Syntheses and lipophilicity measurement of N/N-terminus-1,1-dihydroperfluoroalkylated α-amino acids and small peptides

(1,1-Dihydroperfluoroalkyl)phenyliodonium N,N-bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imides (4, n = 0-2) were synthesized and used to transfer the corresponding 1,1-dihydroperfluoroalkyl groups to the α-amino group of (l)tyrosine. The obtained N^α-2,2,2-trifluoroethylated (l)tyrosine (6, n = 0) was further used as the N-terminus in the solid phase peptide synthesis of leucine enkephalin analogue. The lipophilicity of the N^α-1,1-dihydroperfluoroalkylated (l)tyrosines (6, n = 0-2) and N-terminus-2,2,2-trifluoroethylated leucine enkephalin analogue (7), as well as the corresponding parent compounds, was measured.     

Application of the addition of triorganozincates to N-(tert-butanesulfinyl)imines to the enantioselective synthesis of α-amino acids

Highly enantiomerically enriched N-protected α-amino acids can be easily prepared from optically pure N-(tert-butanesulfinyl)imines by a four-step sequence involving: diastereoselective addition of a triorganozincate to the imine, removal of the sulfinyl group, benzoylation of the nitrogen atom of the obtained primary amine and oxidation of one of the substituents on the carbon atom α to the nitrogen. Using the same configuration in the sulfinyl chiral auxiliary, amino acids with the (R) or the (S) configuration can be prepared by choosing the proper combination of imine and organozincate. α,α-Disubstituted α-amino esters with high optical purity can also be prepared by the diastereoselective addition of trialkylzincates to α-imino esters.     

A reasonably stereospecific multistep conversion of Boc-protected α-amino acids to Phth-protected β-amino acids

A method for the synthesis of β³-amino acids starting from α-amino acids is described. This conversion can be effected by an eight-step procedure which involves the transformation of the carboxylic group into an alkyne followed by a selenium-mediated conversion of the carbon-carbon triple bond to a Se-phenyl selenocarboxylate intermediate. The reactive Se-phenyl selenocarboxylate intermediates can be trapped with water, alcohols or the amine of an amino acid derivative to give β³-amino acids, β³-amino esters or mixed peptides, respectively. The whole transformations of the carboxylic group into an alkyne and of the alkyne group into β³-amino acids may not require purification of the intermediate products but a work-up and isolation procedure of crude materials.     

Chirality measures of α-amino acids

To measure molecular chirality, the molecule is treated as a finite set of points in the Euclidean R(3) space supplemented by k properties, p(1)((i)), p(2)((i)), ..., p(k)((i)) assigned to the ith atom, which constitute a point in the Property P(k) space. Chirality measures are described as the distance between a molecule and its mirror image minimized over all its arbitrary orientation-preserving isometries in the R(3) × P(k) Cartesian product space. Following this formalism, different chirality measures can be estimated by taking into consideration different sets of atomic properties. Here, for α-amino acid zwitterionic structures taken from the Cambridge Structural Database and for all 1684 neutral conformers of 19 biogenic α-amino acid molecules, except glycine and cystine, found at the B3LYP/6-31G** level, chirality measures have been calculated by a CHIMEA program written in this project. It is demonstrated that there is a significant correlation between the measures determined for the α-amino acid zwitterions in crystals and the neutral forms in the gas phase. Performance of the studied chirality measures with changes of the basis set and computation method was also checked. An exemplary quantitative structure–activity relationship (QSAR) application of the chirality measures was presented by an introductory model for the benchmark Cramer data set of steroidal ligands of the sex-hormone binding globulin.     

Trading N and O: asymmetric syntheses of β-hydroxy-α-amino acids via α-hydroxy-β-amino esters

Both diastereoisomers of 2-amino-3-hydroxybutanoic acid and 2-amino-3-hydroxy-3-phenylpropanoic acid have been prepared from enantiopure α-hydroxy-β-amino esters via the intermediacy of the corresponding cis- and trans-aziridines. Aminohydroxylation of two α,β-unsaturated esters produced enantiopure 2,3-anti-α-hydroxy-β-amino esters in >99:1 dr. Subsequent epimerisation at the C(2)-position via a sequential oxidation/diastereoselective reduction protocol gave the corresponding enantiopure 2,3-syn-α-hydroxy-β-amino esters in >99:1 dr. These syn- and anti-substrates were then converted into the corresponding N-Boc protected cis- and trans-aziridines, respectively, via a three step reaction sequence: (i) hydrogenolysis and in situ N-Boc protection; (ii) OH-activation; and (iii) aziridine formation. Subsequent regioselective ring-opening of the C(3)-methyl-aziridines with Cl₃CCO₂H proceeded with inversion of configuration to give the corresponding 2-amino-3-trichloroacetate esters, whereas the analogous reaction with the C(3)-phenyl-aziridines resulted in rearrangement to the corresponding oxazolidin-2-ones with retention of configuration. In each case, hydrolysis of the products from these ring-opening reactions produced the corresponding enantiopure β-hydroxy-α-amino acids as single diastereoisomers.     

Rearrangement of N-tert-butanesulfinyl α-halo imines with alkoxides to N-tert-butanesulfinyl 2-amino acetals as precursors of N-protected and N-unprotected α-amino carbonyl compounds

Reaction of N-tert-butanesulfinyl α-halo imines with alkoxides afforded new N-tert-butanesulfinyl 2-amino acetals in good to excellent yield. These N-tert-butanesulfinyl 2-amino acetals are convenient precursors for the TMSOTf-promoted synthesis of the corresponding N-protected α-amino aldehydes and ketones, as well as for the HCl-promoted synthesis of 2-amino acetal hydrochlorides and α-amino ketone and α-amino aldehyde hydrochlorides in high yield. Via this method, an asymmetric synthesis of (S)-cathinone hydrochloride (er 94:6) was achieved.     

Iron-catalyzed Minisci acylation of N-heteroarenes with α-keto acids

An efficient and mild protocol has been developed for the Minisci acylation reactions of nitrogen-containing heteroarenes with α-keto acids. Distinct from the conventional Minisci acylation conditions, the chemistry was performed using non-noble metal Fe(II), instead of expensive Ag(I) salt, as catalyst. A wide range of substrates, including aliphatic or aromatic α-keto acids, as well as various N-heteroarenes, proved to be compatible with the protocol. Scale-up experiment also demonstrates the practicality of the approach.     

Mass spectroscopic investigation of bis-1,3-urea calix[4]arenes and their ability to complex N-protected α-amino acids

We report the ability of urea’s appended onto the upper-rim of conformationally locked ‘cone’ calix[4]arenes to show a preference for binding specific N-protected α-amino acids. Superior complexation (as judged by mass spectroscopy) between N-protected α-amino results and bis-1,3-N-benzylureas calix[4]arenes was observed when methylene bridges were present between the calix[4]arene ‘host’ and the urea motif. Interestingly we also demonstrate that subjecting mixtures of structurally diverse N-Fmoc-α-amino acids to a single bis-1,3-N-benzylurea derived calix[4]arene allows, in some cases, the calix[4]arene ‘host’ to selectively ‘pick out’ and complex a specific N-Fmoc amino acid from the mixture.     

Stereoselective synthesis of the dolastatin units by organotrifluoroborates additions to α-amino aldehydes

Dolastatin units were synthesized from the 1,2-addition reactions of potassium allyl or crotyltrifluoroborate salts to aldehyde derivatives from natural amino acids. The reactions were carried out in presence of a phase-transfer catalyst in a biphasic medium at room temperature and excellent yields (>89-93%) and stereoselective (>90:10 to 98:2) were obtained. The dolastatin units 8 and 14a-b were obtained after three steps in good overall yields (50-62%).     

Synthesis and decarboxylation of N-acyl-α-triphenylphosphonio-α-amino acids: a new synthesis of α-(N-acylamino)alkyltriphenylphosphonium salts

4-Phosphoranylidene-5(4H)-oxazolones 1 undergo hydrolysis in THF in the presence of HBF₄ at room temperature to give N-acyl-α-triphenylphosphonioglycines 3 (R² = H) in very good yields. 4-Alkyl-4-triphenylphosphonio-5(4H)-oxazolones 2 react with water in CH₂Cl₂/THF solution without any acidic catalyst at 0-5 °C in a few days yielding N-acyl-α-triphenylphosphonio-α-amino acids 3 (R² = Me) or α-(N-acylamino)alkyltriphenylphosphonium salt 4 (R² = CH₂OMe). α-Triphenylphosphonio-α-amino acids 3, on heating up to 105-115 °C under reduced pressure (5 mmHg) or on treatment with diisopropylethylamine in CH₂Cl₂ at 20 °C undergo decarboxylation to give the corresponding α-(N-acylamino)alkyltriphenylphosphonium salts 4, usually in very good yields.     

Absolute asymmetric synthesis of tertiary α-amino acids

Frozen: the spontaneous crystallization of an achiral compound in a chiral conformation is used as the unique source of chirality in an absolute asymmetric synthesis of tertiary amino acids. The dynamic axial chirality of tertiary aromatic amides is frozen in a crystal and is responsible for the stereoselectivity of the deprotonation/alkylation. α-Amino acid derivatives are synthesized in up to 96 % ee.     

Synthesis of novel carboranyl derivatives of α-amino acids

New routes to closo-carboranyl derivatives of L-lysine and L-glutamic acid with free gA-NH2 groups were proposed.     

Facile synthesis of α-hydroxy carboxylic acids from the corresponding α-amino acids

An effective and improved procedure is developed for the synthesis of α-hydroxy carboxylic acids by treatment of the corresponding protonated α-amino acid with tert-butyl nitrite in 1,4-dioxane–water. The amino moiety must be protonated and located α to a carboxylic acid function in order to undergo initial diazotization and successive hydroxylation, since neither β-amino acids nor acid derivatives such as esters and amides undergo hydroxylations. The method is successfully applied for the synthesis of 18 proteinogenic amino acids.     

Photocatalytic aerobic cross-coupling reaction of N-substituted anilines with N-aryl glycine esters: Synthesis of α-aryl α-amino esters

A novel photocatalytic cross dehydrogenative coupling reaction of N-aryl glycine esters with N-substituted anilines has been developed. The reaction proceeds effectively using methylene blue as a photocatalyst under visible light irradiation without any metal, chemical oxidant or additive. A variety of α-aryl α-amino derivatives were prepared in moderate to excellent yields with a high para-regioselectivity.     

Synthesis of dipeptides from N-hydroxy-3-azaspiro[5,5]undecane-2,4-dione activated α-amino acids

A simple two step procedure for the synthesis of a dipeptide from N-hydroxy-3-azaspiro[5,5]undecane-2,4-dione (HO-ASUD) activated α-amino acids is described. In presence of DCC, N-hydroxy-3-azaspiro[5,5]undecane-2,4-dione readily esterifies the carboxylic acid group of all the N-protected amino acids to yield crystalline N-hydroxy-3-aza spiro[5,5]undecane-2,4-dione activated carboxy ester. The N-hydroxy-3-aza spiro[5,5]undecane-2,4-dione activated carboxy esters of N-protected amino acids readily condensed with other amino acids and gave a dipeptide. This new method is effective for the DCC coupling of a variety of chiral amino acids without loss of enantiomeric purity. Synthesis of fifteen dipeptides including the hitherto unreported Fmoc-l-Orn(Boc)-Val-OMe, Fmoc-l-Cys(trt)-Gly-OEt and Boc-l-Tyr-Gly-OEt is presented.     

Efficient synthesis of N-acyl-α-amino acids via polymer incarcerated palladium-catalyzed amidocarbonylation

A novel polymer incarcerated Pd catalyst (PI Pd 7c) was synthesized from amide-containing polymer 6b, and this catalyst was shown to be effective in amidocarbonylation, which is a versatile one-pot method for the preparation of N-acyl-α-amino acids. The reactions proceeded smoothly with a wide variety of substrates, and no leaching of the Pd metal to the reaction mixture was detected.     

Synthesis and resolution of new paramagnetic α-amino acids

New, paramagnetic unnatural α-amino acids were synthesized by the O'Donnell method. In the new amino acids nitroxide is condensed with thiophene, benzene, and tetrahydroisoquinoline ring, or linked through a methylene, benzyl or propargyl spacer. Some of the racemic paramagnetic α-amino acid esters described earlier or in this work were resolved by fractional crystallization of diastereomeric salts. Another approach for optically active paramagnetic amino acids is the modification of S-tyrosine derivatives with Pd-catalyzed cross-coupling reactions with paramagnetic acetylene and with a paramagnetic boronic acid.