Studies towards complex bridged alkaloids: regio- and stereocontrolled enolate chemistry of 2,5-diketopiperazines

The substitution of symmetrical N-protected diketopiperazines (DKPs) via enolate intermediates has been studied. The enolate reactions were highly diastereocontrolled, leading to enantiopure DKP products if chiral amino acid precursors were employed, and giving racemic products, starting with centrosymmetric DKPs, even when a chiral lithium amide base was used to generate the lithium enolate. With unsymmetrical DKPs derived from proline and either alanine, phenylalanine or valine, the enolate substitution occurred with high regio- and stereoselectivity on the proline residue. This enabled the synthesis of substituted DKPs that could be cyclised via cationic processes to give the bicyclo[2.2.2]diazaoctane core structure present in paraherquamide and stephacidin natural products.     

A cationic cyclisation route to prenylated indole alkaloids: synthesis of malbrancheamide B and brevianamide B, and progress towards stephacidin A

The synthesis of the prenylated indole alkaloids, malbrancheamide B and brevianamide B have been accomplished, starting with a prenylated proline derivative created using the Seebach ‘self-reproduction of chirality’ method, and using a cationic cascade sequence as the key step to form late-stage bridged diketopiperazine intermediates.     

Synthesis towards complex bridged alkaloids derived from diketopiperazines: a cationic cascade approach to stephacidins, paraherquamides and related systems

Regioselective enolate formation, followed by stereoselective electrophilic quenching of unsymmetrical proline-derived diketopiperazines (DKPs), enabled the synthesis of variously substituted DKPs, including one substrate which could be further substituted and cyclised to give the bicyclo[2.2.2]diazaoctane core structure present in paraherquamide and stephacidin natural products.