Expanding the application scope of glycosidases using click chemistry

Click chemistry beyond metal-catalyzed cycloaddition as a remarkable tool for green chemical synthesis of antifungal medications

Click chemistry is widely used for the efficient synthesis of 1,4-disubstituted-1,2,3-triazole, a well-known scaffold with widespread biological activity in the pharmaceutical sciences. In recent years, this magic ring has attracted the attention of scientists for its potential in designing and synthesizing new antifungal agents. Despite scientific and medical advances, fungal infections still account for more than 1.5 million deaths globally per year, especially in people with compromised immune function. This increasing trend is definitely related to a raise in the incidence of fungal infections and prevalence of antifungal drug resistance. In this condition, an urgent need for new alternative antifungals is undeniable. By focusing on the main aspects of reaction conditions in click chemistry, this review was conducted to classify antifungal 1,4-disubstituted-1,2,3-triazole hybrids based on their chemical structures and introduce the most effective triazole antifungal derivatives. It was notable that in all reactions studied, Cu(I) catalysts generated in situ by the reduction in Cu(II) salts or used copper(I) salts directly, as well as mixed solvents of t-BuOH/H2O and DMF/H2O had most application in the synthesis of triazole ring. The most effective antifungal activity was also observed in fluconazole analogs containing 1,2,3-triazole moiety and benzo-fused five/six-membered heterocyclic conjugates with a 1,2,3-triazole ring, even with better activity than fluconazole. The findings of structure-activity relationship and molecular docking of antifungal derivatives synthesized with copper-catalyzed azide-alkyne cycloaddition (CuAAC) could offer medicinal chemistry scientists valuable data on designing and synthesizing novel triazole antifungals with more potent biological activities in their future research.

Recent advances in synthesis of sugar and nucleoside coumarin conjugates and their biological impact

Naturally occurring coumarin and sugar molecules have a diverse range of applications along with superior biocompatibility. Coumarin, a member of the benzopyrone family, exhibits a wide spectrum of medicinal properties, such as anti-coagulant, anti-bacterial, anti-tumor, anti-oxidant, anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory and anti-viral activities. The sugar moiety functions as the central scaffold for the synthesis of complex molecules, attributing to their excellent biocompatibility, well-defined stereochemistry, benign nature and outstanding aqueous solubility. When the coumarin moiety is conjugated with the sugar or nucleoside molecule, the resulting conjugates exhibit significant biological properties. Due to the remarkable growth of such bioconjugates in the field of science over the last decade, owing to their future prospect as a potential bioactive core, an update to this area is very much needed. The present review focusses on the synthesis, characterization and the various therapeutic applications of coumarin conjugates, i.e., sugar and nucleoside coumarin conjugates along with their perspective for future research.

Cu(I)-Catalyzed Click Chemistry in Glycoscience and Their Diverse Applications

Copper(I)-catalyzed 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition between organic azides and terminal alkynes, commonly known as CuAAC or click chemistry, has been identified as one of the most successful, versatile, reliable, and modular strategies for the rapid and regioselective construction of 1,4-disubstituted 1,2,3-triazoles as diversely functionalized molecules. Carbohydrates, an integral part of living cells, have several fascinating features, including their structural diversity, biocompatibility, bioavailability, hydrophilicity, and superior ADME properties with minimal toxicity, which support increased demand to explore them as versatile scaffolds for easy access to diverse glycohybrids and well-defined glycoconjugates for complete chemical, biochemical, and pharmacological investigations. This review highlights the successful development of CuAAC or click chemistry in emerging areas of glycoscience, including the synthesis of triazole appended carbohydrate-containing molecular architectures (mainly glycohybrids, glycoconjugates, glycopolymers, glycopeptides, glycoproteins, glycolipids, glycoclusters, and glycodendrimers through regioselective triazole forming modular and bio-orthogonal coupling protocols). It discusses the widespread applications of these glycoproducts as enzyme inhibitors in drug discovery and development, sensing, gelation, chelation, glycosylation, and catalysis. This review also covers the impact of click chemistry and provides future perspectives on its role in various emerging disciplines of science and technology.

Purification and characterization of a glucose-tolerant β-glucosidase from black plum seed and its structural changes in ionic liquids

The objective of this study was to characterize a plant origin β-glucosidase from black plum seeds and identify its conformational changes in twenty-six imidazolium- and amino acid-based ionic liquids (ILs). The results revealed that the purified 60 kDa enzyme was monomeric in nature, maximally active at 55 °C and pH 5.0, and nearly completely inhibited by Hg²⁺ and Ag⁺. Attractive peculiarities of the relative low kinetic and higher glucose inhibition constants (K_m = 0.58 mM [pNPG]; K_i = 193.5 mM [glucose]) demonstrated its potential applications in food industry. Circular dichroism studies showed that the secondary structural changes of the enzyme depended not only on the anions, but also on the cations of the assayed ILs. Interestingly, no corresponding relations were observed between the changes in enzyme structure induced by ILs and its catalytic activities, suggesting that the influences of ILs on enzymatic processes don't rely simply on enzyme conformational changes.

Preparation of new β-D-xyloside- and β-D-xylobioside-based ionic liquids through chemical and/or enzymatic reactions

Several tetraalkylphosphonium and tetraalkylammonium salts containing xyloside- and xylobioside-based anionic moieties have been prepared. Two stereoselective routes have been developed: i) a chemical pathway in four steps from D-xylose, and ii) a chemoenzymatic pathway directly from biomass-derived xylans. These salts displayed interesting properties as ionic liquids. Their structures have been correlated to their thermal properties (melting, glass transition and decomposition temperatures).

Cu-Catalyzed Click Reaction in Carbohydrate Chemistry

Cu(I)-catalyzed azide-alkyne 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition (CuAAC), popularly known as the "click reaction", serves as the most potent and highly dependable tool for facile construction of simple to complex architectures at the molecular level. Click-knitted threads of two exclusively different molecular entities have created some really interesting structures for more than 15 years with a broad spectrum of applicability, including in the fascinating fields of synthetic chemistry, medicinal science, biochemistry, pharmacology, material science, and catalysis. The unique properties of the carbohydrate moiety and the advantages of highly chemo- and regioselective click chemistry, such as mild reaction conditions, efficient performance with a wide range of solvents, and compatibility with different functionalities, together produce miraculous neoglycoconjugates and neoglycopolymers with various synthetic, biological, and pharmaceutical applications. In this review we highlight the successful advancement of Cu(I)-catalyzed click chemistry in glycoscience and its applications as well as future scope in different streams of applied sciences.

Synthesis of enantiopure sugar-decorated six-armed triptycene derivatives

A new class of molecules with a triptycene rigid core surrounded by six monosaccharide residues was synthesized. Hexakis(bromomethyl) substituted triptycene was converted into a six-armed triptycene azide (2,3,6,7,14,15-hexakis(azidomethyl)-9,10-dihydro-9,10-[1’,2’]benzenoanthracene). The key step of the synthesis was the cycloaddition of the azide to 2-propyn-1-yl β-D-gluco- or galactopyranosides. All products were isolated in good yields and were fully characterized.

Synthesis, surface properties, and biocompatibility of 1,2,3-triazole-containing alkyl β-D-xylopyranoside surfactants

We are interested in the development of surfactants derived from hemicellulosic biomass, as they are potential components in pharmaceuticals, personal care products, and other detergents. Such surfactants should exhibit low toxicity in mammalian cells. In this study we synthesized a series of alkyl or fluoroalkyl β-xylopyranosides from azides and an alkyne using the copper-catalyzed azide-alkyne (CuAAC) 'click' reaction in 4 steps from xylose. The purified products were evaluated for both their surfactant properties, and for their biocompatibility. Unlike other carbohydrate-based surfactants, liquid-crystalline behavior was not observed by differential scanning calorimetry. The triazole-containing β-xylopyranosides with short (6 carbons) and long (>12 carbons) chains exhibited no toxicity at concentrations ranging from 1 to 1000 μM. Triazole-containing β-xylopyranosides with 8, 10, or 12 carbons caused toxicity via apoptosis, with CC50 values ranging from 26-890 μM. The two longest chain compounds did form stable monolayers at the air-water interface over a range of temperatures, although a brief transition to an the unstable monolayer was observed.

Straightforward glycosylation of alcohols and amino acids mediated by ionic liquid

Green glycosylation of functionalized alcohols and α-amino acids, using an ionic liquid as a recyclable solvent, was performed in one step directly from the unprotected monosaccharide under scandium triflate or ferric chloride catalysis. Pure α- and β-glycosides could be obtained after specific enzymatic hydrolysis.