Total Synthesis of Clavepictines A and B and Pictamine

Total Synthesis and Absolute Stereochemical Assignment of Microgrewiapine A and Its Stereoisomers

Total synthesis of both enantiomers of (-)-(2 S,3 R,6 S)- and (+)-(2 R,3 S,6 R)-microgrewiapine A along with (+)-microcosamine A and (-)-6- epi-microgrewiapine A from chiral 1-(α-methylbenzyl)-aziridine-2-carboxylate was accomplished for the first time. Key steps involved in this synthesis include one-pot reductive ring-opening of aziridine, debenzylation, intramolecular N-alkylation to obtain the key piperidine ring, and Julia-Kociensky olefination. The absolute configuration of natural microgrewiapine A is assigned as (+)-(2 R,3 S,6 R), which is opposite to the originally proposed structure by comparing optical rotation data of both synthetic enantiomers.

Total synthesis of a piperidine alkaloid, microcosamine A

The first asymmetric total synthesis of a new natural piperidine alkaloid, microcosamine A, has been accomplished from d-serine and d-methyl lactate as chiral pool starting materials. Key features of the strategy include the utility of Horner-Wadsworth-Emmons reaction, Luche reduction, intramolecular carbamate N-alkylation to form the piperidine framework and Julia-Kocienski olefination to install the triene side-chain.

Simple Indolizidine and Quinolizidine Alkaloids

This review of simple indolizidine and quinolizidine alkaloids (i.e., those in which the parent bicyclic systems are in general not embedded in polycyclic arrays) is an update of the previous coverage in Volume 55 of this series (2001). The present survey covers the literature from mid-1999 to the end of 2013; and in addition to aspects of the isolation, characterization, and biological activity of the alkaloids, much emphasis is placed on their total synthesis. A brief introduction to the topic is followed by an overview of relevant alkaloids from fungal and microbial sources, among them slaframine, cyclizidine, Steptomyces metabolites, and the pantocins. The important iminosugar alkaloids lentiginosine, steviamine, swainsonine, castanospermine, and related hydroxyindolizidines are dealt with in the subsequent section. The fourth and fifth sections cover metabolites from terrestrial plants. Pertinent plant alkaloids bearing alkyl, functionalized alkyl or alkenyl substituents include dendroprimine, anibamine, simple alkaloids belonging to the genera Prosopis, Elaeocarpus, Lycopodium, and Poranthera, and bicyclic alkaloids of the lupin family. Plant alkaloids bearing aryl or heteroaryl substituents include ipalbidine and analogs, secophenanthroindolizidine and secophenanthroquinolizidine alkaloids (among them septicine, julandine, and analogs), ficuseptine, lasubines, and other simple quinolizidines of the Lythraceae, the simple furyl-substituted Nuphar alkaloids, and a mixed quinolizidine-quinazoline alkaloid. The penultimate section of the review deals with the sizable group of simple indolizidine and quinolizidine alkaloids isolated from, or detected in, ants, mites, and terrestrial amphibians, and includes an overview of the "dietary hypothesis" for the origin of the amphibian metabolites. The final section surveys relevant alkaloids from marine sources, and includes clathryimines and analogs, stellettamides, the clavepictines and pictamine, and bis(quinolizidine) alkaloids.

Bioactive marine drugs and marine biomaterials for brain diseases

Marine invertebrates produce a plethora of bioactive compounds, which serve as inspiration for marine biotechnology, particularly in drug discovery programs and biomaterials development. This review aims to summarize the potential of drugs derived from marine invertebrates in the field of neuroscience. Therefore, some examples of neuroprotective drugs and neurotoxins will be discussed. Their role in neuroscience research and development of new therapies targeting the central nervous system will be addressed, with particular focus on neuroinflammation and neurodegeneration. In addition, the neuronal growth promoted by marine drugs, as well as the recent advances in neural tissue engineering, will be highlighted.

Asymmetric Synthesis of (+)-Iso-6-Cassine via Stereoselective Intramolecular Amidomercuration

The first asymmetric synthesis of (+)-iso-6-cassine is described. Lipase-catalyzed resolution, enantioselective Overman rearrangement, and diastereoselective intramolecular amidomercuration were used for the installation of the three stereocenters in (+)-iso-6-cassine, and cross-metathesis was employed for the attachment of the side-chain.