Short synthesis of 16beta-hydroxy-5alpha-cholestane-3,6-dione a novel cytotoxic marine oxysterol

Selective deoxygenation of gibberellic acid with fluoroarylborane catalysts

Reductive late-stage functionalization of gibberellic acid is reported using three fluoroarylborane Lewis acids; (B(C₆F₅)₃, B(3,5-C₆H₃(CF₃)₂), and B(2,4,6-C₆H₂F₃)₃) in combination with a tertiary silane and a borane (HBCat) reductant. In each case, C-O bond activation occurs, and different products are obtained depending on the reductant and catalyst employed.

A selective removal of the secondary hydroxy group from ortho-dithioacetal-substituted diarylmethanols

We present a successful deoxygenation reaction of ortho-1,3-dithianylaryl(aryl)methanols which enables a selective removal of the secondary hydroxy group in presence of the 1,3-dithianyl moiety under reductive conditions. This reaction proceeds well with ZnI₂/Na(CN)BH₃ in dichloroethane or benzene for both unsubstituted and substituted aryls (by electron-rich groups). This is leading to formyl-protected diarylmethanes with potential application in the synthesis of new pharmaceuticals and optoelectronic materials. This synthetic approach gives an access to a wide variety of functionalized ortho-1,3-dithianylaryl(aryl)methanes in 26–95% yields and is recommended for the substrates containing sulfur atoms, for which transition metal-induced reactions fail.

Probing Steroidal Substrate Specificity of Cytochrome P450 BM3 Variants

M01A82W, M11A82W and M01A82WS72I are three cytochrome P450 BM3 (CYP102A1) variants. They can catalyze the hydroxylation of testosterone (TES) and norethisterone at different positions, thereby making them promising biocatalysts for steroid hydroxylation. With the aim of obtaining more hydroxylated steroid precursors it is necessary to probe the steroidal substrate diversity of these BM3 variants. Here, three purified BM3 variants were first incubated with eight steroids, including testosterone (TES), methyltestosterone (MT), cholesterol, β-sitosterol, dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), diosgenin, pregnenolone and ergosterol. The results indicated that the two 3-keto-Δ⁴-steroids TES and MT can be hydroxylated at various positions by the three BM3 mutants, respectively. On the contrary, the three enzymes displayed no any activity toward the remaining six 3-hydroxy-Δ⁵-steroids. This result indicates that the BM3 mutants prefer 3-keto-Δ⁴-steroids as hydroxylation substrates. To further verify this notion, five other substrates, including two 3-hydroxy-Δ⁵-steroids and three 3-keto-Δ⁴-steroids, were carefully selected to incubate with the three BM3 variants. The results indicated the three 3-keto-Δ⁴-steroids can be metabolized to form hydroxysteroids by the three BM3 variants. On the other hand, the two 3-hydroxy-Δ⁵-steroids cannot be hydroxylated at any position by the BM3 mutants. These results further support the above conclusion, therefore demonstrating the 3-keto-Δ⁴–steroid substrate preference of BM3 mutants, and laying a foundation for microbial production of more hydroxylated steroid intermediates using BM3 variants.

En Route to a Practical Primary Alcohol Deoxygenation

A long-standing scientific challenge in the field of alcohol deoxygenation has been direct catalytic sp(3) C-O defunctionalization with high selectivity and efficiency, in the presence of other functionalities, such as free hydroxyl groups and amines widely present in biological molecules. Previously, the selectivity issue had been only addressed by classic multistep deoxygenation strategies with stoichiometric reagents. Herein, we propose a catalytic late-transition-metal-catalyzed redox design, on the basis of dehydrogenation/Wolff-Kishner (WK) reduction, to simultaneously tackle the challenges regarding step economy and selectivity. The early development of our hypothesis focuses on an iridium-catalyzed process efficient mainly with activated alcohols, which dictates harsh reaction conditions and thus limits its synthetic utility. Later, a significant advancement has been made on aliphatic primary alcohol deoxygenation by employing a ruthenium complex, with good functional group tolerance and exclusive selectivity under practical reaction conditions. Its synthetic utility is further illustrated by excellent efficiency as well as complete chemo- and regio-selectivity in both simple and complex molecular settings. Mechanistic discussion is also included with experimental supports. Overall, our current method successfully addresses the aforementioned challenges in the pertinent field, providing a practical redox-based approach to the direct sp(3) C-O defunctionalization of aliphatic primary alcohols.

Catalytic applications of [IPr·GaX2][SbF6] and related species

The broad applicability of cationic NHC complexes of gallium in molecular catalysis is revealed.

Algae as promising organisms for environment and health

Algae, like other plants, produce a variety of remarkable compounds collectively referred to as secondary metabolites. They are synthesized by these organisms at the end of the growth phase and/or due to metabolic alterations induced by environmental stress conditions. Carotenoids, phenolic compounds, phycobiliprotein pigments, polysaccharides and unsaturated fatty acids are same of the algal natural products, which were reported to have variable biological activities, including antioxidant activity, anticancer activity, antimicroabial activity against bacteria-virus-algae-fungi, organic fertilizer and bioremediation potentials.

Marine natural products

This review covers the literature published in 2006 for marine natural products, with 758 citations (534 for the period January to December 2006) referring to compounds isolated from marine microorganisms and phytoplankton, green algae, brown algae, red algae, sponges, cnidaria, bryozoans, molluscs, tunicates and echinoderms. The emphasis is on new compounds (779 for 2006), together with their relevant biological activities, source organisms and country of origin. Biosynthetic studies, first syntheses, and syntheses that lead to the revision of structures or stereochemistries, have been included.