Intramolecular C-glycosylation of 2-O-benzylated pentenyl mannopyranosides: remarkable 1,2-trans stereoselectivity

The IDCP-promoted intramolecular C-glycosylation of pentenyl α-mannopyranosides carrying, at O-2, an activated benzyl group gave, unexpectedly, the 1,2-trans-fused bicyclic product which corresponds to an α-C-aryl mannopyranose derivative. This remarkable, strained C-glycosyl compound was rapidly epimerized to the more stable 1,2-cis product on treatment with BF₃·Et₂O. The IDCP-reaction product could be elaborated into a 2-(α-C-mannopyranosyl)-3,4,5-trimethoxybenzyl alcohol derivative.     

The fragmentation reaction of 16R-bromopregnane-3S,20S-diol

16R-Bromopregnane-3S,20S-diol reacted with potassium t-butoxide to afford androst-16-en-3S-ol in a moderate yield via fragmentation reaction. The latter is a key intermediate for the synthesis of 5α-androst-16-en-3-one, as boar sex pheromone, and other steroidal drugs. In addition, 16R,20S-epoxypregnane-3S-ol was also obtained as a major product by changing the reaction solvent.     

Studies towards diarylheptanoid synthesis. Part 1: Synthesis and ring cleavage reactions of hexahydro-2H,5H-pyrano[2,3-b]pyran-2-ones

Lewis acid promoted anomeric substitution reactions of a stereoselectively prepared hexahydro-2H,5H-pyrano[2,3-b]pyran-2-one derivative was studied as a model for diarylheptanoid synthesis. Aromatic nucleophiles consistently provided the expected thermodynamic C-aryl pyranoside product.     

Synthesis of methyl (5Z,8Z,10E,12E,14Z)-eicosapentaenoate

The first total synthesis of methyl (5Z,8Z,10E,12E,14Z)-eicosapentaenoate has been achieved in seven steps and in 16% overall yield. The synthesis confirmed the assigned structure of this polyunsaturated natural product.     

5-Benzyl-1H-tetrazols from the reaction of 1-aryl-5-methyl-1H-tetrazoles with 1,2-dehydrobenzene

A series of 1-aryl-5-benzyl-1H-tetrazoles has been obtained during the reaction of 1-aryl-5-methyl-1H-tetrazoles with 1,2-dehydrobenzene. The mechanism of product formation was investigated.     

Titanium superoxide: a heterogeneous catalyst for anti-Markovnikov aminobromination of olefins

A new facile procedure for the aminobromination of olefins in high yields has been described using p-toluene sulfonamide (p-TsNH₂) and N-bromosuccinimide (NBS) as nitrogen and bromine sources, respectively, and titanium superoxide as a truly heterogeneous catalyst. The formation of anti-Markovnikov product exclusively in all the cases studied possibly proceeding through a free radical reaction pathway is remarkable.     

Synthesis of (+)-agelasine C. A structural revision

An efficient synthesis of (+)-agelasine C has been achieved from ent-halimic acid. The structure and absolute configuration of the natural product (−)-agelasine C was established and a structure for epi-agelasine C, is proposed.     

Biotransformation of sinapic acid by the green algae Stichococcus bacillaris 155LTAP and Ankistrodesmus braunii C202.7a

Sinapic acid was bioconverted by the green alga Stichococcus bacillaris into 4-hydroxy-3,5-dimethoxybenzoic acid, 4-hydroxy-3,5-dimethoxybenzaldehyde and 4-hydroxy-3,5-dimethoxybenzylic alcohol. Incubation of sinapic acid in a culture of the alga Ankistrodesmus braunii gave 3,6-dihydroxy-2,4-dimethoxy-7H-benzocyclohepten-7-one, a new compound formed by bioconversion of thomasidioic acid, the primary oxidative product of sinapic acid.     

An efficient synthesis of furano analogs of duocarmycin C1 and C2: seco-iso-cyclopropylfurano[e]indoline-trimethoxyindole and seco-cyclopropylfurano[f]quinoline-trimethoxyindole

seco-Iso-cyclopropylfurano[e]indoline-trimethoxyindole 1 and seco-cyclopropylfurano[f]quinoline-trimethoxyindole 2 are potent cytotoxic agents. Previous synthesis of these compounds was inefficient and the approach required separation of a mixture containing the isomeric indoline and quinoline intermediates 11 and 12, formed from radical cyclization of allylic bromide 10. Reported herein is an efficient and selective synthesis of either intermediate 11 or 12, thus product 1 or 2, as needed. The conditions of the Stobbe condensation, bromination, 5-exo-trig radical cyclization, amine-carboxylic acid coupling, and debenzylation were optimized for multi gram scale. As a result, the reaction times were shortened, the products were readily isolated, and the yields and purity improved.     

Development of a systematic approach to rapid classification and identification of notoginsenosides and metabolites in rat feces based on liquid chromatography coupled triple time-of-flight mass spectrometry

The present work contributes to the development of a powerful technical platform to rapidly identify and classify complicated components and metabolites for traditional Chinese medicines. In this process, notoginsenosides, the main active ingredients in Panaxnotoginseng, were chosen as model compounds. Firstly, the fragmental patterns, diagnostic product ions and neutral loss of each subfamily of notoginsenosides were summarized by collision-induced dissociation analysis of representative authentic standards. Next, in order to maximally cover low-concentration components which could otherwise be omitted from previous diagnostic fragment-ion method using only single product ion of notoginsenosides, a multiple product ions filtering strategy was proposed and utilized to identify and classify both non-target and target notoginsenosides of P.notoginseng extract (in vitro). With this strategy, 13 protopanaxadiol-type notoginsenosides and 30 protopanaxatriol-type notoginsenosides were efficiently extracted. Then, a neutral loss filtering technique was employed to trace prototype components and metabolites in rats (in vivo) since diagnostic product ions might shift therefore become unpredictable when metabolic reactions occurred on the mother skeleton of notoginsenosides. After comparing the constitute profiles in vitro with in vivo, 62 drug-related components were identified from rat feces, and these components were classified into 27 prototype compounds and 35 metabolites. Lastly, all the metabolites were successfully correlated to their parent compounds based on chemicalome–metabolome matching approach which was previously built by our group. This study provided a generally applicable approach to global metabolite identification for the complicated components in complex matrices.     

Toxicity evaluation of single and mixed antifouling biocides measured with acute toxicity bioassays

Antifouling biocides used in boat paints were analyzed with a battery of toxicity bioassays to evaluate the toxic effects of these compounds on Vibrio fischeri, Daphnia magna and Selenastrum capricornotum. The antifoulants tested were Irgarol 1051, Kathon 5287, chlorothalonil, diuron, dichlofluanid, 2-thiocyanomethylthiobenzothiazole (TCMTB) and tributyltin (TBT). In most cases, the sensitivity of the organisms towards the toxicants followed the order: S. capricornotum > D. magna > V. fischeri. Toxicity by concentration level had the following order: TBT=Kathon 5287>chlorothalonil>Irgarol 1051>diuron>dichlofluanid>TCMTB for S. capricornotum. For D. magna (48 h test), the toxicity order of compounds was TBT>Kathon 5287>chlorothalonil>TCMTB>dichlofluanid>Irgarol 1051>diuron. For V. fischeri (30 min test), the compound toxicity had the following order: Kathon 5287>TBT>TCMTB>dichlofluanid>Irgarol 1051>chlorothalonil.Degradation products of Irgarol 1051 and diuron were also tested. Degradation product of Irgarol 1051 was found to be less toxic to the crustacean and the microalga but more toxic to the bacterium. Degradation products of diuron were less toxic to the microalga in comparison with the bacterium. For mixtures of compound, toxicities were additive in only 33% of the cases and 21% of mixtures were less toxic than expected based on the sum of concentrations of toxicants (antagonistic effect). Synergistic enhancements of toxicity were observed for a majority (46%) of the mixtures.The average reproducibility of the EC₅₀ and LOEC measurements was 27, 24 and 28%, respectively, in the V. fischeri, S. capricornotum and D. magna bioassays. For single compound, the reproducibility of EC₅₀ was better than ±20% for a vast majority of the measurements with the V. fischeri system, thus agreeing closely with the reported reproducibility values for this relatively well-known assay.     

Total synthesis and structure revision of petrobactin

The total synthesis and the revised structural assignment of petrobactin, a siderophore isolated from the marine bacterium Marinobacter hydrocarbonoclasticus, is reported. The key step in the synthesis involved condensation of N¹-(2,3-dibenzoyloxybenzoyl)-N⁴-benzylspermidine with 1,3-di-(p-nitrophenyl)-2-tert-butyl citrate. Proton NMR spectra of the synthesized product compared with those reported for the natural product revealed that the compound did not contain 2,3-dihydroxybenzoyl moieties as published; instead, the splitting pattern suggested 3,4-dihydroxybenzoyl fragments. The 3,4-dihydroxybenzoyl analogue was accessed via a similar route; the proton and carbon-13 NMR spectra of this compound were consistent with those reported for natural petrobactin.     

Structure and biosynthetic implication of (S)-NHAB, a novel shunt product, from a disruptant of the actVI-ORFA gene for actinorhodin biosynthesis in Streptomyces coelicolor A3(2)

A novel shunt product was isolated from a disruptant of the actVI-ORFA gene involved in the biosynthesis of actinorhodin (ACT) in Streptomyces coelicolor A3(2). Its structure was elucidated as 1,4-naphthoquinone-8-hydroxy-3-[3(S)-acetoxy-butyric acid], (S)-NHAB, based on NMR, MS, and CD spectroscopic data as well as a single crystal X-ray crystallographic analysis. The formation of (S)-NHAB involves a retro-Claisen type C-C bond cleavage of an ACT biosynthetic intermediate. Feeding experiments with [1-¹³C] and [2-¹³C] acetates indicated its biosynthetic origin as a single octaketide chain. The relevant gene product, Act-ORFA, which is a functionally unknown protein, is proposed to play a regulatory role related to the multi-enzymatic steps to ACT production, based on the metabolic profile of its disruptant and the wide distribution of actVI-ORFA homologues in the gene clusters for Streptomyces aromatic polyketides.     

Synthesis of barettin

The indole alkaloid barettin (with bromine in 6-position), isolated from the marine sponge Geodia Barretti, has been synthesised via a Horner-Wadsworth-Emmons type reaction from 6-bromoindole-3-carboxaldehyde to introduce the dehydro-functionality. Subsequent deprotection and cyclisation afforded the natural product in Z-conformation.     

Formation of 1,4-diphosphinobenzenes via tele-substitution on fluorobenzenechromium complexes

The meta-tele-substitution of 2-(boranatophosphino)fluorobenzenechromium complexes took place with various lithiated secondary phosphine-boranes as nucleophiles to give para-substituted bis(boranatophosphino)benzenechromiums. It was revealed that the yield of the tele-substitution product was strongly affected by the strength of a proton acid. Isotope labeling experiments indicated that 1,5-hydrogen migration was involved in this transformation.     

Practical synthesis of (2S,3R)-3-hydroxy-3-methylproline, a constituent of papuamides, using a diastereoselective tandem Michael-aldol reaction

(2S,3R)-3-Hydroxy-3-methylproline, a constituent of cyclodepsipeptides polyoxypeptins A and B, was efficiently synthesized by lithium chloride-induced diastereoselective tandem Michael-aldol reaction using methyl vinyl ketone and N-1-naphthylsulfonylglycine (R)-binaphthyl ester and subsequent hydrolysis of the product in 39% overall yield and five steps.     

Concise total synthesis of flavone C-glycoside having potent anti-inflammatory activity

The total synthesis of anti-inflammatory active flavone C-glycoside isolated from oolong tea extract is achieved. Introducing a C-glucosyl moiety to an aryl system and constructing a fused tetracyclic ring characteristic to this natural product were conducted based on the O-to-C rearrangement of sugar moiety and the successive intramolecular Mitsunobu reaction, respectively. This concise and efficient synthetic pathway is applicable to the large-scale synthesis of target flavone and for constructing a large library of related compounds.     

Free radical and isomerisation processes during the electrochemical fluorination of n-butyryl chloride, i-butyryl chloride and pivaloyl chloride in anhydrous hydrogen fluoride

Electrochemical perfluorination (ECPF) of the title compounds containing primary, secondary and tertiary carbon atoms was carried out in anhydrous hydrofluoric acid (AHF). Detailed analysis of major and minor products suggest that carbon chain isomerisation involving cyclo-propane intermediate is more prevalent during ECPF of i-butyryl chloride when compared to n-butyryl chloride. Simple statistical probability involving free radical intermediates also support this observation. ECPF involving cyclo-propane intermediate is even more prevalent in pivaloyl chloride containing three methyl substituents. In this case, perfluorinated cyclo-propane intermediates were also observed in the product sample. Distribution of minor perfluorinated and partially fluorinated products also suggest the predominant role of normal free radical pathway involving single-electron transfer.     

4-Cyanomethyl-ortho-quinone tautomerism and the structure of the dienophile in Gates' morphine synthesis

Oxidation of (3,4-dihydroxyphenyl)acetonitrile gives (3-hydroxy-4-oxo-cyclohexa-2,5-dienylidene)acetonitrile via the isomeric ortho-quinone ((3,4-dioxo-cyclohexa-2,5-dienylidene)acetonitrile). This para-quinomethane product is formed as a mixture of diastereoisomers and with an initial composition of Z/E 4:1. Over 24 h this mixture equilibrates to a composition of Z/E 5:4. The para-quinomethane reacts with morpholine to give (3,4-dihydroxyphenyl)-morpholin-4-yl-acetonitrile. Similar oxidation of (3,4-dihydroxynaphthalen-1-yl)acetonitrile also gives a para-quinomethane derivative and not the 1,2-naphthoquinone as previously described. The reactivity of this para-quinomethane derivative as a 1,3-dienophile in a key step of the Gates' morphine synthesis is attributed to formation of its conjugate acid.