Mild Construction of 3-Methyl Tetramic Acids Enabling a Formal Synthesis of Palau’imide

Human-associated bacteria adopt an unusual route for synthesizing 3-acetylated tetramates for environmental adaptation

BACKGROUND

Tetramates or tetramic acid-containing compounds (TACs) are a group of bioactive natural products featuring a pyrrolidine-2,4-dione ring acknowledged being closed via Dieckmann cyclization. The cariogenic Streptococcus mutans strains bearing a muc biosynthetic gene cluster (BGC) can synthesize mutanocyclin (MUC), a 3-acetylated TAC that can inhibit both leukocyte chemotaxis and filamentous development in Candida albicans. Some strains can also accumulate reutericyclins (RTCs), the intermediates of MUC biosynthesis with antibacterial activities. However, the formation mechanism of the pyrrolidine-2,4-dione ring of MUC and the distribution of muc-like BGCs along with their ecological functions has not been explored extensively.

RESULTS

We demonstrated that a key intermediate of MUC biosynthesis, M-307, is installed by a hybrid nonribosomal peptide synthetase-polyketide synthase assembly line and its pyrrolidine-2,4-dione ring is closed via an unprecedented lactam bond formation style. Subsequent C-3 acetylation will convert M-307 to RTCs, which is then hydrolyzed by a deacylase, MucF, to remove the N-1 fatty acyl appendage to generate MUC. Distribution analysis showed that the muc-like BGCs distribute predominantly in human-associated bacteria. Interestingly, most of the muc-like BGCs possessing a mucF gene were isolated from human or livestock directly, indicating their involvement in alleviating the host's immune attacks by synthesizing MUC; while those BGCs lacking mucF gene distribute mainly in bacteria from fermented products, suggesting that they tend to synthesize RTCs to compete with neighboring bacteria. It is noteworthy that many bacteria in the same habitats (e.g., the oral cavity) lack the muc-like BGC, but possess functional MucF homologues to "detoxify" RTCs to MUC, including several competitive bacteria of S. mutans. We also comparably studied the distribution of TAS1, a fungal enzyme responsible for the production of phytotoxic tenuazonic acids (TeAs), a class of 3-acetylated TACs with similar structure but distinct biosynthetic mechanism to MUC, and found that it mainly exists in plants or crops.

CONCLUSIONS

The in vivo and in vitro experiments revealed that the pyrrolidine-2,4-dione ring of MUC is closed via lactam bond formation, which may be adopted by many TACs without 3-acyl decorations. Besides, we found that muc-like BGCs are widespread in human-associated bacteria and their shapes and main products can be influenced by the habitat environment and vice versa. By comparing with TeAs, we provided thought-provoking insights into how ecological and evolutionary forces drive bacteria and fungi to construct a common 3-acetylated pyrrolidine-2,4-dione core through different routes, and how the biosynthetic processes are delicately controlled to generate diverse 3-acetylated TACs for environmental adaptation. Video Abstract.

N-acylation of amides through internal nucleophilic catalysis

An efficient method for N-acylation of amides is described using a pyridine ring as the internal nucleophilic catalyst to give imides in moderate to excellent yields. The methodology provides a facile, air insensitive, and environmentally friendly route to form diversified imide scaffolds, which exist widely in natural products and biologically active materials.

The Fascinating Chemistry of α-Haloamides

The aim of this review is to highlight the rich chemistry of α-haloamides originally mainly used to discover new C-N, C-O and C-S bond forming reactions, and later widely employed in C-C cross-coupling reactions with C(sp3), C(sp2) and C(sp) coupling partners. Radical-mediated transformations of α-haloamides bearing a suitable located unsaturated bond has proven to be a straightforward alternative to access diverse cyclic compounds by means of either radical initiators, transition metal redox catalysis or visible light photoredox catalysis. On the other hand, cycloadditions with α-halohydroxamate-based azaoxyallyl cations have garnered significant attention. Moreover, in view of the important role in life and materials science of difluoroalkylated compounds, a wide range of catalysts has been developed for the efficient incorporation of difluoroacetamido moieties into activated as well as unactivated substrates.

Metal-Catalyzed and Metal-Mediated Approaches to the Synthesis and Functionalization of Tetramic Acids

The heterocyclic ring of tetramic acids is found in naturally occurred biologically active products isolated from fungi, bacteria, molds, and sponges. Thus, these molecules have attracted significant attention as synthetic targets, and various synthetic paths have been developed. Over recent years, a growing number of catalytic approaches toward functionalized products have been established in order to overcome the limitations of the conventional methods. The present review describes the strategies for the metal-catalyzed and metal-promoted synthesis and further derivatization of tetramic acids, with emphasis on recent examples from the literature.

Ag NPs decorated on a COF in the presence of DBU as an efficient catalytic system for the synthesis of tetramic acids via CO2 fixation into propargylic amines at atmospheric pressure

Ag NPs are decorated at the surface of a COF material TpPa-1 and the resulting Ag@TpPa-1 catalyzes efficiently for the synthesis of tetramic acids from a variety of propargylic amines using CO₂ as reagent.

Synthesis of a leopolic acid-inspired tetramic acid with antimicrobial activity against multidrug-resistant bacteria

The increasing emergence of multidrug-resistant pathogens is one of the biggest threats to human health and food security. The discovery of new antibacterials, and in particular the finding of new scaffolds, is an imperative goal to stay ahead of the evolution of antibiotic resistance. Herein we report the synthesis of a 3-decyltetramic acid analogue of the ureido dipeptide natural antibiotic leopolic acid A. The key step in the synthetic strategy is an intramolecular Lacey–Dieckmann cyclization reaction of a linear precursor to obtain the desired 3-alkyl-substituted tetramic acid core. The synthesized analogue is more effective than the parent leopolic acid A against Gram-positive (Staphylococcus pseudintermedius) and Gram-negative (E. coli) bacteria (MIC 8 µg/mL and 64 µg/mL, respectively). Interestingly, the compound shows a significant activity against Staphylococcus pseudintermedius strains expressing a multidrug-resistant phenotype (average MIC 32 µg/mL on 30 strains tested). These results suggest that this molecule can be considered a promising starting point for the development of a novel class of antibacterial agents active also against resistant strains.

Nα-Amino acid containing privileged structures: design, synthesis and use in solid-phase peptide synthesis

Fmoc-protected Nα-amino acid containing heterocyclic privileged structures, O-(1-methyl-5-oxo-2,5-dihydro-1H-pyrrol-3-yl)-l-serine and O-((S)-5-oxo-2,3,5,7a-tetrahydro-1H-pyrrolizin-7-yl)-l-serine, were synthesized on the solid phase from simple commercially available building blocks under mild conditions. The amino acid side-chain is composed of tetramic acid, a natural product derived privileged structure. The key transformation was the formation of cyclic enol ethers via nonclassical Wittig olefinations of the esters. Solid-phase synthesis represents a method of choice, particularly for the synthesis of peptides. This route is compatible with traditional Merrifield solid-phase peptide synthesis (SPPS), as documented on the preparation of the pentapeptide Leu-enkephalin amide H-Tyr-Gly-Gly-Phe-Leu-NH2 with Phe or Tyr replaced by a novel amino acid.

Synthesis of Nitrogen Heterocycles Using Samarium(II) Iodide

Nitrogen heterocycles represent vital structural motifs in biologically-active natural products and pharmaceuticals. As a result, the development of new, convenient and more efficient processes to N-heterocycles is of great interest to synthetic chemists. Samarium(II) iodide (SmI₂, Kagan’s reagent) has been widely used to forge challenging C–C bonds through reductive coupling reactions. Historically, the use of SmI₂ in organic synthesis has been focused on the construction of carbocycles and oxygen-containing motifs. Recently, significant advances have taken place in the use of SmI₂ for the synthesis of nitrogen heterocycles, enabled in large part by the unique combination of high reducing power of this reagent (E_1/2 of up to −2.8 V) with excellent chemoselectivity of the reductive umpolung cyclizations mediated by SmI₂. In particular, radical cross-coupling reactions exploiting SmI₂-induced selective generation of aminoketyl radicals have emerged as concise and efficient methods for constructing 2-azabicycles, pyrrolidines and complex polycyclic barbiturates. Moreover, a broad range of novel processes involving SmI₂-promoted formation of aminyl radicals have been leveraged for the synthesis of complex nitrogen-containing molecular architectures by direct and tethered pathways. Applications to the synthesis of natural products have highlighted the generality of processes and the intermediates accessible with SmI₂. In this review, recent advances involving the synthesis of nitrogen heterocycles using SmI₂ are summarized, with a major focus on reductive coupling reactions that enable one-step construction of nitrogen-containing motifs in a highly efficient manner, while taking advantage of the spectacular selectivity of the venerable Kagan’s reagent.

Recent Advances in the Total Synthesis of Tetramic Acid-Containing Natural Products

With incredible bioactivities and fascinating structural complexities, tetramic acid- (TA-) containing natural products have attracted favorable attention among the organic chemistry community. Although the construction of the TA core is usually straightforward, the intricate C3-side chain sometimes asks for some deliberative strategy so as to fulfill an elegant total synthesis. This review mainly covers some exceptional synthetic examples for each type of natural product in recent years, showcasing the great achievements as well as unsettled obstacles in this area, in the hope of accelerating the synthetic and biological investigations for this unique type of natural product.

A general diastereoselective catalytic vinylogous aldol reaction among tetramic acid-derived pyrroles

A catalytic diastereoselective aldol reaction has been developed for N1-arylated/C2-O-silylated/C3-methylated and brominated/C4-O-methylated pyrroles in its reactions with various aldehydes. Syn adducts emerge with regard to the vicinal nitrogen and oxygen heteroatom substituents. The N1-aryl residue undergoes oxidative cleavage, and the C3-bromine atom undergoes palladium-mediated coupling reactions, both without disturbing the newly created stereocenters.

Novel method of tetramic acid synthesis: silver-catalyzed carbon dioxide incorporation into propargylic amine and intramolecular rearrangement

Tetramic acid derivatives have been studied as biologically active heterocycle structures for pharmaceutical or agricultural chemicals. Conventional preparative approaches often require highly functionalized starting materials and harsh heating conditions in basic media. The present report provides a conceptually new synthetic strategy for the synthesis of tetramic acid derivatives from easily available propargylic amines and carbon dioxide with a silver salt and DBU under mild reaction conditions.

Diels-Alder construction of regiodifferentiated meta-amino phenols and derivatives

Synthetic access to regiodifferentiated meta-amino phenols is described. The strategy relies upon distinct deprotonation conditions to afford regioisomeric thermodynamic and kinetic dienes that undergo a tandem Diels-Alder and retro-Diels-Alder sequence with assorted acetylenic dienophiles to afford a range of aromatic products.

Naturally occurring tetramic acid products: isolation, structure elucidation and biological activity

Natural products containing the tetramic acid core scaffold have been isolated from an assortment of terrestrial and marine species and often display wide ranging and potent biological activities including antibacterial, antiviral and antitumoral activities.