Cascade Iminium Ion Reactions for the Facile Synthesis of Quinolizidines. Concise Syntheses of (±)-Epilupinine and (−)-Epimyrtine

Several novel cascade processes have been designed and developed that involve sequential reactions of imines and iminium ions to form substituted quinolizidine ring systems in a single step from simple and readily available starting materials. The utility and promise of these cascade reactions is evident from their application to extraordinarily concise syntheses of the representative quinolizidine alkaloids (+/-)-epilupinine and (-)-epimyrtine.

Altering protein specificity: techniques and applications

Protein engineering constitutes a powerful tool for generating novel proteins that serve as catalysts to induce selective chemical and biological transformations that would not otherwise be possible. Protocols that are commonly employed for altering the substrate specificity and selectivity profiles by mutating known enzymes include rational and random methods as well as techniques that entail evolution, selection and screening. Proteins identified by these techniques play important roles in a variety of industrial and medicinal applications and in the study of protein structure-function relationships. Herein we present a critical overview of methods for creating new functional proteins having altered specificity profiles and some practical case studies in which these techniques have been applied to solving problems in synthetic and medicinal chemistry and to elucidating enzyme function and biological pathways.

[Rh(CO)2Cl]2-Catalyzed Domino Reactions Involving Allylic Substitution and Subsequent Carbocyclization Reactions

[reaction: see text] Three novel domino reaction processes have been discovered and developed that employ the regioselective and stereoselective [Rh(CO)(2)Cl](2)-catalyzed alkylations of allylic trifluoroacetates with alpha-substituted sodiomalonates followed by an intramolecular Pauson-Khand annulation, a [5 + 2] cycloaddition, or a cycloisomerization. A unique aspect of the methodology is that a single catalyst is used to effect sequential transformations simply by increasing the temperature for the second reaction.

Application of intramolecular enyne metathesis to the synthesis of aza[4.2.1]bicyclics: enantiospecific total synthesis of (+)-anatoxin-a

A concise synthesis of the potent nAChR agonist (+)-anatoxin-a (1) has been completed in a series of only nine chemical operations and 27% overall yield from commercially available D-methyl pyroglutamate (4). The synthesis features a novel procedure for the diastereoselective preparation of cis-2,5-disubstituted pyrrolidines leading to 10, which underwent an intramolecular enyne metathesis to afford a bridged azabicyclic intermediate that was transformed into 1. [reaction: see text]

Ring-closing metathesis: A facile construct for alkaloid synthesis

Ring-closing metathesis has been found to be a highly effective reaction for the synthesis of functionalized, bridged nitrogen heterocycles. The utility of the process has been established in several case studies, including a facile synthesis of the tropane ring system and efficient, enantioselective syntheses of the natural products (–)-peduncularine and (+)-anatoxin-a.

Direct, Stereoselective Substitution in [Rh(CO)2Cl]2-Catalyzed Allylic Alkylations of Unsymmetrical Substrates

[Rh(CO)(2)Cl](2) has been found to possess the unusual property of catalyzing allylic alkylations of unsymmetrical allylic carbonates with high levels of regioselectivity to provide products arising from substitution at the carbon atom bearing the leaving group, irrespective of the structure of the starting carbonate. The substitution reaction occurs with retention of stereochemistry at the reacting center, and the carbon-carbon double-bond stereochemistry of primary (Z)-allylic carbonates is maintained. [reaction: see text]

Synthesis of Bridged Azabicyclic Structures via Ring-Closing Olefin Metathesis

A new strategy for the facile synthesis of azabicyclo[m.n.1]alkenes (m = 3-5; n = 3, 2) has been developed that involves the ring-closing metathesis (RCM) reaction of cis-2,6-dialkenyl-N-acyl piperidine derivatives. The requisite 2,6-dialkenylpiperidines may be readily prepared in six steps starting from glutarimide (11) or three steps from 4-methoxypyridine (25). In one example that establishes the practical utility of the procedure, the functionalized 8-azabicyclo[3.2.1]octane 32, which is a potential intermediate for the syntheses of various tropane alkaloids, was prepared. Additionally, a new route for the construction of the bridged tetrahydro-beta-carboline ring system 5 has been developed that features the ring-closing metathesis of the enyne 45 to construct the bridging ring in 46. This concise route to 46 also features a potentially general and useful procedure for the one-step preparation of a terminal alkyne from an ester function. Selective oxidation of the vinyl group in 46 afforded the unsaturated aldehyde 47, which may serve as a useful intermediate in syntheses of several Sarpagine alkaloids.

Regioselective Synthesis of Unsymmetrical C-Aryl Glycosides Using Silicon Tethers as Disposable Linkers

Silicon tethers were employed to control the regiochemistry of Diels-Alder reactions between substituted benzynes and glycosyl furans as a key step in the syntheses of unsymmetrical representatives of three major groups of C-aryl glycosides. The cycloaddition precursors were readily prepared by O-alkylation of substituted phenols with various sugar-substituted furylsilane derivatives. Selective deprotonation on the benzene ring of these ethers led to a benzyne that underwent an intramolecular Diels-Alder reaction to give bridged cycloadducts. Fluoride-induced removal of the silicon tether and acid-catalyzed ring opening of the oxabicycloheptadiene subunit yielded the desired C-aryl glycosides as single isomers.

Design, synthesis, and evaluation of water-soluble phospholipid analogues as inhibitors of phospholipase C from Bacillus cereus

The rate of hydrolysis of natural phospholipids by the phosphatidylcholine-preferring phospholipase C from Bacillus cereus (PLC(Bc)) follows the order phosphatidylcholine > phosphatidylethanolamine >> phosphatidyl-l-serine. To probe the structural basis for this substrate specificity, a series of water-soluble, nonhydrolyzable substrate analogues were needed so their complexes with the enzyme could be studied via X-ray crystallography and isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC). Accordingly the water-soluble dithiophospholipids 2-10 having choline, ethanolamine, and l-serine headgroups were synthesized, and the inhibitory activity of each was determined in an assay using 1,2-dihexanoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (C6PC) as the monomeric substrate. The 1,2-dibutanoyl dithiophosphocholine 2 was a weak inhibitor, whereas the related 1,2-dipentanoyl dithiophosphocholine 3 and the ethylene glycol dithiophosphocholines 4 and 5 were moderate inhibitors. The 1,2-omega-hydroxydiacyl dithiophosphocholines 6 and 7 were potent inhibitors, while the related compound 8, which had shorter acyl side chains, was a weak inhibitor. The dithiophosphoethanolamine 9 was a modest inhibitor, whereas the dithiophospho-l-serine 10 was a somewhat weaker inhibitor. Overall, the phospholipid analogues had increasing K(i) values according to the order 2 << 10 < 3 < 4 approximately 5 approximately 8 < 9 << 6 << 7 and increasing solubility according to the sequence 5 approximately 7 < 4 approximately 6 approximately 9 < 3 < 10 < 8 < 2.

Concise formal synthesis of (-)-peduncularine via ring-closing metathesis

[reaction: see text] A synthesis of the 6-aza[3.2.1]bicyclooctene (-)-2 has been completed by a short sequence of reactions that required only six operations from (S)-malic acid and featured a novel ring-closing metathesis to form the bridged bicyclic ring. Because 2 was previously converted into (-)-peduncularine (1), its preparation constitutes a formal enantioselective synthesis of 1.

Using X-ray crystallography of the Asp55Asn mutant of the phosphatidylcholine-preferring phospholipase C from Bacillus cereus to support the mechanistic role of Asp55 as the general base

Because mutations of the ionizable Asp at position 55 of the phosphatidylcholine preferring phospholipase C from Bacillus cereus (PLC(Bc)) to a non-ionizable Asn generate a mutant enzyme (D55N) with 10(4)-fold lower catalytic activity than the wild-type enzyme, we tentatively identified Asp55 as the general base for the enzymatic reaction. To eliminate the alternate possibility that Asp55 is a structurally important amino acid, the X-ray structures of unbound D55N and complexes of D55N with two non-hydrolyzable substrate analogues have been solved and refined to 2.0, 2.0, and 2.3A, respectively. The structures of unbound wild-type PLC(Bc) and a wild-type PLC(Bc)-complex with a non-hydrolyzable substrate analogue do not change significantly as a result of replacing Asp55 with Asn. These observations demonstrate that Asp55 is not critical for the structural integrity of the enzyme and support the hypothesis that Asp55 is the general base in the PLC(Bc)-catalyzed hydrolysis of phospholipids.

Biomimetic entry to the sarpagan family of indole alkaloids: total synthesis of +-geissoschizine and +-N-methylvellosimine

A concise synthesis of (+)-geissoschizine (1), a biosynthetic precursor of a variety of monoterpenoid indole alkaloids, from d-tryptophan (19) was performed as a critical prelude to achieving the first biomimetic, enantioselective synthesis of the sarpagine alkaloid (+)-N(a)-methylvellosimine (5). The approach to (+)-geissoschizine was designed to address the dual problems of stereocontrolled formation of the E-ethylidene moiety and the correct relative configuration at C(3) and C(15). Key steps in the synthesis involve a vinylogous Mannich reaction to prepare the carboline 22, which has the absolute stereochemistry at C(3) corresponding to that in 1 and 5, and an intramolecular Michael addition that leads to the tetracyclic corynantheane derivative 24, which possesses the correct stereochemical relationship between C(3) and C(15). Compound 24 was then transformed into 27, the pivotal intermediate in the syntheses of 1 and 5, by a sequence that allowed the stereospecific introduction of the E-ethylidene moiety. Selective reduction of the lactam in 27 followed by removal of the C(5) carboxyl group by radical decarbonylation gave deformylgeissoschizine (2) that was converted into (+)-geissoschizine (1) by formylation. The common intermediate 27 was then converted via a straightforward sequence of reactions into the alpha-amino nitrile 39. The derived silyl enol ether 40 underwent ionization upon exposure to BF(3).OEt(2) to give the intermediate iminium ion 41 that then cyclized in a biomimetically inspired intramolecular Mannich reaction to deliver (+)-N(a)-methylvellosimine (5). This transformation provides experimental support for the involvement of such a cyclization as one of the key steps in the biosynthesis of the sarpagine and ajmaline alkaloids.

Altering substrate specificity of phosphatidylcholine-preferring phospholipase C of Bacillus cereus by random mutagenesis of the headgroup binding site

PLC(Bc) is a 28.5 kDa monomeric enzyme that catalyzes the hydrolysis of the phosphodiester bond of phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylethanolamine, and phosphatidylserine to provide a diacylglycerol and the corresponding phosphorylated headgroup. Because single replacements of Glu4, Tyr56, and Phe66 in the headgroup binding pocket led to changes in substrate specificity [Martin et al. (2000) Biochemistry 39, 3410-3415], a combinatorial library of approximately 6000 maltose binding protein-PLC(Bc) fusion protein mutants containing random permutations of these three residues was generated to identify PLC(Bc) mutants with altered specificity profiles and high catalytic activities. Members of this library were screened for hydrolytic activity toward the water soluble substrates C6PC, C6PE, and C6PS using a novel protocol that was conducted in a 96-well format and featured the in situ cleavage of the fusion protein to release the mutant PLC(Bc)s. Ten mutant enzymes that exhibited significant preferences toward C6PE or C6PS were selected and analyzed by steady-state kinetics to determine their specificity constants, k(cat)/K(M). The C6PS selective clones E4G, E4Q/Y56T/F66Y, and E4K/Y56V exhibited higher specificity constants toward C6PS than wt, whereas Y56T, F66Y, and Y56T/F66Y were C6PE selective and had comparable or higher specificity constants than wt for C6PE. The corresponding wt residues were singly reinserted back into the E4Q/Y56T/F66Y and E4K/Y56V mutants via site-directed mutagenesis, and the E4Q/F66Y mutant thus obtained exhibited a 10-fold higher specificity constant toward C6PS than wt, a value significantly higher than other PLC(Bc) mutants. On the basis of available data, an aromatic residue at position 66 appears important for significant catalytic activity toward all three substrates, especially C6PC and C6PE. The charge of residue 4 also appears to be a determinant of enzyme specificity as a negatively charged residue at this position endows the enzyme with C6PC and C6PE preference, whereas a polar neutral or positively charged residue results in C6PS selectivity. Replacing Tyr56 with Val, Ala, Thr, or Ser greatly reduces activity toward C6PC. Thus, the substrate specificity of PLC(Bc) can be modulated by varying three of the amino acid residues that constitute the headgroup binding pocket, and it is now apparent that this enzyme is not evolutionarily optimized to hydrolyze phospholipids with ethanolamine or serine headgroups.

Evolution of the vinylogous Mannich reaction as a key construction for alkaloid synthesis

The vinylogous Mannich reaction is rapidly emerging as an important process for the construction of derivatives of delta-aminocarbonyl compounds. Because the iminium and dienol components employed in this addition may be either acyclic or cyclic, a wide variety of adducts may be quickly assembled. These intermediates may then in turn be converted into a broad array of alkaloids and substituted nitrogen heterocycles. We have developed a number of variations of this reaction and have applied some of them to the concise syntheses of a number of structurally diverse and complex alkaloid natural products. Many of these results are presented in a historical context in this Account.

Stereoselective total synthesis of dihydrocorynantheol

[reaction: see text] A stereoselective synthesis of the indole alkaloid dihydrocorynantheol (1) from indole-3-acetic acid has been achieved by a sequence involving 9 as a key intermediate. The synthesis of the unsaturated lactam ring in 9 highlights a series of catalytic organometallic reactions featuring two ring-closing metatheses and a zirconocene-catalyzed carbomagnesation. Since no protecting groups were used, the present synthesis of 1 is exceedingly concise, consisting of only eight distinct operations.