Preparation of Protected β2‐ and β3‐Homocysteine, β2‐ and β3‐Homohistidine,and β2‐Homoserine for Solid‐Phase Syntheses

The Ser, Cys, and His side chains play decisive roles in the syntheses, structures, and functions of proteins and enzymes. For our structural and biomedical investigations of β‐peptides consisting of amino acids with proteinogenic side chains, we needed to have reliable preparative access to the title compounds. The two β³‐homoamino acid derivatives were obtained by Arndt–Eistert methodology from Boc‐His(Ts)‐OH and Fmoc‐Cys(PMB)‐OH (Schemes 2–4), with the side‐chain functional groups' reactivities requiring special precautions. The β²‐homoamino acids were prepared with the help of the chiral oxazolidinone auxiliary DIOZ by diastereoselective aldol additions of suitable Ti‐enolates to formaldehyde (generated in situ from trioxane) and subsequent functional‐group manipulations. These include OH→O^tBu etherification (for β²hSer; Schemes 5 and 6), OH→STrt replacement (for β²hCys; Scheme 7), and CH₂OH→CH₂N₃→CH₂NH₂ transformations (for β²hHis; Schemes 9–11). Including protection/deprotection/re‐protection reactions, it takes up to ten steps to obtain the enantiomerically pure target compounds from commercial precursors. Unsuccessful approaches, pitfalls, and optimization procedures are also discussed. The final products and the intermediate compounds are fully characterized by retention times (t_R), melting points, optical rotations, HPLC on chiral columns, IR, ¹H‐ and ¹³C‐NMR spectroscopy, mass spectrometry, elemental analyses, and (in some cases) by X‐ray crystal‐structure analysis.     

5β,6β‐Epoxy‐17‐oxoandrostan‐3β‐yl acetate and 5β,6β‐epoxy‐20‐oxopregnan‐3β‐yl acetate

In the title compounds, C₂₁H₃₀O₄, (I), and C₂₃H₃₄O₄, (II), respectively, which are valuable intermediates in the synthesis of important steroid derivatives, rings A and B are cis‐(5β,10β)‐fused. The two molecules have similar conformations of rings A, B and C. The presence of the 5β,6β‐epoxide group induces a significant twist of the steroid nucleus and a strong flattening of the B ring. The different C17 substituents result in different conformations for ring D. Cohesion of the molecular packing is achieved in both compounds only by weak intermolecular interactions. The geometries of the molecules in the crystalline environment are compared with those of the free molecules as given by ab initio Roothan Hartree–Fock calculations. We show in this work that quantum mechanical ab initio methods reproduce well the details of the conformation of these molecules, including a large twist of the steroid nucleus. The calculated twist values are comparable, but are larger than the observed values, indicating a possible small effect of the crystal packing on the twist angles.     

13‐cis‐β,β‐Carotene and 15‐cis‐β,β‐carotene

13‐cis‐β,β‐Carotene, C₄₀H₅₆, crystallizes with a complete molecule in the asymmetric unit, whereas 15‐cis‐β,β‐carotene, also C₄₀H₅₆, has twofold symmetry about an axis through the central bond of the polyene chain. The polyene methyl groups are arranged on one side of the polyene chains for each molecule and the 6‐s‐cisβ end groups, with the cyclohexene rings in half‐chair conformations, are twisted out of the planes of the polyene chains by angles ranging from 41.37 (17) to 52.2 (4)°. The molecules in each structure pack so that the arms of one occupy the cleft of the next, and there is significant π–π stacking of the almost‐parallel polyene chains of the 15‐cis isomer, which approach at distances of 3.319 (1)–3.591 (1) Å.     

3‐Deoxy‐β‐d‐ribo‐hexopyranose (3‐deoxy‐β‐d‐glucopyranose)

The β‐pyranose form, (III), of 3‐deoxy‐d ‐ribo‐hexose (3‐deoxy‐d ‐glucose), C₆H₁₂O₅, crystallizes from water at 298 K in a slightly distorted ⁴C₁ chair conformation. Structural analyses of (III), β‐d ‐glucopyranose, (IV), and 2‐deoxy‐β‐d ‐arabino‐hexopyranose (2‐deoxy‐β‐d ‐glucopyranose), (V), show significantly different C—O bond torsions involving the anomeric carbon, with the H—C—O—H torsion angle approaching an eclipsed conformation in (III) (−10.9°) compared with 32.8 and 32.5° in (IV) and (V), respectively. Ring carbon deoxygenation significantly affects the endo‐ and exocyclic C—C and C—O bond lengths throughout the pyranose ring, with longer bonds generally observed in the monodeoxygenated species (III) and (V) compared with (IV). These structural changes are attributed to differences in exocyclic C—O bond conformations and/or hydrogen‐bonding patterns superimposed on the direct (intrinsic) effect of monodeoxygenation. The exocyclic hydroxymethyl conformation in (III) (gt) differs from that observed in (IV) and (V) (gg).     

5-雄烯-3β, 7α, 17β-三醇和5-雄烯-3β, 7β, 17β-三醇的合成

以5-雄烯二醇为原料,用微生物转化的方法合成了两个重要的神经甾体5-雄烯-3β, 7α, 17β-三醇和5-雄烯-3β, 7β, 17β-三醇。所用菌种总枝毛霉为我们自己筛选,并首次应用于5-雄烯-3β, 7α, 17β-三醇和5-雄烯-3β, 7β, 17β-三醇的合成中。     

6β‐Hydroxy‐5β‐methyl‐20‐oxo‐19‐norpregn‐9(10)‐en‐3β‐yl acetate

In the title compound, C₂₃H₃₄O₄, which is an intermediate in the synthesis of pregnane derivatives with a modified skeleton that show potent abortion‐inducing activity, the conformation of ring B is close to half‐chair due to the presence of both the C=C double bond and the axial 5β‐methyl group. Rings A and C have conformations close to chair, while ring D has a twisted conformation around the bridgehead C—C bond. Molecules are hydrogen bonded via the hydroxyl and acetoxy groups into infinite chains. Quantum‐mechanical ab initio Roothan Hartree–Fock calculations show that crystal packing might be responsible for the low values of the angles between rings A and B, and between ring A and rings C and D, as well as for a different steric position of the methyl ketone side chain compared to the geometry of the free molecule.     

Preparation of (S,S)‐Fmoc‐β2hIle‐OH, (S)‐Fmoc‐β2hMet‐OH,and (S)‐Fmoc‐β2hTyr(tBu)‐OH for Solid‐Phase Syntheses of β2‐ and β2/β3‐Peptides

The preparation of three new N‐Fmoc‐protected (Fmoc=[(9H‐fluoren‐9‐yl)methoxy]carbonyl) β²‐homoamino acids with proteinogenic side chains (from Ile, Tyr, and Met) is described, the key step being a diastereoselective amidomethylation of the corresponding Ti‐enolates of 3‐acyl‐4‐isopropyl‐5,5‐diphenyloxazolidin‐2‐ones with CbzNHCH₂OMe/TiCl₄ (Cbz=(benzyloxy)carbonyl) in yields of 60–70% and with diastereoselectivities of >90%. Removal of the chiral auxiliary with LiOH or NaOH gives the N‐Cbz‐protected β‐amino acids, which were subjected to an N‐Cbz/N‐Fmoc (Fmoc=[(9H‐fluoren‐9‐yl)methoxy]carbonyl) protective‐group exchange. The method is suitable for large‐scale preparation of Fmoc‐β²hXaa‐OH for solid‐phase syntheses of β‐peptides. The Fmoc‐amino acids and all compounds leading to them have been fully characterized by melting points, optical rotations, IR, ¹H‐ and ¹³C‐NMR, and mass spectra, as well as by elemental analyses.     

Concise Synthesis of α‐Methylene‐β‐hydroxy‐γ‐carboxy‐γ‐lactams

A concise protocol for the synthesis of α‐methylene‐β‐hydroxy‐γ‐carboxy‐γ‐lactams has been described via alkylation of amino acid derived iminoesters with α‐bromomethylmethacrylate, followed by allylic hydroxylation. All the synthesized compounds have been evaluated for their cytotoxicity on multiple myeloma cancer cell lines.     

Synthesis and characterization of new α,β‐unsaturated γ‐lactones: Alkyl 3‐acetyl‐4‐hydroxy‐2‐methyl‐5‐oxo‐2,5‐dihydrofuran‐2‐ylcarbamates

A convenient procedure for the preparation of carbamate derivatives of 5‐oxo‐2,5‐dihydrofuran ( 3 ) was described. The method is based on the Michael type addition of three alkyl carbamates ( 2 ) with 4‐acetyl‐5‐methyl‐2,3‐dihydro‐2,3‐furandione ( 1 ). According to ¹H nmr spectra of compounds show tautomeric forms ( 3,4,5 ) in CDC1₃. In the solid state the synthesized compounds are enol forms ( 3 ). The products were characterized with molecular spectroscopic methods.     

Di‐μ‐formato‐1κ2O:2κ2O′‐di‐μ‐pyridin‐2‐olato‐1κO:2κN;1κN:2κO‐bis­[(2‐pyridone‐κO)copper(II)] acetonitrile 1.02‐solvate

In the title compound, [Cu₂(CHO₂)₂(C₅H₄NO)₂(C₅H₅NO)₂]·1.02CH₃CN, the dimeric unit is centrosymmetric, with two bidentate pyridin‐2‐olate and two bidentate formate syn–syn bridges, and two apical 2‐pyridone ligands coordinated through the O atoms. The N atom from the apical 2‐pyridone ligand is a donor of a hydrogen bond to the O atom of the bridging pyridinolate ligand of the same complex. The coordination polyhedron of the Cu atom is a distorted square pyramid.     

16‐(4‐Cyanobenzylidene)‐3β‐pyrrolidinoandrost‐5‐en‐17β‐ol monohydrate

In the title compound, C₃₁H₄₀N₂O·H₂O, the outer two six‐membered rings are in chair conformations, while the central ring is in an 8β,9α‐half‐chair conformation. The five‐membered ring adopts a 13β‐envelope conformation and the cyano­benzyl­idene moiety has an E configuration with respect to the hydroxyl group at position 17. The steroid nuclei are linked by intermolecular O—H?O and O—H?N hydrogen bonds to form a molecular network. The molecular packing has an interesting feature, with the steroids aligned parallel to the b axis, forming a closed loop through hydrogen bonds linked via water mol­ecules.     

17‐Oxo‐5α‐androstane‐3α,4β‐diyl diacetate and 17‐oxo‐5β‐androstane‐3α,4β‐diyl diacetate

The title compounds, both C₂₃H₃₄O₅, are the 5α and 5β configurations of two diacetate epimers. The 5β‐diacetate crystallizes in an hexagonal structure, unusual for steroid molecules. The unit cell has an accessible solvent volume of 358 ų, responsible for clathrate behaviour. The 5β‐epimer also features some shorter than average bond lengths in the 3α,4β‐acetoxy groups. The conformations of the molecules of both epimers are compared with those obtained through abinitio quantum chemistry calculations. Cohesion of the crystals can be attributed to van der Waals and weak molecular C—H⋯O interactions.     

cyclo(β‐Asp‐β3‐hVal‐β3‐hLys) – Solid‐Phase Synthesis and Solution Structure of a Water Soluble β‐Tripeptide. Preliminary Communication

The H₂O‐soluble cyclic β³‐tripeptide cyclo(β‐Asp‐β³‐hVal‐β³‐hLys) ( 4 ) was obtained by on‐resin cyclization of the side‐chain‐anchored β‐peptide 3 (Scheme). In aqueous solution, 4 adopts a structure with uniformly oriented amide bonds and all side chains in lateral positions (Fig. 3).     

Methyl 2‐acetamido‐2‐deoxy‐β‐d‐glucopyranoside dihydrate and methyl 2‐formamido‐2‐deoxy‐β‐d‐glucopyranoside

Methyl 2‐acetamido‐2‐deoxy‐β‐d ‐glucopyranoside (β‐GlcNAcOCH₃), (I), crystallizes from water as a dihydrate, C₉H₁₇NO₆·H₂O, containing two independent molecules [denoted (IA) and (IB)] in the asymmetric unit, whereas the crystal structure of methyl 2‐formamido‐2‐deoxy‐β‐d ‐glucopyranoside (β‐GlcNFmOCH₃), (II), C₈H₁₅NO₆, also obtained from water, is devoid of solvent water molecules. The two molecules of (I) assume distorted ⁴C₁ chair conformations. Values of ϕ for (IA) and (IB) indicate ring distortions towards B_C2,C5 and ^C3,O5B, respectively. By comparison, (II) shows considerably more ring distortion than molecules (IA) and (IB), despite the less bulky N‐acyl side chain. Distortion towards B_C2,C5 was observed for (II), similar to the findings for (IA). The amide bond conformation in each of (IA), (IB) and (II) is trans, and the conformation about the C—N bond is anti (C—H is approximately anti to N—H), although the conformation about the latter bond within this group varies by ∼16°. The conformation of the exocyclic hydroxymethyl group was found to be gt in each of (IA), (IB) and (II). Comparison of the X‐ray structures of (I) and (II) with those of other GlcNAc mono‐ and disaccharides shows that GlcNAc aldohexopyranosyl rings can be distorted over a wide range of geometries in the solid state.     

Synthesis of 3‐Ω‐amino‐2‐thiohydantoins

In the reaction of ethyl isothiocyanatoacetate with diamines, followed by cyclization of the intermediate product, 3‐monosubstituted thiohydantoins have been obtained. It was found that the reaction course depends on the purity of the isothiocyanate used and also, in the case of dialkylaminoamines, the self‐cyclization occurs. Besides the dialkylamino derivatives of 3‐monosubstituted 2‐thiohydantoins also new monoalkylamino, amino and heterocyclic derivatives were synthesized. The aryldiazonium derivative of 3‐monosubstituted 2‐thiohydantoin yielded both respective phenol derivative after hydrolysis and the product of coupling with 2‐naphthol.     

Convenient Entry to α‐Amino‐β‐hydroxy‐γ‐methyl Carboxylic Acids. Diastereoselective Formation and Directed Homogeneous Hydrogenation of 3‐(3‐Aryl‐1‐hydroxy‐2‐methylprop‐2‐enyl)‐1,4‐benzodiazepin‐2‐ones

Aldol reaction of 7‐chloro‐1,3‐dihydro‐1‐methyl‐5‐phenyl‐2H‐1,4‐benzodiazepin‐2‐one ( 1 ) with 4‐substituted α‐methylcinnamaldehydes 2 – 5 afforded a mixture of threo‐ and erythro‐3‐(3‐aryl‐1‐hydroxy‐2‐methylprop‐2‐enyl)‐7‐chloro‐1,3‐dihydro‐1‐methyl‐5‐phenyl‐2H‐1,4‐benzodiazepin‐2‐ones 6 – 13 . The chromatographically separated threo diastereoisomers 6, 8, 10 , and 12 and erythro diastereoisomers 7, 9, 11 , and 13 were submitted to ‘directed' homogeneous hydrogenation catalyzed by [Rh^I(cod)(diphos‐4)]ClO₄ (cod=cycloocta‐1,5‐diene, diphos‐4=butane‐1,4‐diylbis[diphenylphosphine]. From the erythro‐racemates 9, 11 , and 13 , the erythro,erythro/erythro,threo‐diastereoisomer mixtures 16 / 17, 20 / 21 , and 24 / 25 were obtained in ratios of 20 : 80 to 28 : 72 (HPLC), which were separated by chromatography. From the threo racemates 8, 10 , and 12 , the threo,threo/threo,erythro‐diastereoisomer mixtures were obtained in a ratio of ca. 25 : 75 (¹H‐NMR). The relative configurations were assigned by means of ¹H‐NMR data and X‐ray crystal‐structure determination of 21 . Hydrolysis of 21 afforded the diastereoisomerically pure N‐(benzyloxy)carbonyl derivative 27 of α‐amino‐β‐hydroxy‐γ‐methylpentanoic acid 26 , representative of the novel group of polysubstituted α‐amino‐β‐hydroxycarboxylic acids.     

(4S)‐3‐[(2R,3S)‐3‐Hydr­oxy‐2‐methyl‐3‐phenyl­propion­yl]‐4‐isopropyl­oxazolidin‐2‐one

The mol­ecule of the title compound, C₁₆H₂₁NO₄, is chiral and has three asymmetric centres. The absolute configuration was not determined via diffraction measurements on the crystal, but was established from the known absolute configuration of the starting material. In the crystal structure, the mol­ecules assemble through inter­molecular hydrogen bonds into a macrostructure with helical channels.     

Facile Synthesis and Properties of 2‐λ5‐Phosphaquinolines and 2‐λ5‐Phosphaquinolin‐2‐ones

Treatment of 2‐ethynylanilines with P(OPh)₃ gives either 2,2‐diphenoxy‐2‐λ⁵‐phosphaquinolines or 2‐phenoxy‐2‐λ⁵‐phosphaquinolin‐2‐ones under transition‐metal‐free conditions. This reaction offers access to an underexplored heterocycle, which opens up the study of the fundamental nature of the N?P^V double bond and its potential for delocalization within a cyclic π‐electron system. This heterocycle can serve as a carbostyril mimic, with application as a bioisostere for pharmaceuticals based on the 2‐quinolinone scaffold. It also holds promise as a new fluorophore, since initial screening reveals quantum yields upwards of 40 %, Stokes shifts of 50–150 nm, and emission wavelengths of 380–540 nm. The phosphaquinolin‐2‐ones possess one of the strongest solution‐state dimerization constants for a D–A system (130 M ^?1) owing to the close proximity of a strong acceptor (P?O) and a strong donor (phosphonamidate N? H), which suggests that they might hold promise as new hydrogen‐bonding hosts for optoelectronic sensing.     

Co‐crystals of 3‐deoxy‐3‐fluoro‐α‐d‐glucopyranose and 3‐deoxy‐3‐fluoro‐β‐d‐glucopyranose

3‐Deoxy‐3‐fluoro‐d ‐glucopyranose crystallizes from acetone to give a unit cell containing two crystallographically independent molecules. One of these molecules (at site A) is structurally homogeneous and corresponds to 3‐deoxy‐3‐fluoro‐β‐d ‐glucopyranose, C₆H₁₁FO₅, (I). The second molecule (at site B) is structurally heterogeneous and corresponds to a mixture of (I) and 3‐deoxy‐3‐fluoro‐α‐d ‐glucopyranose, (II); treatment of the diffraction data using partial‐occupancy oxygen at the anomeric center gave a high‐quality packing model with an occupancy ratio of 0.84:0.16 for (II):(I) at site B. The mixture of α‐ and β‐anomers at site B appears to be accommodated in the lattice because hydrogen‐bonding partners are present to hydrogen bond to the anomeric OH group in either an axial or equatorial orientation. Cremer–Pople analysis of (I) and (II) shows the pyranosyl ring of (II) to be slightly more distorted than that of (I) [θ_(I) = 3.85 (15)° and θ_(II) = 6.35 (16)°], but the general direction of distortion is similar in both structures [ϕ_(I) = 67 (2)° (B_C1,C4) and ϕ_(II) = 26.0 (15)° (^C3TB_C1); B = boat conformation and TB = twist‐boat conformation]. The exocyclic hydroxymethyl (–CH₂OH) conformation is gg (gauche–gauche) (H5 anti to O6) in both (I) and (II). Structural comparisons of (I) and (II) to related unsubstituted, deoxy and fluorine‐substituted monosaccharides show that the gluco ring can assume a wide range of distorted chair structures in the crystalline state depending on ring substitution patterns.