An Enantioselective Synthesis of (-)-Allosamidin by Asymmetric Desymmetrization of a Highly Functionalized meso-Epoxide

Benzoxazepine-Derived Selective, Orally Bioavailable Inhibitor of Human Acidic Mammalian Chitinase

Human acidic mammalian chitinase (hAMCase) is one of two true chitinases in humans, the function of which remains elusive. In addition to the defense against highly antigenic chitin and chitin-containing pathogens in the gastric and intestinal contents, AMCase has been implicated in asthma, allergic inflammation, and ocular pathologies. Potent and selective small-molecule inhibitors of this enzyme have not been identified to date. Here we describe structural modifications of compound OAT-177, a previously developed inhibitor of mouse AMCase, leading to OAT-1441, which displays high activity and selectivity toward hAMCase. Significantly reduced off-target activity toward the human ether-à-go-go-related gene (hERG) and a good pharmacokinetic profile make OAT-1441 a potential candidate for further preclinical development as well as a useful tool compound to study the physiological role of hAMCase.

Synthesis, antiasthmatic, and insecticidal/antifungal activities of allosamidins

Allosamidins come from the secondary metabolites of Streptomyces species, and they have the pseudotrisaccharide structures. Allosamidins are chitinase inhibitors that can be used to study the physiological effects of chitinases in a variety of organisms. They have the novel antiasthmatic activity and insecticidal/antifungal activities. Herein, the synthesis and activities of allosamidins were summarized and analyzed.

Natural product-guided discovery of a fungal chitinase inhibitor

Natural products are often large, synthetically intractable molecules, yet frequently offer surprising inroads into previously unexplored chemical space for enzyme inhibitors. Argifin is a cyclic pentapeptide that was originally isolated as a fungal natural product. It competitively inhibits family 18 chitinases by mimicking the chitooligosaccharide substrate of these enzymes. Interestingly, argifin is a nanomolar inhibitor of the bacterial-type subfamily of fungal chitinases that possess an extensive chitin-binding groove, but does not inhibit the much smaller, plant-type enzymes from the same family that are involved in fungal cell division and are thought to be potential drug targets. Here we show that a small, highly efficient, argifin-derived, nine-atom fragment is a micromolar inhibitor of the plant-type chitinase ChiA1 from the opportunistic pathogen Aspergillus fumigatus. Evaluation of the binding mode with the first crystal structure of an A. fumigatus plant-type chitinase reveals that the compound binds the catalytic machinery in the same manner as observed for argifin with the bacterial-type chitinases. The structure of the complex was used to guide synthesis of derivatives to explore a pocket near the catalytic machinery. This work provides synthetically tractable plant-type family 18 chitinase inhibitors from the repurposing of a natural product.

Stereoselective synthesis of 2-amino-2-deoxysugars: N-alkyl-D-allosamines

Stereoselective synthesis of N-alkyl-D-allosamines, designed for the preparation of N-alkyl derivatives of allosamidin (a chitinase inhibitor), is achieved by a 'carbonyl group transfer' reaction followed by stereoselective reduction and this method represents the first example of N-alkyl-D-allosamines synthesized from a 2-oxosugar.

Asymmetric catalysis of epoxide ring-opening reactions

The discovery of the metal salen-catalyzed asymmetric ring-opening (ARO) of epoxides is chronicled. A screening approach was adopted for the identification of catalysts for the addition of TMSN(3) to meso-epoxides, and the chiral (salen)CrN(3) complex was identified as optimal. Kinetic and structural studies served to elucidate the mechanism of catalysis, which involves cooperative activation of both epoxide and azide by two different metal centers. Covalently linked bimetallic complexes were constructed on the basis of this insight, and shown to catalyze the ARO with identical enantioselectivity but 1-2 orders of magnitude greater reactivity than the monomeric analogues. Extraordinarily high selectivity is observed in the kinetic resolution of terminal epoxides using the (salen)CrN(3)/TMSN(3) system. A search for a practical method for the kinetic resolution reaction led to the discovery of highly enantiomer-selective hydrolytic ring-opening using the corresponding (salen)Co(III) catalyst. This system displays extraordinary substrate generality, and allows practical access to enantiopure terminal epoxides on both laboratory and industrial scales.