Structural and stereochemical studies on marine norterpene cyclic peroxides

Isolation of a new norditerpene cyclic peroxide (12) and three new norsesterterpene cyclic peroxides (1, 2, 26) has permitted a detailed study of the stereostructures of this unusual class of marine natural product. A procedure for assigning relative and absolute stereochemistry about the peroxy moiety is outlined. An absolute stereostructure for muqubilin (11) and a revision of the previously assigned absolute stereochemistry of the sigmosceptrellins (5–10) is proposed, the latter based on the Horeau procedure.     

Host–Guest Assembly of a Molecular Reporter with Chiral Cyanohydrins for Assignment of Absolute Stereochemistry

The absolute stereochemistry of cyanohydrins, derived from ketones and aldehydes, is obtained routinely, in a microscale and derivatization‐free manner, upon their complexation with Zn‐MAPOL, a zincated porphyrin host with a binding pocket comprised of a biphenol core. The host–guest complex leads to observable exciton‐coupled circular dichroism (ECCD), the sign of which is easily correlated to the absolute stereochemistry of the bound cyanohydrin. A working model, based on the ECCD signal of cyanohydrins with known configuration, is proposed.     

Synthesis of Bis(indole) Alkaloids from Arundo donax: The Ynindole Diels–Alder Reaction,Conformational Chirality,and Absolute Stereochemistry

Bis(indole) alkaloids from Arundo donax were synthesized using the first ynindole Diels–Alder reaction. The alkaloids are chiral, having stable enantiomeric conformations with half‐lives of racemization of t_1/2=4150–25100 seconds at room temperature. Their absolute stereochemistry was determined using the exciton chirality method.     

Synthesis of Bis(indole) Alkaloids from Arundo donax: The Ynindole Diels–Alder Reaction,Conformational Chirality,and Absolute Stereochemistry

Bis(indole) alkaloids from Arundo donax were synthesized using the first ynindole Diels–Alder reaction. The alkaloids are chiral, having stable enantiomeric conformations with half‐lives of racemization of t_1/2=4150–25100 seconds at room temperature. Their absolute stereochemistry was determined using the exciton chirality method.     

Determination of the absolute stereochemistry of limonene and alpha-santalol by Raman optical activity spectroscopy

Determining the absolute stereochemistry of organic compounds in solution remains a challenge. We investigated the use of Raman optical activity (ROA) spectroscopy to address this problem. The absolute configurations of (+)-(R)- and (-)-(S)-limonene were determined by ROA spectroscopy, which can be applied to smaller amounts of sample as compared with vibrational circular dichroism (VCD) spectroscopy. This ROA method was also applied to (+)-(E)-alpha-santalol and shown to be successful in the determination of the absolute configuration of this compound. ROA spectroscopy shows promise as a useful tool for determining the absolute stereochemistry of many natural compounds.     

Assignment of absolute stereochemistry and total synthesis of (-)-spongidepsin

[structure: see text] An enantioselective total synthesis of (-)-spongidepsin (2) and elucidation of the absolute stereochemistry of its four stereocenters are described. Spongidepsin (2), a 13-membered depsipeptide isolated from the Vanuatu marine sponge Spongia sp., has shown potent antitumor properties against a variety of NCI tumor cell lines. Our synthesis is convergent, and the absolute stereochemistry of four of the five chiral centers was assigned through synthesis.     

Anticancer Agents from the Australian Tropical Rainforest: Spiroacetals EBC‐23, 24, 25, 72, 73, 75 and 76

EBC‐23, 24, 25, 72, 73, 75 and 76 were isolated from the fruit of Cinnamomum laubatii (family Lauraceae) in the Australian tropical rainforests. EBC‐23 ( 1 ) was synthesized stereoselectively, in nine linear steps in 8 % overall yield, to confirm the reported relative stereochemistry and determine the absolute stereochemistry. Key to the total synthesis was a series of Tietze–Smith linchpin reactions. The novel spiroacetal structural motif, exemplified by EBC‐23 ( 1 ), was found to inhibit the growth of the androgen‐independent prostate tumor cell line DU145 in the mouse model, indicating potential for the treatment of refractory solid tumors in adults.     

The absolute stereochemistry and cytotoxicity of the ascidian-derived metabolite, longithorone J

The absolute stereochemistry of longithorone J (1) from the ascidian Aplidium longithorax has been determined using the advanced Mosher method. Based on biosynthetic reasoning and chiroptical data comparison the absolute stereochemistry for longithorone K (2) was also assigned. Longithorone J was tested for cytotoxicity against the cell lines SHSY5Y, HEK293T and A549. Compound 1 showed minimal cytotoxicity towards the SHSY5Y and HEK293T cell lines.     

Absolute stereochemistry of natural sesquiterpenoid diacylglycerols

The absolute stereochemistry of farnesic and drimenic glyceryl esters 1a–1c and 2a–2b, previously isolated from marine dorid nudibranchs, has been established by their synthesis.     

Synthesis and Assignment of the Absolute Configuration of Indenotryptoline Bisindole Alkaloid BE-54017

Synthesis of the indenotryptoline bisindole alkaloid, BE-54017, was accomplished using osmium-promoted cis-dihydroxylation of maleimide as a key step. After optical resolution, the absolute configuration of this molecule was determined by comparing its optical rotation and HPLC profile to those obtained for BE-54017 derived from enantiopure cladoniamide A, whose stereochemistry has been reported previously. BE-54017 with the correct absolute stereochemistry induced apoptosis of epidermal growth factor (EGF)-stimulated EGF receptor overexpressing A431 cells and inhibited vacuolar-type H(+)-ATPase (V-ATPase).     

Synthesis and Characterization of New Pyrospirophosphoranes Containing a P‐O‐P Bond by the Atherton–Todd Reaction

The classical Atherton–Todd reaction has been successfully applied to the synthesis of pentacoordinate pyrospirophosphoranes containing a P‐O‐P bond under mild conditions. The absolute configurations of the products were confirmed by X‐ray diffraction analysis and spectroscopic identification. And ³¹P NMR chemical shifts of the products were correlated with stereochemistry. A possible mechanism for explaining the stereochemistry of the reaction was proposed, and it could well explain the results of the reactions of different pentacoordinate hydrospirophosphoranes.     

Oxazinins from toxic mussels: isolation of a novel oxazinin and reassignment of the C-2 configuration of oxazinin-1 and -2 on the basis of synthetic models

The analysis of a batch of toxic mussels (Mytilus galloprovincialis) from the Northern Adriatic Sea led to the isolation of a novel oxazinin, oxazinin-4. Its structure including the relative stereochemistry has been elucidated through extensive NMR analysis. A synthetic route to oxazinins has been crucial in establishing the absolute stereochemistry of oxazinin-4 and for reassigning the absolute C-2 configuration of oxazinin-1 and -2 previously isolated from toxic shellfish and stereostructurally characterized.     

Relative and absolute stereochemistry of secondary/secondary diols: low-temperature 1H NMR of their bis-MPA esters

Comparison of the room- and low-temperature 1H NMR spectra of the bis-(R)- or bis-(S)-MPA ester derivative of an open chain sec,sec-1,2-diol allows the easy determination of its relative stereochemistry and in some cases absolute configuration. If the diol is anti, its absolute configuration can be directly deduced from the signs of DeltadeltaT1T2 for substituents R1/R2, but if the relative stereochemistry of the diol is syn, the assignment of its absolute configuration requires the preparation of two derivatives (both the bis-(R)- and bis-(S)-MPA esters), comparison of their room-temperature 1H NMR spectra, and calculation of the DeltadeltaRS signs for the methines Halpha(R1) and Halpha(R2) and R1/R2 protons. The reliability of these correlations is validated with 17 diols of known absolute configuration used as model compounds.     

The absolute configurations of (+)-usnic and (+)-isousnic acid. X-ray analyses of the (−)-α-phenylethylamine derivative of (+)-usnic acid and of (−)-pseudoplacodiolic acid,a new dibenzofuran,from the lichen Rhizoplaca chrysoleuca.

The absolute configuration of (+)-usnic acid has been shown to be (4aR) as in (1) by X-ray analysis of the (?)-α-phenylethylamine derivative (2). The structure and absolute stereochemistry of (?)-pseudoplacodiolic acid (4) have been established.     

Where is the Oxygen? Structural Analysis of α‐Humulene Oxidation Products by the Crystalline Sponge Method

Crystal structures of α‐humulene, a cyclic sesquiterpene, and its oxidized subproducts, were analyzed by the crystalline sponge method. Regio‐ and stereochemistry, including absolute configuration when a chiral oxidant was applied, and the stable conformations of all the scaffold‐related compounds were successfully determined for samples on a 5–50 μg scale.     

Structural and stereochemical homology between the macrolide and polyether antibiotics

Structural and stereochemical similarities transcending the polyether and macrolide antibiotic classes are outlined. Significant correlations are highlighted between the macrolides mycinamicins I–V and the polyethers norboritomycins A and B and antibiotic X-14766A over a structural sequence derived from seven biosynthetic subunits.The analogy is extended by comparison of a model which describes the stereochemistry of all the 16-membered macrolides with the Cane-Celmer-Westley PAPA prototype which summarises the stereochemistry of all the monovalent bisdispiroketal polyether antibiotics. Although the subunit constitution varies in individual cases the absolute configuration maintains its consistency at five of six asymmetric centres over the seven subunit sequence.     

Stereochemical elucidation of streptorubin B

Streptorubin B is a structurally remarkable member of the prodiginine group of antibiotics produced by several actinobacteria, including the model organism Streptomyces coelicolor A3(2). Transannular strain within the pyrrolophane structure of this molecule causes restricted rotation that gives rise to the possibility of (diastereomeric) atropisomers. Neither the relative nor the absolute stereochemistry of streptorubin B is known. NOESY NMR experiments were used to define the relative stereochemistry of the major atropisomer of streptorubin B·HCl in solution as anti. We exploited this finding together with our knowledge of streptorubin B biosynthesis in S. coelicolor to determine the absolute stereochemistry of the anti atropisomer. 2-Undecylpyrrole stereoselectively labeled with deuterium at C-4' was synthesized and fed to a mutant of S. coelicolor, which was unable to produce streptorubin B because it was blocked in 2-undecylpyrrole biosynthesis, and in which the genes responsible for the last two steps of streptorubin B biosynthesis were overexpressed. (1)H and (2)H NMR analysis of the stereoselectively deuterium-labeled streptorubin B·HCl produced by this mutasynthesis strategy allowed us to assign the absolute stereochemistry of the major (anti) atropisomer as 7'S. HPLC analyses of streptorubin B isolated from S. coelicolor on a homochiral stationary phase and comparisons with streptorubin B derived from an enantioselective synthesis showed that the natural product consists of an approximately 88:7:5 mixture of the (7'S, anti), (7'S, syn), and (7'R, anti) stereoisomers.     

Where is the Oxygen? Structural Analysis of α‐Humulene Oxidation Products by the Crystalline Sponge Method

Crystal structures of α‐humulene, a cyclic sesquiterpene, and its oxidized subproducts, were analyzed by the crystalline sponge method. Regio‐ and stereochemistry, including absolute configuration when a chiral oxidant was applied, and the stable conformations of all the scaffold‐related compounds were successfully determined for samples on a 5–50 μg scale.     

Diterpenes from teucrium capitatum L. X-ray crystal and molecular structure of capitatin

Two diterpenes, capitatin 4 and teucapitatin 5 have been isolated from Teucrium capitatum. The X-ray structure of 4, including absolute stereochemistry, is given. Diterpene 4 has been chemically related to picropolin 1 and picropolinone 2, thereby establishing the absolute stereochemistry of these two neoclerodane-type diterpenes.     

Daphnicyclidins J and K, unique polycyclic alkaloids from Daphniphyllum humile

Two Daphniphyllum alkaloids with unprecedented polycyclic skeletons, daphnicyclidins J (1) and K (2), have been isolated from the stems of Daphniphyllum humile, and the structures and relative stereochemistry were elucidated on the basis of spectroscopic data. The absolute stereochemistry of 1 was established by chemical correlation with a known-related alkaloid, daphnicyclidin D (3), through a modified Polonovski reaction.