Rapid and scalable synthesis of chiral bromolactones as precursors to α-exo-methylene-γ-butyrolactone-containing sesquiterpene lactones

The sesquiterpene lactones cover a diverse and pharmacologically important diversity space. In particular, the electrophilic α-exo-methylene-γ-butyrolactone moiety that is preponderant in this natural product family has been shown to readily engage in covalent inhibition via conjugate addition of cysteine residues in target proteins. However, the synthetic accessibility of sesquiterpenes or related probes to investigate their mode of action remains laborious. Herein, we present a rapid and scalable route to chiral bromolactones as enabling precursors in the synthesis of sesquiterpene lactones.     

A Scalable Total Synthesis of the Antitumor Agents Et‐743 and Lurbinectedin

An efficient and scalable approach is described for the total synthesis of the marine natural product Et‐743 and its derivative lubinectedin, which are valuable antitumor compounds. The method delivers 1.6 % overall yield in 26 total steps from Cbz‐protected (S)‐tyrosine. It features the use of a common advanced intermediate to create the right and left parts of these compounds, and a light‐mediated remote C?H bond activation to assemble a benzo[1,3]dioxole‐containing intermediate.     

Sulfated liposaccharides inspired by telomerase inhibitor axinelloside A

Sulfated liposaccharides are known inhibitors of telomerase and here we describe the synthesis of a series of sulfated liposaccharides inspired by the natural product axinelloside A, reported to act as an inhibitor of human telomerase. We established a robust and scalable synthetic route to galactosyl liposaccharides capitalizing on a series of regioselective acylation reactions with 2-decenoic acid and imidazolium sulfate esters.     

Total Synthesis and Structural Plasticity of Kratom Pseudoindoxyl Metabolites**

Mitragynine pseudoindoxyl, a kratom metabolite, has attracted increasing attention due to its favorable side effect profile as compared to conventional opioids. Herein, we describe the first enantioselective and scalable total synthesis of this natural product and its epimeric congener, speciogynine pseudoindoxyl. The characteristic spiro-5-5-6-tricyclic system of these alkaloids was formed through a protecting-group-free cascade relay process in which oxidized tryptamine and secologanin analogues were used. Furthermore, we discovered that mitragynine pseudoindoxyl acts not as a single molecular entity but as a dynamic ensemble of stereoisomers in protic environments; thus, it exhibits structural plasticity in biological systems. Accordingly, these synthetic, structural, and biological studies provide a basis for the planned design of mitragynine pseudoindoxyl analogues, which can guide the development of next-generation analgesics.     

The pursuit of palau'amine

Since its discovery in 1993, the marine natural product palau'amine has intrigued natural product chemists. Its exotic molecular architecture and purported bioactivity made it an ideal target for synthesis. However, as the years went by and related marine alkaloids were isolated, a skeptical eye was cast on the structure of palau'amine; recently these suspicions were confirmed and the structure of palau'amine revised. This Minireview gives a careful overview of the structural revision and its ramifications to both its biogenesis and total synthesis.     

Total synthesis of (-)-brevenal: a concise synthetic entry to the pentacyclic polyether core

Total synthesis of (-)-brevenal, a novel marine polycyclic ether natural product, is described. Highly efficient and scalable entries to the AB-ring exo-olefin and the DE-ring enol phosphate and a rapid construction of the C-ring by means of our Suzuki-Miyaura coupling-based strategy realized a concise synthesis of the pentacyclic skeleton of (-)-brevenal. The present synthesis is considerably more efficient than our previous synthesis (longest linear sequence: 50 steps from 2-deoxy-d-ribose).     

Synthesis and cytotoxicity evaluation of diastereoisomers and N-terminal analogues of tubulysin-U

Tubulysins are potent anti-mitotic natural compounds and a scalable and efficient synthetic route for generation of its analogues has been developed and extended to the synthesis of diastereoisomers and N-terminal analogues of tubulysin-U. Structure–activity-relationship studies on these synthetic analogues reaffirmed the significance of native stereochemistry of tubulysins for optimal biological activity and cytotoxicity. However, while modification of Tup stereochemistry has only minor effect on the tubulysins cytotoxicity, Tuv stereochemistry is critically important and modification of either Tuv stereocentre produced a dramatic drop in cytotoxicity.     

Total synthesis of pinnatoxins A and G and revision of the mode of action of pinnatoxin A

Pinnatoxins belong to an emerging class of potent marine toxins of the cyclic imine group. Detailed studies of their biological effects have been impeded by unavailability of the complex natural product from natural sources. This work describes the development of a robust, scalable synthetic sequence relying on a convergent strategy that delivered a sufficient amount of the toxin for detailed biological studies and its commercialization for use by other research groups and regulatory agencies. A central transformation in the synthesis is the highly diastereoselective Ireland-Claisen rearrangement of a complex α,α-disubstituted allylic ester based on a unique mode for stereoselective enolization through a chirality match between the substrate and the lithium amide base. With synthetic pinnatoxin A, a detailed study has been performed that provides conclusive evidence for its mode of action as a potent inhibitor of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors selective for the human neuronal α7 subtype. The comprehensive electrophysiological, biochemical, and computational studies support the view that the spiroimine subunit of pinnatoxins is critical for blocking nicotinic acetylcholine receptor subtypes, as evidenced by analyzing the effect of a synthetic analogue of pinnatoxin A containing an open form of the imine ring. Our studies have paved the way for the production of certified standards to be used for mass-spectrometric determination of these toxins in marine matrices and for the development of tests to detect these toxins in contaminated shellfish.     

Practical synthesis of 7-prenylindole

7-Prenylindole is a useful building block for natural product and natural product analogue synthesis. While there have been several past syntheses of 7-prenylindole, none of them is very practical for its preparation on scale. Using an aza-Claisen rearrangement as the key step, 7-prenylindole has been prepared in four steps from indoline in 62% overall yield.     

Natural Product Synthesis at the Interface of Chemistry and Biology

Nature has evolved to produce unique and diverse natural products that possess high target affinity and specificity. Natural products have been the richest sources for novel modulators of biomolecular function. Since the chemical synthesis of urea by Wöhler, organic chemists have been intrigued by natural products, leading to the evolution of the field of natural product synthesis over the past two centuries. Natural product synthesis has enabled natural products to play an essential role in drug discovery and chemical biology. With the introduction of novel, innovative concepts and strategies for synthetic efficiency, natural product synthesis in the 21st century is well poised to address the challenges and complexities faced by natural product chemistry and will remain essential to progress in biomedical sciences.     

Total Synthesis of Tambromycin by Combining Chemocatalytic and Biocatalytic C−H Functionalization

A combination of genomic and metabolomic approaches recently resulted in the identification of a nonribosomal tetrapeptide tambromycin, which possesses promising antiproliferative activity and several unusual structural features, including a densely substituted indole, a methyloxazoline ring, and an unusual pyrrolidine‐containing amino acid called tambroline. In this work, we identify a concise synthetic route to access tambromycin, which relies on the strategic use of biocatalytic and chemocatalytic C?H functionalization methods to prepare two key precursors to the natural product in an efficient and scalable manner. The success of our study highlights the benefits of applying the principles of biocatalytic retrosynthesis as well as C?H functionalization logic to the synthesis of complex molecular scaffolds.     

Total Synthesis of a Mycolic Acid from Mycobacterium tuberculosis

In Mycobacterium tuberculosis, mycolic acids and their glycerol, glucose, and trehalose esters (“cord factor”) form the main part of the mycomembrane. Despite their first isolation almost a century ago, full stereochemical evaluation is lacking, as is a scalable synthesis required for accurate immunological, including vaccination, studies. Herein, we report an efficient, convergent, gram‐scale synthesis of four stereo‐isomers of a mycolic acid and its glucose ester. Binding to the antigen presenting protein CD1b and T cell activation studies are used to confirm the antigenicity of the synthetic material. The absolute stereochemistry of the syn‐methoxy methyl moiety in natural material is evaluated by comparing its optical rotation with that of synthetic material.     

Asymmetric Total Synthesis of the Complex Polycyclic Xanthone FD-594

A highly convergent approach was developed to achieve the first asymmetric and scalable total synthesis of FD-594, a complex polycyclic xanthone natural product from Streptomyces sp. TA-0256, in a longest linear sequence (LLS) of 20 steps. The trans-9,10-dihydrophenanthrene-9,10-diol fragment (B-C-D ring) was generated through a new strategy involving asymmetric dihydroxylation followed by Cu-mediated oxidative cyclization. Late-stage stereoselective glycosylation assembled the angular hexacyclic framework with a β-linked 2,6-dideoxy trisaccharide fragment.     

化学基元组学与药物创新

化学基元组学（chemomics）是与化学信息学、生物信息学、合成化学等学科相关的交叉学科．生物系统从内源性小分子（天然砌块）出发,通过酶催化的化学反应序列制造天然产物．生物系统通过化学反应和天然砌块向目标天然产物“砌入”一组原子,这样的一组原子称为化学基元（chemoyl）．化学基元组（chemome）是生物组织中所含有的化学基元的全体．化学基元组学研究各种化学基元的结构、组装与演化的基本规律．在生存压力和繁衍需求的驱动下,生物系统已经进化出有效手段来合成天然产物以应付环境的变化,并产生了丰富多彩的生物和化学多样性．近年来,人们意识到药物创新的瓶颈之一是药物筛选资源的日益枯竭．化学基元组学可以解决这个瓶颈问题,它通过揭示生物系统制备化学多样性的规律,发展仿生合成方法制备类天然化合物库（quasi natural product libraries）以供药物筛选．本文综述了化学基元组学的主要研究内容及其在药物创新各领域中的潜在应用．     

A Short Scalable Route to (−)‐α‐Kainic Acid Using Pt‐Catalyzed Direct Allylic Amination

An increased supply of scarce or inaccessible natural products is essential for the development of more sophisticated pharmaceutical agents and biological tools, and thus the development of atom‐economical, step‐economical and scalable processes to access these natural products is in high demand. Herein we report the development of a short, scalable total synthesis of (?)‐α‐kainic acid, a useful compound in neuropharmacology that is, however, limited in supply from natural resources. The synthesis features sequential platinum‐catalyzed direct allylic aminations and thermal ene‐cyclization, enabling the gram‐scale synthesis of (?)‐α‐kainic acid in six steps and 34 % overall yield.     

Chemomics and drug innovation

Chemomics is an interdisciplinary study using approaches from chemoinformatics,bioinformatics,synthetic chemistry,and other related disciplines.Biological systems make natural products from endogenous small molecules (natural product building blocks) through a sequence of enzyme catalytic reactions.For each reaction,the natural product building blocks may contribute a group of atoms to the target natural product.We describe this group of atoms as a chemoyl.A chemome is the complete set of chemoyls in an organism.Chemomics studies chemomes and the principles of natural product syntheses and evolutions.Driven by survival and reproductive demands,biological systems have developed effective protocols to synthesize natural products in order to respond to environmental changes;this results in biological and chemical diversity.In recent years,it has been realized that one of the bottlenecks in drug discovery is the lack of chemical resources for drug screening.Chemomics may solve this problem by revealing the rules governing the creation of chemical diversity in biological systems,and by developing biomimetic synthesis approaches to make quasi natural product libraries for drug screening.This treatise introduces chemomics and outlines its contents and potential applications in the fields of drug innovation.     

Enantioselective total synthesis of bioactive natural product (+)-Sch 642305: a structurally novel inhibitor of bacterial DNA primase and HIV-1 Tat transactivation

The total synthesis of the bioactive natural product (+)-Sch 642305 has been achieved from a readily available chiral building block using an RCM protocol to construct the key decalactone moiety; our approach is notable for its built-in flexibility and is diversity oriented.     

Synthesis of the 8,19-Epoxysteroid Eurysterol A

We report the first chemical synthesis of eurysterol A, a cytotoxic and antifungal marine steroidal sulfate with a unique C8−C19 oxy-bridged cholestane skeleton. After C19 hydroxylation of cholesteryl acetate, used as an inexpensive commercial starting material, the challenging oxidative functionalization of ring B was achieved by two different routes to set up a 5α-hydroxy-7-en-6-one moiety. As a key step, an intramolecular oxa-Michael addition was exploited to close the oxy-bridge (8β,19-epoxy unit). DFT calculations show this reversible transformation being exergonic by about −30 kJ mol⁻¹. Along the optimized (scalable) synthetic sequence, the target natural product was obtained in only 11 steps in 5 % overall yield. In addition, an access to (isomeric) 7β,19-epoxy steroids with a previously unknown pentacyclic ring system was discovered.     

Scalable Cu(Ⅱ)-mediated intramolecular dehydrogenative phenol-phenol coupling:Concise synthesis of enantiopure axially chiral homo-and hetero-diphenols

An intramolecular dehydrogenative homo-and hetero-coupling of phenols has been successfully developed for quick preparation of enantiopure axial diphenols under mild Cu(Ⅱ)-mediated conditions,using((4 S,5 S)-2,2-dimethyl-1,3-dioxolane-4,5-diyl)dimethanol as the chiral auxiliary.The commercially available(R)-α-met hylbenzy la mine was identified as the best amine ligand for Cu(Ⅱ) in the reactions.A variety of homo/hetero bis-dihydroxylbenzoate substrates were examined,affording the corresponding axially chiral diphenols with satis factory to excellent diastereomeric ratios,and a representative scalable preparation was also attempted.A formal synthesis of natural product(+)-deoxyschizandrin has been achieved in this work using one axially chiral diphenol as the synthetic intermediate.     

Total synthesis of cyclo-mumbaistatin analogues through anionic homo-Fries rearrangement

The structurally unique polyketide mumbaistatin is the strongest naturally occurring inhibitor of glucose-6-phosphate translocase-1 (G6P-T1), which is a promising target for drugs against type-2 diabetes mellitus and angiogenic processes associated with brain tumor development. Despite its high relevance, mumbaistatin has so far withstood all attempts towards its total synthesis. In the present study an efficient total synthesis of a deoxy-mumbaistatin analogue containing the complete carbon skeleton and a spirolactone motif closely resembling the natural product in its cyclized form was elaborated. Key steps of the synthesis are a Diels-Alder cycloaddition for the construction of the fully functionalized anthraquinone moiety and an anionic homo-Fries rearrangement to build up the tetra-ortho-substituted benzophenone core motif, from which a spiroketal lactone forms in a spontaneous process. The elaborated strategy opens an entry to a variety of new analogs of mumbaistatin and cyclo-mumbaistatin and may be exploited for the total synthesis of the natural product itself in the future.