilization of the cation formed competitevely by the amino group.