Two New Nitrone Alkaloids fromHuperzia serrata

Huperzine alkaloids: forty years of total syntheses

Covering: up to 2023Huperzine alkaloids are a group of natural products belonging to the Lycopodium alkaloids family. The representative member huperzine A has a unique structure and exhibits potent inhibitory activity against acetylcholine esterase (AChE). This subfamily of alkaloids provides a great opportunity for developing synthetic methodologies and asymmetric synthesis. The efforts towards the synthesis of huperzine A have cultivated dozens of total syntheses and a rich body of new chemistry. Impressive progress has also been made in the synthesis of other huperzine alkaloids. The total syntheses of huperzines B, U, O, Q and R, structure reassignment and total syntheses of huperzines K, M and N have been reported in the past decade. This review focuses on the synthetic organic chemistry and the biosynthesis and medicinal chemistry of huperzines are also covered briefly.

Endophytic Fungal Community of Huperzia serrata: Diversity and Relevance to the Production of Huperzine A by the Plant Host

As the population ages globally, there seem to be more people with Alzheimer's disease. Unfortunately, there is currently no specific treatment for the disease. At present, Huperzine A (HupA) is one of the best drugs used for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease and has been used in clinical trials for several years in China. HupA was first separated from Huperzia serrata, a traditional medicinal herb that is used to cure fever, contusions, strains, hematuria, schizophrenia, and snakebite for several hundreds of years in China, and has been confirmed to have acetylcholinesterase inhibitory activity. With the very slow growth of H. serrata, resources are becoming too scarce to meet the need for clinical treatment. Some endophytic fungal strains that produce HupA were isolated from H. serrate in previous studies. In this article, the diversity of the endophytic fungal community within H. serrata was observed and the relevance to the production of HupA by the host plant was further analyzed. A total of 1167 strains were obtained from the leaves of H. serrata followed by the stems (1045) and roots (824). The richness as well as diversity of endophytic fungi within the leaf and stem were higher than in the root. The endophytic fungal community was similar within stems as well as in leaves at all taxonomic levels. The 11 genera (Derxomyces, Lophiostoma, Cyphellophora, Devriesia, Serendipita, Kurtzmanomyces, Mycosphaerella, Conoideocrella, Brevicellicium, Piskurozyma, and Trichomerium) were positively correlated with HupA content. The correlation index of Derxomyces with HupA contents displayed the highest value (CI = 0.92), whereas Trichomerium showed the lowest value (CI = 0.02). Through electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS), it was confirmed that the HS7-1 strain could produce HupA and the total alkaloid concentration was 3.7 ug/g. This study will enable us to screen and isolate the strain that can produce HupA and to figure out the correlation between endophytic fungal diversity with HupA content in different plant organs. This can provide new insights into the screening of strains that can produce HupA more effectively.

Decahydroquinoline Ring 13C NMR Spectroscopic Patterns for the Stereochemical Elucidation of Phlegmarine-Type Lycopodium Alkaloids: Synthesis of (-)-Serralongamine A and Structural Reassignment and Synthesis of (-)-Huperzine K and (-)-Huperzine M (Lycoposerramine Y)

Analysis of ¹³C NMR spectroscopic data of the phlegmarine subset of Lycopodium alkaloids revealed spectral patterns that allowed the stereochemical arrangement of the four stereogenic carbons in the decahydroquinoline core to be established. A relatively simple predictive set of chemical shift combinations is reported, providing a tool for the challenging stereochemical assignment of phlegmarine-type alkaloids. Based on the chemical shifts in their NMR spectroscopic profiles, the alkaloids huperzine K and huperzine M, formally reported as cis derivatives, were structurally reassigned as trans-decahydroquinolines. The NMR spectroscopic data for huperzine M were identical to those reported for lycoposerramine Y and, hence, also implied the configurational reassignment of the latter. The revised structures of the above alkaloids were confirmed by enantioselective total synthesis. Additionally, the synthesis of (-)-serralongamine A via a common intermediate precursor is reported.

Enantioselective Construction of Octahydroquinolines via Trienamine-Mediated Diels-Alder Reactions

A trienamine-mediated asymmetric Diels-Alder reaction using a 5-nitro-2,3-dihydro-4-pyridone derivative as a dienophile in the presence of a secondary amine organocatalyst derived from cis-hydroxyproline was discovered. The reaction provides optically active octahydroquinolines through an endo-selective [4 + 2] cyclization pathway. The following stereoselective denitration, isomerization, and/or hydrogenation generated divergent stereoisomers of decahydroquinolines, which are useful synthons for the total synthesis of Lycopodium alkaloids.

LC-MS guided isolation and dereplication of Lycopodium alkaloids from Lycopodium cernuum var. sikkimense of different geographical origins

Lycopodium alkaloids (LAs) are the characteristic metabolites of club mosses. Chemical differences often exist in different specimens of a single plant species collected from different geographic origins. In this study, a preliminary LC-MS detection and dereplication analyses of alkaloidal constituents of Lycopodium cernuum var. sikkimense (Müll. Hal.) C.B. Clarke (LCVS2) collected from Fujian province led to the isolation and characterization of three undescribed LAs, lycocernuskines A-C, and six known cernuane-type LAs. The known compounds were previously isolated from the same plant species (LCVS1) collected from Chongqing, and so their dereplication in LCVS2 was accomplished based on their retention times (t_R) and the quasi-molecular ion peaks in the LC-MS fingerprint. Chemical structures were identified by spectroscopic methods, single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis, and electronic circular dichroism calculations. Lycocernuskines A and B are the first two examples of C-12 hydroxylated phlegmarane-type LAs bearing a nitrone residue at the quinoline ring. The isolates were evaluated for their anti-AChE and neuroprotective effects.

Phytochemicals from fern species: potential for medicine applications

Ferns are an important phytogenetic bridge between lower and higher plants. Historically they have been used in many ways by humans, including as ornamental plants, domestic utensils, foods, and in handicrafts. In addition, they have found uses as medicinal herbs. Ferns produce a wide array of secondary metabolites endowed with different bioactivities that could potentially be useful in the treatment of many diseases. However, there is currently relatively little information in the literature on the phytochemicals present in ferns and their pharmacological applications, and the most recent review of the literature on the occurrence, chemotaxonomy and physiological activity of fern secondary metabolites was published over 20 years ago, by Soeder (Bot Rev 51:442-536, 1985). Here, we provide an updated review of this field, covering recent findings concerning the bioactive phytochemicals and pharmacology of fern species.

Approach to cis-Phlegmarine Alkaloids via Stereodivergent Reduction: Total Synthesis of (+)-Serratezomine E and Putative Structure of (-)-Huperzine N

A unified strategy for the synthesis of the cis-phlegmarine group of alkaloids is presented, leading to the first synthesis of serratezomine E (1) as well as the putative structure of huperzine N (2). A contrasteric hydrogenation method was developed based on the use of Wilkinson's catalyst, which allowed the facial selectivity of standard hydrogenation to be completely overturned. Calculations were performed to determine the mechanism, and structures for huperzines M and N are reassigned.

A gram-scale route to phlegmarine alkaloids: rapid total synthesis of (−)-cermizine B

The asymmetric total synthesis of the cis-phlegmarine alkaloid cermizine B was achieved rapidly and on a gram-scale by an uninterrupted eight-step sequence and a final reduction step.