Synthesis of amorphane and cadinane sesquiterpenes from fabiana imbricata

The monoterpene (−)-isopulegol (7) has been used as a starting material for the total synthesis in eight/nine steps of two sesquiterpenes which were recently isolated from the medicinal plant Fabiana imbricata. Use of this approach has shown that a structure proposed as 3,11-amorphadiene (3) should be revised to that of 4,11-cadinadiene (18) and confirmed the structure proposed for the natural product 4-amorphen-1 1-ol (1).     

Anti-Markovnikov hydroalkylation of allylic amine derivatives via a palladium-catalyzed reductive cross-coupling reaction

Palladium-catalyzed hydroalkylation of allylic amine derivatives by alkylzinc reagents is reported. This reductive cross-coupling reaction yields anti-Markovnikov products using a variety of allylic amine protecting groups. Preliminary mechanistic studies suggest that a reversible β-hydride elimination/hydride insertion process furnishes the primary Pd-alkyl intermediate, which then undergoes transmetalation followed by reductive elimination to form a new sp(3)-sp(3) carbon-carbon bond.     

Versatile route to centro-substituted triquinacene derivatives: synthesis of 10-phenyltriquinacene

[reaction: see text] A versatile route to prepare centro-substituted triquinacene derivatives (1, R = various substituents), as exemplified by the preparation of 10-phenyltriquinacene (1, R = Ph), is reported. The quaternary, centro substituent (C-10) was installed by a trimethylsilyl chloride-promoted conjugate addition reaction of an organocuprate, derived from phenylmagnesium bromide, and the protected bicyclic enone (11). The resultant trimethylsilyl enol ether was then converted regioselectively to the C-2-allylated conjugate addition products (13, R = Ph). The allyl moiety, following oxidative cleavage of the carbon-carbon double bond, was used to elaborate the tricyclic ring system by an intramolecular aldol/acetal deprotection reaction. The product of this reaction was then converted to the target compound using a standard series of functional group transformation reactions.     

Biomimetic synthesis of arteannuin h and the 3,2-rearrangement of allylic hydroperoxides

The acyl endoperoxide arteannuin H, recently reported as a novel natural product from Artemtsia annua, has been obtained in two steps from the photooxidation of dihydroartemisinic acid, thereby confirming biogenetic speculation regarding its derivation from a secondary allylic hydroperoxide. The little studied 3,2-rearrangement reaction of such allylic hydroperoxides is also discussed.     

Stereoselectivity of 1,3-dipolar cycloadditions of l-valine-derived nitrones with methyl acrylate

Chiral nitrones derived from l-valine react with methyl acrylate to afford the corresponding diastereomeric 3,5-disubstituted isoxazolidines. The dibenzylsubstituted nitrone gave also 3,4-disubstituted isoxazolidine in 4% yield, additionally. The stereoselectivity was dependent on the steric hindrance of the nitrone and reaction conditions. High pressure decreased the reaction time of the cycloadditions. The major products were found to have the C-3/C-6 erythro and C-3/C-5 trans relative configuration. The major cycloadduct undergoes N-O cleavage and deprotection to a chiral diaminodiol derivative.     

Laser-powered homogeneous decomposition of tert.-butylamine

The title reaction shows a preference for carbon-nitrogen bond over carbon-carbon bond cleavage and is depicted by a different reaction scheme from that reported earlier for the hot-wall decomposition, which favours the cleavage of the carbon-carbon bond. The new mechanism was verified by simulation of kinetic curves.     

Oxidation of acyclic alkenes and allyl and benzyl ethers with DIB/t-BuOOH/Mg(OAc)2

Oxidation of (11Z)-1′,2′-didehydrostemofoline with DIB/TBHP/Mg(OAc)₂·4H₂O resulted in oxidative cleavage of the C-11–C-12 double bond instead of the desired allylic oxidation of the 1-butenyl side chain. Stemofoline gave a similar result. The oxidation of more simple terminal alkenes was regioselective and gave vinyl ketones while allyl and benzyl ethers gave acrylate and benzoate esters, respectively. Allyl and benzyl ethers could be chemoselectively oxidized in the presence of a terminal alkene or benzyl group. Oxidation of an internal alkene was poorly regioselective, in contrast to the oxidation of 1-substituted cyclohexenes.     

Diastereoselective formation of contiguous quaternary centers: the modified carroll rearrangement

A method is described for the diastereoselective formation of adjacent quaternary carbon atoms. The process involves a two-step transformation of an allylic β-ketoester into a single silyl keteneacetal which then undergoes a [3,3] sigmatropic rearrangement to generate the desired carbon-carbon bond in good yield and with excellent stereocontrol.     

Facile synthesis of a 4-anilinoquinazoline dimer by Suzuki cross-coupling reaction

A novel 4-anilinoquinazoline dimer linked by a carbon-carbon bond in the C-7 position was synthesized via a one step Suzuki cross-coupling reaction. All structures of new compounds were characterized by ¹H NMR, ¹³C NMR, and HRMS. The inhibition rate of the synthetic 4-anilinoquinazoline dimer 8 against epidermal growth factor receptor-tyrosine kinase enzymes (EGFR) in vitro was 44.4% at the concentration of 5.5 μmol/L.     

Analysis of lipid hydroperoxides and long-chain conjugated keto acids by negative ion electrospray mass spectrometry

Lipid hydroperoxides are important products of enzymatic processes and autooxidation products of polyunsaturated fatty acids. Analysis of such compounds has proved difficult in the past, but negative ion electrospray ionization mass spectrometry was found to be suitable for direct analysis. Abundant [M - H]⁻ ions were observed in full scan mode for hydroperoxyeicosatetraenoic (HPETE), hydroperoxyoctadecenoic acid isomers, and 5,12-diHPETE. Loss of water was observed for all species. Collisional activation and tandem mass spectrometry generated unique and characteristic spectra that shared some common features such as loss of small neutral molecules. More importantly, fragment ions that were indicative of the position of the hydroperoxide were observed. Collision-induced decomposition (CID) of [M - H₂O]⁻ for the HPETE isomers was found to be virtually identical to the CID mass spectra of the [M - H]⁻ anions from corresponding keto-eicosatetraenoic acids, which suggests that the hydroperoxide anions decompose via a dehydration intermediate that resembles the keto acid molecular anion. Cleavage of the double bond allylic to the hydroperoxide formed structurally characteristic ions at m/z 129 from 5-HPETE, m/z 153 from 12-HPETE, and m/z 113 from 15-HPETE. Charge-driven allylic fragmentation led to formation of m/z 203 from 5-HPETE, m/z 179 from 12-HPETE, and m/z 219 from 15-HPETE. Mechanisms consistent with the decomposition of stable isotope analogues are proposed for the formation of these and other characteristic ions. These specific decompositions can be used in multiple reaction monitoring to measure picomolar concentrations of hydroperoxides by direct high performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry.     

Iridium-catalyzed selective N-allylation of hydrazines

A highly chemo- and regioselective iridium-catalyzed allylic amination is described. The reaction of various hydrazones and hydrazides with allylic carbonates proceeds at ambient temperature in the presence of an [Ir(COD)Cl]₂/pyridine catalyst, ammonium iodide, and diethylzinc to afford the corresponding N-allylation products in high yields with excellent chemo- and regioselectivities. Only the more nucleophilic nitrogen of a given hydrazine derivative undergoes the C-N bond formation to yield a branched allylic isomer as the exclusive product.     

The biosynthesis of artemisinin (Qinghaosu) and the phytochemistry of Artemisia annua L. (Qinghao)

The Chinese medicinal plant Artemisia annua L. (Qinghao) is the only known source of the sesquiterpene artemisinin (Qinghaosu), which is used in the treatment of malaria. Artemisinin is a highly oxygenated sesquiterpene, containing a unique 1,2,4-trioxane ring structure, which is responsible for the antimalarial activity of this natural product. The phytochemistry of A. annua is dominated by both sesquiterpenoids and flavonoids, as is the case for many other plants in the Asteraceae family. However, A. annua is distinguished from the other members of the family both by the very large number of natural products which have been characterised to date (almost six hundred in total, including around fifty amorphane and cadinane sesquiterpenes), and by the highly oxygenated nature of many of the terpenoidal secondary metabolites. In addition, this species also contains an unusually large number of terpene allylic hydroperoxides and endoperoxides. This observation forms the basis of a proposal that the biogenesis of many of the highly oxygenated terpene metabolites from A. annua - including artemisinin itself - may proceed by spontaneous oxidation reactions of terpene precursors, which involve these highly reactive allyllic hydroperoxides as intermediates. Although several studies of the biosynthesis of artemisinin have been reported in the literature from the 1980s and early 1990s, the collective results from these studies were rather confusing because they implied that an unfeasibly large number of different sesquiterpenes could all function as direct precursors to artemisinin (and some of the experiments also appeared to contradict one another). As a result, the complete biosynthetic pathway to artemisinin could not be stated conclusively at the time. Fortunately, studies which have been published in the last decade are now providing a clearer picture of the biosynthetic pathways in A. annua. By synthesising some of the sesquiterpene natural products which have been proposed as biogenetic precursors to artemisinin in such a way that they incorporate a stable isotopic label, and then feeding these precursors to intact A. annua plants, it has now been possible to demonstrate that dihydroartemisinic acid is a late-stage precursor to artemisinin and that the closely related secondary metabolite, artemisinic acid, is not (this approach differs from all the previous studies, which used radio-isotopically labelled precursors that were fed to a plant homogenate or a cell-free preparation). Quite remarkably, feeding experiments with labeled dihydroartemisinic acid and artemisinic acid have resulted in incorporation of label into roughly half of all the amorphane and cadinane sesquiterpenes which were already known from phytochemical studies of A. annua. These findings strongly support the hypothesis that many of the highly oxygenated sesquiterpenoids from this species arise by oxidation reactions involving allylic hydroperoxides, which seem to be such a defining feature of the chemistry of A. annua. In the particular case of artemisinin, these in vivo results are also supported by in vitro studies, demonstrating explicitly that the biosynthesis of artemisinin proceeds via the tertiary allylic hydroperoxide, which is derived from oxidation of dihydroartemisinic acid. There is some evidence that the autoxidation of dihydroartemisinic acid to this tertiary allylic hydroperoxide is a non-enzymatic process within the plant, requiring only the presence of light; and, furthermore, that the series of spontaneous rearrangement reactions which then convert this allylic hydroperoxide to the 1,2,4-trioxane ring of artemisinin are also non-enzymatic in nature.     

Preparation and reactivity of imino glycals: stereocontrolled,divergent approach to imino sugars

The synthesis of 3,4,6-tri-O-acetyl imino D-glucal 2 from D-glucal is reported. This imino glycal participates in a variety of Lewis acid mediated carbon-carbon bond forming reactions by allylic displacement of the C-3 acetate group by added nucleophiles. Allyl silanes, trimethylsilyl enol ethers, alkenes and dialkyl zinc reagents serve as suitable reaction partners. In all the cases studied, the beta-anomer is predominant. Using imino glycal 8, epimeric at C-5, it is established that the configuration at C-5 of the piperidine ring plays a major role in controlling the stereochemical outcome. These results are rationalised by invoking the intermediacy of a conjugated N-acyliminium ion. A short stereocontrolled synthesis of (+)-deoxoprosophylline is achieved using this chemistry. Additionally, imino glucal 2 is transformed into bromo piperidine 16, whose X-ray crystal structure is determined. Bromide 16 participates in palladium catalysed Stille and Suzuki cross-couplings allowing access to C-2 substituted imino sugars 17 and 18. In other studies, imino sugar C-glycosides 21 and 22 are made by combining the Lewis acid mediated carbon-carbon bond forming reactions with stereospecific dihydroxylations.     

A study of the oxyanion effect in reactions of 2-methyl-2-propen-1-ol

Optimum conditions for the self reaction of the potassium alkoxide of 2-methyl-2-propen-1-ol to give 3,5,5,-trimethyltetrahydropyran-2-ol (7) have been developed. Evidence is presented to demonstrate that the key carbon carbon bond forming step in this reaction formally involves an unusual type of Ene reaction between 2-methylpropenal and the allylic alkoxide anion in which stepwise or highly asynchronous hydride transfer precedes carbon carbon bond formation. Under different reactions conditions the condensation of 2-methylpropenal with the potassium alkoxide of 2-methyl-2-propen-1-ol proceeds to give the bicyclic lactone, 6-endo-hydroxy-7-exo-(2-methyl allyioxymethyl)-3-oxa-1,5,7-trimethyl bicyclo[3,3,1]nonan-2-one (11), the crystal structure of which is reported.     

Cholesterol Hydroperoxides as Substrates for Cholesterol‐Metabolizing Cytochrome P450 Enzymes and Alternative Sources of 25‐Hydroxycholesterol and other Oxysterols

The interaction of the primary autoxidation products of cholesterol, namely 25‐ and 20ξ‐hydroperoxides, with the four principal cholesterol‐metabolizing cytochrome P450 enzymes is reported. Addition of cholesterol 25‐hydroperoxide to the enzymes CYP27A1 and CYP11A1 induced well‐defined spectral changes while generating 25‐hydroxycholesterol as the major product. The 20ξ‐hydroperoxides induced spectral shifts in CYP27A1 and CYP11A1 but glycol metabolites were detected only with CYP11A1. CYP7A1 and CYP46A1 failed to give metabolites with any of the hydroperoxides. A P450 hydroperoxide‐shunt reaction is proposed, where the hydroperoxides serve as both donor for reduced oxygen and substrate. CYP27A1 was shown to mediate the reduction of cholesterol 25‐hydroperoxide to 25‐hydroxycholesterol, a role of potential significance for cholesterol‐rich tissues with high oxidative stress. CYP27A1 may participate in the removal of harmful autoxidation products in these tissues, while providing a complementary source of 25‐hydroxycholesterol, a modulator of immune cell function and mediator of viral cell entry.     

Synthesis of naturally occurring pyridine alkaloids via palladium-catalyzed coupling/migration chemistry

The palladium-catalyzed cross-coupling of 3-iodopyridine, long-chain terminal dienes, and benzylic amines or tosylamides provides a novel route to key intermediates for the synthesis of the naturally occurring, biologically active pyridine alkaloids theonelladins C and D, niphatesine C, and xestamine D. This process involves (1) oxidative addition of the heterocyclic iodide to Pd(0), (2) carbopalladation of the least hindered carbon-carbon double bond of the diene, (3) palladium migration, and (4) pi-allylpalladium displacement by the nitrogen nucleophile with simultaneous regeneration of the Pd catalyst. Subsequent hydrogenation and deprotection affords good yields of the natural products. The Pd-catalyzed coupling of 3-iodopyridine and 2-methyl-11-dodecen-1-ol provides a convenient synthesis of a long-chain aldehyde by an analogous palladium migration process, which is easily converted to the pyridine alkaloid ikimine A.     

Pyrolysis of arylglycol-β-propylphenyl ether lignin model in the presence of borosilicate glass fibers. : I. Pyrolysis reactions of β-ether compounds

Two β-aryl ether type model compounds, guaiacylglycol- and veratrylglycol-β-propylphenyl ethers, were copyrolyzed with borosilicate glass fibers. The results provided a better understanding of the effect of copyrolysis with the fibers on the yields of lignin-derived products from lignocellulosics.

The observed products indicated the following reactions occurring in the models; (1) cleavage of the C-aromatic ring bond, (2) cleavage of the β-ether bond, (3) cleavage of the C-Cβ bond, (4) ,β-dehydration, and (5) demethylation, and others. Of these reactions, reactions (1), (2) and (4) were the main pyrolysis reactions and fully explained the increase in the total yield of lignin-derived pyrolysis products from Japanese red pine (Pinus densiflora Sieb. et Zucc.) in the presence of borosilicate glass fibers. Reaction (1) was a particularly characteristic reaction in copyrolysis with the fibers. Important reactions relating to the increase in the total yield of lignin-derived pyrolysis products were reproduced on the models used.     

Mechanistic studies of the O2-dependent aliphatic carbon-carbon bond cleavage reaction of a nickel enolate complex

The mononuclear nickel(II) enolate complex [(6-Ph(2)TPA)Ni(PhC(O)C(OH)C(O)Ph]ClO(4) (I) was the first reactive model complex for the enzyme/substrate (ES) adduct in nickel(II)-containing acireductone dioxygenases (ARDs) to be reported. In this contribution, the mechanism of its O(2)-dependent aliphatic carbon-carbon bond cleavage reactivity was further investigated. Stopped-flow kinetic studies revealed that the reaction of I with O(2) is second-order overall and is ～80 times slower at 25 °C than the reaction involving the enolate salt [Me(4)N][PhC(O)C(OH)C(O)Ph]. Computational studies of the reaction of the anion [PhC(O)C(OH)C(O)Ph](-) with O(2) support a hydroperoxide mechanism wherein the first step is a redox process that results in the formation of 1,3-diphenylpropanetrione and HOO(-). Independent experiments indicate that the reaction between 1,3-diphenylpropanetrione and HOO(-) results in oxidative aliphatic carbon-carbon bond cleavage and the formation of benzoic acid, benzoate, and CO:CO(2) (～12:1). Experiments in the presence of a nickel(II) complex gave a similar product distribution, albeit benzil [PhC(O)C(O)Ph] is also formed, and the CO:CO(2) ratio is ～1.5:1. The results for the nickel(II)-containing reaction match those found for the reaction of I with O(2) and provide support for a trione/HOO(-) pathway for aliphatic carbon-carbon bond cleavage. Overall, I is a reasonable structural model for the ES adduct formed in the active site of Ni(II)ARD. However, the presence of phenyl appendages at both C(1) and C(3) in the [PhC(O)C(OH)C(O)Ph](-) anion results in a reaction pathway for O(2)-dependent aliphatic carbon-carbon bond cleavage (via a trione intermediate) that differs from that accessible to C(1)-H acireductone species. This study, as the first detailed investigation of the O(2) reactivity of a nickel(II) enolate complex of relevance to Ni(II)ARD, provides insight toward understanding the chemical factors involved in the O(2) reactivity of metal acireductone species.     

Single and double asymmetric induction in Diels-Alder cycloadditions with chiral acylnitroso dienophiles

Diels-Alder reaction of the achiral 1-silyloxybutadiene 1a with the chiral acyinitroso dienophile 2a gave cycloadduct 4 in high diastereomeric excess (d.e. > 98 %), a result which is undoubtedly due to the C-2 symmetrical chiral dimethylpyrrolidine inductor. Excellent d.e. was also observed when the (R)-prolinol dienophile 2d was reacted with the chiral diene 1b (d.e. = 96 %), whereas cycloaddition of the (S) enantiomer 2e with 1b gave only poor asymmetric induction (d.e. = 4 %). These two latter examples nicely illustrate the influence of “matched pair” (1b/2d) versus “mismatched pair” (1b/2e) upon double asymmetric induction. All herein reported Diels-Alder cycloadditions were regiospecific.     

Pd-catalyzed cross-coupling reactions of halogenated 1-phenylpyrazol-3-ols and related triflates

1-Phenyl-1H-pyrazol-3-ol was used as a versatile synthon for the preparation of various 1-phenyl-1H-pyrazole derivatives substituted at C-3 and C-4 of the pyrazole nucleus and at the phenyl ring para-position. Treatment of 1-phenyl-1H-pyrazol-3-ol with triflic anhydride in the presence of base gave 3-trifloyloxy pyrazole, while bromination and iodination yielded the corresponding halogenated derivatives. The obtained scaffolds were used in carbon-carbon bond forming Pd-catalyzed cross-coupling reactions to yield (het)aryl- and carbo-functionally substituted 1-phenyl-1H-pyrazoles.