Intermediates in the synthesis of nitrogen heterocycles: addition of acylated camphorsultams to nitroalkenes

Reaction of acylated camphorsultam 7 with nitroalkenes in the presence of TiCl₄ and Et₃N gave addition products in good yields (>70%) and with excellent stereocontrol. Addition of propionylated camphorsultam 15 to nitrostyrene gave the addition product 16 in which two new asymmetric centres were created, the stereochemical outcome of the reaction was confirmed by X-ray cystallography.     

Development of two processes for the synthesis of bridged azabicyclic systems: intermolecular radical addition-homoallylic rearrangements leading to 2-azanorborn-5-enes and neophyl-type radical rearrangements to 2-azabenzonorbornanes

Radical thiol additions to 7-azanorbornadienes give 7-thio-substituted 2-azanorbornenes and Barton deoxygenations of 7-azabenzonorbornanols give 2-azabenzonorbornanes. The processes both involve novel nitrogen-directed radical rearrangements. The kinetics and mechanisms of the reactions are also discussed.     

Solvent effects on the thermodynamics of the formation of hydrogen bonded complexes ofm-cresol III

Thermodynamic parameters for the hydrogen bonded complexes of m-cresol with various bases in the solvent benzene have been determined from calorimetric and spectroscopic data. These data were analyzed by linear solvation energy relationships. When combined with data previously determined for the same complexes in CCl₄ and cyclohexane solvents, it is shown that solvent effects on the thermodynamics of hydrogen bond formation are due to solvation of the free m-cresol and base through dipolar and perhaps donor-acceptor interactions.     

Prins cyclizations: labeling studies and application to natural product synthesis

The first syntheses of two natural products, catechols 1 and 2, isolated from Plectranthus sylvestris (labiatae), are reported. Oxygen-18 labeling studies support the proposed intermediacy of a stabilized benzylic cation in the acid-promoted cyclization of an aldehyde and benzylic homoallylic alcohol possessing an electron-rich aromatic ring. In contrast, with an electron-deficient aromatic ring the pathway via a benzylic cation is only minor. [reaction: see text]     

The use of Stokes Raman scattering in time correlated single photon counting: application to the fluorescence lifetime of tyrosinate

The decay kinetics of the tyrosinate form of tyrosine in aqueous solution, pH 11, were investigated by time correlated single photon counting using laser excitation. The lifetime of the single exponential decay was 30.5 +/- 0.2 ps. Stokes Raman scattering was used to determine the instrument response function and the advantages of this approach over the conventional Rayleigh scattering method are discussed.     

Enantioselective allyltitanations and metathesis reactions. Application to the synthesis of piperidine alkaloids (+)-sedamine and (-)-prosophylline

An enantioselective synthesis of the piperidine alkaloids (+)-sedamine and (-)-prosophylline is reported. The synthesis of (+)-sedamine has been achieved in 12 steps with an overall yield of 20% from benzaldehyde, and (-)-prosophylline was obtained in 15 steps with an overall yield of 9.2%, starting from D-glyceraldehyde acetonide 14. The key steps are enantioselective allyltitanation reactions and ring-closing or cross-metathesis reactions.     

Photoluminescence properties of four-coordinate gold(I)-phosphine complexes of the types [Au(diphos)2]PF6 and [Au2(tetraphos)2](PF6)2

Numerous reports describe the photoluminescence of two- and three-coordinate gold(I)-phosphine complexes, but emission in their analogous four-coordinate complexes is almost unknown. This work examines the luminescence of tetrahedral gold(I) complexes of the types [Au(diphos)(2)]PF(6) (diphos = 1,2-bis(diphenylphosphino)ethane, 1) and [Au(2)(tetraphos)(2)](PF(6))(2) (tetraphos = (R,R)-(+/-)/(R,S)-1,1,4,7,10,10-hexaphenyl-1,4,7,10-tetraphosphadecane, (R,R)-(+/-)/(R,S)-2). Although nonemitting in solution, these complexes luminesce with an intense yellow color (lambda(max) 580-620 nm) at 293 K in the solid state or when immobilized as molecular dispersions within solid matrixes. The excited-state lifetimes of the emissions (tau 4.1-9.4 micros) are markedly dependent on the inter- and intramolecular phenyl-phenyl pairing interactions present. At 77 K in an ethanol glass, two transitions are observed: a minor emission at lambda(max) 415-450 nm and a major emission at lambda(max) 520-595 nm. For [Au(1)(2)]PF(6), lifetimes of tau 251.0 +/- 20.5 micros were determined for the former transition and tau 14.9 +/- 4.6 micros for the latter. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations and comparative studies indicate that the former of these emissions involves triplet LMCT pi(Ph) --> Au(d)-P(p) transitions associated with individual P-phenyl groups. The latter emissions, which are the only ones observed at 293 K, are assigned to LMCT pi(Ph-Ph) --> Au(d)-P(p) transitions associated with excited P-phenyl dimers. Other tetrahedral gold(I)-phosphine complexes containing paired P-Ph substituents display similar emissions. The corresponding phosphine ligands, whether free, protonated, or bound to Ag(I), do not exhibit comparable emissions. Far from being rare, luminescence in four-coordinate Au(I)-phosphine complexes appears to be general when stacked P-phenyl groups are present.     

Mixing and matching genes of marine and terrestrial origin in the biosynthesis of the mupirocin antibiotics

With growing understanding of the underlying pathways of polyketide biosynthesis, along with the continual expansion of the synthetic biology toolkit, it is becoming possible to rationally engineer and fine-tune the polyketide biosynthetic machinery for production of new compounds with improved properties such as stability and/or bioactivity. However, engineering the pathway to the thiomarinol antibiotics has proved challenging. Here we report that genes from a marine Pseudoalternomonas sp. producing thiomarinol can be expressed in functional form in the biosynthesis of the clinically important antibiotic mupirocin from the soil bacterium Pseudomonas fluorescens. It is revealed that both pathways employ the same unusual mechanism of tetrahydropyran (THP) ring formation and the enzymes are cross compatible. Furthermore, the efficiency of downstream processing of 10,11-epoxy versus 10,11-alkenic metabolites are comparable. Optimisation of the fermentation conditions in an engineered strain in which production of pseudomonic acid A (with the 10,11-epoxide) is replaced by substantial titres of the more stable pseudomonic acid C (with a 10,11-alkene) pave the way for its development as a more stable antibiotic with wider applications than mupirocin.

Where the sea meets the land: the mupirocin biosynthetic gene cluster (BGC) from the terrestrial bacterium Pseudomonas fluorescens was repurposed via a plug-and-play approach with heterologous genes from the marine strain that produces thiomarinol.     

Investigating direct routes to an advanced intermediate for the synthesis of C-20 diterpene alkaloids

Rapid access to the ABCE ring system of the C-20 diterpene alkaloids was achieved by silver (I) promoted intramolecular Friedel-Crafts arylation of a functional group specific 5-bromo-3-azabicyclo[3.3.1]nonane derivative.