A New Base-Labile Anchoring Group for Polymer-Supported Peptide Synthesis

A new base-labile anchoring group, derived from 9-(hydroxymethyl)fluorene-4-carboxylic acid (HO₂CFmoH or HOFmCO₂H; 7), for polymer-supported peptide synthesis os described. The synthesis of 7 starting from 2,2′-biphenyldicarboxylic acid ( 1 ) proceeds in an overall yield of 53%. The group HO₂CFmo exhibits properties similar to the well known Fmoc protecting group: It is stable to acidic conditions and cleavable by 15% piperidine in DMF. In combination with acid labile N^α-protecting groups (e.g. Boc, Ddz, Bpoc, Nps etc.), it renders more flexibility to the stepwise synthesis using polymer supports. The versatility of the new anchoring group in solid- and liquid-phase peptide synthesis is demonstrated for the synthesis of a model peptide.     

Synthesis and characterization of (R)-miniPEG-containing chiral γ-peptide nucleic acids using the Fmoc strategy

Diethylene glycol (miniPEG)-containing chiral γPNA is considered to be one of the best PNA derivatives. Its preparation is mainly based on the Boc strategy for solid phase peptide synthesis (SPPS), requiring the repeated use of trifluoroacetic acid TFA, which is not suitable for the in situ synthesis of PNA arrays and some other applications under mild conditions. Herein, Fmoc/Cbz orthogonal protected miniPEG-containing chiral γPNA monomers were synthesized, and a 15mer γPNA was prepared using the Fmoc strategy under mild conditions.     

N‐tert‐butoxycarbonyl‐N‐substituted hydrazines in SNAr displacements. Synthetic pathways to N‐1‐substituted anthrapyrazoles,aza‐anthrapyrazoles and aza‐benzothiopyranoindazoles

The synthesis of several N‐tert‐butoxycarbonyl(Boc)‐protected‐N‐substituted hydrazines has been accomplished. The use of these protected hydrazines in S_NAr substitutions leads to products in which the most nucleophilic nitrogen displaces the leaving group. Treatment of these compounds with trifluoroacetic acid readily removes the Boc‐protecting group and the intermediates readily undergo cyclizations to yield N‐1‐substituted aza‐benzothiopyranoindazoles, anthrapyrazoles and aza‐anthrapyrazoles. Side chain buildup was employed in the synthesis of several aza‐anthrapyrazoles.     

Fmoc-based solid-phase synthesis of adenylylated peptides using diester-type adenylylated amino acid derivatives

Phosphodiester-type adenylylated (AMPylated) Ser, Thr, and Tyr derivatives were developed for Fmoc solid phase peptide synthesis of AMPylated peptides. One-pot/sequential reaction consisting of condensation of an N-nonprotected adenosine derivative and Fmoc-Ser/Thr/Tyr-OAllyl using allyl-N,N-diisopropylchlorophosphoramidite and subsequent oxidation with m-chloroperbenzoic acid gave phosphotriester-type AMPylated Ser/Thr/Tyr derivatives. After Pd(0)-mediated deprotection of allyl groups, the resulting phosphodiester-type AMPylated Ser/Thr/Tyr derivatives were successfully incorporated into peptides by standard Fmoc solid phase peptide synthesis without significant side reactions including dehydroalanine formation.     

A Convergent Strategy for the Modification of Peptide Nucleic Acids: Novel Mismatch-Specific PNA-Hybridization Probes

Coupling of nonnatural nucleobases to the orthogonally protected backbone 1 on the solid phase provided access to novel peptide nucleic acid (PNA) conjugates 2 , which are difficult to synthesize by standard routes. Hybridization probes containing the thiazolorange dye might allow DNA sequence analysis in real time. B−CH₂CO=modified nucleobase, fluorescent dye, etc; Boc, Fmoc=protecting groups.     

Synthesis of glyoxylyl peptides using a phosphine labile α,α′-diaminoacetic acid derivative

We describe in this letter the preparation of a novel protected α,α′-diaminoacetic acid derivative that acts as a masked glyoxylic acid equivalent. The reagent could easily be introduced on a peptide chain using standard Fmoc/tert-butyl solid-phase methods and resisted to the TFA treatment allowing the deprotection and cleavage of the peptide. Unmasking of the glyoxylyl group was performed in solution in the presence of a phosphine.     

Facile solid phase synthesis of N-cycloguanidinyl-formyl peptides

A novel strategy of solid phase synthesis of N-cycloguanidinyl-formyl peptides has been established and investigated which involved coupling orthogonal protected diaminoacid with resin bound peptide, α-amino group deprotection, guanidinylation of α-amino group by bis-Cbz-1H-pyrazole-1-carboxamidine followed by cleavage and cyclization in solution, and finally removing Cbz by palladium catalyzed hydrogenation. Through this method, cycloguanidine could be introduced to either N-terminus or sidechain of designated peptides. The reaction conditions were facile, straightforward, and totally adaptive to common solid phase peptide synthesis strategy.     

A simple synthesis of the metabotropic receptor ligand (2S)-α-(hydroxymethyl)-glutamic acid and its Fmoc protected derivatives

The highly enantioselective synthesis of (2S)-α-(hydroxymethyl)-glutamic acid 2, a potent metabotropic receptor ligand, was accomplished using the improved Schöllkopf methodology for the construction of quaternary α-amino acids and β-lactams. This was converted to a derivative suitably protected for direct use in Fmoc solid phase peptide synthesis.     

A carbamoyl-protective group for tyrosine that facilitates purification of hydrophobic synthetic peptides

The Boc-N-methyl-N-[2-(methylamino)ethyl]carbamoyl group (Boc-Nmec) is reported as a new side chain-protective group for tyrosine in Fmoc solid-phase peptide synthesis. Tyrosine is incorporated into the peptide as Fmoc-Tyr(Boc-Nmec)-OH by standard coupling methods. During the cleavage of the peptide from the resin with TFA the Boc group is simultaneously cleaved while the cationic N-methyl-N-[2-(methylamino)ethyl]carbamoyl group remains attached to the tyrosine residue, thereby increasing the solubility of the peptide. After purification of the peptide, the Nmec protective group can be cleaved under neutral or mild alkaline conditions via an intramolecular cyclization reaction.     

Reductive removal of methoxyacetyl protective group using sodium borohydride

Herein, we have developed a mild and selective reductive deprotection method for the MAc protected alcohols using sodium borohydride. The new deprotection conditions provide a complete orthogonality between O-MAc and other protecting groups such as tert-butyl ester, N-Boc, Fmoc, Cbz, O-TBDMS, N-benzyl, O-benzyl, O-acetyl, N-acetyl, N-MAc, etc. In addition to O-MAc deprotection, this method is also applicable for S-MAc deprotection.     

An Unusual N-Boc Deprotection of Benzamides under Basic Conditions

For the first time, an unusal cleavage of N‐tert‐butyloxycarbonyl (N‐Boc) protection from N‐Boc‐protected benzamide under basic conditions in excellent yields is reported. The deprotection involves the N‐Boc emigration from the benzamide to form 2‐O‐Boc group followed by O‐Boc deprotection on the phenyl ring.     

A new protecting group for tryptophan in solid-phase peptide synthesis which protects against acid-catalyzed side reactions and facilitates purification by HPLC

The indole nucleus of Z-Trp-OBzl is modified by acylation of the indole nitrogen using Boc-N-methyl butyric acid followed by catalytic hydrogenation and introduction of the Fmoc group. The resulting derivative, Fmoc-Trp(Boc-Nmbu)-OH, is incorporated into peptide chains via solid-phase peptide synthesis (SPPS). After assembly of the peptide chain, the Boc group is cleaved by treatment with TFA. The peptide is isolated with the tryptophan residue modified with a cationic 4-(N-methylamino) butanoyl group, which improves the solubility of the peptide during HPLC purification. On treatment of the purified peptide at pH 9.5, the Nmbu group undergoes an intramolecular cyclization reaction; this results in the fully deprotected peptide and N-methylpyrrolidone.     

Solid‐Phase Total Synthesis of Yaku'amide B Enabled by Traceless Staudinger Ligation

We report a solid‐phase strategy for total synthesis of the peptidic natural product yaku'amide B ( 1 ), which exhibits antiproliferative activity against various cancer cells. Its linear tridecapeptide sequence bears four β,β‐dialkylated α,β‐dehydroamino acid residues and is capped with an N‐terminal acyl group (NTA) and a C‐terminal amine (CTA). To realize the Fmoc‐based solid‐phase synthesis of this complex structure, we developed new methods for enamide formation, enamide deprotection, and C‐terminal modification. First, traceless Staudinger ligation enabled enamide formation between sterically encumbered alkenyl azides and newly designed phosphinophenol esters. Second, application of Eu(OTf)₃ led to chemoselective removal of the enamide Boc groups without detaching the resin linker. Finally, resin‐cleavage and C‐terminus modification were simultaneously achieved with an ester–amide exchange reaction using CTA and AlMe₃ to deliver 1 in 9.1 % overall yield (24 steps from the resin).     

Coupling of an advanced tri-functional building block by reductive amination leads to a protected backbone of a new archetype of foldamer

In order to advance our project to explore a new archetype of foldamer that preferentially folds in water, we designed two types of tri-functional building blocks with increasingly favorable ketone deprotection properties. Both were selected for their ease of synthetic access and the availability of bulk starting material. While the first building block proved unsuitable for efficient coupling by reductive amination, the second gave rise to almost quantitative yields according to mass spectral monitoring. It was thus effectively turned into a protected dimer and a tetramer. Although their subsequent purification prior to exhaustive ketone deprotection was preparatively impractical in view of their high polarity/water solubility, the stage is now set for transfer of the oligomer synthesis onto the solid phase on resin in view of the efficient five-step synthetic access from affordable bulk material, the favorable deprotection properties, the perspective for introduction of a variety of backbone substituents, and the possibility to protect the amine terminus by Boc or Fmoc protection.     

Investigation for the cyclization efficiency of linear tetrapeptides: Synthesis of tentoxin B and dihydrotentoxin

Investigation of the cyclization efficiency of N-methyl linear tetrapeptides using a molecular modeling study and chemical synthesis is described. The linear peptide with two N-methyl groups, MeAla-Leu-MePhe-Gly, forms γ-turn like conformation with the amine at N-terminus and the carbonyl at C-terminus in closer proximity to give the desired cyclic tetrapeptide, dihydrotentoxin. In addition, synthesis of tentoxin B by the combination of Fmoc solid-phase peptide synthesis and cyclization in solution phase has been reported. An unusual amino acid, an L-N-methyl-β-hydroxyphenylalanine derivative, which was assembled on solid support, was prepared from ethyl cinnamate. Cyclic tetrapeptide formation and cleavage of benzyl ether were optimized with DIPCI/HOBt/DIPEA and Et₃SiH/Pd(OH)₂, respectively.     

Synthesis of N,N-Ac,Boc laurylthio sialoside and its application to O-sialylation

The combination of the 5-N-tert-butoxycarbonyl (Boc) group of laurylthio sialoside and cyclopentyl methyl ether (CPME) as a solvent enhanced the reactivity and α-selectivity of the sialyl donor during sialylation. Selective deprotection of the N-Boc group of sialoside, including an acid-sensitive isopropylidene function, was successfully achieved by Yb(OTf)₃-SiO₂. Transformation of N,N-Ac,Boc into an N-acetylglycolyl group of sialoglycoside was easily performed via selective N-deacylation of the mixed Ac-N-Boc carbamate, subsequent Boc group removal, and acylation.     

Peptide thioester preparation based on an N-S acyl shift reaction mediated by a thiol ligation auxiliary

Formation of peptide thioesters, based on an N to S acyl shift mediated by an auxiliary, N-4,5-dimethoxy-2-mercaptobenzyl (Dmmb) group, under acidic conditions, is described. The protected peptide was assembled on a hydroxymethylphenylacetamidomethyl resin via an N-Dmmb-amino acid residue according to standard Fmoc solid-phase peptide synthesis following treatment with trifluoroacetic acid. The peptide α-thioester was released from the resin by reaction with 2-mercaptoethanesulfonic acid in the presence of N,N-diisopropylethylamine.     

One-step construction of carbazoles by way of the palladium-catalyzed double N-arylation reaction and its application to the total synthesis of murrastifoline-A

The one-step construction of N-substituted carbazoles by way of the Pd-catalyzed double N-arylation reaction of primary amines with 2,2′-dibromobiphenyl is described. Aryl and aliphatic amines including tert-butylamine and a protected glucopyranosylamine were effectively transformed into the corresponding N-substituted carbazoles. The first total synthesis of murrastifoline-A, a biscarbazole alkaloid, based on this methodology is also presented.     

Synthesis and structural studies of a novel scaffold for drug discovery: a 4,5-dihydro-3H-spiro[1,5-benzoxazepine-2,4-piperidine]

We describe the three-step synthesis of a novel 4,5-dihydro-3H-spiro[1,5-benzoxazepine-2,4^′-piperidine] scaffold from ortho-hydroxyacetophenone and N-benzylpiperidone. The structure of one disubstituted derivative, studied by NOESY NMR in an aqueous medium and X-ray diffraction, demonstrates that this scaffold presents side chains in a well-defined orientation. The Boc protected derivative represents a key intermediate for the combinatorial synthesis of drug-like molecules.     

The concept of internal solubilization in peptide synthesis: ethylene glycol-based protecting groups

A novel, ethylene glycol-based protecting group is designed and synthesized for use in solid phase peptide synthesis. Ether and ester type protected amino acids are prepared. The acid stability of the new protecting group showed complete Fmoc/t-Bu compatibility. The new derivatives are tested in solid phase peptide synthesis, with a ‘difficult’ sequence to examine the disruption of peptide aggregation.