A ‘one pot’ microwave-mediated synthesis of the basic canthine skeleton: expedient access to unnatural β-carboline alkaloids

Triazines: Syntheses and Inverse Electron-demand Diels-Alder Reactions

Triazines are an important class of six-membered aromatic heterocycles possessing three nitrogen atoms, resulting in three types of regio-isomers: 1,2,4-triazines (a-triazines), 1,2,3-triazines (v-triazines), and 1,3,5-triazines (s-triazines). Notably, the application of triazines as cyclic aza-dienes in inverse electron-demand Diels-Alder (IEDDA) cycloaddition reactions has been established as a unique and powerful method in N-heterocycle synthesis, natural product preparation, and bioorthogonal chemistry. In this review, we comprehensively summarize the advances in the construction of these triazines via annulation and ring-expansion reactions, especially emphasizing recent developments and challenges. The synthetic transformations of triazines are focused on IEDDA cycloaddition reactions, which have allowed access to a wide scope of heterocycles, including pyridines, carbolines, azepines, pyridazines, pyrazines, and pyrimidines. The utilization of triazine IEDDA reactions as key steps in natural product synthesis is also discussed. More importantly, a particular attention is paid on the bioorthogonal application of triazines in fast click ligation with various strained alkenes and alkynes, which opens a new opportunity for studying biomolecules in chemical biology.

Fruitful Decades for Canthin-6-ones from 1952 to 2015: Biosynthesis, Chemistry, and Biological Activities

In this review, more than 60 natural canthin-6-one alkaloids and their structures are considered. The biosynthesis, efficient and classic synthetic approaches, and biological activities of canthin-6-one alkaloids, from 1952 to 2015, are discussed. From an analysis of their structural properties and an investigation of the literature, possible future trends for canthin-6-one alkaloids are proposed. The information reported will be helpful in future research on canthin-6-one alkaloids.

Accelerating lead development by microwave-enhanced medicinal chemistry

Microwave-assisted organic synthesis (MAOS) addresses the need for accelerated chemical synthesis by providing many advantages over classical thermal conditions. Microwave instruments produced by Biotage, CEM and Milestone enable chemistry to be safely and reproducibly performed on various scales and in a parallel fashion. To illustrate the high utility of this technology for lead development, our Akt kinase program will be described wherein MAOS played a pivotal role in the identification of isozyme-selective Akt inhibitors.:

Progress in the synthesis of canthine alkaloids and ring-truncated congeners

The canthines represent a fairly large subclass of β-carboline alkaloids, with the first members described 75 years ago. Over the last 60 years, many members of the parent compound, canthin-6-one (1), have been isolated from various plant sources, principally the Rutaceae and Simaroubaceae families, and recently from fungi. Structures isolated from these sources have been the subject of total synthesis, which continues to the present day. This review gives a broad overview of synthetic approaches to canthines over a 30-year period from 1982 to 2012 and summarizes recent reports on the synthesis of less well known ring-truncated congeners. These include C-ring-truncated ("ABD", 2) and A-ring-truncated ("BCD", 3) ring systems, which are providing new scaffolds for potentially useful therapeutic applications.

Total Synthesis (+)-7-Bromotrypargine and Unnatural Analogs: Biological Evaluation Uncovers Activity at CNS Targets of Therapeutic Relevance

The first total synthesis of (+)-7-bromotrypargine, a β-carboline alkaloid from Ancornia sp. is reported. The synthesis proceeds in 9 steps, 8 steps longest linear sequence, in 36.9% overall yield. Biological characterization found that (+)-7-bromotrypargine is an H(3) antagonist, and a selective inhibitor of DAT and NET, without inhibiting SERT. Moreover, unlike electron rich congeners, (+)-7-bromotrypargine is not cytotoxic, and thus represents an attractive starting point for chemical optimization; therefore, we piloted a number of chemistries for the synthesis of unnatural analogs.

Three-step synthesis of Ethyl Canthinone-1-carboxylates from ethyl 4-bromo-6-methoxy-1,5-naphthyridine-3-carboxylate via a Pd-catalyzed Suzuki-Miyaura coupling and a Cu-catalyzed amidation reaction [corrected]

Ethyl canthin-6-one-1-carboxylate (1b) and nine analogues 1c-k were prepared from readily prepared ethyl 4-bromo-6-methoxy-1,5-naphthyridine-3-carboxylate (2b) via a three-step non-classical approach that focused on construction of the central pyrrole (ring B) using Pd-catalyzed Suzuki-Miyaura coupling followed by Cu-catalyzed C-N coupling. Furthermore, treatment of the ethyl canthinone-1-carboxylate 1b with NaOH in DCM/MeOH (9:1) gave the canthin-6-one-1-carboxylic acid (6) in high yield. All compounds are fully characterized.

Enantioselective synthesis of bicylco[3.2.1]octan-8-ones using a tandem Michael-Henry reaction

Bicyclo[3.2.1]octan-8-ones have been prepared from a tandem Michael-Henry reaction between cyclohexane-1,2-diones and nitroalkenes using a quinine-derived thiourea as the catalyst. Although four stereogenic centers were created during the reaction, only two diastereomers were obtained in good diastereoselectivity and high enantioselectivity (92-99% ee). When 3-methylcyclohexane-1,2-dione (R(1) = Me) was used as the substrate, only the regioisomeric product of the corresponding thermodynamic enolate was obtained.

Two-step total syntheses of canthin-6-one alkaloids: new one-pot sequential Pd-catalyzed Suzuki-Miyaura coupling and Cu-catalyzed amidation reaction

Canthin-6-one (1) and nine analogues including the naturally occurring 9-methoxycanthin-6-one (2) and amaroridine (3) are prepared rapidly and in high yields via a convergent "non-classical" strategy that focuses on construction of the central ring B. The strategy relies on concomitant Pd-catalyzed Suzuki-Miyaura C-C coupling followed by a Cu-catalyzed C-N coupling that can be achieved either stepwise or in a new one-pot protocol starting from the appropriate 8-bromo-1,5-naphthyridine.

Organocatalyzed synthesis of 2-amino-8-oxo-5,6,7,8-tetrahydro-4H-chromene-3-carbonitriles

2-Amino-8-oxo-tetrahydro-4H-chromene-3-carbonitriles were synthesized for the first time from a tandem Michael addition - cyclization reaction between cyclohexane-1,2-dione and benzylidenemalononitriles. An enantioselective synthesis of these compounds was achieved in moderate ee values (up to 63% ee) by using a cinchona alkaloid-derived thiouea catalyst.

Advances in Microwave-Assisted Combinatorial Chemistry Without Polymer-Supported Reagents

Combinatorial methodologies have dramatically changed the chemical research and discovery process, offering an unlimited source of new molecule entities to be screened for activity. The application of microwave irradiation in Combinatorial Chemistry and high-throughput synthesis has become increasingly popular. By taking advantage of this energy source, compound libraries for lead generation can be assembled in a fraction of time required by conventional thermal heating. This review focuses on the advances in developing synthetic methodologies in microwave without polymer-supported reagents suitable for combinatorial chemistry, including the advances in microwave-assisted fluorous synthesis technology.

The impact of microwave synthesis on drug discovery

In the past few years, using microwave energy to heat and drive chemical reactions has become increasingly popular in the medicinal chemistry community. First described 20 years ago, this non-classical heating method has matured from a laboratory curiosity to an established technique that is heavily used in academia and industry. One of the many advantages of using rapid 'microwave flash heating' for chemical synthesis is the dramatic reduction in reaction times--from days and hours to minutes and seconds. As will be discussed here, there are good reasons why many pharmaceutical companies are incorporating microwave chemistry into their drug discovery efforts.

Fluorous parallel synthesis of a hydantoin/thiohydantoin library

Fluorous tagging strategy is applied to solution-phase parallel synthesis of a library containing hydantoin and thiohydantoin analogs. Two perfluoroalkyl (Rf)-tagged alpha-amino esters each react with six aromatic aldehydes under reductive amination conditions. Twelve amino esters then each react with 10 isocyanates and isothiocyanates in parallel. The resulting 120 ureas and thioureas undergo spontaneous cyclization to form the corresponding hydantoins and thiohydantoins. The intermediate and final product purifications are performed with solid-phase extraction (SPE) over FluoroFlash cartridges, no chromatography is required. Using standard instruments and straightforward SPE technique, one chemist accomplished the 120-member library synthesis in less than five working days, including starting material synthesis and product analysis.

Controlled Microwave Heating in Modern Organic Synthesis

Although fire is now rarely used in synthetic chemistry, it was not until Robert Bunsen invented the burner in 1855 that the energy from this heat source could be applied to a reaction vessel in a focused manner. The Bunsen burner was later superseded by the isomantle, oil bath, or hot plate as a source for applying heat to a chemical reaction. In the past few years, heating and driving chemical reactions by microwave energy has been an increasingly popular theme in the scientific community. This nonclassical heating technique is slowly moving from a laboratory curiosity to an established technique that is heavily used in both academia and industry. The efficiency of "microwave flash heating" in dramatically reducing reaction times (from days and hours to minutes and seconds) is just one of the many advantages. This Review highlights recent applications of controlled microwave heating in modern organic synthesis, and discusses some of the underlying phenomena and issues involved.