One-Flow, Multistep Synthesis of Nucleosides by Brønsted Acid-Catalyzed Glycosylation

In Planta, In Vitro and In Silico Studies of Chiral N6-Benzyladenine Derivatives: Discovery of Receptor-Specific S-Enantiomers with Cytokinin or Anticytokinin Activities

Cytokinins, classical phytohormones, affect all stages of plant ontogenesis, but their application in agriculture is limited because of the lack of appropriate ligands, including those specific for individual cytokinin receptors. In this work, a series of chiral N6-benzyladenine derivatives were studied as potential cytokinins or anticytokinins. All compounds contained a methyl group at the α-carbon atom of the benzyl moiety, making them R- or S-enantiomers. Four pairs of chiral nucleobases and corresponding ribonucleosides containing various substituents at the C2 position of adenine heterocycle were synthesized. A nucleophilic substitution reaction by secondary optically active amines was used. A strong influence of the chirality of studied compounds on their interaction with individual cytokinin receptors of Arabidopsis thaliana was uncovered in in vivo and in vitro assays. The AHK2 and CRE1/AHK4 receptors were shown to have low affinity for the studied S-nucleobases while the AHK3 receptor exhibited significant affinity for most of them. Thereby, three synthetic AHK3-specific cytokinins were discovered: N6-((S)-α-methylbenzyl)adenine (S-MBA), 2-fluoro,N6-((S)-α-methylbenzyl)adenine (S-FMBA) and 2-chloro,N6-((S)-α-methylbenzyl)adenine (S-CMBA). Interaction patterns between individual receptors and specific enantiomers were rationalized by structure analysis and molecular docking. Two other S-enantiomers (N6-((S)-α-methylbenzyl)adenosine, 2-amino,N6-((S)-α-methylbenzyl)adenosine) were found to exhibit receptor-specific and chirality-dependent anticytokinin properties.

Automated, Multistep Continuous-Flow Synthesis of 2,6-Dideoxy and 3-Amino-2,3,6-trideoxy Monosaccharide Building Blocks

An automated continuous flow system capable of producing protected deoxy-sugar donors from commercial material is described. Four 2,6-dideoxy and two 3-amino-2,3,6-trideoxy sugars with orthogonal protecting groups were synthesized in 11-32 % overall yields in 74-131.5 minutes of total reaction time. Several of the reactions were able to be concatenated into a continuous process, avoiding the need for chromatographic purification of intermediates. The modular nature of the experimental setup allowed for reaction streams to be split into different lines for the parallel synthesis of multiple donors. Further, the continuous flow processes were fully automated and described through the design of an open-source Python-controlled automation platform.

Transition metal catalyzed glycosylation reactions - an overview

Carbohydrates are a large class of natural products that play key roles in a number of biological processes such as in cellular communication or disease progression. Carbohydrates are also used as vaccines and pharmaceuticals. Their synthesis through glycosylation reactions is challenging, and often stoichiometric amounts of promoters are required. Transition metal catalyzed glycosylation reactions are far less common, but can have advantages with respect to reaction conditions and selectivity. The review intends to approach the topic from the catalysis and carbohydrate perspective to encourage researchers from both the fields to perform research in the area. The article covers the basics in glycosylation and catalysis chemistry. The catalysts for the reaction can be roughly divided into two groups. In one group, the catalysts serve as Lewis acids. In the other group, the catalysts play a higher sophisticated role, are involved in all elementary steps of the mechanism and remain coordinated to the substrate throughout the whole catalytic cycle. Based on selected examples, the main trends in transition metal catalyzed glycosylation reactions are explained. Lewis acid catalysts tend to require a somewhat higher catalyst load compared to other organometallic catalysts. The reaction conditions such as the temperature and time depend in many cases on the leaving group employed. An outlook is also presented. The article is not meant to be comprehensive; it outlines the most common transition metal catalyzed processes with the intention to bring the catalysis and carbohydrate communities together and to inspire research activities in both areas.

Synthesis of well-defined adenosine diphosphate ribose oligomers

The post-translational modification of proteins that is known as adenosine diphosphate ribosylation (ADPr) regulates a wide variety of important biological processes, such as DNA-damage repair and cellular metabolism. This modification is also involved in carcinogenesis and the process of aging. Therefore, a better understanding of the function of ADP-ribosylation is crucial for the development of novel therapeutics. To facilitate the elucidation of the biology of ADPr, the availability of well-defined fragments of poly(ADP-ribose) is essential. Herein we report a solid-phase synthetic approach for the preparation of ADP-ribose oligomers of exactly defined length. The methodology is exemplified by the first reported synthesis of an ADP-ribose dimer and trimer.

Development and Evaluation of a Raman Flow Cell for Monitoring Continuous Flow Reactions

We show how in-line Raman spectroscopy can be used to monitor both reactant and product concentrations for a heterogeneously catalysed Suzuki cross reaction operating in continuous flow. The flow system consisted of an HPLC pump to drive a homogeneous mixture of the reactants (4-bromobenzonitrile, phenylboronic acid, and potassium carbonate) through an oven heated (80°C) palladium catalyst immobilised on a silica monolith. A custom built PTFE in-line flow cell with a quartz window enabled the coupling of an Ocean Optics Raman spectrometer probe to monitor both the reactants and product (4-cyanobiphenyl). Calibration was based on obtaining multivariate spectral data in the range 1530 cm–1 and 1640 cm–1 and using partial least-squares regression (PLSR) to obtain a calibration model which was validated using gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GCMS) analysis. In-line Raman monitoring of the reactant and product concentrations enable (i) determination of reaction kinetic information such as the empirical rate law and associated rate constant and (ii) optimisation of either the product conversion (61 % at 0.02 mL min–1 generating 17 g h–1) or product yield (14 % at 0.24 mL min–1 generating 53 g h–1).