A short synthetic route to the calystegine alkaloids

Comprehensive Study on Solomonamides: Total Synthesis, Stereochemical Revision, and SAR Studies toward Identification of Simplified Lead

Solomonamides, a pair of macrocyclic peptide natural products originating from marine sources, have garnered significant attention within the synthetic community owing to their marked anti-inflammatory efficacy and intricate molecular architectures. In this paper, we present a very detailed investigation into solomonamides, including the challenges associated with the total synthesis, the evolution of our synthetic strategies, structural reassignment, synthesis of all possible stereoisomeric macrocycles, biological assessment, structure-activity relationship (SAR) studies, etc. Within the ambit of this total synthesis, diverse strategies for macrocyclization were rigorously explored, encompassing the Friedel-Crafts acylation, cyclization involving the aniline NH2 moiety, macrolactamization utilizing Gly-NH2, and Heck macrocyclization methodologies. In addition, an array of intriguing chemical transformations were devised, including but not limited to photo-Fries rearrangement, Wacker oxidation, ligand-free Heck macrocyclization, oxidative cleavage of indole, synthesis of contiguous stereocenters via substrate/reagent-controlled protocols, and simultaneous making and breaking of olefinic moieties. The findings of this investigation revealed a structurally simplified lead compound. Remarkably, the lead compound, while possessing structural simplification in comparison to the intricate solomonamide counterparts, demonstrates equipotent in vivo anti-inflammatory efficacy.

Cyclisations and Strategies for Stereoselective Synthesis of Piperidine Iminosugars

This personal account focuses on synthesis of polyhydroxylated piperidines, a subset of compounds within the iminosugar family. Cyclisations to form the piperidine ring include reductive amination, substitution via amines, iminium ions and cyclic nitrones, transamidification (N-acyl transfer), addition to alkenes, ring contraction and expansion, photoinduced electron transfer, multicomponent Ugi reaction and ring closing metathesis. Enantiomerically pure piperidines are obtained from chiral pool precursors (e. g. sugars, amino acids, Garner's aldehyde) or asymmetric reactions (e. g. epoxidation, dihydroxylation, aminohydroxylation, aldol, biotransformation). Our laboratory have contributed cascades based on reductive amination from glycosyl azide precursors as well as Huisgen azide-alkene cycloaddition. The latter's combination with allylic azide rearrangement has given substituted piperidines, including those with quaternary centres adjacent to nitrogen.

Synthesis of novel seven-membered carbasugars and evaluation of their glycosidase inhibition potentials

Here, we report the synthesis of five novel seven-membered carbasugar analogs. We adopted a chiral-pool strategy starting from the cheap and readily available d-mannitol to synthesize these ring-expanded carbasugars. Apart from several regioselective protecting group manipulations, these syntheses involved Wittig olefination and ring-closing metathesis as the key steps. We observed an unprecedented deoxygenation reaction of an allylic benzyl ether upon treatment with H₂/Pd during the synthesis. Preliminary biological evaluation of the carbasugars revealed that these ring expanded carbasugars act as inhibitors of various glycosidases. This study highlights the importance of the synthesis of novel ring expanded carbasugars and their biological exploration.

Here, we report the synthesis of five novel seven-membered carbasugar analogs.

New Frontiers on Human Safe Insecticides and Fungicides: An Opinion on Trehalase Inhibitors

In the era of green economy, trehalase inhibitors represent a valuable chance to develop non-toxic pesticides, being hydrophilic compounds that do not persist in the environment. The lesson on this topic that we learned from the past can be of great help in the research on new specific green pesticides. This review aims to describe the efforts made in the last 50 years in the evaluation of natural compounds and their analogues as trehalase inhibitors, in view of their potential use as insecticides and fungicides. Specifically, we analyzed trehalase inhibitors based on sugars and sugar mimics, focusing on those showing good inhibition properties towards insect trehalases. Despite their attractiveness as a target, up to now there are no trehalase inhibitors that have been developed as commercial insecticides. Although natural complex pseudo di- and trisaccharides were firstly studied to this aim, iminosugars look to be more promising, showing an excellent specificity profile towards insect trehalases. The results reported here represent an overview and a discussion of the best candidates which may lead to the development of an effective insecticide in the future.

Reactivity and Synthetic Applications of Multicomponent Petasis Reactions

The Petasis boron-Mannich reaction, simply referred to as the Petasis reaction, is a powerful multicomponent coupling reaction of a boronic acid, an amine, and a carbonyl derivative. Highly functionalized amines with multiple stereogenic centers can be efficiently accessed via the Petasis reaction with high levels of both diastereoselectivity and enantioselectivity. By drawing attention to examples reported in the past 8 years, this Review demonstrates the breadth of the reactivity and synthetic applications of Petasis reactions in several frontiers: the expansion of the substrate scope in the classic three-component process; nonclassic Petasis reactions with additional components; Petasis-type reactions with noncanonical substrates, mechanism, and products; new asymmetric versions assisted by chiral catalysts; combinations with a secondary or tertiary transformation in a cascade- or sequence-specific manner to access structurally complex, natural-product-like heterocycles; and the synthesis of polyhydroxy alkaloids and biologically interesting molecules.

Total Synthesis of the Marine Natural Product Solomonamide B Necessitates Stereochemical Revision

The first total synthesis of the proposed structure of solomonamide B has been achieved. However, the (1)H and (13)C NMR spectral data of the synthesized compound was not exactly matching with that of the natural solomonamide B. This prompted us to revise the originally proposed structure, in particular, the stereochemistry of the nonpeptide part, which was confirmed by its total synthesis. During the course of the synthesis, we have developed an interesting hydroxy group directed Wacker oxidation of internal olefins in a macrocyclic setting.

Concise synthesis of calystegines B2 and B3via intramolecular Nozaki-Hiyama-Kishi reaction

The key step in the concise syntheses of calystegine B2 and its C-2 epimer calystegine B3 was the construction of cycloheptanone 8via an intramolecular Nozaki-Hiyama-Kishi (NHK) reaction of 9, an aldehyde containing a Z-vinyl iodide. Vinyl iodide 9 was obtained by the Stork olefination of aldehyde 10, derived from carbohydrate starting materials. Calystegines B2 (3) and B3 (4) were synthesized from d-xylose and l-arabinose derivatives respectively in 11 steps in excellent overall yields (27% and 19%).

Synthesis and evaluation of galacto-noeurostegine and its 2-deoxy analogue as glycosidase inhibitors

An epimer of the known glycosidase inhibitor noeurostegine, galacto-noeurostegine, was synthesised in 21 steps from levoglucosan and found to be a potent, competitive and highly selective galactosidase inhibitor of Aspergillus oryzae β-galactosidase.

Stable analogues of nojirimycin – synthesis and biological evaluation of nojiristegine and manno-nojiristegine

Two novel iminosugars called nojiristegines, being structural hybrids between nor-tropane alkaloid calystegine and nojirimycins, have been synthesised and the hemiaminal functionality found to be stable.

A diversity-oriented synthesis of bicyclic cis-dihydroarenediols, cis-4-hydroxyscytalones, and bicyclic conduritol analogues

A common-intermediate-based enantioselective strategy has been developed aiming at bicyclic arene cis-dihydrodiols, cis-4-hydroxyscytalones, and bicyclic mimics of conduritol. Key features of this protocol include Barrett's asymmetric hydroxyallylation, ring-closing metathesis (RCM), and completely regioselective Wacker oxidation of internal cyclic olefins.

Glycosidase inhibition: assessing mimicry of the transition state

Glycoside hydrolases, the enzymes responsible for hydrolysis of the glycosidic bond in di-, oligo- and polysaccharides, and glycoconjugates, are ubiquitous in Nature and fundamental to existence. The extreme stability of the glycosidic bond has meant these enzymes have evolved into highly proficient catalysts, with an estimated 10(17) fold rate enhancement over the uncatalysed reaction. Such rate enhancements mean that enzymes bind the substrate at the transition state with extraordinary affinity; the dissociation constant for the transition state is predicted to be 10(-22) M. Inhibition of glycoside hydrolases has widespread application in the treatment of viral infections, such as influenza and HIV, lysosomal storage disorders, cancer and diabetes. If inhibitors are designed to mimic the transition state, it should be possible to harness some of the transition state affinity, resulting in highly potent and specific drugs. Here we examine a number of glycosidase inhibitors which have been developed over the past half century, either by Nature or synthetically by man. A number of criteria have been proposed to ascertain which of these inhibitors are true transition state mimics, but these features have only be critically investigated in a very few cases.

Synthesis and glycosidase inhibitory activity of noeurostegine-a new and potent inhibitor of beta-glucoside hydrolases

A new, stable hemi-aminal nor-tropane christened noeurostegine was synthesised in 22 steps from levoglucosan and tested for inhibitory activity against glycoside hydrolases. Sweet almond and Thermotoga maritimabeta-glucosidases, coffee bean alpha-galactosidase, and Asp. oryzaebeta-galactosidase were inhibited in the low micromolar region but significant tightening of binding to K(i) 50 nM for almond beta-glucosidase was found to occur after pre-incubation. Yeast alpha-glucosidase and E. colibeta-galactosidase were not inhibited at 1 mM.

Synthesis of 7-deoxypancratistatin from carbohydrates by the use of olefin metathesis

The stereocontrolled synthesis of (+)-7-deoxypancratistatin is described. The convergent synthesis has been achieved by two different strategies, both of which commence from a pentose and piperonal. The latter is converted into allylic bromide 7, which is then coupled with a protected methyl 5-deoxy-5-iodo-D-ribofuranoside in the presence of zinc metal. The first strategy involves a total of only 13 steps from D-ribose and piperonal, but suffers from a low yield in the zinc-mediated reaction between ribofuranoside 9, benzylamine, and bromide 7. The second strategy involves a total of 18 steps from D-xylose and piperonal. The former is converted into ribofuranoside 28, which is coupled with bromide 7 in the presence of zinc, and this is followed by ring-closing olefin metathesis. Subsequent Overman rearrangement, dihydroxylation, and deprotection then affords the natural product.

Regioselective Palladium-Catalyzed Formate Reduction of N-Heterocyclic Allylic Acetates

The regioselective palladium-catalyzed formate reduction of allylic acetates in five- to eight-membered heterocycles is reported. Reduction of allylic acetates under mild conditions using allylpalladium chloride dimer, phosphines, and formic acid/triethylamine in DMF gives the exo-cyclic olefins in good regioselectivities and high yields. Synthetic application in preparing N-tosyl-3-oxo-piperidine is also reported.

Glycosidase Inhibition: An Assessment of the Binding of 18 Putative Transition-State Mimics

The inhibition of glycoside hydrolases, through transition-state mimicry, is important both as a probe of enzyme mechanism and in the continuing quest for new drugs, notably in the treatment of cancer, HIV, influenza, and diabetes. The high affinity with which these enzymes are known to bind the transition state provides a framework upon which to design potent inhibitors. Recent work [for example, Bülow, A. et al. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2000, 122, 8567-8568; Zechel, D. L. et al. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2003, 125, 14313-14323] has revealed quite confusing and counter-intuitive patterns of inhibition for a number of glycosidase inhibitors. Here we describe a synergistic approach for analysis of inhibitors with a single enzyme 'model system', the Thermotoga maritima family 1 beta-glucosidase, TmGH1. The pH dependence of enzyme activity and inhibition has been determined, structures of inhibitor complexes have been solved by X-ray crystallography, with data up to 1.65 A resolution, and isothermal titration calorimetry was used to establish the thermodynamic signature. This has allowed the characterization of 18 compounds, all putative transition-state mimics, in order to build an 'inhibition profile' that provides an insight into what governs binding. In contrast to our preconceptions, there is little correlation of inhibitor chemistry with the calorimetric dissection of thermodynamics. The ensemble of inhibitors shows strong enthalpy-entropy compensation, and the random distribution of similar inhibitors across the plot of DeltaH degrees a vs TDeltaS degrees a likely reflects the enormous contribution of solvation and desolvation effects on ligand binding.

d-Glucosamine trimethylene dithioacetal derivatives: formation of six- and seven-membered ring amino carbasugars. Synthesis of (–)-calystegine B3,

By virtue of carefully chosen protecting groups, d-glucosamine trimethylene dithioacetal derivatives were successfully oxidized to the corresponding 6-aldehydes. This methodology reverses the donor and acceptor position on a normal open chain sugar and changes the relative position of the N-substituent. From the 6-aldehydes, heptose epoxide derivatives were prepared by a Corey-Chaykovsky reaction, and cyclized by the Corey-Seebach method. Depending on the designed protecting groups, the orthogonally protected six- and seven-membered ring amino carbasugars can be produced selectively and efficiently. (-)-Calystegine B(3) was synthesized from one of those products with high yield. This is the first anionic cyclization pathway to calystegine type structures.

Brassicaceae contain nortropane alkaloids

The report of cochlearine, the 3-hydroxybenzoate ester of tropine found in Cochlearia officinalis, Brassicaceae, initiated a screening for tropane alkaloids in Cochlearia species and for calystegines in further Brassicaceae. All ten Cochlearia species investigated contained cochlearine, tropine, and pseudotropine. Calystegines, nortropane alkaloids deriving from pseudotropine, were also identified in all Cochlearia species and accumulated up to 0.5% dry mass in leaves. Brassicaceae species of all major lineages of the family were analysed for calystegines. Of the 43 species included in the study, 18 accumulated calystegines of various structures. This is the first screening of Brassicaceae for products of the tropane alkaloid pathway, which is known as characteristic for plants of Solanaceae family. The identification of calystegines in all branches of the Brassicaceae family including Aethionema, a species at the basis of the family, suggests tropane alkaloids as secondary compound typical for Brassicaceae.

Synthesis of naturally occurring iminosugars from d-fructose by the use of a zinc-mediated fragmentation reaction

A short synthesis of 1,4-dideoxy-1,4-imino-D-arabinitol (DAB) and a formal synthesis of australine are described. In both cases, D-fructose is employed as the starting material and converted into a protected methyl 6-deoxy-6-iodo-furanoside. Zinc-mediated fragmentation produces an unsaturated ketone which serves as a key building block for both syntheses. Ozonolysis, reductive amination with benzylamine and deprotection affords 1,4-dideoxy-1,4-imino-D-arabinitol in only 7 steps and 11% overall yield from D-fructose. Alternatively, reductive amination with homoallylamine, ring-closing metathesis and protecting group manipulations give rise to an intermediate which can be converted into australine in 3 steps. The intermediate is prepared by two different strategies both of which use a total of 9 steps. The first strategy utilizes benzyl ethers for protection of fructose while the second and more effective strategy employs an isopropylidene acetal.

Nonradical Zinc−Barbier Reaction for Diastereoselective Synthesis of Vicinal Amino Alcohols

A new protocol for the synthesis of vicinal amino alcohols is described. The method employs a Barbier-type reaction between an imine and 3-benzoyloxyallyl bromide in the presence of zinc metal. The addition products are debenzoylated to afford amino alcohols in good yields and with diastereomeric ratios greater than 85:15 in favor of the anti isomer. A Hammett study has been performed which strongly indicates that the allylation does not follow a radical mechanism, but instead an organometallic reagent is formed which subsequently reacts with the imine. A computational study based on this mechanism reproduces the observed diastereoselectivity with high accuracy, but only when a sufficiently large portion of the substrate is included.