Efficient synthesis of nucleoside aryloxy phosphoramidate prodrugs utilizing benzyloxycarbonyl protection

An efficient method for the synthesis of nucleoside phosphoramidates prodrugs (6a-f) has been developed that employs a simple protection/deprotection sequence of the nucleoside with benzyloxycarbonyl (Cbz). The coupling reaction of Cbz-protected derivatives (5a-f) with phenyl-(ethoxy-l-alaninyl)-phosphorochloridate (7), followed by Cbz group removal by hydrogenolysis provided the phenyl phosphoramidate ProTides (6a-f) in excellent overall yields.     

Cyclization in situ of enose-/ynose-nitrilimines: an expedient approach to the synthesis of chiral glycopyrazoles and pyrazolonucleosides

Intramolecular [3+2] nitrilimine cycloaddition reactions on carbohydrate-derived substrates proceed in a regioselective fashion, affording structurally novel chiral glycopyrazoles (4-6 and 10a-c) in good yields. The products can be subsequently transformed to bicyclic pyrazoles (viz. 11 from 4) or nucleoside analogues (viz. 12 from 4).     

Radical cyclization of exo-methylene furanose derivatives: an expedient approach to the synthesis of chiral tricyclic nucleosides and benzannulated oxepine derivatives

Tributyltin radical mediated cyclization of the glucose derived exo-methylene furanose derivatives 5a-c led to the highly functionalized cis-fused bicyclic ethers 6a-c. The product could subsequently be transformed to the optically active tricyclic nucleoside analogue 8 or oxepine derivative 9.     

Efficient synthesis of cephalotaxine- and deoxyharringtonine analogues by a trimethylaluminium-mediated domino reaction

The synthesis of cephalotaxine- and cephalotaxine amide analogues 14a-c and 16a-c as well as of the deoxyharringtonine analogues 5a,b was performed employing a trimethylaluminium-mediated domino reaction of 9a-c and 8 to give the spirocyclic compounds 7a-c, which was followed by a palladium catalyzed α-arylation.     

Highly enantioselective synthesis and potential biological activity of chiral novel nucleoside analogues containing adenine and naturally phenol derivatives

This paper described an efficient synthetic strategy for chiral acyclic nucleoside analogues containing both the phenoxy components of some bioactive natural compounds and a heterocyclic base. The phenoxy components with adenine moiety were incorporated into the chiral acyclic nucleoside analogues through two key synthetic tactics. Chiron 5-(R)-menthyloxy-2(5H)-furanone 5 was obtained in good yield from the cheap starting material furfural via a valuable synthetic route. The asymmetric Michael addition of 5 with adenine and the subsequent reduction reaction afforded the key chiral intermediate, 2-(R)-(9′-adeninyl)-1,4-butanediol 8. The absolute configuration of 8 was established by X-ray crystallography. The intermolecular dehydration reaction between 2-(9′-adeninyl)-1,4-butanediol 8 and phenoxy components 9 on treatment with diethyl azodicarboxylate and triphenylphosphine was carried out to give the chiral acyclic nucleoside analogues 1a-1e. The regioselectivity of the reaction was established by NMR methods, especially through ¹³C NMR shifts and NOE effect observed in the target molecule 1c, as well as by HMBC/HMQC experiments. The target compounds were tested for inhibition of cytopathogenicity against different cancer cells and exhibited potential anticancer activity.     

Synthesis of novel 4′-C-methyl-1′,3′-dioxolane pyrimidine nucleosides and evaluation of its anti-HIV-1 activity

The key glycosyl donor for the target molecule 12 was prepared by two-step sequences; (1) acetalization of tert-butyldimethylsilyloxyacetaldehyde with 3-bromopropanediol, (2) DBN-initiated β-elimination of the resulting 2-(tert-butyldimethylsilyloxy)methyl-4-bromomethyl-1,3-dioxolane 11. Electrophilic glycosidation between 12 and silylated pyrimidine nucleobase proceeded efficiently to provide a mixture of β- and α-anomers of the respective glycosides 14 and 15. Tin radical-mediated reduction of the bromomethyl functional group of 14 and 15 gave protected 4′-C-methyl-dioxorane uracil- 16 and thymine nucleoside 17. The respective cytosine nucleoside 18 was synthesized from 16. De-silylation of 4′-methyl-1′,3′-dioxolane pyrimidine nucleosides 16–18 gave the target molecules. Evaluation of the anti-HIV-1 activity of the β- and α-anomers of the novel 4′-C-methyl-1′,3′-dioxolane nucleosides 22β,α–24β,α revealed that none of the nucleoside derivatives possess anti-viral activity against HIV-1 and show cytotoxicity against MT-4 cells at 100 μM.     

Palladium-catalyzed epimerization of γ-alkenyl-γ-butyrolactone derivatives

γ-Alkenyl-α,β,γ-trisubstituted-γ-butyrolactones (12-16) and γ-alkenyl-furofurandione derivatives (21-Z-24-Z; 21-E-24-E; 25-Z-28-Z; and 25-E-28-E) were successfully epimerized in high yield by a palladium catalyst.     

A Pd[0]-catalyzed Ullmann cross-coupling/reductive cyclization approach to C-3 mono-alkylated oxindoles and related compounds

The Pd[0]-catalyzed Ullmann cross-coupling of o-nitrohaloarenes 1a-e with the brominated heterocycles 2a-f delivers the expected products 3a-j in good to excellent yields. The reductive cyclization of such products, as well as N-acyl derivatives 3k, l, and m, has been investigated and provided the C-3 mono-substituted oxindoles 5a-d, f, g, k, and m, the direct reduction products 4i and j or indole 5l.     

Absolute stereochemistries and total synthesis of (+)/(−)-macrosphelides, potent, orally bioavailable inhibitors of cell-cell adhesion

In the current studies, we used the single-crystal X-ray analysis and Kakisawa-Kashman modification of the Mosher NMR method to determine the complete relative and absolute stereochemistries of the (+)-macrosphelides A (+)-1 and B (+)-2. The stereostructure of (+)-2 was determined by chemical comparison with artificial (+)-2 from (+)-1. We also report the convergent total synthesis of (+)-1 and (+)-3, as well as their antipodes, utilizing an asymmetric dihydroxylation for introduction of chirality and Yamaguchi macrocyclization to form the 16-membered trilactone macrolides.     

Short-step syntheses and complexation properties of Z,Z-tribenzodidehydro- and all-Z-tribenzo[12]annulenes

Syntheses of all-Z-tribenzo[12]annulenes (1a-c) and Z,Z-tribenzodidehydro[12]annulenes (2a-c) by the reduction of the corresponding tribenzohexadehydro[12]annulenes 3a-c were carried out using a low valent titanium complex generated from Ti(O-i-Pr)₄ and i-PrMgCl. The unique structure of the first reduction products 2a-c as well as 1a-c was fully characterized. Complexation of these annulenes with silver(I) ions produces the corresponding silver complexes. Among them, the silver complexes of 2a-c exhibit interesting monomer-dimer equilibrium.     

Polyaromatic amines. Part 3: Synthesis of poly(diarylamino)styrenes and related compounds

The title compounds were synthesised and characterised as part of a study into new aromatic amines for charge transporting materials. Compounds 12-16, 20-24 and 27-34 are alkene linked triarylamines, compounds 35-36 are hydrazone derivatives and compounds 38-41 are pyrrole substituted triarylamines. Each compound was characterised by cyclic voltammetry.     

New reaction of ethenetetracarbonitrile with N-arylisoindolines

N-Arylisoindolines 1a-i react with ethenetetracarbonitrile 2 in aerated benzene by formation of [3-(2-aryl-3-dicyanomethylene-2,3-dihydro-1H-isoindol-1-ylidene)-2-aryl-2,3-dihydro-1H-isoindol-1-ylidene]propanedinitriles 8a-i (20-36%), N-aryl-3-dicyanomethylene-isoindol-2-ones 9a-i (15-21%) and N-arylphthalimides 10a-i (4-9%) as well as 1,1,2,2-tetracyanoethane 11 (35-55%). The structure of 8d has been unambiguously confirmed by a single crystal X-ray structure analysis. A rationale for the formation of products 8-11 is presented.     

Stereoisomeric bis(phenylglycinol)malonamide gelators: rare examples of gelling meso-compounds

Gelation of malonamides was investigated for the first time. Bis(phenylglycinol)malonamide 1, and methyl-, dimethyl-, ethyl-, diethyl- and isopropylmalonamides 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6, respectively, exhibited profoundly different gelling properties. Monoalkyl malonamides are efficient organogelators, and their gelling properties strongly depend on their stereochemistry. In contrast, symmetrically substituted dialkymalonamides, that is, (R,R)-dimethylmalonamide 3 and (R,R)-diethylmalonamide 5 as well as the unsubstituted 1 lack any gelation ability. Methyl derivative (R,R)-2 is an excellent, and its ethyl analogue (R,R)-4 a moderate gelator of toluene, p-xylene and tetralin while the isopropyl derivative (R,R)-6 shows only very weak gelation of tetralin and some more polar solvents. Meso diastereoisomers (R,r,S)-2 and (R,s,S)-2, as well as (R,r,S)-4 and (R,s,S)-4), each possessing a pseudoasymmetric centre represent very rare examples of gelling meso-compounds. The racemate 4 (rac-4) showed more efficient gelation of some solvents than the pure enantiomer (R,R)-4, while rac-2 failed to gel any of the solvents which were efficiently gelled by (R,R)-2.     

A fluorescence-quencher pair for DNA hybridization studies based on hydrophobic base surrogates

The synthesis of the novel, fluorescent 3-aminobiphenyl-C-nucleoside M as well as the corresponding building block for oligodeoxynucleotide synthesis is described. M was incorporated into oligodeoxynucleotides via standard phosphoramidite chemistry and the thermal stabilities of duplexes with one and three consecutive M-M, M-P, and M-O pairs, where P denotes an unmodified biphenyl C-nucleoside and O a 3,5-dinitrobiphenyl-C-nucleoside, were determined. It was found that duplexes containing three consecutive M-O pairs were the most stable in the series, notably more stable than a duplex with one additional natural G-C pair instead of the modified residues. Furthermore it was found that the fluorescence of M is efficiently quenched in a duplex when placed opposite to the dinitrophenyl unit O. Thus M and O constitute a novel fluorophore/quencher pair that is orthogonal to natural base pairs in its recognition properties enabling its use as highly specific tags with reporting properties.     

Imino Diels-Alder reaction of boronates. Preparation and characterization of new 3,4-dihydroquinoline and 1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine derivatives

The preparation of 3,4-dihydroquinolines (2a-d and 3a,b,d), as well as 1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridines (4a-e) by imino Diels-Alder reaction of boronates (1a-e) with 2,3-dimethylbutadiene is reported. Boronates (1a-d) containing substituents meta and para relative to the imino fragment lead to diastereomeric mixtures of 4-methyl-4-ethenyl-3,4-dihydroquinolines (2, 3) and tetrahydropyridines (4). In contrast, the presence of an electron withdrawing substituent at the para position (1e), favors the iminodienophile behavior giving 4,5-dimethyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (4e) as the main product. The results show that boronates derived from Schiff bases are electron deficient species which can act either as dienophiles or dienes in the reaction with 2,3-dimethylbutadiene to give 3,4-dihydroquinolines and 1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridines. All products were characterized by NMR and X-ray diffraction analysis of 2b, 2d, 3d and 4c allowed to assign the relative configuration of the newly formed stereogenic centers.     

Synthesis of novel exocyclic amino nucleosides by parallel solid-phase combinatorial strategy

A versatile parallel solid-phase combinatorial strategy was developed for the synthesis of large nucleoside libraries. Twelve libraries L1-12 of 1152 novel exocyclic triazinylamino nucleosides and one library L13 of 82 new substituted clitocine derivatives were synthesized in high quality as natural product mimic nucleosides on the semi-automated synthesizer. The polystyrene MMT-Cl resin was selected and utilized. The key intermediate resins 5 and 9 loaded with the corresponding scaffolds were prepared and validated with various amines before parallel synthesis. After a variety of amino building blocks were validated, 56 primary amines in 12 groups (building block set A) and 24 secondary amines in 3 groups (building block set B) were selected and utilized to combinatorialize the first and the second reactive sites on scaffold 5 for the synthesis of libraries L1-12. Eighty-two amines (building block set C) were utilized for the synthesis of clitocine library L13. Thirteen libraries of 1234 novel exocyclic amino nucleosides were all analyzed and characterized by high throughput LC-MS. 81.3-100% of the library members in 13 libraries show more than 60% purity, and 65.7-92.7% of the library members in these libraries show 80-100% purity. The strategy can be widely used for the synthesis of other diverse nucleoside libraries.     

Synthesis of indenothiophenone derivatives by cycloaromatization of non-conjugated thienyl tetraynes

Non-conjugated thienyl tetrayne derivatives 1-3 are prepared as novel building block for the construction of indenothiophenone derivatives. Oxidation of 1-3, followed by cycloaromatization of the corresponding ketone derivatives 13-15 proceeds smoothly to afford indenothiophenone derivatives 16-21 in good yields.     

Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (BDEs); preparation of reference standards and fluorinated internal analytical standards

Four new difluorinated tetra- and pentabromo BDE internal standards for GC-MS/GC-ECD analysis, 2F-BDE47, 2F-BDE85, 2F-BDE99 and 2F-BDE119, have been prepared in 98-99.0% purity, mainly by coupling of the new tribromodifluorophenols (19-21) and symmetrical bromodiphenyliodonium salts (8, 22). The four difluorinated BDEs showed promising properties as internal standards for quantitative BDE analysis. Tetra-, penta-, hexa- and hepta-brominated BDE reference standards, BDE75, BDE85, BDE138 and BDE183, were also prepared in 98.4-99.8% purity and characterised.     

A search for kinase inhibitors and antibacterial agents: bromopyrrolo-2-aminoimidazoles from a deep-water Great Australian Bight sponge, Axinella sp.

Biological screening of a deep-water Great Australian Bight marine sponge, Axinella sp., detected inhibition against the neurodegenerative disease kinase targets CDK5/p25, CK1δ, and GSK3β, as well as significant levels of antibacterial activity. Chemical fractionation returned 18 secondary metabolites identified by detailed spectroscopic analysis as three new bromopyrrolo-2-aminoimidazoles, 14-O-sulfate massadine (1), 14-O-methyl massadine (2), and 3-O-methyl massadine chloride (3), together with the known metabolites massadine chloride (4), massadine (5), stylissadine B (6), axinellamines A-C (7-9), hymenin (10), stevensine (also known as odiline) (11), tauroacidin A (12), hymenidin (13), taurodispacamide A (14), oroidin (15), debromohymenialdisine (16), hymenialdisine (17), and aldisin (18). Armed with this focused natural product chemical diversity library, we re-established that 16 and 17 were nM kinase inhibitors, and determined that 3, 6, and 12-15 were sub μM antibacterials.