Trihydroxy-2-thiaquinolizidine derivatives as a new class of bicyclic glycosidase inhibitors

Trihydroxy-2-thiaquinolizidines, a new class of bicyclic dideoxy-iminohexitol glycosidase inhibitor derivatives with nominally the d-gluco, l-ido, d-manno and l-gulo configurations were synthesized. X-ray analyses indicated that the preferred conformation for d-gluco and d-manno derivatives was a flat trans-fused system. Unlike deoxynojirimycin, the compound with d-gluco configuration was selective for α-glucosidases (yeast and rice) and showed no inhibitory activity towards β-glucosidase (almond), α-galactosidase (green coffee beans), α-galactosidase (E. coli) and α-mannosidase (jack bean), while the l-ido derivative was specific for β-glucosidase (almond).     

1,2,3-Triazoles and related glycoconjugates as new glycosidase inhibitors

A series of saccharidyl-triazoles structurally related to acarbose were prepared and tested as inhibitors of glycosidases. They share in common a 1,4,5-trisubstituted 1,2,3-triazole heterocycle as a functional element able to interact with the active site of the target enzymes. First, it was established that the heterocyclic core exhibits a moderate but highly selective α-glucosidase inhibitory activity. Then, it was confirmed that the inhibitory properties could be modulated by conjugation from one to five carbohydrate residues. The present study includes the regio- and stereocontrolled synthesis of novel non-fused 1,2,3-triazolo-pseudooligosaccharides as well as their evaluation as new glycosidase inhibitors.     

Convergent, stereoselective syntheses of the glycosidase inhibitors broussonetines C, O and P

The first syntheses of the polyhydroxylated alkaloids (iminosugars) broussonetines O and P, glycosidase inhibitors of the pyrrolidine class, have been performed in a convergent, stereocontrolled way from d-serine as the chiral starting material. The synthesis of broussonetin C, a further member of this compound family, is also reported. A cross-metathesis step was one key feature of the synthesis. The versatility of the synthetic concept chosen permits the access to many members of this compound family, both natural ones and analogues thereof.     

Short synthesis of new salacinol analogues and their evaluation as glycosidase inhibitors

Versatile synthesis of some analogues of the naturally-occurring α-glucosidase inhibitor salacinol (1), involving thioanhydro alditol moieties with erythro, d,l-threo, xylo, ribo, d-arabino and d-manno configurations is described. Nucleophilic attack at the least-hindered carbon atom of an l- or d-protected erythritol cyclic sulfate by the thioanhydro alditol sulfur atom yielded the desired zwitterionic compounds. In addition, the preparation of the cyclic sulfates of 2,4-O-benzylidene-d-erythritol and 2,4-O-isopropylidene-l-erythritol was improved. Enzyme inhibition tests showed that most of the new compounds were weak but specific inhibitors, while good inhibitory activity was found for a six-membered ring analogue (β-glucosidase: K_i=16 μM).     

The first synthesis of substituted azepanes mimicking monosaccharides: a new class of potent glycosidase inhibitors

The synthesis of the first examples of seven-membered ring iminoalditols, molecules displaying an extra hydroxymethyl substituent on their seven-membered ring compared to the previously reported polyhydroxylated azepanes, has been achieved from d-arabinose in 10 steps using RCM of a protected N-allyl-aminohexenitol as a key step. While the (2R,3R,4R)-2-hydroxymethyl-3,4-dihydroxy-azepane 10, a seven-membered ring analogue of fagomine, is a weak inhibitor of glycosidases, the (2R,3R,4R,5S,6S)-2-hydroxymethyl-3,4,5,6-tetrahydroxy-azepane 9 selectively inhibits green coffee bean alpha-galactosidase in the low micromolar range (Ki = 2.2 muM) despite a D-gluco relative configuration.     

Straightforward chemo-enzymatic synthesis of new aminocyclitols,analogues of valiolamine and their evaluation as glycosidase inhibitors

An efficient fructose-1,6-bisphosphate aldolase mediated synthesis of new aminocyclitol analogues of valiolamine is described. The one-pot process where four stereocentres are created involves the formation of two carbon–carbon bonds. One is catalysed by the aldolase, coupling dihydroxyacetone phosphate to nitrobutyraldehydes. The other is the result of a highly stereoselective intramolecular Henry reaction occurring on the intermediate nitroketones. Depending on the configuration of the hydroxyl which is α to the nitro group, two series of configuration are accessible. The lipase resolution of the nitroalcohol ketal, precursor of the nitroaldehyde, is presented. The inhibition properties of the aminocyclitols obtained after the reduction of the nitro group are evaluated towards five commercial glycosidases.     

Synthesis of isofagomine and some new azasugars as glycosidase inhibitors from d-mannitol derived nitroolefins

The synthesis of isofagomine, epi-isofagomine and isofagomine analogues along with some new azasugars from two different vinyl nitro compounds, that were derived from d-mannitol, has been carried out. Two different synthetic strategies were followed for each of the vinyl-nitro precursors. Many of the azasugars synthesized showed inhibition in the micromolar range when tested against various glycosidase enzymes, opening up the possibility of modifying structural features for better and selective inhibition.     

Synthesis of new nitrogen analogues of salacinol and deoxynojirimycin and their evaluation as glycosidase inhibitors

The synthesis of two enantiomerically pure iminosugars, analogues of 1-L-deoxynojirimycin (l-DNJ) and 1-D-deoxymannojirimycin (DMJ), was achieved using cyclic sulfate substituted isoxazoline derivatives. The piperidine ring was formed via the reduction of an isoxazoline into an amine which underwent a spontaneous intramolecular cyclization by reaction with the cyclic sulfate moiety. The nucleophilic attack of these two trisubstituted piperidines and morpholine on L- and D-erythritol-1,3-cyclic sulfates gave six new nitrogen analogues of salacinol. The inhibitory properties of the synthesized salacinol analogues were evaluated on several commercial glycosidases.     

Asymmetric and enantiospecific syntheses of 1-hydroxymethyl pyrrolizidine alkaloids

Isoretronecanol and trachelantamidine (laburnine) are naturally occurring pyrrolizidine alkaloids which display potent biological activity, and as such these compounds have, in recent years, attracted significant interest from the bioorganic and synthetic communities. This review delineates both the asymmetric and enantiospecific syntheses of 1-hydroxymethyl pyrrolizidine alkaloids including isoretronecanol, trachelantamidine (laburnine) and related hydroxylated compounds.     

Combinatorial approaches to iminosugars as glycosidase and glycosyltransferase inhibitors

Oligosaccharide processing enzymes such as glycosidases and glycosyltransferases are important classes of biocatalysts involved in synthesising specific oligosaccharide structures on proteins and lipids. These enzymes are known to be involved in a wide range of important biological processes, such as intestinal digestion, post-translational processing of glycoproteins, lysosomal catabolism of glycoconjugates and inter-cellular recognition events. Inhibition of these enzymes can disrupt biosynthesis of oligosaccharides, thus interfering in all of these processes. Hence, "glyco-enzyme" inhibitors might have enormous therapeutic potential in many diseases such as viral infection, cancer and diabetes. This very important prospect has led to increasing interest and demand for these compounds. Interference in oligosaccharide processing is the basis for the anti-influenza neuraminidase inhibitors that have recently been marketed and also for the potential use of glycosidase inhibitors against HIV, Gaucher's disease, hepatitis, and cancer. Since a rational design and synthesis of inhibitors are often extremely difficult due to the limited information regarding the structure of the active site, combinatorial approaches are particularly promising. This review will focus on synthetic efforts for the preparation of combinatorial libraries of glyco-enzyme inhibitors.     

Practical enantiospecific syntheses of lysobisphosphatidic acid and its analogues

We describe a versatile, efficient, and practical method for the preparation of enantiomerically pure lysobisphosphatidic acid (LBPA), bisether analogues, and phosphorothioate analogues of LBPA from solketal. Phosphorylation of a protected sn-2-O-oleoyl glycerol with 2-cyanoethyl bis(N,N-diisopropylamino)phosphite, followed by oxidation and deprotection, generated the enantiomers of 2,2'-LBPA. The corresponding phosphorothioate analogues were obtained by oxidation with sulfur. The (R,R) and (S,S) enantiomers of both LBPA and phosphorothioate LBPA were synthesized from (S)- and (R)-solketal, respectively. The ether analogue of (S,S)-lysobisphosphatidic acid (LBPA) and its enantiomer were synthesized from the same enantiomer (S)-solketal by simply changing the sequence of deprotection steps.     

Asymmetric synthesis of hydroxy-skipped bishomo-inositols as potential glycosidase inhibitors

Four isomeric hydroxy-skipped bishomo-inositol analogs have been synthesized from both enantiomers of 5-hydroxymethyl-2-cyclohexenone. Sharpless asymmetric dihydroxylation and substrate-directed anionic hydroxymethylation are the key reactions which have been employed successfully for the synthesis of new cyclitols. The synthesized cyclitols have been screened for their inhibitory effect on α- and β-glycosidases.     

Synthesis of monofluorinated isofagomine analogues and evaluation as glycosidase inhibitors

The straightforward synthesis of monofluorinated isofagomine analogues 1-3 was described. The synthetic strategy featured that the chiral carbon center bearing fluorine atom was constructed stereoselectively via silicon-induced Reformatskii-Claisen rearrangement of allyl bromofluoroacetate. These compounds were tested for inhibition of five glycosidases. The 3S,4R,5R isomer 3 has been found to be a potent inhibitor against β-glucosidase from almonds with K_i value of 11.9 μM.     

Facile syntheses of quater-, penta-, and sexipyrroles

alpha,alpha-Linked oligopyrroles are attractive precursors for both expanded porphyrin and conducting polymer chemistry. We demonstrate facile methods for synthesizing quater-, penta-, and sexipyrroles from more readily available bi- and terpyrrole intermediates. These products demonstrate stability in their brightly colored oxidized forms, while reduction using borohydride reagents gives the corresponding all-pyrrole oligomers, which oxidize readily in air. The oxidized quater- and sexipyrroles were characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis.     

l-Isofucoselenofagomine and derivatives: dual activities as antioxidants and as glycosidase inhibitors

The synthesis of a series of l-fuco-configured selenosugars, isosters of the potent glycosidase inhibitor isofucofagomine has been accomplished by a double nucleophilic displacement of a dimesylated derivative with selenide anion generated in situ. Se-Alkylation and oxidation of the corresponding selenane afforded a selenonium and a selenoxide, respectively. The biological activities of such compounds have been evaluated, finding a dual activity caused by the presence of the selenium atom: the selenane exerted a good glutathione peroxidase mimicry by efficiently scavenging H₂O₂ in the presence of thiols, whereas the stable selenoxide derivative was found to be the first example of a selenosugar acting as a good α-l-fucosidase inhibitor.     

Synthesis of selenium analogues of the naturally occurring glycosidase inhibitor salacinol and their evaluation as glycosidase inhibitors

The syntheses of two selenium analogues (10 and 11) of the naturally occurring sulfonium ion, salacinol (3), are described. Salacinol is one of the active principles in the aqueous extracts of Salacia reticulata that are traditionally used in Sri Lanka and India for the treatment of diabetes. The synthetic strategy relies on the nucleophilic attack of a 2,3,5-tri-O-benzyl-1,4-anhydro-4-seleno-D-arabinitol at the least hindered carbon of benzyl- or benzylidene-protected D- or L-erythritol-1,3-cyclic sulfate. The use of 1,1,1,3,3,3-hexafluoro-2-propanol as a solvent in the coupling reaction proves to be beneficial. Enzyme inhibition assays indicate that 10 is a better inhibitor (K(i) = 0.72 mM) of glucoamylase than 3, which has a K(i) value of 1.7 mM. In contrast, 11 showed no significant inhibition of glucoamylase. Compounds 10 and 11 showed no significant inhibition of barley-alpha-amylase or porcine pancreatic-alpha-amylase.     

Synthesis and biological evaluation of 6-oxa-nor-tropane glycomimetics as glycosidase inhibitors

The preparation of polyhydroxylated 6-oxa-nor-tropane glycomimetics structurally related to the glycosidase inhibitor family of the calystegines is reported. The synthetic strategy involves the furanose→piperidine rearrangement of 5-deoxy-5-ureido-l-idose precursors, followed by intramolecular glycosylation involving the primary hydroxyl group. Inversion of the configuration at C-3 in the resulting 6-oxa-(+)-calystegine B₂ analogue allows accessing the elusive 3-epi-6-oxa-(+)-calystegine B₂ skeleton. Acid-catalyzed opening of the nor-tropane bicycle was observed, however, which could be avoided by careful neutralization of the reaction mixture. The inhibition results suggest that (+)-calystegine B₂ derivatives and the corresponding C-3 epimers can be seen as glucomimetics and galactomimetics, respectively, pointing to a 1-azasugar mode of action for this family of alkaloids.     

N-alkyl-3-decarboxy-3-hydroxymethylsiastatin B, a new family of glycosidase inhibitors of gem-diamine 1-N-iminosugars

N-Alkyl-3-decarboxy-3-hydroxymethylsiastatin B, N-alkyl analogues of gem-diamine 1-N-iminosugars, is a new family of glycosidase inhibitors that have been synthesized from siastatin B isolated from Streptomyces culture. These compounds were evaluated as glycosidase inhibitors.     

All eight stereoisomeric D-glyconic-delta-lactams: synthesis, conformational analysis, and evaluation as glycosidase inhibitors

An efficient and general synthetic route to all eight stereoisomeric D-glycono-delta-lactams has been developed. The strategy involves, as a key step, a stereodivergent delta-lactam formation with configurational retention or inversion at C-4 of a starting gamma-lactone to lead to two epimers of delta-lactam from one parent gamma-lactone. Conformations of eight glycono-delta-lactams were examined by X-ray crystallographic analysis and molecular modeling. Analyses of conformation and glycosidase-inhibition provide useful information for the design of new glycosidase inhibitors.     

Facile and efficient synthesis of 4-azidotetrafluoroaniline: a new photoaffinity reagent

p-Azidotetrafluoroaniline (1) was synthesized in 65-73% yield by two different methods employing a stable carbamate intermediate. The first method trapped the intermediate isocyanate generated via a modified Curtius rearrangement with 2-methyl-2-propanol or 2-(trimethylsilyl)ethanol to form the stable carbamates 2d and 2e, respectively. Benzoic acid 2c was first converted to its acid chloride with PCl(5). Displacement of the chloride by NaN(3) in acetone/water formed the acyl azide. Thermal rearrangement followed by the addition of the appropriate alcohols provided the carbamates. The acid labile carbamate 2d was deprotected with HCl/AcOH to provide 1, while trifluoroacetic acid was required to deprotect 2e and afford 1. In the second path, 1 was synthesized in five steps from pentafluoronitrobenzene (3a) in 65% overall yield. Compound 3a was converted into 4-azidotetrafluoronitrobenzene (3b) with NaN(3) in 93% yield and was used without further purification to form 1, 4-diaminotetrafluorobenzene (3c) by Sn/HCl reduction in 85% yield. The mono-9-fluorenylmethoxycarbonyl (FMOC) derivative 3d was formed from 3c with FMOC-Cl and pyridine in EtOAc in 92% yield. Diazotization of 3d under anhydrous conditions with TFA/NaNO(2) and NaN(3) gave 3e in 87% yield. The aryl azide was formed with concurrent nitration of the 2-position of the fluorenyl system. The protecting group was removed with piperidine to afford 1 in 93% yield. Irradiation of 1 with 254 nm light in cyclohexane gave cyclohexylamine 11, diamine 3c, and azobenzene 12 as the primary products. The formation of C-H insertion product 11 indicates that 1 forms a singlet nitrene upon photolysis. Two heterobifunctional photoaffinity reagents iodoacetamide 9 and dansyl derivative 10 were prepared.