Regio- and Stereoselective Synthesis of Aminoinositols and 1,2-Diaminoinositols from Conduritol B Epoxide

Protecting group principles suited to late stage functionalization and global deprotection in oligosaccharide synthesis

Chemical synthesis is a powerful tool to access homogeneous complex glycans, which relies on protecting group (PG) chemistry. However, the overall efficiency of chemical glycan assembly is still low when compared to oligonucleotide or oligopeptide synthesis. There have been many contributions giving rise to collective improvement in carbohydrate synthesis that includes PG manipulation and stereoselective glycoside formation and some of this chemistry has been transferred to the solid phase or adapted for programmable one pot synthesis approaches. However, after all glycoside bond formation reactions are completed, the global deprotection (GD) required to give the desired target OS can be challenging. Difficulties observed in the removal of permanent PGs to release the desired glycans can be due to the number and diversity of PGs present in the protected OSs, nature and structural complexity of glycans, etc. Here, we have reviewed the difficulties associated with the removal of PGs from densely protected OSs to obtain their free glycans. In particularly, this review focuses on the challenges associated with hydrogenolysis of benzyl groups, saponification of esters and functional group interconversion such as oxidation/reduction that are commonly performed in GD stage. More generally, problems observed in the removal of permanent PGs is reviewed herein, including benzyl, acyl (levulinoyl, acetyl), N-trichloroacetyl, N-2,2,2-trichloroethoxycarbonyl, N-phthaloyl etc. from a number of fully protected OSs to release the free sugar, that have been previously reported in the literature.

Lithium hydride as an efficient reagent for the preparation of 1,2-anhydro inositols: Does the reaction proceed through 'axial rich' conformation?

scyllo-Inositol derived 1,2-trans-diequatorial halohydrins can be efficiently converted to the corresponding epoxides in the presence of lithium hydride. The structure of one of the epoxides was determined by single crystal X-ray diffraction analysis. This provides a potential route for the preparation of ring modified inositol derivatives. DFT calculations suggest that this epoxide formation could be proceeding through the intermediacy of the cyclohexane ring-inverted axial-rich conformer (1,2-trans-diaxial halohydrin). This is supported by the results of DFT calculations on the formation of inositol orthoformate, where the product is locked in the axial-rich conformation, while the starting inositol has the equatorial-rich conformation.

Development of 68Ga-SCN-DOTA-Capsaicin as an Imaging Agent Targeting Apoptosis and Cell Cycle Arrest in Breast Cancer

⁶⁸Ga-labeled capsaicin using a DOTA (1,4,7,10-tetraazocyclododecane-N,N',N″,N'″-tetraacetic acid) derivative [⁶⁸Ga-SCN-Benzyl(Bn)-DOTA-capsaicin] was studied for the diagnosis of breast cancers, such as MCF-7 and SK-BR-3. The standard compound, ⁶⁹Ga-SCN-Bn-DOTA-capsaicin, was also prepared and characterized by spectroscopic analysis. The binding affinity of ⁶⁸Ga-SCN-Bn-DOTA-capsaicin was evaluated by using breast cancer cell lines (MCF-7, SK-BR-3) and colon cancer cell (CT-26); the biodistribution was carried out by using MCF-7-bearing nude mice, after which the positron emission tomography (PET) images were obtained at different time intervals (15-120 minutes). ⁶⁸Ga-SCN-Bn-DOTA-capsaicin showed a cellular uptake of 0.93% Injected Dose (ID) after 30 minutes of incubation, whereas ⁶⁸Ga-SCN-Bn-DOTA showed a lower uptake of 0.25% ID. The tumor-to-blood ID/g% ratios increased and were found to be 0.49, 0.22, and 0.77 for 15, 30, and 60 minutes, respectively. The small-animal PET study showed that the uptake of ⁶⁸Ga-SCN-Bn-DOTA-capsaicin was higher in the tumor regions even at 30 minutes after injection. These results suggest that ⁶⁸Ga-SCN-Bn-DOTA-capsaicin is a potential targeting agent for PET imaging of MCF-7.

Regioselective SN2 reactions for rapid syntheses of azido-inositols by one-pot sequence-specific nucleophilysis

Sequential nucleophilysis of myo-inositol-disulfonate provides easy access to azido-inositols.

Potent aminocyclitol glucocerebrosidase inhibitors are subnanomolar pharmacological chaperones for treating gaucher disease

Amino-myo-inositol derivatives have been found to be potent inhibitors of glucocerebrosidase (GCase), the β-glucosidase enzyme deficient in Gaucher disease (GD). When tested using lymphoblasts derived from patients with GD homozygous for N370S or L444P mutations, the compounds enhanced GCase activity at very low concentrations. The most potent inhibitor, (1R,2S,3R,4S,5S,6R)-5-(nonylamino)-6-(nonyloxy)cyclohexane-1,2,3,4-tetraol had a K(i) of 1 nM using isolated enzyme and an IC(50) of 4.3 nM when assayed in human fibroblast cell culture. This aminocyclitol produced maximum increases of GCase activities of 90% in N370S lymphoblasts at 1 nM and 40% in L444P at 0.01 nM following a three-day incubation. In addition to inhibitory potency, this compound has the permeability, subcellular distribution, and cell metabolism characteristics that are important for use as a pharmacological chaperone. It is a remarkable finding that picomolar concentrations of aminocyclitols are sufficient to enhance activity in the L444P variant, which produces a severe neuronopathic form of GD without clinical treatment.

The myo-1,2-Diaminocyclitol Scaffold Defines Potent Glucocerebrosidase Activators and Promising Pharmacological Chaperones for Gaucher Disease

A series of cyclitol derivatives with myo-configuration are β-glucocerebrosidase (GCase) inhibitors and show excellent characteristics for the development of pharmacological chaperones for enzyme deficiency in Gaucher disease (GD). The most potent inhibitor, (1S,2R,3R,4S,5R,6S)-5,6-bis(nonylamino)cyclohexane-1,2,3,4-tetraol, displayed a K i value of 26 nM in isolated enzyme and also inhibited GCase in wild-type (wt) human fibroblasts at nanomolar concentrations. This diaminocyclitol produced maximum increases of GCase activities of 60% in N370S lymphoblasts at 100 nM and 30% in L444P at 1 nM following a 3-day incubation, showing the permeability, subcellular distribution, and cell metabolism characteristics for use as pharmacological chaperone.

Computational prediction of structure-activity relationships for the binding of aminocyclitols to β-glucocerebrosidase

Glucocerebrosidase (GCase, acid β-Glucosidase) hydrolyzes the sphingolipid glucosylceramide into glucose and ceramide. Mutations in this enzyme lead to a lipid metabolism disorder known as Gaucher disease. The design of competitive inhibitors of GCase is a promising field of research for the design of pharmacological chaperones as new therapeutic agents. Using a series of recently reported molecules with experimental binding affinities for GCase in the nanomolar to micromolar range, we here report an extensive theoretical analysis of their binding mode. On the basis of molecular docking, molecular dynamics, and binding free energy calculations using the linear interaction energy method (LIE), we provide details on the molecular interactions supporting ligand binding in the different families of compounds. The applicability of other computational approaches, such as the COMBINE methodology, is also investigated. The results show the robustness of the standard parametrization of the LIE method, which reproduces the experimental affinities with a mean unsigned error of 0.7 kcal/mol. Several structure-activity relationships are established using the computational models here provided, including the identification of hot spot residues in the binding site. The models derived are envisaged as important tools in ligand-design programs for GCase inhibitors.

Practical synthesis of (−)-1-amino-1-deoxy-myo-inositol from achiral precursors

A new synthesis of enantiomerically pure 1-amino-1-deoxy-myo-inositol is reported. The route described employs p-benzoquinone, an achiral compound, as the starting material to give conduritol B tetraacetate in three steps. Kinetic resolution of this compound using a palladium catalyst with a chiral ligand allows access to a conduritol B tetraester in high enantiomeric excess. This compound is transformed into tetrabenzyl conduritol B epoxide, which is regioselectively opened with azide to give the key azidocyclitol. Final transformation into (-)-1-amino-1-deoxy-myo-inositol hydrochloride is achieved in four synthetic steps. This sequence allows the synthesis of this compound in high enantiomeric purity in a semi-preparative scale.

Combinatorial Approach to N-Substituted Aminocyclitol Libraries by Solution-Phase Parallel Synthesis and Preliminary Evaluation as Glucocerebrosidase Inhibitors

Libraries of N-substituted aminocyclitol derivatives of the scyllo and racemic chiro series by means of parallel solution-phase methodology with the help of robotic technology are described. Chemical diversity has been introduced by reaction of selected scaffolds with a set of aldehydes, acyl chlorides, sulfonyl chlorides, chloroformates, and amines to afford the corresponding amines, amides, sulfonamides, carbamates and ureas, respectively. The optimized methodology has proven excellent, in terms of overall purities of the resulting libraries, for the production of amides. Sulfonamides and carbamates have been obtained in slightly lower purities, while amines afforded modest results. Selected library members have been evaluated as inhibitors of recombinant glucocerebrosidase with K(i) values ranging in the low micromolar scale for the most active members.

Stereodivergent Syntheses of Conduramines and Aminocyclitols

[reaction: see text] The diastereomers of 6-amino-cyclohex-3-ene-1,2-diols 1 (4-deoxy-3-conduramines), key building blocks for the syntheses of a large range of natural products, have been enantioselectively prepared. Diastereoselective dihydroxylation of the compounds provided a new family of aminocyclitols 2 (deoxyinosamines). The key reactions of our syntheses are Sharpless catalytic asymmetric epoxidation, diastereoselective addition of vinylmetal reagents to the aldehydes, and ring-closing metathesis (RCM).