Synthesis of a benzyl-protected analog of arenarioside, a trisaccharide phenylpropanoid glycoside

Complete biosynthesis of the phenylethanoid glycoside verbascoside

Verbascoside, which was first discovered in 1963, is a well-known phenylethanoid glycoside (PhG) that exhibits antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, and neuroprotective activities and contributes to the therapeutic effects of many medicinal plants. However, the biosynthetic pathway of verbascoside remains to be fully elucidated. Here, we report the identification of two missing enzymes in the verbascoside biosynthesis pathway by transcriptome mining and in vitro enzymatic assays. Specifically, a BAHD acyltransferase (hydroxycinnamoyl-CoA:salidroside hydroxycinnamoyltransferase [SHCT]) was shown to catalyze the regioselective acylation of salidroside to form osmanthuside A, and a CYP98 hydroxylase (osmanthuside B 3,3'-hydroxylase [OBH]) was shown to catalyze meta-hydroxylations of the p-coumaroyl and tyrosol moieties of osmanthuside B to complete the biosynthesis of verbascoside. Because SHCTs and OBHs are found in many Lamiales species that produce verbascoside, this pathway may be general. The findings from the study provide novel insights into the formation of caffeoyl and hydroxytyrosol moieties in natural product biosynthetic pathways. In addition, with the newly acquired enzymes, we achieved heterologous production of osmanthuside B, verbascoside, and ligupurpuroside B in Escherichia coli; this work lays a foundation for sustainable production of verbascoside and other PhGs in micro-organisms.

Scalable total synthesis of natural vanillin-derived glucoside ω-esters

The first total synthesis of vanilloloside, calleryanin, and a series of naturally occurring ω-esters of vanilloloside was realized through direct glycosylation of vanillin-based aglycones or late-stage derivatization of vanilloloside. All aglycones and their fragments were synthesized from vanillin as the sole aromatic precursor. Subsequently, these intermediates were used to construct various vanillin-derived glucoside ω-esters using a mild acidic deacetylation as the key synthetic step, providing the final products in the total yields of 10-50% and general purity of >95%. Additionally, the first operationally simple and sustainable synthesis of litseafoloside B was realized on large scale, avoiding the use of toxic solvents and reagents, providing an attractive alternative to isolation of this and other similar compounds from plant sources.

Total synthesis of phenylpropanoid glycoside osmanthuside-B6 facilitated by double isomerisation of glucose–rhamnose orthoesters

Osmanthuside-B₆ was synthesized in 22% overall yield. The synthesis involved a newly discovered glucose–rhamnose orthoester double isomerization process.

A selective and mild glycosylation method of natural phenolic alcohols

Several bioactive natural p-hydroxyphenylalkyl β-D-glucopyranosides, such as vanillyl β-D-glucopyranoside, salidroside and isoconiferin, and their glycosyl analogues were prepared by a simple reaction sequence. The highly efficient synthetic approach was achieved by utilizing acetylated glycosyl bromides as well as aromatic moieties and mild glycosylation promoters. The aglycones, p-O-acetylated arylalkyl alcohols, were prepared by the reduction of the corresponding acetylated aldehydes or acids. Various stereoselective 1,2-trans-O-glycosylation methods were studied, including the DDQ-iodine or ZnO-ZnCl2 catalyst combination. Among them, ZnO-iodine has been identified as a new glycosylation promoter and successfully applied to the stereoselective glycoside synthesis. The final products were obtained by conventional Zemplén deacetylation.

Design, synthesis, and biological evaluation of crenatoside analogues as novel influenza neuraminidase inhibitors

Natural products, especially derived from TCMH, have been found to exert antiviral effects against influenza virus. Crenatoside, a phenylethanoid glycoside from Pogostemon cablin Benth, which has been shown as a novel effective NA inhibitor previously, is considered as the leading compound for our further SARs studies. This work presented design, synthesis of novel crenatoside analogues from readily available d-Glucose and l-rhamnose in a convergent manner. Furthermore, their biological activities and SARs were also investigated. Especially, compound 2 h showed impressive IC50 = 27.77 μg/mL against NAs, which is 3 folds more potent than the leading compound crenatoside (IC50 = 89.81 μg/mL). These results would promise their therapeutic potential for influenza disease.

Short synthesis of the common trisaccharide core of kankanose and kankanoside isolated from Cistanche tubulosa

A short synthetic approach was developed for the synthesis of a common trisaccharide core found in kankanose, kankanoside F, H₁, H₂, and I isolated from the medicinally active plant Cistanche tubulosa. All glycosylations were carried out under nonmetallic reaction conditions. Yields were very good in all intermediate steps.

Phenylpropanoid glycoside analogues: enzymatic synthesis, antioxidant activity and theoretical study of their free radical scavenger mechanism

Phenylpropanoid glycosides (PPGs) are natural compounds present in several medicinal plants that have high antioxidant power and diverse biological activities. Because of their low content in plants (less than 5% w/w), several chemical synthetic routes to produce PPGs have been developed, but their synthesis is a time consuming process and the achieved yields are often low. In this study, an alternative and efficient two-step biosynthetic route to obtain natural PPG analogues is reported for the first time. Two galactosides were initially synthesized from vanillyl alcohol and homovanillyl alcohol by a transgalactosylation reaction catalyzed by Kluyveromyces lactis β-galactosidase in saturated lactose solutions with a 30%-35% yield. To synthesize PPGs, the galactoconjugates were esterified with saturated and unsaturated hydroxycinnamic acid derivatives using Candida antarctica Lipase B (CaL-B) as a biocatalyst with 40%-60% yields. The scavenging ability of the phenolic raw materials, intermediates and PPGs was evaluated by the 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl radical (DPPH•) method. It was found that the biosynthesized PPGs had higher scavenging abilities when compared to ascorbic acid, the reference compound, while their antioxidant activities were found similar to that of natural PPGs. Moreover, density functional theory (DFT) calculations were used to determine that the PPGs antioxidant mechanism proceeds through a sequential proton loss single electron transfer (SPLET). The enzymatic process reported in this study is an efficient and versatile route to obtain PPGs from different phenylpropanoid acids, sugars and phenolic alcohols.