Reaction of γ‐Hydroxy‐N‐[1‐(dimethylcarbamoyl)ethyl]butanamides under the ‘Direct Amide Cyclization’ Conditions

The preparation of the title compounds was achieved via the ‘azirine/oxazolone method’ starting from the corresponding γ‐hydroxy acids. Upon subjecting the γ‐hydroxy‐N‐[1‐(dimethylcarbamoyl)ethyl]butanamides 4 to the so‐called ‘direct amide cyclization’ (DAC) conditions, chlorinated acids 11 or imino lactones 12 were obtained as the sole products instead of the expected cyclodepsipeptides A or their cyclodimers (Scheme 4). Variation of the substituents in 4 did not affect the outcome of the reaction and a mechanism for the formation of both products from the intermediate oxazolone 13 has been proposed. Under the acidic conditions of the DAC, the imino lactones are formed as their HCl salts 12 , which, in polar solvents or on silica gel, reacted further to give the chlorinated acids 11 . Stabilization of the imino lactones was achieved by increasing the substitution in the five‐membered ring, and their structure, in the form of the hydrochlorides, was established independently by X‐ray crystallography (Fig. 4). A derivative 15 of the imino lactone 12a was prepared by the reaction with the 2H‐azirin‐3‐amine 10a ; its structure was also established by an X‐ray crystal‐structure determination (Fig. 3). Furthermore, the structures of the ω‐chloro acids 11a and 11b were determined by X‐ray crystallography (Fig. 2).     

Total synthesis of ulongamide A, a cyclic depsipeptide isolated from marine cyanobacteria Lyngbya sp.

A total synthesis of ulongamide A (1), a cytotoxic natural cyclic depsipeptide, was achieved by a convergent route involving coupling of the fragments 7 and 8 to the pentapeptide 24, and subsequent cyclization thereof after prior removal of the t-Boc protecting groups.     

Antiplasmodial and antiviral cyclohexadepsipeptides from the endophytic fungus Pullularia sp. BCC 8613

Four new cyclohexadepsipeptides, pullularins A-D, were isolated from the endophytic fungus Pullularia sp. BCC 8613. Structures of these compounds were elucidated by interpretation of NMR spectroscopic and mass spectrometric data. The absolute configurations of amino acid and hydroxy acid residues were determined by HPLC analysis of depsipeptide acid hydrolyzates using a chiral column and Marfey's method. Pullularin A exhibited activities against the malarial parasite Plasmodium falciparum K1 (IC₅₀ 3.6 μg/mL) and herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1; IC₅₀ 3.3 μg/mL), whereas it showed weak cytotoxicity to Vero cells (IC₅₀ 36 μg/mL).     

14-Membered cyclodepsipeptides with alternating β-hydroxy and α-amino acids by cyclodimerization

The cyclodimerization (twinning) of β-hydroxy acid amides of type 1 under ‘direct amide cyclization’ (DAC) conditions is described. Although other coupling methods also gave moderate results, best yields were obtained via DAC, reaching 88% for the cyclodimer 10. In all cases, when starting with racemic material, only the trans-substituted cyclodepsipeptides were isolated. Simple molecular modeling revealed that the formation of the cyclodimer is thermodynamically slightly more favorable than that of the cyclomonomer. The proposal that cyclodimer formation is preferred because of the presence of intramolecular H-bonds could not be confirmed by X-ray crystallography. The influence of substituents, both in the amino acid and in the hydroxy acid moieties, was also studied. It is shown, that cyclodimerization was successful only when the hydroxy acid moiety is α,α-disubstituted.     

Synthesis of Enniatin‐like Cyclic Depsipeptides via ‘Direct Amide Cyclization’

The synthesis of several 18‐membered cyclodepsipeptides with an alternating sequence of α,α‐disubstituted α‐amino acids and α‐hydroxy acids (compounds 14a – 14e ) is described. The ring closure via macrolactonization was accomplished by treatment of a diluted suspension of the corresponding linear precursors 12a – 12e in toluene with HCl gas, i.e., the so‐called ‘direct amide cyclization’. The incorporation of the α,α‐disubstituted α‐amino acids was achieved via the ‘azirine/oxazolone method’ with 2H‐azirin‐3‐amines of type 6 and 9 as building blocks. The structure of the cyclic depsipeptide 14a was established by X‐ray crystallography.