Stereocontrolled Cyclic Nitrone Cycloaddition Strategy for the Synthesis of Pyrrolizidine and Indolizidine Alkaloids

Novel stereocontrolled syntheses of tashiromine and epitashiromine

A novel stereocontrolled approach has been developed for the syntheses of tashiromine and epitashiromine alkaloids from cyclooctene β-amino acids. The synthetic concept is based on the azetidinone opening of a bicyclic β-lactam, followed by oxidative ring opening through ring C-C double bond and reductive ring-closure reactions of the cis- or trans-cyclooctene β-amino acids.

Direct synthesis of imino-C-nucleoside analogues and other biologically active iminosugars

Iminosugars have attracted increasing attention as chemical probes, chaperones and leads for drug discovery. Despite several clinical successes, their de novo synthesis remains a significant challenge that also limits their integration with modern high-throughput screening technologies. Herein, we describe a unique synthetic strategy that converts a wide range of acetaldehyde derivatives into iminosugars and imino-C-nucleoside analogues in two or three straightforward transformations. We also show that this strategy can be readily applied to the rapid production of indolizidine and pyrrolizidine iminosugars. The high levels of enantio- and diastereoselectivity, excellent overall yields, convenience and broad substrate scope make this an appealing process for diversity-oriented synthesis, and should enable drug discovery efforts.

Iminosugars are biologically and medicinally important compounds but methods for their synthesis are often laborious. Here, the authors report a simple, rapid route for the enantioselective synthesis of multiple biologically active iminosugars and C-nucleoside analogues.

A New Approach to Nitrones through Cascade Reaction of Nitro Compounds Enabled by Visible Light Photoredox Catalysis

A series of nitroalkanes were efficiently transformed to alkylnitrones using a visible light irradiation photocatalytic process. The mild, efficient, and environmentally benign reaction method, involving dynamic reciprocations of cascade pathways, comprises a mixture of a Ru(bpy)3Cl2 photoredox catalyst and DIPIBA or Hünig's base in CH3CN. Notably, DIPIBA was found to be the best additive for the cross condensation reaction of nitroalkanes with aldehydes. The structures of appropriate products were confirmed by X-ray analysis.

Simple Indolizidine and Quinolizidine Alkaloids

This review of simple indolizidine and quinolizidine alkaloids (i.e., those in which the parent bicyclic systems are in general not embedded in polycyclic arrays) is an update of the previous coverage in Volume 55 of this series (2001). The present survey covers the literature from mid-1999 to the end of 2013; and in addition to aspects of the isolation, characterization, and biological activity of the alkaloids, much emphasis is placed on their total synthesis. A brief introduction to the topic is followed by an overview of relevant alkaloids from fungal and microbial sources, among them slaframine, cyclizidine, Steptomyces metabolites, and the pantocins. The important iminosugar alkaloids lentiginosine, steviamine, swainsonine, castanospermine, and related hydroxyindolizidines are dealt with in the subsequent section. The fourth and fifth sections cover metabolites from terrestrial plants. Pertinent plant alkaloids bearing alkyl, functionalized alkyl or alkenyl substituents include dendroprimine, anibamine, simple alkaloids belonging to the genera Prosopis, Elaeocarpus, Lycopodium, and Poranthera, and bicyclic alkaloids of the lupin family. Plant alkaloids bearing aryl or heteroaryl substituents include ipalbidine and analogs, secophenanthroindolizidine and secophenanthroquinolizidine alkaloids (among them septicine, julandine, and analogs), ficuseptine, lasubines, and other simple quinolizidines of the Lythraceae, the simple furyl-substituted Nuphar alkaloids, and a mixed quinolizidine-quinazoline alkaloid. The penultimate section of the review deals with the sizable group of simple indolizidine and quinolizidine alkaloids isolated from, or detected in, ants, mites, and terrestrial amphibians, and includes an overview of the "dietary hypothesis" for the origin of the amphibian metabolites. The final section surveys relevant alkaloids from marine sources, and includes clathryimines and analogs, stellettamides, the clavepictines and pictamine, and bis(quinolizidine) alkaloids.

Gold nanoparticles are suitable cores for building tunable iminosugar multivalency

Inhibition in the low micromolar range towards amyloglucosidase.

An efficient [4+3] cycloaddition reaction of aza-o-quinodimethanes with C,N-cyclic azomethine imines: stereoselective synthesis of 1,2,4-triazepines

An efficient [4+3] cycloaddition reaction of in situ generated aza-o-quinodimethanes with C,N-cyclic azomethine imines has been developed.

New synthesis and biological evaluation of uniflorine A derivatives: towards specific insect trehalase inhibitors

(–)-Uniflorine A and 7-deoxy-uniflorine A are selective inhibitors of insect trehalases from C. riparius and S. littoralis.

An efficient synthesis of aldohexose-derived piperidine nitrones: precursors of piperidine iminosugars

d-Glucopyranose-derived and l-idopyranose-derived piperidine nitrones were synthesized in good overall yields through six-step reaction sequence starting from readily available 2,3,4,6-tetra-O-benzyl-d-glucopyranose. The method is efficient and could be general for the synthesis of aldohexose-derived piperidine nitrones which are precursors of piperidine iminosugars.