Total synthesis and cytotoxicity of (−)-jorumycin and its analogues

(?)-Jorumycin and its 15 C-22 analogues were prepared employing l-tyrosine as the chiral starting material via 21 steps. These analogues, along with (?)-jorumycin itself, were evaluated in vitro for cytotoxicity against HCT-8, BEL-7402, Ketr3, A2780, MCF-7, A549, BGC-823, Hela, HELF, and KB cells. The IC₅₀ values of the cytotoxicity of most of these analogs were at the level of nM, which was similar to that of (?)-jorumycin. Among these analogs including (?)-jorumycin, hippuric acid ester derivative 23 exhibited the most potent and broad-spectrum cytotoxic activity against the ten cell lines with an average IC₅₀ of 2.12 nM.     

Stereoselective synthesis of α- and β-glycofuranosyl amides by traceless ligation of glycofuranosyl azides

A highly stereoselective synthesis of α- or β-glycofuranosyl amides based on the traceless Staudinger ligation of glycofuranosyl azides of the galacto, ribo, and arabino series with 2-diphenylphosphanyl-phenyl esters has been developed. Both α- and β-isomers can be obtained with excellent selectivity from a common, easily available precursor. The process does not depend on the anomeric configuration of the starting azide but appears to be controlled by the C2 configuration and by the protection/deprotection state of the substrates. A mechanistic interpretation of the results, supported by (31)P NMR experiments, is offered and merged with our previous mechanistic analysis of pyranosyl azide ligation reactions.     

Total synthesis of (−)-vitrenal and its biological activity

(−)-Vitrenal, the enantiomer of a natural sesquiterpene aldehyde isolated from a liverwort, has been synthesized starting from (+)-Δ³-carene, and its activity as a plant-growth regulator has been tested.     

The total synthesis and biological evaluation of nafuredin-γ and its analogues

Nafuredin (1) is converted to nafuredin-γ (2) under mild basic conditions and both compounds exhibit the same inhibitory activity and selectivity against NADH-fumarate reductase (complex I). The total synthesis of 2 was achieved by a convergent approach using Stille coupling. The structural elements required for inhibitory activity against NADH-fumarate reductase (complex I) were then investigated by evaluation of nafuredin-γ (2) and its structural analogues.     

Total synthesis of the natural product (±)-dibromophakellin and analogues

(±)-Dibromophakellin has been synthesized in two steps from a known alkene intermediate. The key step in the synthesis is the NBS olefin activation to facilitate the addition of a guanidine molecule across the double bond.     

Total synthesis of (−)-synrotolide and the evaluation of its antiproliferative activity

The stereoselective synthesis of (−)-synrotolide was achieved in high overall yield from d-(−)-ribose and 3-butyn-1-ol. The pivotal step in this approach is the selective deprotection of the acetonide group in the presence of acetate groups using TiCl₄. Moreover, the biological activity of (−)-synrotolide was evaluated on HeLa, PANC 1, HepG2, and SK-N-SH cancer cell lines. The (−)-synrotolide selectively and potently inhibited the growth of PANC 1 cell line.     

Native chemical ligation of thioamide-containing peptides: development and application to the synthesis of labeled α-synuclein for misfolding studies

Thioamide modifications of the peptide backbone are used to perturb secondary structure, to inhibit proteolysis, as photoswitches, and as spectroscopic labels. Thus far, their incorporation has been confined to single peptides synthesized on solid phase. We have generated thioamides in C-terminal thioesters or N-terminal Cys fragments and examined their compatibility with native chemical ligation conditions. Most sequence variants can be coupled in good yields with either TCEP or DTT as the reductant, though some byproducts are observed with prolonged TCEP incubations. Furthermore, we find that thioamides are compatible with thiazolidine protection of an N-terminal Cys, so that multiple ligations can be used to construct larger proteins. Since the acid-lability of the thioamide prohibits on-resin thioester synthesis using Boc chemistry, we devised a method for the synthesis of thioamide peptides with a masked C-terminal thioester that is revealed in situ. Finally, we have shown that thioamidous peptides can be coupled to expressed protein fragments to generate large proteins with backbone thioamide labels by synthesizing labeled versions of the amyloid protein α-synuclein for protein folding studies. In a proof-of-principle experiment, we demonstrated that quenching of fluorescence by thioamides can be used to track conformational changes during aggregation of labeled α-synuclein.     

Total synthesis of Phytophthora mating hormone α1

Total synthesis of Phytophthora mating hormone α1 (1) has been demonstrated. The required stereochemistries (methyl) are achieved by applying CuI-(S)-Tol-BINAP-catalyzed conjugate addition of Grignard reagents to α,β-unsaturated esters.     

Total synthesis of (−)-jaspine B and its 4-epi-analogue from d-xylose

The total synthesis of the HCl salts of (−)-jaspine B ent-1 and its 4-epi-congener ent-4 was accomplished starting from the common template 13 derived from d-xylose. The cornerstone of our synthesis was [3,3]-heterosigmatropic rearrangements, which effectively provided scaffolds with a chiral amino group. A subsequent Wittig olefination installed a C₁₄ alkyl side chain and acid-mediated ring-closing reaction established the tetrahydrofuran core.     

One-pot synthesis of α-phenylsulfinyl ketones by reaction of phenyl benzenethiosulfinate with enolate anions,and synthesis of sulfoxides and sulfides by its reaction with Grignard reagents

Phenyl benzenethiosulfinate reacts with enolate anions derived from ketones to give α-phenylsulfinyl ketones directly, together with minor amounts of α-phenylsulfanyl ketones. These are easily separated by forming the water-soluble sodium salts of the sulfinyl compounds. Grignard reagents also react with phenyl benzenethiosulfinate, to give mixtures of sulfoxides and sulfides.     

Hydrogenation of α-cyanoacrylic acid and its esters by organohydridesilanes

The C=C bond in -cyanoacrylic acid is readily hydrogenated by organohydridesilanes in the absence of catalyst. The hydrogenation of -cyanoacrylate esters requires the presence of acid.A. N. Nesmeyanov Institute of Organometallic Compounds, Russian Academy of Sciences, 117813 Moscow. Translated from Izvestiya Akademii Nauk, Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 7, pp. 1655–1657, July, 1992.     

A concise synthesis of paucifloral F and related indanone analogues via palladium-catalyzed α-arylation

A concise approach to synthesize paucifloral F was developed via a stereoselective palladium-catalyzed α-arylation reaction. The approach has also been applied in the synthesis of indanone analogues of Paucifloral F.     

Asymmetric epoxidation of substituted chalcones and chalcone analogues catalyzed by α-d-glucose- and α-d-mannose-based crown ethers

The chiral monoaza-15-crown-5 lariat ethers annellated to methyl-4,6-O-benzylidene-α-d-glucopyranoside-1 or mannopyranoside 2 have been applied as phase-transfer catalysts in the epoxidation of substituted chalcones and chalcone analogues with tert-butylhydroperoxide resulting in significant asymmetric induction. It was found that the position of the substituents in the aromatic ring of the chalcone had an influence both on the chemical yields and enantiomeric excesses. The lowest enantioselectivities (62–83% ee) were found in the case of ortho-substituted model compounds. The highest ee values (ee of 83–97%) were obtained in the case of para-substituted models. From among the chalcone analogues, the maximum ee (90–92%) was detected for the model compound having α-tert-butyl- and β-aryl groups. Using glucose-based crown ether 1, formation of the (?)-enantiomer was preferred, while applying mannose-based 2 as the catalyst, the (+)-enantiomer was in excess.     

Synthetic efforts towards the synthesis of fluorinated C-glycosidic analogues of α-galactosylceramides

An overview of the work realized by the group regarding the synthesis of fluorinated C-glycosides is described. The various strategies that were investigated allowed the synthesis of CF₂-glycosides for many carbohydrate series (glucose, mannose and galactose) and for any pseudo-anomeric center configuration (α or β). This work culminated in an efficient preparation of a synthetically useful α-CF₂-galactoside intermediate and its conversion to α-CF₂-galactoconjugates. A synthesis of α-CF₂-galactosylceramide, based on this last methodology, is currently investigated.     

Total synthesis of (±)-fumimycin and analogues for biological evaluation as peptide deformylase inhibitors

A concise 7-step total synthesis of (±)-fumimycin in 11.6% overall yield is reported. An acid-catalyzed intramolecular aza-Friedel–Crafts cyclization was developed to construct the benzofuranone skeleton of the natural product bearing an α,α-disubstituted amino acid moiety in a single step. Regioselective chlorination followed by a Suzuki–Miyaura cross-coupling rapidly enabled the preparation of a library of analogues which were evaluated against peptide deformylase for antibacterial activity.     

Organocatalytic synthesis of α-hydroxy and α-aminophosphonates

A new and highly flexible procedure is described for the synthesis of α-amino- and α-hydroxy phosphonates. In the presence of a catalytic amount of oxalic acid (10 mol %), trimethyl phosphite reacts with aldehydes or imines (generated in situ from an aldehyde and an amine) to yield the corresponding coupled products in good yield.     

Microwave assisted non-aqueous sol–gel synthesis of LiNiPO4 and its copper doped analogues

A series of single phase LiNi_(1?x)Cu_xPO₄ (0 < x < 0.99) was successfully synthesized by non-aqueous sol–gel method followed by microwave (MW) annealing. The advantage of MW short span annealing is obvious from the nanometer sized particles compared to reported microparticles. XRD, IR and SEM studies were conducted to investigate the phase purity, crystal structure, lattice parameters and morphology respectively. It was found that 10 min of microwave annealing is a time and cost effective approach to produce single phase compositions at low temperature. X-ray studies confirmed the single phase formation of pure and the doped analogues which were found to be iso-structural with the parent LiNiPO₄ compound. The cell parameters with the addition of copper content were in accord with the Vegards law. Impedance studies pointed toward enhanced electrical properties of doped samples as compared to the undoped one.     

Total synthesis of (−) verbenalol and (−) epiverbenalol

The first asymmetric synthesis of (−) verbenalol and (−) epiverbenalol, starting from the organometallic complex (−) 1, is described.