Spongistatins,Cynachyrolides, or Altohyrtins? Marine Macrolides in Cancer Therapy

Fascinating structures and stunning cytotoxicities characterize the altohyrtins A–C, the spongistatins 1–9, and cynachyrolide A. The first total syntheses reported by the groups from Evans and Kishi could unequivocally prove the structure of the extremely potent inhibitors of the tubulin polymerization.     

Formal total synthesis of altohyrtin C (spongistatin 2). Part 1: Aldol approach to unite AB and CD spiroacetals

The Mukaiyama aldol coupling of the second-generation C1C14 (AB) fragment of altohyrtins (spongistatins) with the model α-methyl-β-alkoxyaldehydes revealed that the stereochemistry at the newly formed carbon centers was controlled by the β-alkoxy chiral center of the model aldehydes. The union of the AB fragment with the C15C28 (CD) fragment under the same conditions gave the fully elaborated C1C28 (ABCD) subunit in good yield.     

Actin-binding marine macrolides: total synthesis and biological importance

Marine organisms produce a fascinating range of structurally diverse secondary metabolites, which often possess unusual and sometimes unexpected biological activities. This structural diversity makes these marine natural products excellent molecular probes for the investigation of biochemical pathways. Recently, a number of novel and stereochemically complex macrolides, having a large macrolactone (22- to 44-membered) ring, that interact with the actin cycloskeleton have been isolated from different marine sources. Actin, like tubulin, is a major component of the cytoskeleton and has important cellular functions. Although the details of these interactions are still under investigation, these marine macrolides are becoming increasingly important as novel molecular probes to help elucidate the cellular functions of actin. Owing to their potent antitumor activities, these compounds, for example the aplyronines, also have potential for preclinical development in cancer chemotherapy. Their appealing molecular structures, with an abundance of stereochemistry, and biological significance, coupled with the extremely limited availability from the marine sources, have stimulated enormous interest in the synthesis of these compounds. This review summarizes the biological properties of these unusual marine natural products and features the recently completed total syntheses of swinholide A, scytophycin C, aplyronine A, mycalolide A--all of these being potent cytotoxic agents that target actin--and a diastereoisomer of ulapualide A. Rather than detailing each individual step of these multistep total syntheses, the different synthetic strategies, key reactions, and methods adopted for controlling the stereochemistry are compared.     

Marine natural products. XXIII. Three new cytotoxic dimeric macrolides, swinholides B and C and isoswinholide A, congeners of swinholide A, from the Okinawan marine sponge Theonella swinhoei

Following the characterization of swinholide A (1), the major cytotoxic dimeric macrolide, three new congeneric dimeric macrolides, named swinholide B (2), swinholide C (3) and isoswinholide A (10), have been isolated from the Okinawan marine sponge Theonella swinhoei. The structures of these dimeric macrolides have been elucidated on the basis of chemical and physicochemical evidence. These dimeric macrolides were shown to exhibit potent cytotoxicities toward KB cell lines.     

New efficient route to an advanced precursor of the AB spiroketal of spongistatins

A sequence of highly diastereoselective functionalizations allowed transformation of a meso-methylenebis(cyclohept-3-ene-1,6-diyl diester) into an advanced precursor of the AB spiroketal of spongistatins. This route illustrates the potential of this bis-cycloheptene derivative for the synthesis of a key fragment of complex bioactive natural compounds.     

Spongistatin synthetic studies. An efficient, second-generation construction of an advanced ABCD intermediate

[reaction: see text] A short, efficient, and stereocontrolled synthesis of (-)-4, an advanced ABCD subunit of the spongistatins, has been achieved. Central to the synthetic strategy is the multicomponent linchpin union of silyl dithianes with epoxides to access both the AB and CD fragments. Fragment coupling was then achieved via an efficient stereoselective aldol reaction. The linear sequence required 22 steps and proceeded in 4.0% overall yield.     

A Comparative Synthetic Strategy Perspective on α-Amino Acid- and Non-Amino Acid-Derived Synthons towards Total Syntheses of Selected Natural Macrolides

Macrocyclic alkaloids (macrolides) and cyclopeptides have an immense range of applications in drug discovery research because of their natural abundance and potential biological and physicochemical properties. Presently, more than 100 approved drugs or clinical drug candidates contain macrocyclic scaffolds as the biologically active component. This review provides an interesting perspective about the use of amino acid-derived chiral pools versus other methods derived from miscellaneous synthons towards the total synthesis of non-peptidic macrolides. The synthetic routes and the key strategies involved in the total syntheses of ten natural macrolides have been discussed. Both the amino acid-derived and non-amino acid-derived synthetic routes have been illustrated to present a comparative study between the two approaches.     

Total syntheses of natural tubelactomicins B, D, and E: establishment of their stereochemistries

Total syntheses of the antimicrobial tricyclic 16-membered macrolides, (+)-tubelactomicin B, (+)-tubelactomicin D, and (+)-tubelactomicin E, have been accomplished for the first time with common synthetic approaches. These total syntheses established the relative and absolute configurations of the three tubelactomicins, for which planar structures had solely been reported. The total synthesis of (+)-tubelactomicin D included a newly developed stereoselective intramolecular Diels-Alder reaction for constructing the highly functionalized octahydronaphthalene substructures.     

Total synthesis of biselide A

A total synthesis of the marine macrolide biselide A is described that relies on an enantiomerically enriched α-chloroaldehyde as the sole chiral building block. Several strategies to construct the macrocycle are presented including a macrocyclic Reformatsky reaction that ultimately provides access to the natural product in a longest linear sequence of 18 steps. Biological testing of synthetic biselide A suggests this macrolide disrupts cell division through a mechanism related to the regulation of microtubule cytoskeleton organization. Overall, this concise synthesis and insight gained into the mechanism of action should inspire medicinal chemistry efforts directed at structurally related anticancer marine macrolides.

A total synthesis of the marine macrolide biselide A is described that relies on an enantiomerically enriched α-chloroaldehyde as the sole chiral building block.     

Phormidolides B and C,Cytotoxic Agents from the Sea: Enantioselective Synthesis of the Macrocyclic Core

New cytotoxic polyketide macrolides named phormidolides B and C were isolated from a marine sponge of the Petrosiidae family collected off the coast of Pemba (Tanzania). The isolation, structure elucidation, and enantioselective synthesis of three diastereomers of the macrocyclic core is described herein. The described synthetic methodology started from 2‐deoxy‐D ‐ribose or 2‐deoxy‐L ‐ribose and afforded the desired macrocycles with high enantiomeric purity. The key step of the synthesis is the formation of the Z‐trisubstituted double bond using a Julia–Kocienski olefination. The versatility of the synthetic methodology may provide access to other enantiopure macrocycles by making changes in the starting materials or chiral inductors.     

Genome mining of Streptomyces olivaceus SCSIO T05: Discovery of olimycins A and B and assignment of absolute configurations

Naphthoquinone macrolides have attracted considerable synthetic interest due to their unique scaffolds, but there was no completion of total synthesis reported. In this study, genome mining and genetic manipulations were applied to stimulate the production of naphthoquinone macrolides from the deep-sea actinomycete Streptomyces olivaceus SCSIO T05; as a result, new metabolites olimycins A and B (1, 2) were isolated. The structures were elucidated on the basis of extensive spectroscopic data and X-ray single crystal diffraction studies. The results of these efforts enabled rectification of a key structural error made during previous efforts to characterize naphthoquinone macrolides.     

Divergent synthesis of complex polyketide-like macrolides from a simple polyol fragment

[structure: see text] Three stereochemically and structurally complex non-natural polyketide macrolides have been synthesized from the same simple polyol precursor. That this polyol fragment is rapidly available in quantity is key to the practicality of these syntheses and allows the targeting of more highly complex and "natural product-like" macrolides.     

Phosphate tether-mediated approach to the formal total synthesis of (-)-salicylihalamides A and B

A concise formal synthesis of the cytotoxic macrolides (-)-salicylihalamides A and B is reported. Key features of the synthetic strategy include a chemoselective hydroboration, highly regio- and diastereoselective methyl cuprate addition, Pd-catalyzed formate reduction, and an E-selective ring-closing metathesis to construct the 12-membered macrocycle subunit. Overall, two routes have been developed from a readily prepared bicyclic phosphate (4 steps), a 13-step route and a more efficient 9-step sequence relying on regioselective esterification of a key diol.     

Marine cytotoxic macrolides haterumalides and biselides, and related natural products

Marine animals and plants are rich sources of bioactive natural products. Haterumalides and biselides, isolated from Okinawan marine animals, are 14-membered macrolides with strong cytotoxicity against human cancer cell lines. This review highlights the isolation, structures, bioactivities, and total synthesis of haterumalides, biselides, and related natural products.     

Total Synthesis of Mycalolides A and B through Olefin Metathesis

An asymmetric total synthesis of the trisoxazole marine macrolides mycalolides A and B is described. This synthesis involves the convergent assembly of highly functionalized C1–C19 trisoxazole and C20–C35 side‐chain segments through the use of olefin metathesis and esterification as well as Julia–Kocienski olefination and enamide formation as key steps.     

Synthesis and biological properties of the cytotoxic 14-membered macrolides aspergillide A and B

Total, stereoselective syntheses of the naturally occurring, cytotoxic macrolides aspergillide A and B are described. Olefin metatheses and asymmetric allylations were key steps in the synthetic sequences. Cytotoxicity assays against several tumor cell lines have been performed for the two aspergillides and some of the intermediates or side products of the synthetic sequence. One of these intermediates has been found markedly active against the human leukemia cancer cell line HL-60, with an IC(50) value comparable with that of the clinical drug fludarabine.     

Spirastrellolides C to G: macrolides obtained from the marine sponge Spirastrella coccinea

Five new macrolides, spirastrellolides C (3) to G (7), have been isolated from extracts of the marine sponge Spirastrella coccinea collected in Dominica. Their structures have been elucidated by a combination of spectroscopic analysis and chemical transformations.     

The sorbicillinoid family of natural products: isolation, biosynthesis, and synthetic studies

The sorbicillinoids are a family of hexaketide metabolites that have been isolated from a variety of fungal sources, collected from both marine and terrestrial sources. Since 1948, the family has grown in size to include over 50 members, many of which have complex, highly oxygenated, bicyclic and tricyclic frameworks. In conjunction with their biological activity, the structural complexity of these structures has inspired several synthetic campaigns and has also led to controversy surrounding the biosynthetic pathway responsible for the natural production of these compounds. Through this review, we aim to give a historical perspective to each of these areas and hope to inspire new avenues of research for addressing the knowledge gaps that still exist.     

Total syntheses of (+)-zampanolide and (+)-dactylolide exploiting a unified strategy

The first total syntheses of (+)-zampanolide (1) and (+)-dactylolide (2), members of a new class of tumor cell growth inhibitory macrolides, have been achieved. Key features of the unified synthetic scheme included the stereocontrolled construction of the cis-2,6-disubstituted tetrahydropyran via a modified Petasis-Ferrier rearrangement, a highly convergent assembly of the macrocyclic domain, and, in the case of zampanolide, a Curtius rearrangement/acylation tactic to install the N-acyl hemiaminal. The complete relative and absolute stereochemistries for both (+)-zampanolide and (+)-dactylolide were also assigned, albeit tentatively in the case of (+)-zampanolide (1).     

Synthesis of tedanolide and 13-deoxytedanolide. Assembly of a common C(1)-C(11) subtarget

[formula: see text] In this Letter we describe a synthetic strategy and an efficient assembly of a common C(1)-C(11) subtarget, (-)-3, for (+)-tedanolide (1) and (+)-13-deoxytedanolide (2), architecturally complex marine macrolides displaying potent antitumor activity. Key elements of the synthesis include two iterations of the Evans aldol protocol to construct the C(1)-C(6) moiety and a stereocontrolled vinyl anion addition to generate the C(8,9) trisubstituted olefin incorporating stereogenicity at C(7). Alkylation with a model epoxide demonstrates that (-)-3 is a competent dithiane for further elaboration of the macrolide skeleton.