Chirality and Template‐Mediated Induction of Helical Preferences in Achiral β‐Peptides

This study describes chirality‐ or template‐mediated helical induction in achiral β‐peptides for the first time. A strategy of end capping β‐peptides derived from β‐hGly (the smallest achiral β‐amino acid) with a chiral β‐amino acid that possesses a carbohydrate side chain (β‐Caa; C‐linked carbo β‐amino acid) or a small, robust helical template derived from β‐Caas, was adopted to investigate folding propensity. A single chiral (R)‐β‐Caa residue at the C‐ or N‐terminus in these oligomers led to a preponderance of right‐handed 12/10‐helical folds, which was reiterated more strongly in peptides capped at both the C‐ and N‐terminus. Likewise, the presence of a template (a 12/10‐helical trimer) at both the C‐ and N‐terminus resulted in a very robust helix. The propagation of the helical fold and its sustenance was found in a homo‐oligomeric sequence with as many as seven β‐hGly residues. In both cases, the induction of helicity was stronger from the N terminus, whereas an anchor at the C terminus resulted in reduced helical propensity. Although these oligomers have been theoretically predicted to favor a 12/10‐mixed helix in apolar solvents, this study provides the first experimental evidence for their existence. Diastereotopicity was found in both the methylene groups of the β‐hGly moieties due to chirality. Additionally, the β‐hGly units have shown split behavior in the conformational space to accommodate the 12/10‐helix. Thus, end capping to assist chiralty‐ or template‐mediated helical induction and stabilization in achiral β‐peptides is a very attractive strategy.     

Synthesis and Conformational Characterisation of Hexameric β‐Peptide Foldamers by Using Double POAC Spin Labelling and cw‐EPR

A selected set of terminally protected β‐hexapeptides, each containing two nitroxide‐based (3R,4R)‐4‐amino‐1‐oxyl‐2,2,5,5‐tetramethylpyrrolidine‐3‐carboxylic acid (POAC) residues combined with four (1S,2S)‐2‐aminocyclopentane‐1‐carboxylic acid (ACPC) residues, was synthesised by using solution methods and was fully characterised. The two POAC residues are separated in the sequences by different numbers of intervening ACPC residues. The conformational features of the doubly spin‐labelled β‐hexapeptides were examined in chloroform by FTIR absorption and continuous‐wave electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopic techniques. In particular, the biradical exchange coupling (J) between two POAC residues within each peptide indicates unambiguously that the secondary structure overwhelmingly adopted is the 12‐helix. Taken together, these results support the view that POAC is an excellent β‐amino acid for exploring this type of helical conformation in doubly labelled β‐peptides.     

A Multicomponent Conjugation Strategy to Unique N‐Steroidal Peptides: First Evidence of the Steroidal Nucleus as a β‐Turn Inducer in Acyclic Peptides

Constraining small peptides into specific secondary structures has been a major challenge in peptide ligand design. So far, the major solution for decreasing the conformational flexibility in small peptides has been cyclization. An alternative is the use of topological templates, which are able to induce and/or stabilize peptide secondary structures by means of covalent attachment to the peptide. Herein a multicomponent strategy and structural analysis of a new type of peptidosteroid architecture having the steroid as N‐substituent of an internal amide bond is reported. The approach comprises the one‐pot conjugation of two peptide chains (or amino acid derivatives) to aminosteroids by means of the Ugi reaction to give a unique family of N‐steroidal peptides. The conjugation efficiency of a variety of peptide sequences and steroidal amines, as well as their consecutive head‐to‐tail cyclization to produce chimeric cyclopeptide–steroid conjugates, that is, macrocyclic lipopeptides, was assessed. Determination of the three‐dimensional structure of an acyclic N‐steroidal peptide in solution proved that the bulky, rigid steroidal template is capable of both increasing significantly the conformational rigidity, even in a peptide sequence as short as five amino acid residues, and inducing a β‐turn secondary structure even in the all‐s‐trans isomer. This report provides the first evidence of the steroid skeleton as β‐turn inducer in linear peptide sequences.     

The Effect of Backbone Stereochemistry on the Folding of Acyclic β2, 3‐Aminoxy Peptides

As a new type of foldamer, β‐aminoxy peptides have the ability to adopt novel β N? O turns or β N? O helices in solution. Herein, we describe a new subclass of β‐aminoxy peptide, that is, peptides of acyclic β^{2, 3}‐aminoxy acids (NH₂OCHR₁CHR₂COOH), in which the presence of two chiral centers provides insight into the effect of backbone stereochemistry on the folding of β‐aminoxy peptides. Acyclic β^{2, 3}‐aminoxy peptides with syn and anti configurations have been synthesized and their conformations investigated by NMR, IR, and circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopic, and X‐ray crystallographic analysis. The β N? O turns or β N? O helices, which feature nine‐membered rings with intramolecular hydrogen bonds and have been identified previously in peptides of β³‐ and β^{2, 2}‐aminoxy acids, are also predominantly present in the acyclic β^{2, 3}‐aminoxy peptides with a syn configuration and N? O bonds gauche to the C_α? C_β bonds in both solution and the solid state. In the acyclic β^{2, 3}‐aminoxy peptides with an anti configuration, an extended strand (i.e., non‐hydrogen‐bonded state) is found in the solid state, and several conformations including non‐hydrogen‐bonded and intramolecular hydrogen‐bonded states are present simultaneously in nonpolar solvents. These results suggest that the backbone stereochemistry does affect the folding of the acyclic β^{2, 3}‐aminoxy peptides. Theoretical calculations on the conformations of model acyclic β^{2, 3}‐aminoxy peptides with different backbone stereochemistry were also conducted to elucidate structural characteristics. Our present work may provide useful guidelines for the design and construction of new foldamers with predicable structures.     

Novel 5‐Methyl‐2‐[(un)substituted phenyl]‐4‐{4,5‐dihydro‐ 3‐[(un)substituted phenyl]‐5‐(1,2,3,4‐tetrahydroisoquinoline‐2‐yl)pyrazol‐1‐yl}‐oxazole Derivatives: Synthesis and Anticancer Activity

Eleven novel 5‐methyl‐2‐[(un)substituted phenyl]‐4‐{4,5‐dihydro‐3‐[(un)substituted phenyl]‐5‐(1,2,3,4‐tetrahydroisoquinoline‐2‐yl)pyrazol‐1‐yl}‐oxazole derivatives were synthesized and characterized by elemental analysis, ESI‐MS, ¹H NMR and ¹³C NMR. All of the compounds have been screened for their antiproliferative activities against PC‐3 cell (human prostate cancer) and A431 cell (human epidermoid carcinoma cancer) lines in vitro. The results revealed that compounds 4g , 4j and 4k exhibited the strong inhibitory activities against the PC‐3 cell lines (with IC₅₀ values of 2.8±0.11, 3.1±0.10 and 3.0±0.06 μg/mL, respectively).     

Formation of Periodic γ‐Turns in α/β‐Hybrid Peptides: DFT and NMR Experimental Evidence

Hybrid peptidic oligomers comprising natural and unnatural amino acid residues that can exhibit biomolecular folding and hydrogen‐bonding mimicry have attracted considerable interest in recent years. While a variety of hybrid peptidic helices have been reported in the literature, other secondary structural patterns such as γ‐turns and ribbons have not been well explored so far. The present work reports the design of novel periodic γ‐turns in the oligomers of 1:1 natural‐α/unnatural trans‐β‐norborenene (TNAA) amino acid residues. Through DFT, NMR, and MD studies, it is convincingly shown that, in the mixed conformational pool, the heterogeneous backbone of the hybrid peptides preferentially adopt periodic 8‐membered (pseudo γ‐turn)/7‐membered (inverse γ‐turn) hydrogen bonds in both polar and non‐polar solvent media. It is observed that the stereochemistry and local conformational preference of the β‐amino acid building blocks have a profound influence on accessing the specific secondary fold. These findings may be of significant relevance for the development of molecular scaffolds that facilitate desired positioning of functional side‐chains.     

Escherichia coli β‐Galactosidase Inhibitors through Modifications at the Aglyconic Moiety: Experimental Evidence of Conformational Distortion in the Molecular Recognition Process

Herein, we describe the use of thioglycosides as glycosidase inhibitors by employing novel modifications at the reducing end of these glycomimetics. The inhibitors display a basic galactopyranosyl unit (1→4)‐bonded to a 3‐deoxy‐4‐thiopentopyranose moiety. The molecular basis of the observed inhibition has been studied by using a combination of NMR spectroscopy and molecular modeling techniques. It is demonstrated that these molecules are not recognized by Escherichia coli β‐galactosidase in their ground‐state conformation, with a conformational selection process taking place. In fact, the observed conformational distortion depends on the chemical nature of the compounds and results from the rotation around the glycosidic linkage (variation of Φ or Ψ) or from the deformation of the six‐membered ring of the pentopyranose. The bound conformations of the ligand are adapted in the enzymatic pocket with a variety of hydrogen‐bond, van der Waals, and stacking interactions.     

Antiparallel Self‐Association of a γ,α‐Hybrid Peptide: More Relevance of Weak Interactions

To learn how a preorganized peptide‐based molecular template, together with diverse weak non‐covalent interactions, leads to an effective self‐association, we investigated the conformational characteristics of a simple γ,α‐hybrid model peptide, Boc‐γ‐Abz‐Gly‐OMe. The single‐crystal X‐ray diffraction analysis revealed the existence of a fully extended β‐strand‐like structure stabilized by two non‐conventional C?H???O=C intramolecular H‐bonds. The 2D ¹H NMR ROESY experiment led us to propose that the flat topology of the urethane‐γ‐Abz‐amide moiety is predominantly preserved in a non‐polar environment. The self‐association of the energetically more favorable antiparallel β‐strand‐mimic in solid‐state engenders an unusual ‘flight of stairs’ fabricated through face‐to‐face and edge‐to‐edge Ar???Ar interactions. In conjunction with FT‐IR spectroscopic analysis in chloroform, we highlight that conformationally semi‐rigid γ‐Abz foldamer in appositely designed peptides may encourage unusual β‐strand or β‐sheet‐like self‐association and supramolecular organization stabilized via weak attractive forces.     

Synthesis and Conformation of Fluorinated β‐Peptidic Compounds

Experimental and theoretical data indicate that, for α‐fluoroamides, the F? C? C(O)? N(H) moiety adopts an antiperiplanar conformation. In addition, a gauche conformation is favoured between the vicinal C? F and C? N(CO) bonds in N‐β‐fluoroethylamides. This study details the synthesis of a series of fluorinated β‐peptides ( 1 – 8 ) designed to use these stereoelectronic effects to control the conformation of β‐peptide bonds. X‐ray crystal structures of these compounds revealed the expected conformations: with fluorine β to a nitrogen adopting a gauche conformation, and fluorine α to a C?O group adopting an antiperiplanar conformation. Thus, the strategic placement of fluorine can control the conformation of a β‐peptide bond, with the possibility of directing the secondary structures of β‐peptides.     

Ethyl 1,4‐Dihydro‐4‐oxo‐1,8‐naphthyridine‐3‐carboxylates by a Tandem SNAr‐Addition‐Elimination Reaction

A series of N‐substituted 1,4‐dihydro‐4‐oxo‐1,8‐naphthyridine‐3‐carboxylate esters has been prepared in two steps from ethyl 2‐(2‐chloronicotinoyl)acetate. Treatment of the β‐ketoester with N,N‐dimethylformamide dimethyl acetal in N,N‐dimethylformamide (DMF) gave a 95% yield of the 2‐dimethylaminomethylene derivative. Subsequent reaction of this β‐enaminone with primary amines in DMF at 120^oC for 24 h then afforded the target compounds in 47–82% yields by a tandem S_NAr‐addition‐elimination reaction. Synthetic and procedural details as well as a mechanistic rationale are presented.     

Ethyl 1,4‐dihydro‐4‐oxo‐3‐quinolinecarboxylates by a tandem addition‐elimination‐SNAr reaction

The ethyl 1,4‐dihydro‐4‐oxo‐3‐quinolinecarboxylate ring structure, important in several drug compounds, has been prepared in two steps from ethyl 2‐(2‐fluorobenzoyl)acetate. Treatment of this β‐ketoester with N,N‐dimethylformamide dimethyl acetal gives a 97% yield of the 2‐dimethylaminomethylene derivative. Reaction of this β‐enaminone with primary amines in N,N‐dimethylformamide at 140°C for 48 h then affords the 1,4‐dihydro‐4‐oxo‐3‐quinolinecarboxylate esters in 60–74% yields by a tandem addition‐elimination‐S_NAr reaction. The synthesis of the starting material as well as procedural details and a mechanistic scenario are presented. J. Heterocyclic Chem., (2011).     

Theoretical Study Of β2,3‐Peptide Models

Conformational features of α,β‐disubstituted β^2,3‐dipeptide models have been studied with quantum mechanics method. Geometries were optimized with the HF/6‐31G** method, and energies were evaluated with the B3LYP/6‐31G** method. Solvent effect was evaluated with the SCIPCM method. For (2S,3S)‐β^2,3‐dipeptide model 1 , a six‐membered‐ring hydrogen bonded structure is most stable. However, the conformation corresponding to the formation of the 14‐helix is only about 1.7 kcal/mol less stable in methanol solution, indicating that the 14‐helix is favored if a (2S,3S)‐β^2,3‐polypeptide contains more than 5 residues. On the other hand, the conformation corresponding to the formation of β‐sheet is most stable for (2R,3S)‐β^2,3‐dipeptide model 2 , suggesting that this type of β‐peptides is intrinsically favored for the formation of β‐sheet secondary structure.     

Facile Synthesis of Novel 3‐(4‐phenylisothiazol‐5‐yl)‐2H‐chromen‐2‐one Derivatives as Potential Anticancer Agents

A series of 3‐(4‐phenylisothiazol‐5‐yl)‐2H‐chromen‐2‐one ( 6a – l ) derivatives has been efficiently synthesized by straightforward sequential reactions. Tandem Vilsmeier Hack reaction/cyclization/bromination/Suzuki cross‐coupling reactions were successfully applied to the preparation of title compounds in good‐to‐high yields. In the synthetic sequences, 3‐chloro‐3‐(2‐oxo‐2H‐chromen‐3‐yl)acrylaldehydes ( 2 ) were found to react with ammonium thiocyanate to yield the corresponding 3‐(isothiazol‐5‐yl)‐2H‐chromen‐2‐ones ( 3 ). These derivatives were brominated with N‐bromo succinamide to yield the corresponding regioselective 3‐(4‐bromoisothiazol‐5‐yl)‐2H‐chromen‐2‐one ( 4 ). Finally, compound 4 was treated with various phenyl/pyrazole/7H –pyrrolo[2,3‐d]pyrimidinyl boronic acids 5a – l in the presence of K₂CO₃ and Pd catalyst in dimethylformamide to yield the corresponding title derivatives 6a – l . All the synthesized compounds were characterized by analytical and spectral studies. All the final compounds were screened against different cancer cell lines (A549, PC3, SKOV3, and B16F10), and among these compounds, 6b , 6g , 6h , and 6l displayed moderate cytotoxic activity against the tested cell lines.     

Numerical Simulation of the Effect of Solvent Viscosity on the Motions of a β‐Peptide Heptamer

This report examines the effect of a decrease in solvent viscosity on the simulated folding behaviour of a β‐peptide heptamer in methanol. Simulations of the molecular dynamics of the heptamer H‐β³‐HVal‐β³‐HAla‐β³‐HLeu‐(S,S)‐β³‐HAla(αMe)‐β³‐HVal‐β³‐HAla‐β³‐HLeu‐OH in methanol, with an explicit representation of the methanol molecules, were performed for 80 ns at various solvent viscosities. The simulations indicate that at a solvent viscosity of one third of that of methanol, only the dynamic aspects of the folding process are altered, and that the rate of folding is increased. At a viscosity of one tenth of that of methanol, insufficient statistics are obtained within the 80 ns period. We suggest that 80 ns is an insufficient time to reach conformational equilibrium at very low viscosity because the dependence of the folding rate of a β‐peptide on solvent viscosity has two regimes; a result that was observed in another computational study for α‐peptides.     

Photolysis of α,β‐Epoxyketones: A Green Synthesis of β‐Hydroxyenones through Tandem H‐Abstraction,Ring Cleavage and Isomerisation

The photochemical behavior of various substituted epoxycarbonyl compounds consisting of more than one possible photo‐labile site (i.e. δ‐hydrogen, β‐hydrogen and epoxide ring) has been investigated. These compounds on photo‐irradiation produced the β‐hydroxyenones in an eco‐friendly green approach. Mechanistically, these photo‐transformations have been envisaged to occur via an intramolecular β‐hydrogen abstraction by the carbonyl group of benzoyl moiety to generate the 1,3‐biradical followed by epoxide ring opening that isomerizes into the photoproducts. The photolysis of the probed epoxy ketones didn’t furnish any photoproduct through δ‐hydrogen abstraction, whatsoever. This exclusive preference for β‐H abstraction over δ‐H abstraction by carbonyl group has been vindicated by the MM2 energy mini‐ mized program for the investigated photochemical substrates. The structures of these photoproducts were established from the analysis of their spectral parameters (IR, ¹H/¹³C NMR and Mass) and single crystal X‐ray crystallography data.     

Chiral discrimination of β‐3‐homo‐amino acids using the kinetic method

Chiral discrimination of seven enantiomeric pairs of β‐3‐homo‐amino acids was studied by using the kinetic method and trimeric metal‐bound complexes, with natural and unnatural α‐amino acids as chiral reference compounds and divalent metal ions (Cu²⁺ and Ni²⁺) as the center ions. The β‐3‐homo‐amino acids were selected for this study because, first of all, chiral discrimination of β‐amino acids has not been extensively studied by mass spectrometry. Moreover, these β‐3‐homo‐amino acids studied have different aromatic side chains. Thus, the emphasis was to study the effect of the side chain (electron density of the phenyl ring, as well as the difference between phenyl and benzyl side chains) for the chiral discrimination. The results showed that by the proper choice of a metal ion and a chiral reference compound, all seven enantiomeric pairs of β‐3‐homo‐amino acids could be differentiated. Moreover, it was noted that the β‐3‐homo‐amino acids with benzyl side chains provided higher enantioselectivity than the corresponding phenyl ones. However, increasing or decreasing the electron density of the aromatic ring by different substituents in both the phenyl and benzyl side chains had practically no role for chiral discrimination of β‐3‐homo‐amino acids studied. When copper was used as the central metal, the phenyl side chain containing reference molecules (S)‐2‐amino‐2‐phenylacetic acid (L ‐Phg) and (S)‐2‐amino‐2‐(4‐hydroxyphenyl)‐acetic acid (L ‐4′‐OHPhg) gave rise to an additional copper‐reduced dimeric fragment ion, [Cu^I(ref)(A)]⁺. The inclusion of this ion improved noticeably the enantioselectivity values obtained. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Capillary GC using pyridyl β‐cyclodextrin stationary phase

A new β‐CD derivative, heptakis [2,6‐di‐O‐pentyl‐3‐O‐(4′‐chloro‐5′‐pyridylmethyl)]‐β‐CD, was synthesized by the selective introduction of a pyridyl group on the 3‐positions of β‐CD. The chromatographic properties of the pyridyl β‐CD derivative were studied by using it as the stationary phase in capillary GC. The polarity of the prepared stationary phase was moderate, and the separation results demonstrated that the prepared stationary phase possessed excellent separation ability and chiral recognition for a wide range of analytes. Not only the aromatic positional isomers, such as o‐, m‐, p‐xylene and α‐, β‐naphthol isomers, but also some compounds with multi‐stereogenic centers, such as n‐(1‐methylpropyl)‐3‐(2,2‐dichloroethenyl)‐2,2‐dimethylcyclopropanecarboxamide and n‐(1‐methylpropyl)‐3‐(2‐chloro‐3,3,3‐trifluoropropenyl)‐2,2‐dimethylcyclopropanecarboxamide with three stereogenic centers including eight configurational isomers, were successfully separated. The results also indicated that the polarity of the β‐CD derivative, and the hydrogen bonding between the β‐CD derivative, and the analytes had a very important effect on separation.     

Synthesis and Characterization of 11‐Amino‐3‐methoxy‐8‐substituted‐12‐aryl‐8,9‐dihydro‐7H‐chromeno[2,3‐b]quinolin‐10(12H)‐one Derivatives

A series of 2‐amino‐7‐methoxy‐4‐aryl‐4H‐chromene‐3‐carbonitrile compounds 2 were obtained by condensation of 3‐methoxyphenol with β‐dicyanostyrenes 1 in absolute ethanol containing piperidine. The intermediate enamines 3 were prepared by compounds 2 with 5‐substituted‐1,3‐cyclohexanedione using p‐toluenesuflonic acid (TsOH) as catalyst. The title compounds 11‐amino‐3‐methoxy‐8‐substituted‐12‐aryl‐8,9‐dihydro‐7H‐chromeno[2,3‐b]quinolin‐10(12H)‐one 4 were synthesized by cyclization of the intermediate enamines 3 in THF with K₂CO₃ /Cu₂Cl₂ as catalyst. The structures of all compounds were characterized by elemental analysis, IR, MS, and ¹H NMR spectra. The crystal structure of compound 4i was determined by single‐crystal X‐ray diffraction analysis.     

Phosphoryl group differentiating α‐amino acids from β‐ and γ‐amino acids in prebiotic peptide formation

In recent years β‐amino acids have increased their importance enormously in defining secondary structures of β‐peptides. Interest in β‐amino acids raises the question: Why and how did nature choose α‐amino acids for the central role in life? In this article we present experimental results of MS and ³¹P NMR methods on the chemical behavior of N‐phosphorylated α‐alanine, β‐alanine, and γ‐amino butyric acid in different solvents. N‐Phosphoryl α‐alanine can self‐assemble to N‐phosphopeptides either in water or in organic solvents, while no assembly was observed for β‐ or γ‐amino acids. An intramolecular carboxylic–phosphoric mixed anhydride (IMCPA) is the key structure responsible for their chemical behaviors. Relative energies and solvent effects of three isomers of IMCPA derived from α‐alanine (2a–c), with five‐membered ring, and five isomers of IMCPA derived from β‐alanine (4a–e), with six‐membered ring, were calculated with density functional theory at the B3LYP/6‐31G** level. The lower relative energy (3.2 kcal/mol in water) of 2b and lower energy barrier for its formation (16.7 kcal/mol in water) are responsible for the peptide formation from N‐phosphoryl α‐alanine. Both experimental and theoretical studies indicate that the structural difference among α‐, β‐, and γ‐amino acids can be recognized by formation of IMCPA after N‐phosphorylation. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem 94: 232–241, 2003