Synthesis of phosphonic analogues of carnitine and gamma-amino-beta-hydroxybutyric acid

Highly Diastereoselective Construction of Carbon- Heteroatom Quaternary Stereogenic Centers in the Synthesis of Analogs of Bioactive Compounds: From Monofluorinated Epoxyalkylphosphonates to α-Fluoro-, β-, or γ-Amino Alcohol Derivatives of Alkylphosphonates

The synthesis of the stable surrogates of an important amino acid (R)-4-amino-3-hydroxybutyric acid (GABOB) such as substituted hydroxy aminophosphonic acids bearing a quaternary stereogenic center is presented. Highly diastereoselective formations of fluorinated spiroepoxy alkylphosphonate or related tertiary carbon-containing oxiranes from β-keto phosphonates possessing methyl, phenyl, or cyclohexenyl substituents, are reported. Stereoselective acid-promoted epoxide opening by bromide or azide followed by reduction/protection afforded tertiary bromides or N-Boc derivatives of β-amino-γ-hydroxy alkylphosphonates in most cases, while the reactions of oxiranes with different amines yielded their β-hydroxy-γ-amino regioisomers. Surprisingly, during the synthesis of amino phosphonic acids, we observe that the acid-induced rearrangement proceeded in a high diastereospecific manner, leading finally to substituted β-hydroxy-γ-aminoalkylphosphonic acids.

Synthesis of Carnitine Benzyl Esters as Prodrugs

The introduction of C-2 acyl groups and a benzyl ester onto L-carnitine generated a series of carnitine benzyl esters as prodrug with improved liposolubility, stability and bioavailability.

Synthesis of phosphate derivatives related to the glycosidase inhibitor salacinol

The syntheses of polyhydroxylated imino- and anhydro thio-alditol compounds related to the naturally occurring glycosidase inhibitor, salacinol, containing a phosphate group in the side chain are described. The compounds lack hydroxyl groups on the acyclic side chain and are prototypes of the exact salacinol analogue. The synthetic strategy relies on the Mitsunobu reaction of N- and S-hydroxyalkyl derivatives of 2,3,5-tri-O-benzyl-1,4-dideoxy-1,4-imino-D-arabinitol and 1,4-anhydro-2,3,5-tri-O-benzyl-1-thio-D-arabinitol with dibenzyl phosphate to yield the corresponding protected heteroalditol phosphates. Screening of these compounds against recombinant human maltase glucoamylase (MGA), a critical intestinal glucosidase involved in the processing of oligosaccharides of glucose into glucose itself, shows that they are not effective inhibitors of MGA and demonstrates the importance of the hydroxyl and/or sulfate substituents present on the side chain for effective inhibition. The attempted synthesis of the exact analogue of salacinol by opening of cyclic phosphates is also described.