A facile domino metathetic route to a thapsigargin skeleton

A facile synthesis of a 5,7,5-fused ring system that is present in thapsigargins belonging to a novel family of sesquiterpene lactones, guainanolides, using domino enyne-RCM is reported here.     

Discovery and Syntheses of “Superbug Challengers”—Platensimycin and Platencin

Bacteria have developed resistance to almost all existing antibiotics known today and this has been a major issue over the last few decades. The search for a new class of antibiotics with a new mode of action to fight these multiply‐drug‐resistant strains, or “superbugs”, allowed a team of scientists at Merck to discover two novel antibiotics, platensimycin and platencin using advanced screening strategies, as inhibitors of bacterial fatty acid biosynthesis, which is essential for the survival of bacteria. Though both these antibiotics are structurally related, they work by slightly different mechanisms and target different enzymes conserved in the bacterial fatty acid biosynthesis. This Focus Review summarizes the synthetic and biological aspects of these natural products and their analogues and congeners.     

Dioxygen reactivity of copper and heme-copper complexes possessing an imidazole-phenol cross-link

Recent spectroscopic, kinetics, and structural studies on cytochrome c oxidases (CcOs) suggest that the histidine-tyrosine cross-link at the heme a3-CuB binuclear active site plays a key role in the reductive O2-cleavage process. In this report, we describe dioxygen reactivity of copper and heme/Cu assemblies in which the imidazole-phenol moieties are employed as a part of copper ligand LN4OH (2-{4-[2-(bis-pyridin-2-ylmethyl-amino)-ethyl]-imidazol-1-yl}-4,6-di -tert-butyl-phenol). Stopped-flow kinetic studies reveal that low-temperature oxygenation of [CuI(LN4OH)]+ (1) leads to rapid formation of a copper-superoxo species [CuII(LN4OH)(O2-)]+ (1a), which further reacts with 1 to form the 2:1 Cu:O2 adduct, peroxo complex [{CuII(LN4OH)}2(O2(2-))]2+ (1b). Complex 1b is also short-lived, and a dimer Cu(II)-phenolate complex [CuII(LN4O-)]2(2+) (1c) eventually forms as a final product in the later stage of the oxygenation reaction. Dioxygen reactivities of 1 and its anisole analogue [CuI(LN4OMe)]+ (2) in the presence of a heme complex (F8)FeII (3) (F8 = tetrakis(2,6,-difluorotetraphenyl)-porphyrinate) are also described. Spectroscopic investigations including UV-vis, 1H and 2H NMR, EPR, and resonance Raman spectroscopies along with spectrophotometric titration reveal that low-temperature oxygenation of 1/3 leads to formation of a heme-peroxo-copper species [(F8)FeIII-(O2(2-))-CuII(LN4OH)]+ (4), nu(O-O) = 813 cm(-1). Complex 4 is an S = 2 spin system with strong antiferromagnetic coupling between high-spin iron(III) and copper(II) through a bridging peroxide ligand. A very similar complex [(F8)FeIII-(O2(2-))-CuII(LN4OMe)]+ (5) (nu(O-O) = 815 cm(-1)) can be generated by utilizing the anisole compound 2, which indicates that the cross-linked phenol moiety in 4 does not interact with the bridging peroxo group between heme and copper. This investigation thus reveals that a stable heme-peroxo-copper species can be generated even in the presence of an imidazole-phenol group (i.e., possible electron/proton donor source) in close proximity. Future studies are needed to probe key factors that can trigger the reductive O-O cleavage in CcO model compounds.     

Template directed photodimerization of trans-1,2-bis(n-pyridyl)ethylenes and stilbazoles in water

Template induced photodimerization of trans-1,2-bis(n-pyridyl)ethylene dihydrochlorides and trans-n-stilbazole hydrochlorides within cucurbit[8]uril in aqueous media leads to high yields of the syn dimer.     

An expedient enantioselective strategy for the oxatetracyclic core of platensimycin

An enantioselective route for the synthesis of oxatetracyclic core of platensimycin is reported for the first time using a 5-exo-trig cyclization followed by intramolecular etherification as key reactions. The requisite dienynone for the radical cyclization is synthesized in eight steps from the Wieland-Miescher ketone employing a Claisen rearrangement.     

A tandem enyne/ring closing metathesis approach to 4-methylene-2-cyclohexenols: an efficient entry to otteliones and loloanolides

A short and efficient approach to a 4-methylene-2-cyclohexenone substructure present in otteliones and loloanolides is described. This strategy involves a tandem enyne/ring closing metathesis as the key reaction to construct this labile core unit.