Total Syntheses of the Proposed Biosynthetic Intermediates of Tetrodotoxin Tb-210B, Tb-226, Tb-242C, and Tb-258

Marine natural products

Covering: January to the end of December 2022This review covers the literature published in 2022 for marine natural products (MNPs), with 645 citations (633 for the period January to December 2022) referring to compounds isolated from marine microorganisms and phytoplankton, green, brown and red algae, sponges, cnidarians, bryozoans, molluscs, tunicates, echinoderms, the submerged parts of mangroves and other intertidal plants. The emphasis is on new compounds (1417 in 384 papers for 2022), together with the relevant biological activities, source organisms and country of origin. Pertinent reviews, biosynthetic studies, first syntheses, and syntheses that led to the revision of structures or stereochemistries, have been included. An analysis of NP structure class diversity in relation to biota source and biome is discussed.

Total syntheses of Tetrodotoxin and 9-epiTetrodotoxin

Tetrodotoxin and congeners are specific voltage-gated sodium channel blockers that exhibit remarkable anesthetic and analgesic effects. Here, we present a scalable asymmetric syntheses of Tetrodotoxin and 9-epiTetrodotoxin from the abundant chemical feedstock furfuryl alcohol. The optically pure cyclohexane skeleton is assembled via a stereoselective Diels-Alder reaction. The dense heteroatom substituents are established sequentially by a series of functional group interconversions on highly oxygenated cyclohexane frameworks, including a chemoselective cyclic anhydride opening, and a decarboxylative hydroxylation. An innovative SmI2-mediated concurrent fragmentation, an oxo-bridge ring opening and ester reduction followed by an Upjohn dihydroxylation deliver the highly oxidized skeleton. Ruthenium-catalyzed oxidative alkyne cleavage and formation of the hemiaminal and orthoester under acidic conditions enable the rapid assembly of Tetrodotoxin, anhydro-Tetrodotoxin, 9-epiTetrodotoxin, and 9-epi lactone-Tetrodotoxin.

Isolation and Biological Activity of 9-epiTetrodotoxin and Isolation of Tb-242B, Possible Biosynthetic Shunt Products of Tetrodotoxin from Pufferfish

Tetrodotoxin (TTX, 1) is a potent voltage-gated sodium channel blocker detected in certain marine and terrestrial organisms. We report here a new TTX analogue, 9-epiTTX (2), and a TTX-related compound, Tb-242B (4), isolated from the pufferfish Takifugu flavipterus and Dichotomyctere ocellatus, respectively. NMR analysis suggested that 2 exists as a mixture of hemilactal and 10,8-lactone forms, whereas other reported TTX analogues are commonly present as an equilibrium mixture of hemilactal and 10,7-lactone forms. Compound 2 and TTX were confirmed not to convert to each other by incubation under neutral and acidic conditions at 37 °C for 24 h. Compound 4 was identified as the 9-epimer of Tb-242A (3), previously reported as a possible biosynthetic precursor of TTX. Compound 4 was partially converted to 3 by incubation in a neutral buffer at 37 °C for 7 days, whereas 3 was not converted to 4 under this condition. Compound 2 was detected in several TTX-containing marine animals and a newt. Mice injected with 600 ng of 2 by intraperitoneal injection did not show any adverse symptoms, suggesting that the C-9 configuration in TTX is critical for its biological activity. Based on the structures, 2 and 4 were predicted to be shunt products for TTX biosynthesis.