An enantioselective total synthesis of tubulysin V

Stereoselective Synthesis of Densely Substituted Pyrrolidines via a [3 + 2] Cycloaddition Reaction between Chiral N-tert-Butanesulfinylazadienes and Azomethine Ylides

The N-tert-butanesulfinylimine group behaves as a suitable electron-withdrawing group in 1-azadienes, allowing the diastereoselective synthesis of densely substituted pyrrolidines by 1,3-dipolar cycloadditions (1,3-DCs) with azomethylene ylides. The use of Ag2CO3 as catalyst has allowed one to obtain a wide variety of proline derivatives with high regio- and diastereoselectivities. Subsequent efficient transformations provide valuable proline derivatives, some of which can be used as organocatalysts. The influence of the N-tert-butanesulfinyl group on the diastereoselectivity was studied by computational methods.

Synthetic Approaches Towards the Total synthesis of tubulysin and its fragments: A review

BACKGROUND

Tubulysins, linear tetrapeptides show extraordinary cytotoxicity against various cancer cells, with IC50 values in nano or picomolar range. Due to their extremely vigorous anti-proliferative and antiangiogenic characteristics, tubulysins exhibit captivating prospects in the development of anticancer drugs. This review focuses on diverse routes for the total synthesis of natural and synthetic tubulysins as well as their fragments.

OBJECTIVE

The purpose of this review is to present the synthetic strategies for the development of antitumor agents, tubulysins.

CONCLUSION

A range of synthetic pathways adopted for the total synthesis of tubulysins and their fragments have been described in this review. Synthesis of fragments, Tuv, Tup, and Tut can be accomplished by adopting appropriate strategies such as Manganese-mediated synthesis, Ireland-Claisen rearrangement, Mukaiyama aldol reaction, and Mannich process etc. Tubulysin B, D, U, V, and N14-desacetoxytubulysin H have been prepared through Mitsunobu reaction, tert-butanesulfinamide method, Tandem reaction, aza-Barbier reaction, Evans aldol reaction, and C-H activation strategies etc. The remarkable anticancer potential of tubulysins toward a substantiate target make them prominent leads for developing novel drugs against multidrug-resistant cancers.

Diastereocontrol in Radical Addition to β-Benzyloxy Hydrazones: Revised Approach to Tubuvaline and Synthesis of O-Benzyltubulysin V Benzyl Ester

Radical addition to chiral N-acylhydrazones has generated unusual amino acids tubuphenylalanine (Tup) and tubuvaline (Tuv) that are structural components of the tubulysin family of picomolar antimitotic agents and previously led to a tubulysin tetrapeptide analog with a C-terminal alcohol. To improve efficiency in this synthetic route to tubulysins, and to address difficulties in oxidation of the C-terminal alcohol, here we present two alternative routes to Tuv that (a) improve step economy, (b) provide modified conditions for Mn-mediated radical addition in the presence of aromatic heterocycles, and (c) expose an example of double diastereocontrol in radical addition to a β-benzyloxyhydrazone with broader implications for asymmetric amine synthesis via radical addition. An efficient coupling sequence affords 11-O-benzyltubulysin V benzyl ester.

N-tert-Butanesulfinyl imines in the asymmetric synthesis of nitrogen-containing heterocycles

The synthesis of nitrogen-containing heterocycles, including natural alkaloids and other compounds presenting different types of biological activities have proved to be successful employing chiral sulfinyl imines derived from tert-butanesulfinamide. These imines are versatile chiral auxiliaries and have been extensively used as eletrophiles in a wide range of reactions. The electron-withdrawing sulfinyl group facilitates the nucleophilic addition of organometallic compounds to the iminic carbon with high diastereoisomeric excess and the free amines obtained after an easy removal of the tert-butanesulfinyl group can be transformed into enantioenriched nitrogen-containing heterocycles. The goal of this review is to the highlight enantioselective syntheses of heterocycles involving the use of chiral N-tert-butanesulfinyl imines as reaction intermediates, including the synthesis of several natural products. The synthesis of nitrogen-containing heterocycles in which the nitrogen atom is not provided by the chiral imine will not be considered in this review. The sections are organized according to the size of the heterocycles. The present work will comprehensively cover the most pertinent contributions to this research area from 2012 to 2020. We regret in advance that some contributions are excluded in order to maintain a concise format.

Design, Synthesis, and Biological Evaluation of Tubulysin Analogues, Linker-Drugs, and Antibody-Drug Conjugates, Insights into Structure-Activity Relationships, and Tubulysin-Tubulin Binding Derived from X-ray Crystallographic Analysis

Molecular design, synthesis, and biological evaluation of tubulysin analogues, linker-drugs, and antibody-drug conjugates are described. Among the new discoveries reported is the identification of new potent analogues within the tubulysin family that carry a C11 alkyl ether substituent, rather than the usual ester structural motif at that position, a fact that endows the former with higher plasma stability than that of the latter. Also described herein are X-ray crystallographic analysis studies of two tubulin-tubulysin complexes formed within the α/β interface between two tubulin heterodimers and two highly potent tubulysin analogues, one of which exhibited a different binding mode to the one previously reported for tubulysin M. The X-ray crystallographic analysis-derived new insights into the binding modes of these tubulysin analogues explain their potencies and provide inspiration for further design, synthesis, and biological investigations within this class of antitumor agents. A number of these analogues were conjugated as payloads with appropriate linkers at different sites allowing their attachment onto targeting antibodies for cancer therapies. A number of such antibody-drug conjugates were constructed and tested, both in vivo and in vitro, leading to the identification of at least one promising ADC (Herceptin-LD3), warranting further investigations.

Total synthesis of tubulysin U and N14-desacetoxytubulysin H

A concise and efficient procedure for the total synthesis of tubulysin U and N14-desacetoxytubulysin H has been developed with high stereoselectivity on a gram scale. This synthesis features an elegant cascade one-pot process to install the challenging thiazole moiety and the employment of stereoselective reductions and a series of high-yield mild reactions to ensure the requisite stereochemistry, reaction scale, and yield and to avoid the vexing epimerization occurring during peptide formation.

Tubulysin Synthesis Featuring Stereoselective Catalysis and Highly Convergent Multicomponent Assembly

A concise and modular total synthesis of the highly potent N14-desacetoxytubulysin H (1) has been accomplished in 18 steps in an overall yield of up to 30%. Our work highlights the complexity-augmenting and route-shortening power of diastereoselective multicomponent reaction (MCR) as well as the role of bulky ligands to perfectly control both the regioselective and diastereoselective synthesis of tubuphenylalanine in just two steps. The total synthesis not only provides an operationally simple and step economy but will also stimulate major advances in the development of new tubulysin analogues.

Advances in the Biotechnological Potential of Brazilian Marine Microalgae and Cyanobacteria

Due the worldwide need to improve care for the environment and people, there is a great demand for the development of new renewable, sustainable, and less polluting technologies for food, health, and environmental industries. The marine environment is one of the main areas investigated in the search for alternatives to the raw materials currently used. Thereby, cyanobacteria and marine microalgae are microorganisms that are capable of producing a diverse range of metabolites useful for their cellular maintenance, but that also represent a great biotechnological potential. Due its great potential, they have an enormous appeal in the scientific research where, the biological activity of metabolites produced by these microorganisms, such as the antioxidant action of sterols are, some examples of biotechnological applications investigated around the world. Thereby, Brazil due to its extensive biodiversity, has high potential as a raw material supplier of marine waters, researching cyanobacteria and microalgae metabolites and their applications. Thus, this rapid review intends to present some important contributions and advances from Brazilian researchers, using the biomass of Brazilian cyanobacteria and marine microalgae, in order to illustrate the value of what has already been discovered and the enormous potential of what remains unexplored so far.

Construction of sulfur-containing moieties in the total synthesis of natural products

This review surveys the total syntheses of sulfur-containing natural products where sulfur atoms are introduced with different sulfurization agents to construct related sulfur-containing moieties.

Total Synthesis in Search of Potent Antibody-Drug Conjugate Payloads. From the Fundamentals to the Translational

The emergence and evolution of antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) as targeted cancer therapies in recent years is a living example of the "magic bullet" concept of Paul Ehrlich, introduced by him more than a century ago. Consisting of three components, the antibody serving as the delivery system, the payload drug that kills the cancer cell, and the chemical linker through which the payload is attached to the antibody, ADCs represent a currently hotly pursued paradigm of targeted cancer therapies. While the needed monoclonal antibody falls in the domains of biology and biochemistry, the potent payload and the linker belong to the realm of chemistry. Naturally occurring molecules and their derivatives endowed with high cytotoxic properties have proven to be useful payloads for the first approved ADCs (i.e., Mylotarg, Adcetris, Kadcyla, and Besponsa). The latest approaches and intensifying activities in this new paradigm of cancer therapy demands a variety of payloads with different mechanisms of action in order to address the medical needs for the various types of cancers, challenging synthetic organic chemists to enrich the library of potential payloads. Total synthesis of natural and designed molecules not only provides a powerful avenue to replicate rare naturally occurring compounds in the laboratory but also offers a unique opportunity to rationally design and synthesize analogues thereof for biological evaluation and optimization of ADC payloads. In this Account, we describe our efforts in this area highlighting a number of total synthesis endeavors through which we rendered scarce naturally occurring molecules readily available for biological evaluations and, most importantly, employed the developed synthetic strategies and methods to construct, otherwise unavailable or difficult to reach, designed analogues of these molecules. Specifically, we summarize the total syntheses of natural and designed molecules of the calicheamicin, uncialamycin, tubulysin, trioxacarcin, epothilone, shishijimicin, namenamicin, thailanstatin, and disorazole families of compounds and demonstrate how these studies led to the discovery of analogues of higher potencies, yet some of them possessing lower complexities than their parent compounds as potential ADC payloads. The highlighted examples showcase the continuing impact of total synthesis of natural products and their analogues on modern medicine, including the so-called biologics and should prove useful and inspirational in advancing both the fields of total synthesis and biomedical research and the drug discovery and development process.

Improved Total Synthesis of Tubulysins and Design, Synthesis, and Biological Evaluation of New Tubulysins with Highly Potent Cytotoxicities against Cancer Cells as Potential Payloads for Antibody-Drug Conjugates

Improved, streamlined total syntheses of natural tubulysins such as V (Tb45) and U (Tb46) and pretubulysin D (PTb-D43), and their application to the synthesis of designed tubulysin analogues (Tb44, PTb-D42, PTb-D47-PTb-D49, and Tb50-Tb120), are described. Cytotoxicity evaluation of the synthesized compounds against certain cancer cell lines revealed a number of novel analogues with exceptional potencies [e.g., Tb111: IC₅₀ = 40 pM against MES SA (uterine sarcoma) cell line; IC₅₀ = 6 pM against HEK 293T (human embryonic kidney cancer) cell line; and IC₅₀ = 1.54 nM against MES SA DX (MES SA with marked multidrug resistance) cell line]. These studies led to a set of valuable structure-activity relationships that provide guidance to further molecular design, synthesis, and biological evaluation studies. The extremely potent cytotoxic compounds discovered in these investigations are highly desirable as potential payloads for antibody-drug conjugates and other drug delivery systems for personalized targeted cancer chemotherapies.

A practical approach to asymmetric synthesis of dolastatin 10

Dolastatin 10, an antineoplastic agent for cancer chemotherapy, is a linear peptide possessing N,N-dimethyl Val-OH, l-valine, (3R,4S,5S)-dolaisoleucine, (2R,3R,4S)-dolaproine and (S)-dolaphenine. Our efficient synthesis includes the following three key features: (1) SmI₂-induced cross-coupling was employed to couple aldehyde 11 with (S)-N-tert-butanesulfinyl imine 12 to generate the required stereocenters of Dap (7); (2) asymmetric addition of chiral N-sulfinyl imine 10 provided a straightforward approach to the synthesis of the protected Doe ((S,S)-8); (3) a practical method to the key subunit Val-Dil (24a) has been established as an alternative synthetic route for the synthesis of this challenging chemical structure.

Synthesis and Superpotent Anticancer Activity of Tubulysins Carrying Non-hydrolysable N-Substituents on Tubuvaline

Synthetic tubulysins 24 a-m, containing non-hydrolysable N-substituents on tubuvaline (Tuv), were obtained in high purity and good overall yields using a multistep synthesis. A key step was the formation of differently N-substituted Ile-Tuv fragments 10 by using an aza-Michael reaction of azido-Ile derivatives 8 with the α,β-unsaturated oxo-thiazole 5. A structure-activity relationship study using a panel of human tumour cell lines showed strong anti-proliferative activity for all compounds 24 a-m, with IC₅₀ values in the sub-nanomolar range, which were distinctly lower than those of tubulysin A, vinorelbine and paclitaxel. Furthermore, 24 a-m were able to overcome cross-resistance to paclitaxel and vinorelbine in two tumour cell lines with acquired resistance to doxorubicin. Compounds 24 e and 24 g were selected as leads to evaluate their mechanism of action. In vitro assays showed that both 24 e and 24 g interfere with tubulin polymerization in a vinca alkaloid-like manner and prevent paclitaxel-induced assembly of tubulin polymers. Both compounds exerted antimitotic activity and induced apoptosis in cancer cells at very low concentrations. Compound 24 e also exhibited potent antitumor activity at well tolerated doses on in vivo models of diffuse malignant peritoneal mesothelioma, such as MESOII peritoneal mesothelioma xenografts, the growth of which was not significantly affected by vinorelbine. These results indicate that synthetic tubulysins 24 could be used as standalone chemotherapeutic agents in difficult-to-treat cancers.

An efficient approach to trans-4-hydroxy-5-substituted 2-pyrrolidinones through a stereoselective tandem Barbier process: divergent syntheses of (3R,4S)-statines, (+)-preussin and (−)-hapalosin

Natural products of (+)-preussin and (−)-hapalosin have been asymmetrically synthesized through the stereoselective tandem Barbier process.

Asymmetric syntheses of epohelmins A and B by In-mediated allylation

A diastereoselective new approach for the synthesis of trans-4-hydroxy-5-allyl-2-pyrrolidinone 9 has been developed through In-mediated allylation of α-chiral aldimine 8 with allyl bromide. The stereochemistry at the C-2 stereogenic center of 9 was controlled by both the α-OTBS substitution and the sulfinamide moiety. The utility of this asymmetric allylation is demonstrated by the asymmetric syntheses of epohelmins A (4) and B (10).