The Direct Conversion of Esters to Ketones Enabled by a Traceless Activating Group

We report here the design and development of a method for the single-step conversion of esters to ketones with simple reagents. The selective transformation of esters to ketones, rather than tertiary alcohols, is made possible by the use of a transient sulfinate group on the nucleophile that activates the adjacent carbon toward deprotonation to form a carbanion that adds to the ester, followed by a second deprotonation to prevent further addition. The resulting dianion undergoes spontaneous fragmentation of the SO₂ group upon quenching with water to reveal the ketone product.

Computationally driven design of an artificial metalloenzyme using supramolecular anchoring strategies of iridium complexes to alcohol dehydrogenase

Artificial metalloenzymes (ArMs) confer non-biological reactivities to biomolecules, whilst taking advantage of the biomolecular architecture in terms of their selectivity and renewable origin. In particular, the design of ArMs by the supramolecular anchoring of metal catalysts to protein hosts provides flexible and easy to optimise systems. The use of cofactor dependent enzymes as hosts gives the advantage of both a (hydrophobic) binding site for the substrate and a cofactor pocket to accommodate the catalyst. Here, we present a computationally driven design approach of ArMs for the transfer hydrogenation reaction of cyclic imines, starting from the NADP⁺-dependent alcohol dehydrogenase from Thermoanaerobacter brockii (TbADH). We tested and developed a molecular docking workflow to define and optimize iridium catalysts with high affinity for the cofactor binding site of TbADH. The workflow uses high throughput docking of compound libraries to identify key structural motifs for high affinity, followed by higher accuracy docking methods on smaller, focused ligand and catalyst libraries. Iridium sulfonamide catalysts were selected and synthesised, containing either a triol, a furane, or a carboxylic acid to provide the interaction with the cofactor binding pocket. IC₅₀ values of the resulting complexes during TbADH-catalysed alcohol oxidation were determined by competition experiments and were between 4.410 mM and 0.052 mM, demonstrating the affinity of the iridium complexes for either the substrate or the cofactor binding pocket of TbADH. The catalytic activity of the free iridium complexes in solution showed a maximal turnover number (TON) of 90 for the reduction of salsolidine by the triol-functionalised iridium catalyst, whilst in the presence of TbADH, only the iridium catalyst with the triol anchoring functionality showed activity for the same reaction (TON of 36 after 24 h). The observation that the artificial metalloenzymes developed here lacked stereoselectivity demonstrates the need for the further investigation and optimisation of the ArM. Our results serve as a starting point for the design of robust artificial metalloenzymes, exploiting supramolecular anchoring to natural NAD(P)H binding pockets.

Anti-malarial effect of novel chloroquine derivatives as agents for the treatment of malaria

Background

The widespread emergence of anti-malarial drug resistance has necessitated the discovery of novel anti-malarial drug candidates. In this study, chloroquine derivatives were evaluated for the improved anti-malarial activity.

Results

Novel two derivatives (SKM13 and SKM14) were synthesized based on the chloroquine (CQ) template containing modified side chains such as α,β-unsaturated amides and phenylmethyl group. The selective index indicated that SKM13 was 1.28-fold more effective than CQ against the CQ-resistant strain Plasmodium falciparum. An in vivo mouse study demonstrated that SKM13 (20 mg/kg) could completely inhibit Plasmodium berghei growth in blood and increased the survival rate from 40 to 100% at 12 days after infection. Haematological parameters [red blood cell (RBC) count, haemoglobin level, and haematocrit level] were observed as an indication of clinical malarial anaemia during an evaluation of the efficacy of SKM13 in a 4-day suppression test. An in vivo study showed a decrease of greater than 70% in the number of RBC in P. berghei-infected mice over 12 days, but the SKM13 (20 mg/kg)-treated group showed no loss of RBC.

Conclusions

CQ derivatives with substituents such as α,β-unsaturated amides and phenylmethyl group have enhanced anti-malarial activity against the CQ-resistant strain P. falciparum, and SKM13 is an excellent anti-malarial drug candidate in mice model.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12936-017-1725-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Synthesis of new simplified hemiasterlin derivatives with α,β-unsaturated carbonyl moiety

In this Letter, we report a convenient and efficient method for the synthesis of new simplified derivatives of hemiasterlin in which the α,α-dimethylbenzylic moiety A is replaced by α,β-unsaturated aryl groups as Michael acceptor. Most of these derivatives have a strong cytotoxic activity on three human tumor cell lines (KB, Hep-G2 and MCF7). Analogs 17b and 17f showed a high cytotoxicity against KB and Hep-G2 cancer cell lines comparable to paclitaxel and ellipticine.

An Efficient synthesis of Weinreb amides and ketones via palladium nanoparticles on ZIF-8 catalysed carbonylative coupling

Palladium nanoparticles on ZIF-8 as a robust and recyclable catalyst for Weinreb amide and ketone synthesis through carbonylative coupling.