Chemoenzymatic synthesis and resolution of compounds containing a quaternary stereocenters adjacent to a carbonyl group

Structure-Based Design, Synthesis, and Biological Evaluation of Hsp90β-Selective Inhibitors

The 90 kDa heat shock proteins (Hsp90) are molecular chaperones that are responsible for the folding and/or trafficking of ∼400 client proteins, many of which are directly associated with cancer progression. Consequently, inhibition of Hsp90 can exhibit similar activity as combination therapy as multiple signaling nodes can be targeted simultaneously. In fact, seventeen small-molecule inhibitors that bind the Hsp90 N-terminus entered clinical trials for the treatment of cancer, all of which exhibited pan-inhibitory activity against all four Hsp90 isoforms. Unfortunately, most demonstrated undesired effects alongside induction of the pro-survival heat shock response. As a result, isoform-selective inhibitors have been sought to overcome these detriments. Described herein is a structure-based approach to design Hsp90β-selective inhibitors along with preliminary SAR. In the end, compound 5 was shown to manifest ∼370-fold selectivity for Hsp90β versus Hsp90α, and induced the degradation of select Hsp90β-dependent clients. These data support the development of Hsp90β-selective inhibitors as a new paradigm to overcome the detriments associated with pan-inhibition of Hsp90.

Design, synthesis and biological evaluation of novel neuchromenin analogues as potential antifungal agents

In continuation of our program to discover new potential antifungal agents, thirty-two neuchromenin analogues were synthesized and characterized by the spectroscopic analysis. By using the mycelium growth rate method, the target compounds were evaluated systematically for antifungal activities in vitro against six plant pathogenic fungi, and structure-activity relationships (SAR) were derived. Compounds 6b-c, and 6l showed obvious inhibition activity on each of the fungi at 50 μg/mL. For the corresponding fungi, 7 of the compounds showed average inhibition rates of >80% at 50 μg/mL; especially, compounds 6b, 6d-e, and 6i-l displayed more potent antifungal activity against A. solani than that of thiabendazole (a positive control). Moreover, compound 6c also exhibited good activity against C. lunata with EC₅₀ values of 12.7 μg/mL, and the value was much superior to that of thiabendazole (EC₅₀ = 59.7 μg/mL). SAR analysis showed that the presence of conjugated structure, bearing a C=C bond conjugated to the C=O group, obviously decreased the activity; the type and position of the substituted R₅ significantly influenced the activity. Furthermore, the significantly bioactive compounds 6b-e, 6g, 6i and 6l showed very low toxicities against HL-7702, BEL-7402 and HCT-8 cells. Resistance development assay indicated that compounds 6b-e and 6l failed to induce the two tested strains of fungi to develop resistance. SEM analysis initially revealed that compound 6d may exert its antifungal effect by damaging fungal cell wall.

Role of the Ring Methyl Groups in 2',3'-Benzoabscisic Acid Analogues

Five analogues of iso-PhABA (20) developed earlier by our research group were designed and synthesized. The bioassay results show that the number and position of methyl groups along with the substitution of hydrogen atoms of the methyl group have a great influence on the activity. Compared with iso-PhABA, the inhibitory activity of diMe-PhABA (21) on seed germination and rice seedling growth decreased slightly; however, it significantly reduced the capability of inhibiting wheat embryo germination. Both 3'-deMe- iso-PhABA (22) and 2'-deMe-PhABA (23) exhibited weak inhibitory activities, and 11'-methoxy iso-PhABA (24a/24b) was much more efficient than its isomer 24c/24d in all bioassays. These results reveal the preservation of quaternary carbon at the 2' or 3' position is necessary to maintain its ABA-like biological activity, and demethylation at the 3' position has a more significant effect. The selectivity of these compounds to different physiological processes makes them available as selective probes for different ABA receptors.

Synthesis of rigidified eIF4E/eIF4G inhibitor-1 (4EGI-1) mimetic and their in vitro characterization as inhibitors of protein-protein interaction

The 4EGI-1 is the prototypic inhibitor of eIF4E/eIF4G interaction, a potent inhibitor of translation initiation in vitro and in vivo and an efficacious anticancer agent in animal models of human cancers. We report on the design, synthesis, and in vitro characterization of a series of rigidified mimetic of this prototypic inhibitor in which the phenyl in the 2-(4-(3,4-dichlorophenyl)thiazol-2-yl) moiety was bridged into a tricyclic system. The bridge consisted one of the following: ethylene, methylene oxide, methylenesulfide, methylenesulfoxide, and methylenesulfone. Numerous analogues in this series were found to be markedly more potent than the parent prototypic inhibitor in the inhibition of eIF4E/eIF4G interaction, thus preventing the eIF4F complex formation, a rate limiting step in the translation initiation cascade in eukaryotes, and in inhibition of human cancer cell proliferation.

Anti-inflammatory activities of selected synthetic homoisoflavanones

Four homoisoflavanones of the 3-benzylidene-4-chromanone type, some of which were previously isolated from Caesalpinia pulcherrima, were synthesised to determine their anti-inflammatory activity and cytotoxicity. A range of four different homoisoflavanones (compounds 4a-4d) were synthesised from the corresponding substituted phenols. ¹H- and ¹³C-NMR data together with high-resolution mass spectroscopy data were employed to elucidate the structures. Anti-inflammatory activity was determined in mice with acute croton oil-induced auricular dermatitis. In vitro cytotoxicity was tested against a Chinese hamster ovarian cell line using the 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazoliumbromide (MTT) assay. Compound 4a exhibited a tendency to inhibit oedema in a dose-dependent manner after 3 and 6 h of treatment. Compounds 4b-4d also inhibited oedema, although a clear dose-response relationship was not observed. Compounds 4a-4c were found to be less cytotoxic than compound 4d. Compound 4b was the least cytotoxic. Compounds 4a-4d exhibited anti-inflammatory activity and varying levels of cytotoxicity.

Chiral amine/chiral acid as an excellent organocatalytic system for the enantioselective tandem oxa-Michael-aldol reaction

The asymmetric tandem oxa-Michael-aldol reaction of salicylic aldehyde derivatives with alpha,beta-unsaturated aldehydes catalyzed by a chiral amine/chiral acid organocatalytic system was investigated. The organocatalytic system of (S)-diphenylpyrrolinol trimethylsilyl ether with chiral shift reagent (S)-Mosher acid presented a synergistic effect in the improvement of reaction performance and offered an efficient steric effect in the transformation. The tandem oxa-Michael-aldol reaction proceeded with high yields (up to 90%) and with excellent ee values (up to 99%) to give the corresponding chromene derivatives. The structure of the chiral ammonium salt formed in situ and the corresponding mechanism were also studied by (1)H NMR.