An efficient synthesis of valienamine via ring-closing metathesis

Diversification of Simple Arenes into Complex (Amino)cyclitols

Highly oxygenated cyclohexanes, including (amino)cyclitols, are featured in natural products possessing a notable range of biological activities. As such, these building blocks are valuable tools for medicinal chemistry. While de novo synthetic strategies have provided access to select compounds, challenges including stereochemical density and complexity have hindered the development of a general approach to (amino)cyclitol structures. This work reports the use of arenophile chemistry to access dearomatized intermediates which are amenable to diverse downstream transformations. Practical guidelines were developed for the synthesis of natural and non-natural (amino)cyclitols from simple arenes through a series of strategic functionalization events.

Carba-Sugar Analogs of Glucosamine-6-Phosphate: New Activators for the glmS Riboswitch

Riboswitches are 5'-untranslated mRNA regions mostly found in bacteria. They are promising drug targets to overcome emerging bacterial resistance against commonly used antibiotics. The glmS riboswitch is unique among the family of riboswitches as it is a ribozyme that undergoes self-cleavage upon binding to glucosamine-6-phosphate (GlcN6P). Previously, we showed that carba glucosamine-6-phosphate (carba-GlcN6P) induces self-cleavage of the riboswitch with a potency similar to that of GlcN6P. Here, we report a synthetic approach to a new class of carba-GlcN6P derivatives with an alkoxy substituent in the carba position. Key features of the synthesis are a ring closing metathesis followed by a hydroboration. The strategy gives access to libraries of carba-GlcN6P derivatives. Ribozyme cleavage assays unraveled new activators for the glmS riboswitch from Listeria monocytogenes and Clostridium difficile.

Surfactant-mediated thioglycosylation of 1-hydroxy sugars in water

Thioglycosides are an important class of sugars, since they can be used as non-ionic biosurfactants, biomimetic glycosides, and building blocks for carbohydrate synthesis. Previously, Brønsted- or Lewis-acid-catalyzed dehydrative glycosylations between a 1-hydroxy sugar and a thiol have been reported to yield open-chain dithioacetal sugars as the major products instead of the desired thioglycosides. These dithioacetal sugars are by-products derived from the endocyclic bond cleavage of the thioglycosides. Herein, we report dehydrative glycosylation in water mediated by a Brønsted acid-surfactant combined catalyst (BASC). Glycosylations between 1-hydroxy furanosyl/pyranosyl sugars and primary, secondary, and tertiary aliphatic/aromatic thiols in the presence of dodecyl benzenesulfonic acid (DBSA) provided the thioglycoside products in moderate to good yields. Microwave irradiation led to improvements in the yields and a shortening of the reaction time. Remarkably, open-chain dithioacetal sugars were not detected in the DBSA-mediated glycosylations in water. This method is a simple, convenient, and rapid approach to produce a library of thioglycosides without the requirement of anhydrous conditions. Moreover, this work also provides an excellent example of complementary reactivity profiles of glycosylation in organic solvents and water.

Total syntheses and structural validation of lincitol A, lincitol B, uvacalol I, uvacalol J, and uvacalol K

First total syntheses of lincitol A, lincitol B, uvacalol I, uvacalol J and uvacalol K were achieved in racemic form, validating their structure from a common intermediate, which was synthesized in six steps from low-cost and extensively available myo-inositol.

VO(acac)(2)/H(2)O(2)/NaI: a mild and efficient combination for the cleavage of dithioacetal derivatives of sugars

A wide variety of dithioacetal derivatives of sugars can be cleaved easily into the corresponding open-chain aldehydo sugars using an efficient combination of VO(acac)(2)/H(2)O(2)/NaI at 0-5°C. Some of the salient features of this protocol are mild reaction conditions, good yields, short reaction times, easy work-up procedures, and non-involvement of toxic chemicals.

Nucleotidylation of unsaturated carbasugar in validamycin biosynthesis

Validamycin A is a member of microbial-derived C(7)N-aminocyclitol family of natural products that is widely used as crop protectant and the precursor of the antidiabetic drug voglibose. Its biosynthetic gene clusters have been identified in several Streptomyces hygroscopicus strains, and a number of genes within the clusters have been functionally analyzed. Of these genes, valB, which encodes a sugar nucleotidyltransferase, was found through inactivation study to be essential for validamycin biosynthesis, but its role was unclear. To characterize the role of ValB in validamycin biosynthesis, four carbasugar phosphate analogues were synthesized and tested as substrate for ValB. The results showed that ValB efficiently catalyzes the conversion of valienol 1-phosphate to its nucleotidyl diphosphate derivatives, whereas other unsaturated carbasugar phosphates were found to be not the preferred substrate. ValB requires Mg(2+), Mn(2+), or Co(2+) for its optimal activity and uses the purine-based nucleotidyltriphosphates (ATP and GTP) more efficiently than the pyrimidine-based NTPs (CTP, dTTP, and UTP) as nucleotidyl donor. ValB represents the first member of unsaturated carbasugar nucleotidyltransferases involved in natural products biosynthesis. Its characterization not only expands our understanding of aminocyclitol-derived natural products biosynthesis, but may also facilitate the development of new tools for chemoenzymatic synthesis of carbohydrate mimetics.

A flexible strategy based on a C2-symmetric pool of chiral substrates: concise synthesis of (+)-valienamine, key intermediate of (+)- pancratistatin, and conduramines A-1 and E

A new strategy invoking a new application of the [3,3] sigmatropic rearrangement of allylic azides and the presence of a C(2) symmetry element within a pool of chiral substrates was evolved. Not only does this simple flexible strategy provide a concise approach to (+)-valienamine, but it also can readily be adopted for the synthesis of conduramines A-1 and E and the enantiopure azido carbonate 4, a key intermediate of (+)-pancratistatin.

Genetically engineered production of 1,1'-bis-valienamine and validienamycin in Streptomyces hygroscopicus and their conversion to valienamine

The antifungal agent validamycin A is an important crop protectant and the source of valienamine, the precursor of the antidiabetic drug voglibose. Inactivation of the valN gene in the validamycin A producer, Streptomyces hygroscopicus subsp. jinggangensis 5008, resulted in a mutant strain that produces new secondary metabolites 1,1'-bis-valienamine and validienamycin. The chemical structures of 1,1'-bis-valienamine and validienamycin were elucidated by 1D and 2D nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy in conjunction with mass spectrometry and bioconversion employing a glycosyltransferase enzyme, ValG. 1,1'-Bis-valienamine and validienamycin exhibit a moderate antifungal activity against Pellicularia sasakii. Chemical degradation of 1,1'-bis-valienamine using N-bromosuccinimide followed by purification of the products with ion-exchange column chromatography only resulted in valienamine, whereas parallel treatments of validoxylamine A, the aglycon of validamycin A, resulted in an approximately 1:1 mixture of valienamine and validamine, underscoring the advantage of 1,1'-bis-valienamine over validoxylamine A as a commercial source of valienamine.

Synthetic efforts for stereo structure determination of cytotoxic marine natural product pericosines as metabolites of Periconia sp. from sea hare

Pericosines are unique C₇ cyclohexenoid metabolites of Periconia byssoides OUPS-N133 fungus that was originally isolated from the sea hare, Aplysia kurodai. Pericosines show significant in vitro cytotoxicity against P388 lymphocytic leukemia cells. Pericosine A, in particular, shows the most potent activity and significant in vivo antitumor activity against P388 cells. Thus, pericosines are promising candidates for seed compounds of anticancer drugs. However, before the total syntheses of pericosines were accomplished, their stereo structures could not be determined by spectral analyses because they have multi-functionalized cyclohexenoid structures with torsional strain. In this review, synthetic efforts for pericosines in this decade are surveyed.