Synthesis of substituted asymmetrical biphenyl amino esters as alpha helix mimetics

As part of our ongoing project to develop new molecular probes for estrogen receptor-alpha, we are exploring the utility of internally-substituted asymmetric biphenyls as a proteomimetic scaffold. In this study, we describe synthetic methods for preparing the requisite substituted-bromophenol precursors, their further elaboration, and the subsequent Suzuki–Miyaura coupling of these sterically-hindered and electronically-rich aromatic systems. The results provide an efficient route with which to generate further libraries of novel asymmetric biphenyl compounds as potential proteomimetics.     

Synthesis of chiral non-racemic intermediates and Arg-Gly-Asp mimetics by CaLB-catalyzed resolution

The reactivity of both the ester and amine functions present in β-amino esters was tested in order to obtain the synthesis of enantiopure αvβ3 and α5β1 integrin ligands. CaLB successfully catalyzed both the enantioselective transesterification and the N-acylation of racemic β-amino esters, allowing the isolation of intermediates for the preparation of Arg-Gly-Asp (RGD) mimetic compounds. In particular, a CaLB-catalyzed amidation reaction with unprotected p-aminobenzylamine reduced the number of synthetic steps, thus avoiding protection and deprotection of the intermediate compounds. Following this procedure, RGD mimetics were isolated with high yields and enantiomeric purities.     

Design and synthesis of novel conformationally restricted peptide secondary structure mimetics

[structure: see text] A facile synthesis of the novel conformationally restricted reverse turn mimetic is described. The key features are the preparation of the alpha-keto amide and tandem bicyclic ring formation.     

Synthesis and use of chiral substituted benzenes containing 1,2-diols protected as cyclic acetals

1,2-Dihydroxy benzenes have been protected as cyclic diacetals using 2,3-butane dione. These diacetals are extremely robust and can be further chemically diversified and resolved with chirality embedded in the 1,4-dioxane ring attached to the aromatic back bone as a result of the anomeric effect. These systems can serve as ligands, auxiliaries or organocatalysts for asymmetric synthesis.     

Control of peptide helix sense by temperature tuning of noncovalent chiral domino effect

We have investigated temperature effect on control of a peptide helix sense through the noncovalent chiral domino effect (NCDE: Inai, Y. et al., J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2003, 125, 8151-8162). Nonapeptide (1: Inai, Y.; Komori, H. Biomacromolecules 2004, 5, 1231-1240), which alone prefers a right-handed helix, maintained a screw-sense balance or a small imbalance at room temperature in the presence of Boc-d-amino acid. Cooling of the solution induced a left-handed helix more clearly. Conversely, heating from room temperature recovered the original right-handed sense. This helix-helix transition was essentially reversible in cooling-heating cycles. An increase in the Boc-d-amino acid concentration elevated temperature for switching CD signs based on the conformational transition. A similar thermal-driven inversion of helix sense was observed for 1 at other initial concentrations, suggesting that this behavior is insensitive to some peptide aggregation. NMR study provided direct evidence for the domino-type control of helix sense, in which Boc-Leu-OH is mainly located at the N-terminal segment. In addition, a left-handed helix induced by the d-isomer was shown to participate in equilibrium with a right-handed helix, whereas the right-handed helix was predominant in the presence of l-isomer. Consequently, we here have proposed a model for controlling a peptide helix sense (or its screw-sense bias) through temperature tuning of the external chiral interaction specific to the N-terminal sequence.     

Conversion of 1,4-diketones into para-disubstituted benzenes

Reaction of acetylides with aldehydes to form but-2-yne-1,4-diols, followed by triple bond reduction and oxidation of the hydroxyl groups, gives 1,4-diketones; these react with vinyllithium, and the resulting diols undergo ring-closing metathesis to form 2-cyclohexene-1,4-diols. Dehydration, usually by acid treatment, then gives benzenes carrying substituents in a 1,4 relationship. Use of substituted vinyllithiums provides further substitution on the final benzene rings. The method can be applied to the synthesis of C5-aryl carbohydrates.     

Synthesis and liquid crystal properties of substituted 1,4-bis(pyrimidin-2-yl)benzenes

Some symmetrical and unsymmetrical alkyl-, alkoxy-, and acyloxy-1,4-bis(pyrimidin-2-yl) benzenes have been prepared, and their liquid-crystal properties examined. A distinguishing feature of these compounds is their ability to form only a nematic mesophase, the greatest range of liquid-crystal states and the lowest temperatures at which they appear being found in nonsymmetrical dialkoxy- and alkyl-alkoxy compounds.Deceased.Translated from Khimiya Geterotsiklicheskikh Soedinenii, No. 12, pp. 1649–1657, December, 1989.     

A merger of rational drug design and combinatorial chemistry: development and application of peptide secondary structure mimetics

Recent efforts toward the development of peptide secondary structure mimetics at Molecumetics Ltd. for the discoveries of new drug candidates utilizing combinatorial chemistry with solid phase synthesis are described.     

手性螺-环丙烷双内酯化合物的合成与结构

本文进一步研究了5-(l-孟氧基)-3-溴-2(5H)-呋喃酮(1)与氧的亲核试剂,如二苯甲醇、苯甲醇、α-甲基苯甲醇、薄荷醇、冰片醇发生新颖的串联不对称双Michael加成/分子内亲核取代反应,合成了一般方法难以合成的含有多个手性中心的螺[1-溴-4-l-孟氧基-5-氧杂-6-氧代双环[3.1.0]己烷-2,3'-(4'-亲核基-5'-孟氧基丁内酯)](4a-4e)。通过元素分析,IR,UV,^1HNMR,^1^3CNMR,MS,[α]~D^2^0波谱分析数据以及X四圆衍射确定了4a-4e的化学结构和绝对构型。     

Understanding self-assembled amphiphilic peptide supramolecular structures from primary structure helix propensity

Small amphiphilic peptides are attractive building blocks to design biocompatible supramolecular structures via self-assembly, with applications in, for example, drug delivery, tissue engineering, and nanotemplating. We address the influence of systematical changes in the amino acid sequence of such peptides on the self-assembled macromolecular structures. For cationic-head surfactant-like eight-residue peptides, the apolar tail amino acids were chosen to systematically vary the propensity to form an alpha-helical secondary structure while conserving the overall hydrophobicity of the sequence. Characterization of the supramolecular structures indicates that for short peptides a beta-sheet secondary structure correlates with ribbonlike assemblies while random-coil and alpha-helical secondary structures correlate with assembly of rods.     

Synthesis,structure and complexation of biscrown-containing 1,4-distyrylbenzenes

An improved method for the synthesis of two symmetric biscrown-containing and one model tetramethoxy-substituted 1,4-distyrylbenzenes was suggested. The structures of compounds were established by ¹H and ¹³C NMR spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction analysis. Spectrophotometric and fluorescent titration were used to determine spectral properties, stoichiometry, and stability of complexes of biscrown-containing 1,4-distyrylbenzenes with alkali and alkaline-earth metal cations. The stability of the complexes was found to depend on the metal cation size and charge, as well as on the size of the crown ether fragment. The electrochemical oxidation and reduction potentials of the biscrown-containing 1,4-distyrylbenzenes and the model compound in solution were determined and their basic differences from the corresponding characteristics of biscrown-containing stilbenes were identified.     

Fluoroolefins as peptide mimetics: a computational study of structure, charge distribution, hydration, and hydrogen bonding

The design of peptide mimetic compounds is greatly facilitated by the identification of functionalities that can act as peptide replacements. The fluoroalkene moiety has recently been employed for that purpose. The purpose of this work is to characterize prototypical fluoroalkenes (fluoroethylene and 2-fluoro-2-butene) with respect to key properties of peptides (amides) including structure, charge distribution, hydration, and hydrogen bonding. The results are compared to those obtained for model peptides (formamide, N-methylacetamide). Calculations have been carried out at the MP2 and B3LYP levels of theory with the 6-311++G(2d,p) and 6-311++G(2d,2p) basis sets. The results suggest that the fluoroalkene is similar in steric requirements to a peptide bond but that there is less charge separation. Calculations of the hydration free energies with the PCM bulk continuum solvent model indicate that the fluoroalkene has much smaller hydration free energies than an amide but that the difference in solvation free energy for cis and trans isomers is comparable. In studies of complexes with water molecules, the fluoroalkene is found to engage in interactions that are analogous to backbone hydrogen-bonding interactions that govern many properties of natural peptides and proteins but with smaller interaction energies. In addition, key structural differences are noted when the fluoroalkene is playing the role of hydrogen-bond acceptor which may have implications in binding, aggregation, and conformational preferences in fluoroalkene peptidomimetics. The issue of cooperativity in hydrogen-bonding interactions in complexes with multiple waters has also been investigated. The fluoroalkene is found to exhibit cooperative effects that mirror those of the peptide but are smaller in magnitude. Thus, pairwise addivitity of interactions appears to more adequately describe the fluoroalkenes than the peptides they are intended to mimic.     

Synthesis and characterizations of novel spindle-like terphenyl-type chromophores for non-linear optical materials

A series of novel spindle-like terphenyl-type chromophores, based on 2,5-diphenyl-1,4-distyrylbenzene π-conjugating bridge, N,N-dimethyl and triphenyl amino donors, and Tricyanovinyldihydrofuran(TCF), 1,3,3-trimethyl-5-dicyanovinyl-1-cyclohexene (TDC) acceptors, have been synthesized successfully for the first time. And the non-linear optical properties were evaluated by using the finite-field (FF) method. The results show that, the first-order hyperpolarizability of the chromophores increase with the increase of the withdraw ability of the substituent group on the π-conjugating bridge.     

Synthesis of branched oxime-linked peptide mimetics of the MUC1 containing a universal T-helper epitope

Our goal was to develop mimics of MUC1, highly immunogenic to induce an efficient immune response against the tumor-associated form of MUC1, and sufficiently different from the natural antigen to bypass the tolerance barrier in humans. With the aim of obtaining a well-defined peptide construct as a means of evoking the precise immune responses required in immunotherapy, we synthesized artificial mimics of the MUC1 protein composed of two MUC1 repeat units of inverse orientation and a universal T-helper epitope. To synthesize these heteromeric peptide constructs, we followed a convergent approach using chemoselective ligation based on oxime chemistry. A stem peptide was first synthesized bearing two orthogonally masked aldehydes. After successive deprotection, two oxime bonds can be specifically generated. The proposed strategy proved to be concise and robust, and allowed the synthesis of the tri-branched protein in a very satisfactory yield. The different constructs were tested for their ability to generate antibodies able to recognize the MUC1 protein.     

新型多齿手性氨基醇的合成和结构表征

以L-苯甘氨酸和N,N-二甲基苯胺为原料,合成了2种新型多齿手性氨基醇S-1,1,2-三苯基-2-[(2-二甲氨基-5-溴-1-苯基)甲氨基]-1-乙醇和S-2-苯基-2-[(2-二甲氨基-5-溴-1-苯基)甲氨基]-1-乙醇;利用红外光谱仪、核磁共振谱仪及质谱仪表征了合成产物的结构.     

Synthesis and transition temperatures of novel fluorinated chiral liquid crystals containing 1,4-tetrafluorophenylene units

To continue the search for novel series of fluorinated ferroelectric liquid crystals, an additional two series of 4-[(S)-2-methylbutoxy]phenyl 4-[(4-n-alkoxy-2,3,5,6-tetrafluorophenyl)ethynyl] benzoates (C) and 4-(n-alkoxy)phenyl 4-[(4-(S)-2'-methylbutoxy-2,3,5,6-tetrafluorophenyl)] benzoates (D) have been synthesized. Polarizing microscopic textural observations and DSC measurements of the phase transitions of these novel compounds showed that compounds C were liquid crystals with a chiral nematic (N) phase and a monotropic chiral smectic C phase (S_c), and compounds D exhibited a chiral nematic (N) phase.