Synlett

Pseudo-natural products (pseudo-NPs), the chemically reengineered molecular skeletons generated by the deconstruction of NPs into fragments and their subsequent recombination, have gained immense attention in recent times owing to their ability to occupy a significant portion of the medicinally relevant NP-based molecular space, their possession of novel bioactivities, and their ability to address chemical and biological challenges. In this study, the reassembly of fragments of combretastatin, steganacin, podophyllotoxin, colchicine, and other natural products and drug molecules by a cis-lock fusion-edge recombination led to the generation of diarylpyrrole pseudo-NP-functionalized skeletons, named combretapyrroles. These combretapyrroles were synthesized with excellent substrate scope in good yields by a new cyanide-mediated nitrile-to-nitrile cycloaddition reaction of a vic-dinitrile combined with 1,1,3,3-tetramethylguanidine-mediated desilylative cleavage of TMSCN and in situ generation of cyanide. The differential acidity of the benzylic C–H moieties of the vic-dinitrile intermediate was found to influence regioselectivity in the mechanistic pathway and to provide different products. A cheminformatic analysis showed that the combretapyrroles occupy a unique drug-relevant chemical space that is rarely covered by NPs. Combretapyrroles also were found to possess drug-like physicochemical properties.

Mer proto-oncogene tyrosine-protein kinase (MerTK), a part of the TAM (TYRO3, AXL, and MerTK) family, is directly correlated with metastasis and various types of cancers. The inhibition of this receptor is a promising strategy for more-effective chemotherapy. Considering the pharmacophoric features of the active domain of MerTK and the structural characteristics of the investigational drug BMS794833, we designed five new N-{4-[(7-chloro-5-methylpyrrolo[2,1-f][1,2,4]triazin-4-yl)oxy]-3-fluorophenyl}benzenesulfonamide analogues. In cytotoxicity studies, one of the analogues displayed a significantly higher cytotoxicity than cisplatin. It showed IC50 values of 2.09, 1.96, and 3.08 μM against A549, MCF-7, and MDA-MB-231 cancer cell lines, respectively. In drug metabolism and pharmacokinetic studies, it was the most stable analogue and displayed a moderate MerTK inhibitory potential. Molecular-docking studies were performed to corroborate the MerTK inhibition, and the same analogue achieved the most significant docking score (–12.33 kcal/mol). Docking interactions demonstrated that the imine and amine group of the 3-chloropyridine moiety of BMS794833 formed hydrogen bonds with the main chain of the ATP pocket residue Met674, while the oxygen atoms of the 4-oxo-1,4-dihydropyridine-3-carboxamide moiety established hydrogen bonds with the Lys619 and Asp741 amino acid residues of the allosteric pocket of MerTK protein. These promising results provide evidence that the N-{4-[(7-chloro-5-methylpyrrolo[2,1-f][1,2,4]triazin-4-yl)oxy]-3-fluorophenyl}benzenesulfonamide pharmacophore can give potential insights into the development of new MerTK inhibitors.

A novel one-pot cascade process of oxidation-initiated, N-heterocyclic carbene catalyzed, reintegration of dibenzyl ethers has been developed for the first time. This protocol allows straightforward access to α-hydroxy ketones from dibenzyl ethers. It is noteworthy that the present method is the first attempt to synthesize benzoin from dibenzyl ether.

Upon treatment of chiral β-trifluoromethyl-α,β-unsaturated N-acylated oxazolidin-2-ones with a range of alcohols using phosphazene base as a catalyst, the unexpected cascade esterification/stereoselective aza-Michael addition was observed. The reactions proceeded with high diastereoselectivities (up to >99:1) to give a series of enantioenriched aza-Michael addition products in good to high yields. The structure and stereochemistry of the representative aza-Michael adduct were confirmed by X-ray crystal structure analysis. The plausible mechanism was proposed on the basis of the experimental results.The synthetic transformations of chiral aza-Michael addition products were also demonstrated highlighting the synthetic application of the present work.

Synlett 2024; 35: V-DOI: 10.1055/s-0043-1774981Georg Thieme Verlag KG Rüdigerstraße 14, 70469 Stuttgart, GermanyArticle in Thieme eJournals:Table of contents

Synlett 2024; 35: A118-A133DOI: 10.1055/s-0043-1763991Georg Thieme Verlag KG Rüdigerstraße 14, 70469 Stuttgart, GermanyArticle in Thieme eJournals:Table of contents

Twenty novel 4-bromocoumarin derivatives bearing a sulfonamide moiety were designed and synthesized. Their antiviral and antibacterial activities were systematically evaluated. The test results show that all the target compounds possess moderate to excellent antiviral and antibacterial activities. Among all target compounds, one compound exhibited good antiviral activity against TMV, CMV, and PVY, which is superior to ribavirin. Moreover, two target compounds exhibited good in vitro antibacterial activity against Psa, with an EC50 value of 44.9 mg/L and 49.3 mg/L, respectively, which were better than thiodiazole copper and zinc thiazole, with an EC50 value of 56.3 mg/L and 50.2 mg/L, respectively. The results provide insights for the development of multifunctional pesticides.

C-Aryl glycosides have attracted considerable interest as biologically active natural products and as O-aryl glycoside mimetics in drug discovery. Here, we describe a straightforward synthesis of C-aryl glycosides by photoredox/Ni dual-catalyzed reductive cross-coupling between glycosyl bromides and aryl bromides. This methodology enables a highly α-stereoselective synthesis of C-aryl glucosides, galactosides, and mannosides.

A convergent strategy for the stereoselective synthesis of polyketide segments of hybrid natural products nemamide A and euglenatides D–E has been developed for the first time. The salient features of this gram-scale synthesis include Trost–Rychnovsky alkyne rearrangement, HWE olefination, regioselective epoxide ring opening, Prins–Ritter cyclization, and subsequent reductive cleavage of the substituted THP ring. The optimized route is modular and could be tunable to access the other polyketide counterparts of these families of metabolites.

Natural products containing highly oxygenated furanofuranone fragments are known for their potent biological activity, but also for their challenging total synthesis. In this study, the synthesis of five novel dephenylated (–)-goniofufurone analogues was completed and their cytotoxic activity against eight malignant and one normal human cell line was evaluated. Compared with previous syntheses of similar analogues, the synthesis was carried out starting from l-xylose, resulting in improved yields and a reduced number of synthetic steps for three divergent intermediates.