A simple solid phase diversity linker strategy using enol phosphonates

Polymer bound lactam enol phosphonates can be easily generated using simple phenol on polystyrene resin. These stable, storable compounds can be released in a diversity cleavage strategy, using Suzuki cross coupling conditions, to provide 2-arylenamides in moderate to good overall yields.     

Expanding stereochemical and skeletal diversity using petasis reactions and 1,3-dipolar cycloadditions

A short and modular synthetic pathway using intramolecular 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reactions and yielding functionalized isoxazoles, isoxazolines, and isoxazolidines is described. The change in shape of previous compounds and those in this study is quantified and compared using principal moment-of-inertia shape analysis.     

Ultrasound-assisted one pot synthesis of polysubstituted meta-terphenyls using ring transformation strategy

An ultrasound-assisted rapid synthesis of meta-terphenyls 9 by the carbanion-induced ring transformation reaction of 6-aryl-5-methyl-2H-pyran-2-ones 7 with functionalized ketones 8 under basic conditions at room temperature has been delineated. The present method gives an easy access to functionally crowded m-terphenyls 9 with notable features including mild reaction condition, remarkable functional groups tolerance, shorter reaction time and high product yields.     

An approach to skeletal diversity using functional group pairing of multifunctional scaffolds

Diversification of enantioenriched Michael adducts through functional group pairing to gain access to a range of five- to ten-membered complex fused and bridged ring systems is described.     

Stereochemical control of skeletal diversity

[reaction: see text]. Substrates having appendages that pre-encode skeletal information (sigma-elements) can be converted into products having distinct skeletons using a common set of reaction conditions. The sequential use of the Ugi 4CC-IMDA reaction, followed by allylation, hydrolysis, and acylation of a chiral amino alcohol appendage (sigma-element), leads to substrates for a ROM/RCM or RCM reaction. The stereochemistry of the sigma-element and not its constitution controls the outcome of the pathway selected. This work illustrates the potential of linking stereochemical control to the challenging problem of skeletal diversity.     

Regioselective synthesis of 2-amino-isophthalonitriles through a ring transformation strategy

An expeditious synthesis of several 2-amino-isophthalonitriles and their biaryl compounds is described and illustrated by carbanion-induced ring transformation of functionalized 2H-pyran-2-ones with malononitrile in excellent yields. The strength of the reaction lies in the creation of an aromatic ring at room temperature from six-membered lactones under mild reaction conditions. This approach is an alternative to Diels-Alder reactions of 2H-pyran-2-ones with dienophiles, which require forcing thermal conditions to obtain benzene derivatives.     

Stereochemical and skeletal diversity employing pipecolate ester scaffolds

[structure: see text] The stereocontrolled synthesis of pyridooxazinones by Mg(OTf)2-promoted epoxide ring-opening with use of chiral pipecolates as nucleophiles is described. Pyridooxazinone products derived from azido-epoxides can be further rearranged to seven-membered pyridodiazepinones by azide reduction. The sequence of functional group interconversions generates diversity through topological and stereochemical variation.     

Combinatorial libraries of bis-heterocyclic compounds with skeletal diversity

Combinatorial solid-phase synthesis of bis-heterocyclic compounds, characterized by the presence of two heterocyclic cores connected by a spacer of variable length/structure, provided structurally heterogeneous libraries with skeletal diversity. Both heterocyclic rings were assembled on resin in a combinatorial fashion.     

Exploring skeletal diversity via ring contraction of glycal-derived scaffolds

Aryl ether C-glycoside scaffolds have been prepared from tri-O-acetyl-D-glucal by C-glycosylation followed by allylic substitution with phenols mediated by Pd(0). The aryl ethers were subjected to either [3,3]-sigmatropic rearrangement to produce 3-pyranyl-phenols or Au(III)-mediated ring contraction to create highly substituted tetrahydrofurans. [structure: see text]     

Exploiting domino enyne metathesis mechanisms for skeletal diversity generation

In the context of diversity-oriented synthesis, the exploration and optimization of the domino metathesis of decorated norbornenes allowed complex polycyclic architectures to be generated in a highly efficient and atom-economical process.     

An oligomer-based approach to skeletal diversity in small-molecule synthesis

Access to small molecules of widely varying molecular shapes has been identified as an enabling step in the discovery of biologically active materials. In this communication we introduce an approach to the systematic development of architecturally distinct chemical compounds based upon the assembly of reactive monomers into linear oligomers, each of which encodes a unique molecular framework under a common set of reaction conditions. Certain products of the initial chemical transformation (Ru-catalyzed metathesis reaction) encode additional skeletons upon treatment with a second common set of reagents (Diels-Alder dienophiles). Application of this oligomerization approach has led to the discovery of a previously unreported tandem ene-yne-yne metathesis-6pi-electrocyclization-1,5-hydride migration that converts a linear substrate into a complex tricyclic 1,3-diene in a single step. Thus, the reported strategy might serve not only as a generator of skeletally diverse small molecules but also as a discovery platform for the identification of novel chemical transformations.     

Palladium-catalyzed vinylation of cyclohexenes using a directing-group strategy

Palladium-promoted vinylation of cyclohexenes via employment of a directing-group strategy to yield the coupled vinyl cyclohexenes with excellent regio- and stereoselectivity was studied. Typically, reaction of 2-(cyclohex-2-en-1-yl)-N-tosylacetamide ( 1a ) with (Z)-styryl bromides ( 2 ) gave cis-2-[(E)-styryl]cyclopent-3-en-1-yl-N-tosylacetamides in good to excellent yields. It is noticed that (Z)-styryl moiety was inverted into (E)-form in products. Unfortunately, (E)-styryl bromide substrates were not suitable for this reaction under the condition investigated. Further studies on norbornene system, we found that palladium-catalyzed reaction of endo-N-tosylbicyclo[2.2.1]hept-5-ene-2-carboxamide ( 6 ) with styryl bromides gave the Aza-Heck type products.     

Geminal alkene-alkyne cross metathesis using a relay strategy

A relay strategy was employed to achieve an intermolecular ene-yne metathesis between 1,1-disubstituted alkenes and alkynes. The relay serves to activate an unreactive alkene which will not participate in ene-yne metathesis. The new relay cross ene-yne metathesis gives rise to 1,1,3-trisubstituted-1,3-dienes previously inaccessible by direct ene-yne metathesis methods.     

Ligand-elaboration as a strategy for engendering structural diversity in porous metal-organic framework compounds

A series of 4,4'-ethynylenedibenzoic acids were synthesized and used in the construction of Zn-based, mixed-ligand metal-organic frameworks; through variation of functionality in the 3- and 3'-positions of these linkers, a collection of MOFs with differing connectivities and varying levels of interpenetration was obtained.     

Understanding metalloprotein folding using a de novo design strategy

Metal ions play significant roles in most biological systems. Over the past two decades, there has been significant interest in the redesign of existing metal binding sites in proteins/peptides and the introduction of metals into folded proteins/peptides. Recent research has focused on the effects of metal binding on the overall secondary and tertiary conformations of unstructured peptides/proteins. In this context, de novo design of metallopeptides has become a valuable approach for studying the consequence of metal binding. It has been seen that metal ions not only direct folding of partially folded peptides but have at times also been the elixir for properly folding random-coil-like structures in stable secondary conformations. Work in our group has focused on binding of heavy metal ions such as Hg(II) to de novo designed alpha-helical three stranded coiled coil peptides with sequences based on the heptad repeat motif. Removal from or addition of a heptad to the parent 30-residue TRI peptide with the amino acid sequence Ac-G(LKALEEK)(4)G-NH(2) generated peptides whose self-aggregation affinities were seen to be dependent on their lengths. It was noted that adjustment in the position of the thiol from an "a" position in the case of the shorter BabyL9C to a "d" position for BabyL12C resulted in a peptide with low association affinities for itself, weaker binding with Hg(II), and a considerably faster kinetic profile for metal insertion. Similar differences in thermodynamic and kinetic parameters were also noted for the longer TRI peptides. At the same time, metal insertion into the prefolded and longer TRI and Grand peptides has clearly demonstrated that the metal binding is both thermodynamically as well kinetically different from that to unassociated peptides.     

Efficient installation of beta-mannosides using a dehydrative coupling strategy

[reaction: see text]. A new coupling procedure for the construction of the challenging beta-mannosidic bond is described. Dehydrative mannosylation using 4,6-O-benzylidene mannopyranoses allows for the formation of beta-mannosides in excellent yield. The stereoselectivity is generally good but influenced by the exact nature of the glycosylating agent and the nucleophile.     

Total synthesis of natural products using a desymmetrization strategy

Total syntheses of SB-203207 (1) and sphingofungin E (2) were accomplished by utilizing an asymmetric desymmetrization strategy to introduce multiple stereogenic centers into meso starting compounds in a single step. Thus, rhodium carbenoid-mediated CH insertion into 3 provided the bicyclo[3.3.0]framework 4 for 1, while organocatalyst-mediated bromolactonization of 5 afforded 6 for the synthesis of 2. Similarly, we utilized desymmetric rhodium nitrenoid-mediated aziridination reaction of 5 to obtain a key intermediate required for a total synthesis of pactamycin (29), a complex aminocyclopentitol antibiotic featuring six contiguous stereogenic centers.     

A cyclic enamine derived from 1,2-O-isopropylidene-alpha-D-xylofuranose as a novel carbohydrate intermediate to achieve skeletal diversity

The commercially available carbohydrate 1,2-O-isopropylidene-alpha-D-xylofuranose was efficiently transformed into the high-added-value synthetic scaffold 8. The transformation requires the synthesis of the 5-O-tosyl derivative 7 and its subsequent intramolecular cyclization under basic conditions to give the cyclic enamine 8. Reaction of 8 with O-, N-, S-, and C-nucleophiles and amino acids allowed its efficient transformation (one-step, high yields, and easy purifications) into fused cyclic sugar derivatives with rather unusual molecular skeletons in a completely regio- and stereoselective manner. The characteristics of the sugar derivative 8 established here, high reactivity, synthetic accessibility, and the potential for conversion into a vast collection of products by the action of different nucleophiles, indicate that it will prove to be a useful chiral intermediate for achieving skeletal diversity. The constrained structures and dense functionalization of the polycyclic sugar derivatives generated from 8 make these compounds promising candidates for use as starting agents for the production of new analogues and as drugs.