Kost-Sagitullin Rearrangement and Other Isomerization Recyclizations of Pyrimidines. (Review)

Synthetic half-reactions

This perspective on reactivity introduces Synthetic Half-Reactions (SHRs) as a way to analyze chemical transformations.

5-Amino-pyrazoles: potent reagents in organic and medicinal synthesis

5-Amino-pyrazoles have proven to be a class of fascinating and privileged organic tools for the construction of diverse heterocyclic or fused heterocyclic scaffolds. This review presents comprehensively the applications of 5-amino-pyrazoles as versatile synthetic building blocks in the synthesis of remarkable organic molecules with an emphasis on versatile functionalities. Following a brief introduction of synthesis methods, planning strategies to construct organic compounds, particularly diverse heterocyclic scaffolds, such as poly-substituted heterocyclic compounds and fused heterocyclic compounds via 5-amino-pyrazoles, have been summarized. Fused heterocycles are classified as bicyclic, tricyclic, tetracyclic, and spiro-fused pyrazole derivatives. These outstanding compounds synthesized via wide variety of approaches include conventional reactions, one-pot multi-component reactions, cyclocondensation, cascade/tandem protocols, and coupling reactions. 5-Amino-pyrazoles represent a class of promising functional reagents, similar to the biologically active compounds, highlighted with diverse applications especially in the field of pharmaceutics and medicinal chemistry. Notably, this critical review covers the articles published from 1981 to 2018.

Pyridine to aniline: an exceptional biologically driven rearrangement

During the course of our study on the innovative ligand for nicotinic acetylcholinergic receptors, LNAChR, and in order to assess activity and toxicity profiles of the drug's metabolites, synthesis of the main metabolites was undertaken. This synthesis work was done in parallel by organic chemistry and by biotransformation of LNAChR. Filamentous fungus Aspergillus alliaceus (NRRL 315) neatly afforded three of the main metabolites, one of which arose from a very unexpected and very uncommon rearrangement.

Recyclization reactions of 1-alkylpyrimidinium salts

The reaction of 4-amino-2-benzyl-1-methyl-5-ethoxycarbonylpyrimidinium iodide (3) with alcoholic methylamine resulted in the formation of the methylimine of 2-amino-4-hydroxy-6-methylamino-5-phenylpyridine-3-carbaldehyde (5). Heating of the same pyrimidinium salt in benzylamine gave a mixture of products of two C-C recyclizations: 2-benzyl-4-benzylamino-5-carbamoylpyrimidine (7) and the benzylimine of 4-amino-2-benzyl-6-benzylaminopyrimidine-5-carbaldehyde (8). The reaction of 2-amino-1,4-dimethyl-5-ethoxycarbonylpyrimidinium iodide (10) with KOH ethanolic solution gave a single product of C-C-recyclization: 2-amino-5-acetyl-4-hydroxypyrimidine (11).

Chemical-genetic profiling of imidazo[1,2-a]pyridines and -pyrimidines reveals target pathways conserved between yeast and human cells

Small molecules have been shown to be potent and selective probes to understand cell physiology. Here, we show that imidazo[1,2-a]pyridines and imidazo[1,2-a]pyrimidines compose a class of compounds that target essential, conserved cellular processes. Using validated chemogenomic assays in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, we discovered that two closely related compounds, an imidazo[1,2-a]pyridine and -pyrimidine that differ by a single atom, have distinctly different mechanisms of action in vivo. 2-phenyl-3-nitroso-imidazo[1,2-a]pyridine was toxic to yeast strains with defects in electron transport and mitochondrial functions and caused mitochondrial fragmentation, suggesting that compound 13 acts by disrupting mitochondria. By contrast, 2-phenyl-3-nitroso-imidazo[1,2-a]pyrimidine acted as a DNA poison, causing damage to the nuclear DNA and inducing mutagenesis. We compared compound 15 to known chemotherapeutics and found resistance required intact DNA repair pathways. Thus, subtle changes in the structure of imidazo-pyridines and -pyrimidines dramatically alter both the intracellular targeting of these compounds and their effects in vivo. Of particular interest, these different modes of action were evident in experiments on human cells, suggesting that chemical–genetic profiles obtained in yeast are recapitulated in cultured cells, indicating that our observations in yeast can: (1) be leveraged to determine mechanism of action in mammalian cells and (2) suggest novel structure–activity relationships.

We have shown that chemical–genetic screening allows structure–activity studies of chemical compounds at a very high resolution. In analyzing the effects of closely related imidazo-pyridine and -pyrimidine compounds, we found two compounds that likely act as oxidizing agents, yet target different organelles. The imidazo-pyridine affected mitochondrial functions whereas the imidazo-pyrimidine caused nuclear DNA damage. Remarkably, the only difference between these two compounds is the presence of a nitrogen atom at position 8. Thus, in addition to demonstrating the potential for high resolution in chemical–genetic studies, our work suggests that subtle changes in compound chemistry can be exploited to target different intracellular compartments with very different biological effects. Finally, we show that chemical–genetic profiling in yeast can be used to infer mode of action in mammalian cells. The specificity of compound 15 in eliciting a nuclear DNA damage response in evolutionarily diverse eukaryotes suggests that it will be of great utility in studying the cellular response to nuclear oxidative damage.