Synthesis of the non-classical acetogenin mucocin: a modular approach based on olefinic coupling reactions

A three component modular synthesis of the potent antitumor agent mucocin, based on olefinic coupling reactions, is described. A cross-metathesis on tetrahydropyran and tetrahydrofuran alkene components was used to assemble a stereochemically complex, non-adjacently-linked bicyclic ether. The latter was elaborated to a sulfone and partnered with a butenolide aldehyde component in a Julia-Kocienski olefination to provide the mucocin framework, which was converted to the natural product after hydrogenation and alcohol deprotection.     

Total synthesis of an antitumor agent,mucocin, based on the "chiron approach"

The total synthesis of a powerful antitumor acetogenin, mucocin (1), was achieved through a palladium-catalyzed cross-coupling reaction of the THP-THF fragment 2 and a terminal butenolide 3. The key process for construction of the fragment 2 was chelation-controlled addition of ethynylmagnesium chloride to disilyl aldehyde 23a and condensation of the alkyllithium prepared therefrom with THP aldehyde 4 in the presence of CeCl(3). Synthesis of the lactone 3 relied on a novel approach by taking advantage of a radical cyclization of acyclic selenocarbonate 6. The three building blocks 4, 5a, and 6 were prepared stereoselectivly from D-galactose (7), 2,5-anhydro-D-mannitol (8), and L-rhamnose (9), respectively. A new and efficient method for desymmetrization of the C(2)-symmetrical compound 8 is also described.     

A modular synthesis of annonaceous acetogenins

A synthesis of four Annonaceous acetogenins, asiminocin, asimicin, asimin, and bullanin, by a modular approach from seven fundamental subunits, A-G, is described. The approach employs a central core aldehyde segment, C, to which are appended an aliphatic terminus, A or B, a spacer subunit, D or E, and a butenolide terminus, F or G. Coupling of the A, B, D, and E segments to the core aldehyde unit is effected by highly diastereoselective additions of enantiopure allylic indium or tin reagents. The butenolide termini are attached to the ACD, BCE, or BCD intermediates by means of a Sonogashira coupling. The design of the core, spacer, and termini subunits is such that any of the C30, C10, or C4 natural acetogenins or stereoisomers thereof could be prepared. IC50 values for the four aforementioned acetogenins against H-116 human colon cancer cells were found to be in the 10(-3) to 10(-4) microM range. The IC90 activities were ca. 10(-3) microM for asimicin and asimin but only 0.1-1 microM for bullanin and asiminocin.     

A convergent total synthesis of (-)-mucocin: an acetogenin from Annonaceae

A total synthesis of the Annonaceous acetogenin mucocin has been accomplished. The synthesis follows a convergent strategy, wherein at a very late stage the left part of the molecule is connected with the right part. The key reaction is the stereocontrolled addition of an organomagnesium compound 2 to the aldehyde 3. The THP ring of mucocin is build by a 6-endo epoxide cyclization of an epoxyacetonide precursor (16 --> 17). The new modular synthetic approach developed herein should be useful for the synthesis of other related natural products as well as pharmacologically interesting analogues.     

Enantioselective synthesis of the 4-hydroxy buteneolide terminus of mucocin and related annonaceous acetogenins

The 4-hydroxy buteneolide terminus 3, applicable to mucocin 1 and related annonaceous acetogenins, was prepared in an expeditious manner from the selenocarbonate 2 via an intramolecular acyl radical cyclization followed by an enantioselective Lewis-acid catalyzed Keck-allylation reaction.     

Four mono-tetrahydrofuran ring acetogenins, montanacins B-E, from Annona montana

Four novel mono-tetrahydrofuran (THF) acetogenins, montanacins B-E (1-4), were isolated from the ethanolic extract of the leaves of Annona montana. The structures of 1-4 were established by spectroscopic methods and their absolute stereochemistries were determined by the advanced Mosher ester method. Montancins D (3) and E (4) bear a non-adjacent tetrahydropyran (THP) ring along with a THF ring and are the most unusual type of acetogenins discovered so far.     

Total synthesis and structure confirmation of the annonaceous acetogenins 30(S)-hydroxybullatacin,uvarigrandin a,and 5(R)-uvarigrandin a (narumicin I?)

A synthesis of the bistetrahydrofuran Annonaceous acetogenins 30(S)-hydroxybullatacin, uvarigrandin A, and 5(R)-uvarigrandin A through application of a previously disclosed four-component modular approach is described in which extended core segments are coupled to a C4- or C5-hydroxy butenolide terminus. The butenolide termini segments were prepared from (S)- or (R)-malic acid. Spectral properties of synthetic 30(S)-hydroxybullatacin and uvarigrandin A, as well as their Mosher ester derivatives, were in close agreement to the reported values for the natural substances. The synthetic 5(R)-uvarigrandin A is possibly identical to narumicin I, but subtle differences in the reported NMR spectra prevented an unambiguous assessment of this point.     

NMR determination of absolute configuration of butenolides of annonaceous type

We report herein the first determination of the absolute configuration of the annonaceous butenolides by a NMR method. This technique uses a chiral solvating agent (CSA), the so-called Pirkle's reagent, at low temperature and low concentration, allowing one to apply this method to other natural products as well. Indeed, the presence of basic sites (e.g. tetrahydrofuran, hydroxyl) did not interfere with the major solvation of the reagent with the lactone moiety. A new model is proposed which allowed us to confirm the (S) absolute configuration of the butenolide of annonaceous acetogenins. Furthermore this method can be successfully applied to the measure of the diastereomeric (or enantiomeric) excess of the same butenolide containing compounds.     

Synthesis of a tetra-deuterium-labeled derivative of potent and selective anticancer agent AA005

Annonaceous acetogenins are a series of potent naturally occurring anticancer agents, which act as inhibitors of complex I in mitochondria. AA005, a mimicry of acetogenins, has been found as active as those natural products and to present high selectivities between cancer and normal cells. In order to investigate the further cell-based mechanism induced by AA005, a d⁴-labeled derivative of AA005 (AA005-d⁴) was designed to detect the drug permeation ability into the membranes. In this letter, the synthesis is reported of this deuterium-labeled compound, wherein a ethylene-d⁴ glycol unit is incorporated efficiently into the molecule skeleton by simple etherifications.     

Analogues of cytotoxic squamocin using reliable reactions: new insights into the reactivity and role of the α,β-unsaturated lactone of the annonaceous acetogenins

A small library of squamocin analogues has been prepared and screened biologically (cytotoxicity, inhibition of mitochondrial complex I and complex III). To centre diversity on a crucial part of the molecule (i.e., the α,β-unsaturated lactone), an original and reliable lactone opening reaction has been discovered and exploited among other efficient reactions.     

Effects of plant lactones on the production of biofilm of Pseudomonas aeruginosa

Sixteen plant sesquiterpene lactones, thirteen from four species of the Family Asteraceae, and three from a species of Hepaticae, as well as seven annonaceous acetogenins isolated from the seeds of the tropical tree Annona cherimolia (Family Annonaceae), were evaluated for their ability to inhibit or stimulate the production of biofilm by a strain of Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The tested compounds carry a gamma-lactone moiety in their structures. This structural feature is similar to the lactone moiety present in N-acyl homoserine lactones, compounds that play the important role of "quorum sensors" in the mechanisms of biofilm formation observed in many gram-negative bacteria. A special assay was employed to evaluate the influence of the tested plant compounds to inhibit or stimulate the production of biofilm in a P. aeruginosa wild strain. Most of the tested compounds affected the biofilm formation mechanism. Six sesquiterpene lactones isolated from Acanthospermum hispidum and one from Enydra anagallis as well as an acetogenin from Annona cherimolia strongly inhibited (69-77%) the biofilm formation when incorporated to a bacterial culture at a concentration of 2.5 microg/ml. However, one of the acetogenins, squamocin, stimulated the biofilm formation even at a concentration of 0.25 microg/ml. The study of substances affecting the biofilm formation can lead to the design of new strategies to control P. aeruginosa infections.     

Reduction potential calculations of the Fe–S clusters in Thermus thermophilus respiratory complex I

Respiratory complex I facilitates electron transfer from NADH to quinone over ~95 Å through a chain of seven iron–sulfur (Fe–S) clusters in the respiratory chain. In this study, the reduction potentials of the Fe–S clusters in Thermus thermophilus complex I are calculated using a Density Functional Theory + Poisson–Boltzmann method. Our results indicate that the reduction potentials are influenced by a variety of factors including the clusters being deeply buried in the complex and the protonation state of buried ionizable residues. In addition, as several of the ionizable side chains have predicted pK_a values near pH 7, relatively small structural fluctuations could lead to significant (0.2 V) shifts in the reduction potential of several of the Fe–S clusters, suggesting a dynamic mechanism for electron transfer. Moreover, the method used here is a useful computational tool to study other questions about complex I. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Design, synthesis, evaluation, and structure of vitamin D analogues with furan side chains

Based on the crystal structures of human vitamin D receptor (hVDR) bound to 1α,25-dihydroxy-vitamin D(3) (1,25 D) and superagonist ligands, we previously designed new superagonist ligands with a tetrahydrofuran ring at the side chain that optimize the aliphatic side-chain conformation through an entropy benefit. Following a similar strategy, four novel vitamin D analogues with aromatic furan side chains (3a, 3b, 4a, 4b) have now been developed. The triene system has been constructed by an efficient stereoselective intramolecular cyclization of an enol triflate (A-ring precursor) followed by a Suzuki-Miyaura coupling of the resulting intermediate with an alkenyl boronic ester (CD-side chain, upper fragment). The furan side chains have been constructed by gold chemistry. These analogues exhibit significant pro-differentiation effects and transactivation potency. The crystal structure of 3a in a complex with the ligand-binding domain of hVDR revealed that the side-chain furanic ring adopts two conformations.     

Stereoselective total synthesis of muconin

An antitumor acetogenin, muconin, was synthesized through a coupling reaction of a THF-THP segment and a terminal butenolide. The key reactions include successive ether-ring formation reaction under acidic and basic conditions or one-pot double cyclization promoted by TBAF and stereoselective reduction of acyclic ketones adjacent to the 2,6-cis THP with Zn(BH₄)₂.     

Studies on mimicry of naturally occurring annonaceous acetogenins: non-THF analogues leading to remarkable selective cytotoxicity against human tumor cells

A class of structurally simplified analogues of the naturally occurring annonaceous acetogenins were developed, amongst which some non-THF analogues showed remarkable cytotoxicities against tumor cell lines, as well as good selectivity between human tumor cells and normal cells. The synthetic routes were significantly shortened because of the removal of the chiral centers bearing the THF rings on the natural templates. This simplification also provides access to the parallel synthesis of these mimics by a combinatorial strategy. The remaining stereogenic centers at the positions alpha to the ethereal links were introduced by the Chiron approach from the easily accessible chiral building blocks 6a and/or 6b, made in turn from L-ascorbic acid or D-mannitol, while the one in the butenolide segment was taken from L-lactate. All four diastereomeric non-THF analogues 2a-2d showed remarkable activity against the HCT-8 cell line, and better differentiation was found when testing against the HT-29 cell line. It was also discovered that both the butenolide and ethylene glycol subunits play essential roles in the cytotoxicities against tumor cell lines, while the 10-substituted hydroxy group and the absolute configuration of methyl group at the butenolide moiety are less important for their activity.     

Synthesis of pyranicin and its inhibitory action with bovine heart mitochondrial complex I

Total synthesis of pyranicin was achieved using Cl2Pd(CH3CN)2-catalyzed diastereoselective cyclization of the allylic ester as the key step. The inhibitory activity of this compound for mitochondrial NADH-ubiquinone oxidoreductase (complex I) was slightly poorer than that of ordinary mono-THF acetogenins such as cis-solamin.     

Rare-earth/inorganic/organic polymeric hybrid materials: molecular assembly, regular microstructure and photoluminescence

2-Hydroxynicotinic acid (HNA) was grafted by 3-(triethoxysilyl)propyl isocyanate (TEPIC) to achieve the molecular precursor HNA-Si through the hydrogen-transfer nucleophilic addition reaction between the hydroxyl group of HNA and the isocyanate group of TEPIC. Then, a chemically bonded rare-earth/inorganic polymeric hybrid material (A) was constructed using HNA-Si as a bridge molecule that can both coordinate to rare-earth ions (HNA-Si-RE) and form an inorganic Si-O network with tetraethoxysilane (TEOS) after cohydrolysis and copolycondensation processes. Further, three types of novel rare-earth/inorganic/organic polymeric hybrids (B-D) were assembled by the introduction of three different organic polymeric chains into the above system. First, methacrylic acid (MAA) [or methacrylic acid and acrylamide (ALM) in the molar ratio of 1:1] was mixed to polymerize (or copolymerize) with benzoyl peroxide (BPO) as the initiator to form poly(methacrylic acid) (PMAA) [or poly(methacrylic and acrylamide) (PMAALM)], and then PMAA or PMAALM was added to the precursor HNA-Si before the assembly of HNA-Si-RE, resulting in the hybrid materials HNA-Si-RE-PMAA (B) and HNA-Si-RE-PMAALM (C). Second, poly(vinylpyrrolidone) (PVP) was added to coordinate to the rare-earth ions by the carbonyl group in the complex HNA-Si-RE, to achieve the hybrid HNA-Si-RE-PVP (D). All of these hybrid materials exhibit homogeneous, regular, and ordered microstructures and morphologies, suggesting the occurrence of self-assembly of the inorganic network and organic chain. Measurements of the photoluminescent properties of these materials show that the ternary rare-earth/inorganic/organic polymeric hybrids present stronger luminescent intensities, longer lifetimes, and higher luminescent quantum efficiencies than the binary rare-earth/inorganic polymeric hybrids, indicating that the introduction of the organic polymer chain is a benefit for the luminescence of the overall hybrid system.     

Synthesis and characterization of an electroactive surface that releases gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA)

We report the synthesis and characterization of a new electroactive surface capable of releasing the neurotransmitter gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) upon reduction. The GABA was anchored to an alkanethiol via electrochemically active quinone (abbreviation, TM-GABA). The quinone unit, upon reduction to the hydroquinone, cyclizes to release GABA into solution. The half-life is 99 s. The self-assembled monolayer (SAM) of TM-GABA on gold was prepared and characterized with several surface sensitive techniques. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) explored the SAM formation of TM-GABA on Au surfaces. Cyclic voltammograms showed the ability to electrochemically control the quinone unit at the distal end of the chain. GABA was selectively released upon electrochemical reduction at a potential of -700 mV. The functional GABA terminal group was detected by surface plasmon resonance measurements of anti-GABA antibody binding.     

Quadruplex–Duplex Junction: A High-Affinity Binding Site for Indoloquinoline Ligands

A parallel quadruplex derived from the Myc promoter sequence was extended by a stem-loop duplex at either its 5′- or 3′-terminus to mimic a quadruplex–duplex (Q–D) junction as a potential genomic target. High-resolution structures of the hybrids demonstrate continuous stacking of the duplex on the quadruplex core without significant perturbations. An indoloquinoline ligand carrying an aminoalkyl side chain was shown to bind the Q–D hybrids with a very high affinity in the order K_a≈10⁷ m ⁻¹ irrespective of the duplex location at the quadruplex 3′- or 5′-end. NMR chemical shift perturbations identified the tetrad face of the Q–D junction as specific binding site for the ligand. However, calorimetric analyses revealed significant differences in the thermodynamic profiles upon binding to hybrids with either a duplex extension at the quadruplex 3′- or 5′-terminus. A large enthalpic gain and considerable hydrophobic effects are accompanied by the binding of one ligand to the 3′-Q–D junction, whereas non-hydrophobic entropic contributions favor binding with formation of a 2:1 ligand-quadruplex complex in case of the 5′-Q–D hybrid.     

Effect of stereochemistry of Δlac-acetogenins on the inhibition of mitochondrial complex I (NADH-ubiquinone oxidoreductase)

Δlac-Acetogenins are a new type of inhibitors of bovine heart mitochondrial complex I (NADH-ubiquinone oxidoreductase). We synthesized a series of Δlac-acetogenins in which the stereochemistry around the hydroxylated tetrahydrofuran (THF) ring moiety was systematically modified, and examined their inhibitory effect on complex I. The present results revealed that the inhibitory effects of the bis-THF ring analogs are much more potent than those of the mono-THF ring analogs and that the stereochemistry around the bis-THF ring moiety significantly influences the inhibitory effect. The profiles of the structure-activity relationship observed for Δlac-acetogenins were entirely different from those for natural-type acetogenins.