Synthesis of the Spirocyclic Core of the Prunolides Using a Singlet Oxygen-Mediated Cascade Sequence

α-Synuclein Aggregation Inhibitory Prunolides and a Dibrominated β-Carboline Sulfamate from the Ascidian Synoicum prunum

Seven new polyaromatic bis-spiroketal-containing butenolides, the prunolides D-I (4-9) and cis-prunolide C (10), a new dibrominated β-carboline sulfamate named pityriacitrin C (11), alongside the known prunolides A-C (1-3) were isolated from the Australian colonial ascidian Synoicum prunum. The prunolides D-G (4-7) represent the first asymmetrically brominated prunolides, while cis-prunolide C (10) is the first reported with a cis-configuration about the prunolide's bis-spiroketal core. The prunolides displayed binding activities with the Parkinson's disease-implicated amyloid protein α-synuclein in a mass spectrometry binding assay, while the prunolides (1-5 and 10) were found to significantly inhibit the aggregation (>89.0%) of α-synuclein in a ThT amyloid dye assay. The prunolides A-C (1-3) were also tested for inhibition of pSyn aggregate formation in a primary embryonic mouse midbrain dopamine neuron model with prunolide B (2) displaying statistically significant inhibitory activity at 0.5 μM. The antiplasmodial and antibacterial activities of the isolates were also examined with prunolide C (3) displaying only weak activity against the 3D7 parasite strain of Plasmodium falciparum. Our findings reported herein suggest that the prunolides could provide a novel scaffold for the exploration of future therapeutics aimed at inhibiting amyloid protein aggregation and the treatment of numerous neurodegenerative diseases.

Strategies for the construction of γ-spirocyclic butenolides in natural product synthesis

Over the last four decades, a number of γ-spirocyclic butenolide containing natural products, drugs, and medicinally useful synthetic compounds have been reported. In this review, we discuss diverse chemical approaches to synthesize γ-spiro butenolides and their application towards natural product synthesis. The collective perception of various methods may allow superior approaches capable of delivering efficient synthetic approaches to obtain γ-spiro butenolide comprising natural products and their hybrid analogues for further drug discovery and development.

The reticent tautomer: exploiting the interesting multisite and multitype reactivity of 4-pyrrolin-2-ones

Multisite and multitype reactivities of the highly versatile and valuable synthetic building block 4-pyrrolin-2-one are covered in this review.

Selectivity-switchable oxidation of tetraarylethylenes to fused polycyclic compounds

Selectivity-switchable oxidation of furan-containing tetraarylethylenes is reported.

Furans and singlet oxygen – why there is more to come from this powerful partnership

Using the reaction of furans with singlet oxygen as a means to rapidly access huge structural diversity in a green & sustainable way.

Palladium-catalyzed preparation of Weinreb amides from boronic acids and N-methyl-N-methoxycarbamoyl chloride

A simple protocol for the synthesis of Weinreb benzamides and alpha,beta-unsaturated Weinreb amides through a palladium-catalyzed cross-coupling reaction between organoboronic acids and N-methoxy-N-methylcarbamoyl chloride has been developed. The method is also applicable to the use of potassium organotrifluoroborates.

Using singlet oxygen to synthesize polyoxygenated natural products from furans

[Reaction: see text]. Singlet oxygen is a powerful tool in the armament of the synthetic organic chemist and possibly in that of nature itself. In this Account, we illustrate a small selection of the many ways singlet oxygen can be harnessed in the laboratory to aid in the construction of the complex molecular motifs found in natural products. A more philosophical question is also addressed: namely, how much do singlet oxygen oxidations influence the biogenesis of these natural products? All the synthetic examples surveyed in this Account can be characterized as belonging to the same class because they all involve the oxidation of a substituted furan nucleus by singlet oxygen. Readily accessible and relatively simple furans can be transformed into a host of complex motifs present in a diverse range of natural products by the action of singlet-oxygen-mediated reaction sequences. These reactions are highly advantageous because they frequently deliver a rapid and dramatic increase in molecular complexity in high yield. Furthermore, an unusually wide structural diversity is exhibited by the molecular motifs obtained from these reaction sequences. For example, relatively minor modifications to the starting substrate and to the reaction conditions may lead to products as variable as spiroketal lactones, 3-keto-tetrahydrofurans, various types of bis-spiroketals, 4-hydroxy cyclopentenones, or spiroperoxylactones. In addition, two more specialized examples are discussed in this Account. The core of the prunolide molecules and the chinensine family of natural products were rapidly synthesized using effective and short singlet oxygen mediated strategies; this adds weight to the assertion that singlet oxygen is a very effective moderator of complex cascade reaction sequences. We also show how our synthetic investigations have provided evidence that these same strategies might be used in the biogenesis of these molecules. In the cases of the chinensines and the litseaverticillols, an entire and diverse family of natural products was synthesized beginning from known naturally occurring furan-bearing terpenes. Additionally, in several cases, intermediates in our syntheses have been isolated from natural sources, which suggests that we have followed the same synthetic paths as nature. Certainly, the limit of the synthetic potential of singlet oxygen has not yet been reached, and we can look forward to seeing the boundaries expand in the future in a slew of new and interesting ways.

Synthesis of Chinensines A−E

Short and efficient syntheses of coronarin E (4) and chinensines A-E (5-9) have been accomplished. The use of two different types of reaction of singlet oxygen ((1)O(2)) lies at the heart of the synthetic strategy. The syntheses have facilitated the clarification of certain previously unknown, or unconfirmed, stereochemical details (the relativity stereochemistries of chinensines D and E and the absolute stereochemistries for all the synthesized family members).

Using singlet oxygen to synthesise a [6,6,5]-bis-spiroketal in one-pot from a simple 2,5-disubstituted furan

Singlet oxygen (1O2) proves to be a powerful tool in mediating the one-pot synthesis of a salinomycin-type [6,6,5]-bis-spiroketal unit starting from a suitably substituted furan nucleus.

A Versatile and General One-Pot Method for Synthesizing Bis-spiroketal Motifs

[reaction: see text] A versatile and general method for the biomimetic construction of [5,5,5]- and [6,5,6]-bis-spiroketals, starting from easily accessible furan nuclei, by means of a powerful one-pot singlet oxygen-mediated cascade sequence is reported.

Regioselective Ortho Lithiation of 3-Aryl and 3-Styryl Furans

[structure: see text]. An unusual regioselectivity pattern for the ortho lithiation of 3-aryl and 3-styryl furans has been uncovered wherein lithiation occurs preferentially at the sterically encumbered 2-position. The results are attributed, at least in part, to stabilization of the intermediate furyl anion by through-space donation of pi-electron density from the substituent appended at the 3-position to the lithium cation. This ortho lithiation reaction may be applied as a useful synthetic tool for accessing 2,3-disubstituted furans.