Conformationally rigid chiral ferrocene derivative: Synthesis,resolution and stereochemical assignment

A conformationally rigid chiral molecule LB-I with Lewis basic site has been designed and synthesized in racemic form from ferrocene via Lewis acid mediated diastereoselective cyclization of hydroxy lactam. Both isomers were successfully obtained in enantiomerically pure form through classical resolution using dibenzoyl-d-tartaric acid as the chiral resolving agent in acetone. The nature of the diastereomeric salt formed in the resolution process was investigated by single crystal X-ray crystallographic studies. The absolute configuration of (+)-LB-I was unambiguously assigned as (S,R_p) by single crystal analysis of the salt I obtained from precipitate fraction containing (+)-LB-I and dibenzoyl-d-tartaric acid.     

An NMR experiment for simultaneous TROSY-based detection of amide and methyl groups in large proteins

A sensitive 2D NMR experiment for simultaneous time-shared TROSY-type detection of amide and methyl groups in high-molecular-weight proteins is described. The pulse scheme is designed to preserve the slowly decaying components of both 1H-15N and methyl 13CH3 spin systems in the course of indirect evolution and acquisition periods. The proposed methodology is applied to the study of substrate binding to {U-[15N,2H]; Ile-[13CH3]; Leu,Val-[13CH3/12CD3]}-labeled 82-kDa enzyme Malate Synthase G and is expected to accelerate NMR-based screening of large proteins labeled with 15N and selectively labeled with 13CH3 at methyl sites.     

Sequence-specific and stereospecific assignment of methyl groups using paramagnetic lanthanides

Pseudocontact shifts (PCSs) induced by a site-specifically bound paramagnetic lanthanide ion are shown to provide fast access to sequence-specific resonance assignments of methyl groups in proteins of known three-dimensional structure. Stereospecific assignments of Val and Leu methyls are obtained as well as resonance assignments of all other methyls, including Met epsilonCH3 groups. No prior assignments of the diamagnetic protein are required nor are experiments that transfer magnetization between the methyl groups and the protein backbone. Methyl Cz-exchange experiments were designed to provide convenient access to PCS measurements in situations where a paramagnetic lanthanide is in exchange with a diamagnetic lanthanide. In the absence of exchange, simultaneous 13C-HSQC assignments and PCS measurements are delivered by the newly developed program Possum. The approaches are demonstrated with the complex between the N-terminal domain of the subunit epsilon and the subunit theta of the Escherichia coli DNA polymerase III.     

Resin-bound chiral derivatizing agents for assignment of configuration by NMR spectroscopy

A general methodology for assigning the configuration of chiral mono- and polyfunctional compounds by NMR is presented. The approach is based on the use of polystyrene-bound chiral derivatizing agents (CDA-resins) specifically designed to achieve the high-yield formation of the covalent linkages (amide or ester bonds) between the substrate and the chiral auxiliary within the NMR tube, without the need for other manipulations, on a microscale level and in a short time. The deuterated NMR solvents (CDCl3, CD3CN, CS2/CD2Cl2) are also the reaction solvents and separations, purifications or workups of any kind are not necessary prior to recording the spectra. The CDA-resins prepared included MPA, 9-AMA, BPG, MTPA, and 2-NTBA as auxiliary agents incorporated either as single enantiomers or as mixed combinations of the (R)- and the (S)-enantiomers at unequal and known ratios. The high versatility of these systems was successfully demonstrated in a variety of ways based on double and single derivatization, low temperature experiments, or the formation of metal complexes. The approach allowed the absolute configurations of chiral primary amines, primary and secondary alcohols, cyanohydrins, thiols, diols, triols, and amino alcohols to be determined. Extensive high-resolution magic angle spinning (HR-MAS) NMR experiments allowed the characterization of the new CDA-resins and enabled the study of their stability and regioselectivity.     

Stretched poly(methyl methacrylate) gel aligns small organic molecules in chloroform. stereochemical analysis and diastereotopic proton NMR assignment in ludartin using residual dipolar couplings and 3J coupling constant analysis

Poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) gels prepared by copolymerizing methyl methacrylate (MMA) and various amounts of ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (EGDMA) in the presence of the radical initiator V-70 (2,2'-azobis(2,4-dimethyl-4-methoxyvaleronitrile)) can orient small organic molecules when swollen in NMR tubes with CDCl(3). The aligning properties of the stretched PMMA gels were evaluated by monitoring the quadrupolar splitting of the (2)H NMR signal of CDCl(3), and the aligning degree is proportional to the cross-linking density. Natural abundance one-bond (1)H-(13)C residual dipolar couplings (RDCs) for menthol measured in the gels depended on the cross-link density. The stereochemistry and assignment of the diastereotopic protons of the gastroprotective and nonsteroidal aromatase inhibitor sesquiterpene lactone ludartin, isolated from Stevia yaconensis var. subeglandulosa, were unambiguously determined using a combination of natural abundance one-bond (1)H-(13)C RDCs measured in a PMMA gel and a (3)J coupling constant analysis.     

Exploiting orthogonally reactive functionality: synthesis and stereochemical assignment of (-)-ushikulide A

In spite of the tremendous advances in modern spectroscopic methods, organic synthesis continues to play a pivotal role in elucidating the full structures of complex natural products. This method has the advantage that, even in the absence of a firm structural assignment, a combination of logic and spectroscopic comparison can arrive at the correct structure. Herein, we report execution of this strategy with respect to ushikulide A, a newly isolated and previously stereochemically undefined member of the oligomycin-rutamycin family. To maximize synthetic efficiency, we envisioned chemoselective manipulation of orthogonally reactive functional groups, notably alkenes and alkynes as surrogates for certain carbonyl and hydroxyl functionalities. This approach has the dual effect of minimizing the number of steps and protecting groups required for our synthetic route. This strategy culminated in the efficient synthesis and stereochemical assignment of ushikulide A.     

Some new protocols for the assignment of absolute configuration by NMR spectroscopy using chiral solvating agents and CDAs

The utility of enantiopure BINOL (1,10-Bi-2-naphthol), in a ternary ion-pair complex, which is obtained using a carboxylic acid and an organic base, as a versatile chiral solvating agent (CSA) has been demonstrated for chiral analysis and the absolute configuration assignment of hydroxy acids. Another protocol where the utility of NOBIN as a CSA has been developed for discrimination and absolute configuration assignment of acids, hydroxy acids and their derivatives with a distinct strategy where a third ingredient, p-toluenesulfonic acid (p-TsOH) serves as a linker. In addition some three component chiral derivatization protocols have been introduced, such as the use of 2-formylphenylboronic acid and enantiopure mandelic acid or a primary amine for the determination of the configuration of primary amines and hydroxy acids, respectively. A simple, rapid and highly efficient three component chiral derivatizing protocol has also been discussed which was developed for assigning the absolute configuration of chiral α-hydroxy acids and their derivatives, which involves the coupling of 2-formylphenylboronic acid with (R)-[1,1-binaphthalene]-2,2-diamine, and (S)-[1,1-binaphthalene]-2,2-diamine separately. In a few examples, the DFT based theoretical calculations have been carried out to determine the geometry optimized structures of the complexes.     

Toward creation of a universal NMR database for the stereochemical assignment of acyclic compounds: proof of concept

[formula: see text] Using the C.5-C.10 portion of the oasomycin class of natural products, the reliability and usefulness of an NMR database for the stereochemical assignment of acyclic compounds has been demonstrated. The predicted relative stereochemistry based on the NMR database has unambiguously been established via synthesis.     

Toward the creation of NMR databases in chiral solvents: bidentate chiral NMR solvents for assignment of the absolute configuration of acyclic secondary alcohols

The absolute configuration of acyclic secondary alcohols can be established from analysis of the chemical shift behaviors of the adjacent carbons in bidentate chiral solvents (R,R)- and (S,S)-1d as formulated in the boxed illustration.     

NMR spectra of cobaloximes: unexpected nonequivalence of methyl groups

¹H NMR spectra of organocobaloximes indicates the nonequivalence of methyl groups which is attributed to the hydrogen bond formation between the oxime hydrogen and the hetero atom of an axial organic ligand.     

Atropisomeric amides as chiral ligands: using (-)-sparteine-directed enantioselective silylation to control the conformation of a stereogenic axis

An enantiomerically pure (1-trimethylsilyl)ethyl group, constructed by a (-)-sparteine-directed enantioselective quench of a laterally lithiated tertiary aromatic amide, exerts powerful thermodynamic control over the conformation of the adjacent tertiary amide substituent. Ortholithiation and functionalization of the amide in the 6-position allows the single amide conformer to be trapped as an enantiomerically and diastereoisomerically pure amide atropisomer. Protodesilylation of the amide gives functionalized atropisomeric amides with a stereogenic axis of single absolute configuration, whose barriers to racemization have been determined by polarimetry. Enantiomerically pure amides bearing phosphine substituents are effective ligands in a Pd-catalyzed allylic substitution reaction-the first use of a nonbiaryl atropisomer as a chiral ligand-and give products with 90% ee. The rate of racemization of the phosphine-substituted amide is powerfully influenced by the presence of palladium.     

Synthesis and stereochemical properties of chiral square complexes of iron(II)

The hexadentate, and ditopic ligand 2,5-bis([2,2']bipyridin-6-yl)pyrazine yields a chiral, tetrameric, square-shaped, self-assembled species upon complexation with Fe2+ ions. The racemate of this complex was resolved with antimonyl tatrate as the chiral auxiliary. The purity of the enantiomer was determined by NMR spectroscopy, by using a chiral, diamagnetic shift reagent, and by circular dichroism (CD). The CD spectrum was also calculated by time-dependent density functional theory, and the correlation that was found between CD spectrum and configuration was confirmed by X-ray cristallography. When a "chiralised" version of the ligand was used instead, the corresponding iron complex was obtained in diastereomerically pure form.     

New chiral auxiliaries for dynamic kinetic resolution: from theory to experiment

New efficient chiral auxiliaries for dynamic kinetic resolution (DKR) of bromides into amines are proposed, based on a theoretical rationalisation of known literature results. One example was synthesized and tested, affording diastereoselectivities up to 100%. Several results of DKR reactions are known, based on oxazolidinone or imidazolidinone units as chiral auxiliaries. Nevertheless, their behaviour was not fully understood until a recent paper that we published. We now used our proposed mechanism to rationalize the behaviour of other similar chiral auxiliaries and to propose small structure changes in imidazolidinone rings which could largely improve their performance. We could show that the good performance of these molecules as chiral auxiliaries for DKR reactions where bromine is the leaving group and a primary or secondary amine is the nucleophile is due, in a first step, to the formation of a hydrogen bond between the amine and the ring carbonyl oxygen and, in a second step, to the strong electrostatic interaction between the leaving bromide and the carbonyl oxygen in the C-3 substituent. Considering the behaviour of this substituent which rotates to minimize the electrostatic repulsion with the bromide when reaching the transition state, we proposed the introduction of a second substituent in the C-4 position of the imidazolidinone ring, which prevents such rotation, thus increasing the energy difference between the transition states of the two distereoisomers. With such an auxiliary we were able to increase the best de known in literature (88%), when benzylamine is used as nucleophile, to 99, or even 100%, when iodide replaces the bromide in the substrate.     

Application of chiral bidentate NMR solvents for assignment of the absolute configuration of alcohols: scope and limitation

The ¹³C NMR behaviors of several cyclic and biaryl secondary alcohols as well as acyclic tertiary alcohols have been studied in the chiral bidentate NMR solvent BMBA-p-Me (1). An empirical rule has been advanced to correlate the absolute configuration of each type of alcohols with the ¹³C chemical shift behaviors in (R,R)- and (S,S)-BMBA-p-Me.     

Total synthesis and stereochemical assignment of the salicylate antitumor macrolide lobatamide C(1)

The total synthesis and stereochemical assignment of the potent antitumor macrolide lobatamide C is reported. The synthesis involves Cu(I)-mediated enamide formation and Na(2)CO(3)-mediated esterification of a beta-hydroxy acid and a salicylate cyanomethyl ester. Macrolactonization was accomplished using a Mitsunobu protocol. The stereochemical assignment of lobatamide C was achieved by Mosher ester analysis and comparison with prepared stereoisomers.     

"Mix and shake" method for configurational assignment by NMR: application to chiral amines and alcohols

[reaction: see text] A new methodology for determining absolute configurations by NMR in just a few minutes is presented. The required derivatives are obtained by mixing a solid matrix-bound auxiliary reagent (MPA, MTPA, or BPG) with the chiral substrate (primary amines or secondary alcohols) directly in the NMR tube. The NMR spectra of the derivatives are obtained without any type of separation, workup, or manipulation. The use of a 1:2 (R)/(S)-MPA resin permits the configurational assignment to be carried out with just one spectrum.     

Stereoselectivities and regioselectivities of (4 + 3) cycloadditions between allenamide-derived chiral oxazolidinone-stabilized oxyallyls and furans: experiment and theory

A systematic investigation of the regioselectivities and stereoselectivities of (4 + 3) cycloadditions between unsymmetrical furans and a chiral oxazolidinone-substituted oxyallyl is presented. Cycloadditions were performed using an oxyallyl containing a (R)-4-phenyl-2-oxazolidinone auxiliary (2(Ph)), under either thermal or ZnCl(2)-catalyzed conditions. Reactions of 2(Ph) with 2-substituted furans gave syn cycloadducts selectively, while cycloadditions with 3-substituted furans gave selectively anti cycloadducts. The stereoselectivities were in favor of a single diastereoisomer (I) in all but one case (2-CO(2)R). Density functional theory calculations were performed to explain the selectivities. The results support a mechanism in which all cycloadducts are formed from the E isomer of the oxyallyl (in which the oxazolidinone C═O and oxyallyl oxygen are anti to each other) or the corresponding (E)-ZnCl(2) complex. The major diastereomer is derived from addition of the furan to the more crowded face of the oxyallyl. Crowded transition states are favored because they possess a stabilizing CH-π interaction between the furan and the Ph group.     

Total synthesis and absolute stereochemical assignment of (+)- and (-)-galbulimima alkaloid 13

We describe the total synthesis of (+)- and (-)-galbulimima alkaloid 13. The absolute stereochemistry of natural (-)-galbulimima alkaloid 13 is revised to 2S. Sequential use of catalytic cross-coupling and cross-metathesis reactions followed by an intramolecular Diels-Alder reaction provided the required trans-decalin AB-ring system and masked the C16 carbonyl as an N-vinyl carbamate for late-stage unveiling in the form of the necessary C16 enone. A vinyl radical cyclization secured the C-ring, while successful execution of our strategy for introduction of the CDE-ring system in complex galbulimima alkaloids provided the target pentacycle with complete diastereoselection.     

Automated NMR assignment of protein side chain resonances using automated projection spectroscopy (APSY)

This paper describes an automated method for sequence-specific NMR assignment of the aliphatic resonances of protein side chains in small- and medium-sized globular proteins in aqueous solution. The method requires the recording of a five-dimensional (5D) automated projection spectroscopy (APSY-) NMR experiment and the subsequent analysis of the APSY peak list with the algorithm ALASCA (Algorithm for local and linear assignment of side chains from APSY data). The 5D APSY-HC(CC-TOCSY)CONH experiment yields 5D chemical shift correlations of aliphatic side chain C-H moieties with the backbone atoms H(N), N, and C'. A simultaneous variation of the TOCSY mixing times and the projection angles in this APSY-type TOCSY experiment gives access to all aliphatic C-H moieties in the 20 proteinogenic amino acids. The correlation peak list resulting from the 5D APSY-HC(CC-TOCSY)CONH experiment together with the backbone assignment of the protein under study is the sole input for the algorithm ALASCA that assigns carbon and proton resonances of protein side chains. The algorithm is described, and it is shown that the aliphatic parts of 17 of the 20 common amino acid side chains are assigned unambiguously, whereas the remaining three amino acids are assigned with a certainty of above 95%. The overall feasibility of the approach is demonstrated with the globular 116-residue protein TM1290, for which reference assignments are known. For this protein, 97% of the expected side chain carbon atoms and 87% of the expected side chain protons were detected with the 5D APSY-HC(CC-TOCSY)CONH experiment in 24 h of spectrometer time, and all these resonances were correctly assigned by ALASCA. Based on the experience with TM1290, we expect that the approach presented in this work is routinely applicable to globular proteins with sizes up to at least 120 amino acids.     

An alkylzinc bromide and a lithium alkyldibromozincate containing tris(organosilyl)methyl groups

The lithium reagent (3) reacts with a molar equivalent of anhydrous zinc bromide to give the dimeric compound (2a), in which zinc is four-coordinate. The product from a similar reaction with Li{C(SiMe₃)₂(SiMe₂NPhMe)} is the lithium zincate [Li(THF)₂(μ-Br)₂Zn{C(SiMe₃)₂(SiMe₂NPhMe)}] (4), in which the zinc is only three-coordinate. The crystal structures of 2a and 4 have been determined.