Synthesis of Non-canonical Amino Acids and Peptide Containing Them for Establishment of the Template for Drug Discovery

Non-canonical amino acid derivatives are an attractive scaffold for novel drug candidates. Among the methods used to prepare this motif, the asymmetric Mannich-type reaction of α-imino carboxylic acid derivatives is a preeminent strategy because a wide variety of non-canonical amino acids can be accessed by changing only the nucleophile. Preparing the common substrate is difficult, however, which makes this method problematic. We developed a convenient method for synthesizing common substrates using MnO₂-mediated oxidation of stable precursors. Peptides bearing non-canonical amino acids are another attractive synthetic target. We propose a new approach for synthesizing non-canonical amino acid-containing peptides by directly applying various organic reactions to peptidic substrates. Using hydrophobic anchor-supported peptides, we directly applied ring-closing metathesis and asymmetric Friedel-Crafts reactions to peptidic substrates. We also developed a novel recyclable organocatalyst according to the nature of the hydrophobic anchor tagged compound.

Cyanation of glycine derivatives

We report a catalytic oxidative C-H cyanation of glycine derivatives using a simple copper(i) catalyst with NFSI as an oxidant via a radical process to furnish α-cyano glycine derivatives, which are useful intermediates for organic synthesis. CuCl acted as both a one-electron reductant and a transition-metal catalyst in this transformation. NFSI served as a one-electron oxidant and generated a N-centered radical as a H-abstractor. The reaction displayed broad substrate scope and mild reaction conditions.

Visible-light promoted α-alkylation of glycine derivatives with alkyl boronic acids

A visible-light-mediated aerobic α-alkylation reaction of glycine derivatives with alkyl boronic acids has been established in the presence of a Ru/Cu catalyst system, giving the desired radical coupling products efficiently.

Phase-transfer catalysed asymmetric synthesis of α-chiral tetrasubstituted α-aminothioesters

Chiral amino thioesters are important scaffolds owing to their widespread use in organic synthesis and biosynthesis. Despite their usefulness, their asymmetric synthesis, especially the catalytic asymmetric synthesis of α-chiral tetrasubstituted α-aminothioesters, is limited, with only one example reported so far. Herein, we report the first phase-transfer catalysed asymmetric synthesis of α-chiral tetrasubstituted α-aminothioesters to afford the corresponding products in up to 81% ee.

Asymmetric Synthesis of α-Amino Phosphonic Acids using Stable Imino Phosphonate as a Universal Precursor

A practical method for synthesizing chiral α-amino phosphonic acid derivatives was developed. Readily available and stable N-o-nitrophenylsulfenyl (Nps) imino phosphonate was utilized as a substrate for a highly enantioselective Friedel-Crafts-type addition of indole or pyrrole nucleophiles catalyzed by chiral phosphoric acid. The resulting adduct was easily converted into N-9-fluorenylmethyloxycarbonyl (Fmoc) amino phosphonic acid, which is useful for synthesizing peptides containing an amino phosphonic acid.

Vanadium(v) oxoanions in basic water solution: a simple oxidative system for the one pot selective conversion of l-proline to pyrroline-2-carboxylate

The unprecedented, direct chemical oxidation of l-proline to pyrroline-2-carboxylate was achieved in water (pH 9-10) by means of NH₄VO₃/NH₃ or V₂O₅/MOH (K = Na, K), and the anion was fully characterized as ammonium or alkaline metal salts. Quantitative yield and higher atom economy performance were achieved with the latter system, the alkaline salts being more stable than the ammonium one. Different mixed valence V(iv)/V(v) compounds precipitated from the reaction mixtures depending on the nature of the employed base. A possible reaction mechanism is proposed according to DFT calculations. The analogous reaction of trans-4-hydroxy-l-proline with NH₄VO₃/NH₃ afforded pyrrole-2-carboxylic acid in 81% yield, while sarcosine underwent prevalent decomposition under similar experimental conditions. Instead, no reaction was observed with primary (glycine, l-alanine, l-phenylalanine) and tertiary α-amino acids (N,N-dimethyl-l-phenylalanine, N,N-dimethylglycine).