Total Synthesis of (+)-Lactacystin

Photocycloaddition of 5-Methoxyoxazoles to Aldehydes and ?-Keto Esters: A Comprehensive View on Stereoselectivity, Triplet Biradical Conformations, and Synthetic Applications of Paternò–Büchi Adducts

The photocycloaddition of carbonyl compounds (aldehydes and keto esters, respectively) with 5-methoxyoxazoles bearing substituents at C2 and C4 is described with respect to regio- and diastereoselectivity. In all cases the reactions proceed with excellent regioselectivity and with high to moderate (exo) diastereoselectivity independent of the nature of the excited carbonyl compound. The products can be easily ring-opened to give α-amino, β-hydroxy carboxylic acid derivatives.

Alpha,beta-unsaturated beta-silyl imide substrates for catalytic, enantioselective conjugate additions: a total synthesis of (+)-lactacystin and the discovery of a new proteasome inhibitor

Chiral (salen)Al mu-oxo dimer 1 catalyzes the highly enantioselective conjugate addition of carbon-centered nucleophiles to alpha,beta-unsaturated silyl imides. Allyldimethylsilane-substituted imide 4 was identified as an optimal substrate, undergoing addition reactions with a variety of nitrile nucleophiles in high yield and enantiomeric excess. The silicon-containing products are synthetically useful chiral building blocks, as demonstrated by their application to an enantioselective total synthesis of the potent proteasome inhibitor (+)-lactacystin (2). Elaboration of lactam 5a to the natural product was effected in 12 steps and in 11% overall yield and proceeded through an unusual spiro beta-lactone intermediate (11). This compound was found to inhibit the chymotrypsin-like site of the 26S proteasome at similar levels to known inhibitor clasto-lactacystin beta-lactone (omuralide).

New entry to convertible isocyanides for the Ugi reaction and its application to the stereocontrolled formal total synthesis of the proteasome inhibitor omuralide

The development of a new convertible isocyanide, indole-isocyanide, for ready access to pyroglutamic acids culminated in the formal total synthesis of the proteasome inhibitor omuralide featuring a stereocontrolled Ugi reaction. Indole-isocyanide was named after the facilitation of hydrolysis of the resulting 2-(2,2-dimethoxyethyl)anilide via an N-acylindole intermediate obtained by the Ugi multicomponent condensation reaction followed by the indole formation.

Spirodiketopiperazine-based CCR5 antagonists: Lead optimization from biologically active metabolite

Hydroxylated derivatives were designed and synthesized based on the information of oxidative metabolites. Compounds derived from beta-substituted (2R,3R)-2-amino-3-hydroxypropionic acid showed improved inhibitory activities against the binding of MIP-1alpha to human CCR5, compared with the non-hydroxylated derivatives and the other isomers.

Total Synthesis of Lactacystin and Salinosporamide A

Lactacystin and salinosporamide A are fascinating molecules with regard to both their chemical structures and biological activities. These naturally occurring compounds are potent and selective proteasome inhibitors. The molecular structures are characterized by their densely functionalized gamma-lactam cores. The structure and biological properties of these two compounds are attracting the attention of many chemists as challenging synthetic targets. We discuss their synthetic strategies in this review.

Protein-reactive natural products

Researchers in the post-genome era are confronted with the daunting task of assigning structure and function to tens of thousands of encoded proteins. To realize this goal, new technologies are emerging for the analysis of protein function on a global scale, such as activity-based protein profiling (ABPP), which aims to develop active site-directed chemical probes for enzyme analysis in whole proteomes. For the pursuit of such chemical proteomic technologies, it is helpful to derive inspiration from protein-reactive natural products. Natural products use a remarkably diverse set of mechanisms to covalently modify enzymes from distinct mechanistic classes, thus providing a wellspring of chemical concepts that can be exploited for the design of active-site-directed proteomic probes. Herein, we highlight several examples of protein-reactive natural products and illustrate how their mechanisms of action have influenced and continue to shape the progression of chemical proteomic technologies like ABPP.

Expedient synthesis of threo-beta-hydroxy-alpha-amino acid derivatives: phenylalanine, tyrosine, histidine, and tryptophan

An expedient synthesis of enantiomerically pure threo-beta-hydroxy-alpha-amino acid derivatives of phenylalanine, tyrosine, histidine, and tryptophan is described. The NBS-mediated radical bromination of the N,N-di-tert-butoxycarbonyl protected alpha-amino acids and subsequent treatment with silver nitrate in acetone provided the trans-oxazolidinones predominantly. Cesium carbonate catalyzed hydrolysis then generated the beta-hydroxy amino acid derivatives in excellent overall yield.

Peptide and Peptide-Like Modulators of 20S Proteasome Enzymatic Activity in Cancer Cells

The involvement of the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway in the degradation of critical intracellular regulatory proteins suggested a few years ago the potential use of proteasome inhibitors as novel therapeutic agents being applicable in many different disease indications, and in particular for cancer therapy. This article reviews recent salient medicinal chemistry achievements in the design, synthesis, and biological characterization of both synthetic and natural peptide-like proteasome inhibitors, updating recent reviews on this class of agents. As shown herein, different compound classes are capable of modulating the subunit-specific proteolytic activities of the 20S proteasome in ways not previously possible, and one of them, bortezomib, has provided proof-of-concept for this therapeutic approach in cancer clinical settings.

Apoptolidin: Induction of Apoptosis by a Natural Product

Apoptolidin is a natural product that selectively induces apoptosis in several cancer cell lines. Apoptosis, programmed cell death, is a biological key pathway for regulating homeostasis and morphogenesis. Apoptotic misregulations are connected with several diseases, in particular cancer. The extrinsic way to apoptosis leads through death ligands and death receptors to the activiation of the caspase cascade, which results in proteolytic degradation of the cell architecture. The intrinsic pathway transmits signals of internal cellular damage to the mitochondrion, which loses its structural integrity, and forms an apoptosome that initiates the caspase cascade. Compounds which regulate apoptosis are of high medical significance. Many natural products regulate apoptotic pathways, and apoptolidin is one of them. The known synthetic routes to apoptolidin are described and compared in this Review. Selected further natural products which regulate apoptosis are introduced briefly.

Catalytic Asymmetric Total Synthesis of (+)-Lactacystin

Total synthesis of (+)-lactacystin, a potent and selective proteasome inhibitor, was accomplished using a catalytic enantioselective Strecker reaction of a ketoimine as the initial key step. An enone-derived N-phosphinoyl ketoimine 7 was selected as a stable masked alpha-hydroxy ketoimine analogue. Excellent enantioselectivity (98% ee) and practical catalyst activity were produced under the optimized catalyst preparation method using 2.5 mol % Gd{N(SiMe3)2}3 as a metal source and 3.8 mol % D-glucose-derived ligand 8. This reaction was conducted on a 5 g scale. The chiral tetrasubstituted C-5 carbon efficiently controlled the stereochemistry of the other three chiral centers of lactacystin. Chelation-controlled Meerwein-type reduction of ketone 5 using i-PrMgBr (originally reported by Kang in a related substrate) selectively produced the desired secondary alcohol at the C-9 position. The C-6 hydroxy and C-7 methyl groups were introduced via a silyl conjugate addition followed by the Tamao oxidation and Donohoe methylation, respectively, in a highly stereoselective manner. A practical amount of enantiomerically pure clasto-lactacystin beta-lactone (2), the biologically active form of (+)-lactacystin, can be synthesized using this route. clasto-Lactacystin beta-lactone (2) was converted to (+)-lactacystin following the reported procedure.

A formal synthesis of (+)-lactacystin

A synthetic route to the neurotrophic agent (+)-lactacystin has been developed utilizing a base-promoted intramolecular alkylidenecarbene C-H insertion as the key transformation.

A Concise Route to (+)-Lactacystin

A facile chromatography-free route to Kang's intermediate for the synthesis of (+)-lactacystin, a potent proteasome inhibitor, has been developed starting with Brown's asymmetric crotylation of tert-butyl 5-formyl-2,2-dimethyl-1,3-dioxan-5-ylcarbamate, easily available from 2-amino-2-(hydroxymethyl)propane-1,3-diol (Tris).

Direct Organocatalytic Asymmetric Aldol Reactions of α-Amino Aldehydes: Expedient Syntheses of Highly Enantiomerically Enriched anti-β-Hydroxy-α-amino Acids

[reaction: see text] A simple and efficient method for the synthesis of highly enantiomerically enriched beta-hydroxy-alpha-amino acid derivatives has been developed. Direct asymmetric aldol reactions of a glycine aldehyde (aminoacetaldehyde) derivative have been performed under organocatalysis using l-proline or (S)-5-pyrrolidine-2-yl-1H-tetrazole. The reactions afforded anti-beta-hydroxy-alpha-amino aldehydes in good yield with high diastereoselectivity (dr up to >100:1) and high enantioselectivity (up to >99.5% ee), which were easily transformed into beta-hydroxy-alpha-amino acid derivatives.

Development of Highly Diastereo- and Enantioselective Direct Asymmetric Aldol Reaction of a Glycinate Schiff Base with Aldehydes Catalyzed by Chiral Quaternary Ammonium Salts

A highly efficient direct asymmetric aldol reaction of a glycinate Schiff base with aldehydes has been achieved under mild organic/aqueous biphasic conditions with excellent stereochemical control, using chiral quaternary ammonium salt 1b as a phase-transfer catalyst. The initially developed reaction conditions, using 2 equiv of aqueous base (1% NaOH (aq)), exhibited inexplicably limited general applicability in terms of aldehyde acceptors. The mechanistic investigation revealed the intervention of an unfavorable yet inevitable retro aldol process involving the chiral catalyst. On the basis of this information, a reliable procedure has been established by use of a catalytic amount of 1% NaOH (aq) and ammonium chloride, which tolerates a wide range of aldehydes to afford the corresponding anti-beta-hydroxy-alpha-amino esters almost exclusively in an essentially optically pure form.

Stereoselective generation of vicinal stereogenic quaternary centers by photocycloaddition of 5-methoxy oxazoles to α-keto esters: synthesis of erythro β-hydroxy dimethyl aspartates

The photocycloaddition of methyl pyruvate and methyl phenylglyoxylate, respectively, to 5-methoxy oxazoles bearing additional substituents at C-2 and C-4 leads to bicyclic oxetanes 2 and 3 with high to moderate (exo) diastereoselectivity that can be easily ring-opened to give bis-quaternary aspartic acid diester derivatives 4 and 5.

Synthesis of erythro-α-Amino β-hydroxy Carboxylic Acid Esters by Diastereoselective Photocycloaddition of 5-Methoxyoxazoles with Aldehydes

A new photoaldol route to alpha-amino-beta-hydroxy carboxylic acid esters is initiated by the photocycloaddition of aromatic or aliphatic aldehydes to 5-methoxyoxazoles. The 4-unsubstituted 5-methyloxazole 1 gave the cycloadducts 8a-f in high yields and excellent exo-diastereoselectivities. Hydrolysis of 8a-f gives the N-acetyl alpha-amino-beta-hydroxy esters 9a-f, which could be subsequently converted into the corresponding Z-didehydro alpha-amino acids 10a-f. Quartenary alpha-amino-beta-hydroxy esters 12, 14, 16, 18, and 20, which are stable against dehydration, were obtained from the 4-alkylated 5-methoxyoxazoles 2-6, in most cases highly erythro-selective due to the high degree of stereocontrol (exo) at the photocycloaddition (to give 11, 13, 15, 17, and 19) level. The relative configurations of the N-acetyl alpha-amino-beta-hydroxy esters were determined by NMR spectroscopy and comparison with chiral pool-derived compounds as well as by X-ray structure determination of the ester 23, formed by hydrolysis of the cycloadduct 22, derived from photocycloaddition of propionaldehyde to the isoleucine-derived oxazole 21.

Site-specific synthesis and reactivity of oligonucleotides containing stereochemically defined 1,N2-deoxyguanosine adducts of the lipid peroxidation product trans-4-hydroxynonenal

trans-4-Hydroxynonenal (HNE) is a major peroxidation product of omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids. The reaction of HNE with DNA gives four diastereomeric 1,N(2)-gamma-hydroxypropano adducts of deoxyguanosine; background levels of these adducts have been detected in animal tissue. Stereospecific syntheses of these four adducts at the nucleoside level have been accomplished. In addition, a versatile strategy for their site-specific incorporation into oligonucleotides has been developed. These adducts are destabilizing as measured by melting temperature when compared to an unadducted strand. The thermal destablization of the adducted 12-mers ranged from 5 to 16 degrees C and is dependent on the absolute stereochemistry of the adduct. The HNE adducts were also examined for their ability to form interstrand DNA-DNA cross-links when incorporated into a CpG sequence. We find that only one of the HNE stereoisomers formed interstrand DNA-DNA cross-links.

Lobocyclamide B from Lyngbya confervoides. Configuration and asymmetric synthesis of beta-hydroxy-alpha-amino acids by (-)-sparteine-mediated aldol addition

[reaction: see text] Lobocyclamide B, a cyclododecapeptide containing five beta-hydroxy-alpha-amino acid residues, was isolated from Lyngbya confervoides. This is the first reported occurrence of gamma-hydroxythreonine in a natural peptide. Optically active beta-hydroxy-alpha-amino acids required for configurational analysis of the title compound were prepared using a novel (-)-sparteine-mediated asymmetric aldol addition of N-(diphenylmethylene)glycine tert-butyl ester to aldehydes. The method is general for aliphatic and aryl aldehydes and notable for operational simplicity.

Stereocontrolled syntheses of all four stereoisomeric 1,N2-deoxyguanosine adducts of the lipid peroxidation product trans-4-hydroxynonenal

[structure: see text]. trans-4-hydroxynonenal (4-HNE) is a unique product from the peroxidation of omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids. The major reaction of racemic 4-HNE with DNA is with deoxyguanosine to give four stereoisomeric exocyclic propano adducts. The stereospecific syntheses of these four adducts has been achieved at the nucleoside level. The synthetic approach is amenable to the synthesis of structurally defined oligonucleotides containing these endogenous genotoxins.

Facile and efficient total synthesis of (+)-preussin

[structure] The enantioselective total synthesis of (+)-preussin, a potent antifungal agent, has been achieved. The key steps are a Pd(0)-catalyzed oxazoline-forming reaction from L-phenylalanine, hydrogenolysis, and subsequent diastereoselective reductive cyclization of the intermediate aminoketone to pyrrolidine using Pearlman's catalyst.