Search

The Amaryllidaceae alkaloid (−)-galanthamine (1) is a reversible, competitive acetylcholinesterase inhibitor deployed clinically to treat the dementia associated with Alzheimer’s disease. Here, we describe a six-step synthesis of this natural product from simple, readily accessible starting materials. Enantioselective 1,2-reduction, Mitsunobu coupling, Heck cyclization and diastereoselective allylic oxidation reactions are used in our approach, which provides the shortest synthetic route to compound 1 reported to date. A simple modification to the closing stages of the sequence allows equally facile access to (−)-N-norgalanthamine (2), a compound with a range of distinctive biological properties. The concise and operationally simple synthetic protocols reported here could obviate the need to manipulate naturally sourced galanthamine in the pursuit of analogues required for pharmacological studies.

A formal total synthesis of (-)-aspidophytine (

The naturally abundant, enantiomerically pure cyclitol quinic acid has been converted into a synthetically useful enone in nearly quantitative yield using the operationally straightforward and reproducible protocols reported herein. The latter compound, which was obtained in multigram quantities, engages in a diastereoselective 1,2-addition reaction with a hydrazone-based nucleophile. Furthermore, a readily derived α-iodoenone participates in both cross-coupling and α,β-annulation reactions. The results reported here emphasize that the now practically accessible cyclohexenones are useful, enantiomerically pure building blocks for organic synthesis.

The morphinan alkaloid (–)-thebaine is an industrially important chemical intermediate deployed in the semi-synthesis of various opioid medicines. Here, a seven-step total synthesis of this natural product is reported from simple, commercially available starting materials. The pivotal aryl allyl ether substrate, which is obtained through successive Suzuki-Miyaura cross-coupling and Mitsunobu substitution reactions, was engaged in a double-Heck cyclization sequence. The tetracyclic product of these processes was subjected to a photochemical hydroamination reaction that generated a N-Boc piperidine derivative embodying the full pentacyclic morphinan framework. Over a further three simple steps, this last compound was converted into (–)-thebaine.

The readily prepared and vinylated β-carboline

Dysidealactams E and F and dysidealactone B are recently reported marine natural products. Their syntheses from β-cyclocitral are detailed here. The preparation of certain derivatives and analogues of these compounds is also described and single-crystal X-ray analyses of two of these, as well as that of (±)-dysidealactam F, are reported.

[Image: see text] Target identification of small molecules is a great challenge but an essential step in drug discovery. Here, a quantitative proteomics approach has been used to characterize the cellular targets of DR, a DDR1 inhibitor. By taking advantage of competitive affinity-based protein profiling coupled with bioimaging, Cathepsin D (CTSD) was found to be the principle off-target of DR in human cancer cells. Further findings suggest the potential of DR as a novel CTSD inhibitor for breast cancer treatment. In addition, a trans-cyclooctene (TCO) containing probe was developed to track the binding between DR and its target proteins in living systems and could be a useful tool for DDR1 detection.

Morphinans are essential medicines derived entirely from poppy supply chains rendered increasingly volatile by climate change. Here, we report a seven-step, asymmetric chemical synthesis of (-)-codeine from simple materials that requires a total combined reaction time of fewer than 24 hours. The efficiency of our approach arises from a double-Heck cyclization reaction that generates two rings and two contiguous stereogenic carbon centres in the one pot. A subsequent photo-redox hydroamination protocol provides a novel, atom-economical means for assembling the piperidine D-ring of codeine. Simple modifications to the closing stages of our sequence offer effective access to pharmacologically valuable derivatives of N-demethyl codeine. Our work highlights the capacity for contemporary, stand-alone chemical synthesis regimes to diversify access to essential opiate medicines.

The global COVID-19 pandemic has claimed the lives of millions and disrupted nearly every aspect of human society. Currently, vaccines remain the only widely available medical means to address the cause of the pandemic, the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Unfortunately, current scientific consensus deems the emergence of vaccine-resistant SARS-CoV-2 variants highly likely. In this context, the design and development of broad-spectrum, small-molecule based antiviral drugs has been described as a potentially effective, alternative medical strategy to address circulating and re-emerging CoVs. Small molecules are well-suited to target the least-rapidly evolving structures within CoVs such as highly conserved RNA replication enzymes, and this renders them less vulnerable to evolved drug resistance. Examination of the vast literature describing the inhibition of RNA viruses by Amaryllidaceae alkaloids suggests that future, broad-spectrum anti-CoV drugs may be derived from this family of natural products.

Certain sucrose mono-esters display excellent emulsifying properties as well as a range of other useful physicochemical characteristics that follow from their amphipathic nature. Accordingly, they are playing increasingly important roles in various food manufacturing industries. In this study, an homologous series of 6-O-acylsucrose mono-esters with long and very long fatty acid-derived acyl side-chains has been prepared via enzymatic transesterification. The surface-active properties as well as the antibacterial and antitumor activities of these esters have been studied. Their HLB values were 10.3–15.7 while the mean droplet sizes of the emulsions formed with soybean, colza and olive oils were 380–563 nm. Oil-water emulsions incorporating some of them are more stable, even under conditions of thermal and ionic stress, than those prepared using commercial sucrose esters. Additionally, these esters display activities against Gram-positive bacteria and certain fungi as well as exerting antiproliferative effects on six tumor cell lines. Taken together, these results suggest that the title esters could have considerable utility in the food industry by serving as emulsifiers, as preservatives and even as functional foods.

A simple radical-based route to gem-α-dichloroketones, relying on the degenerative addition transfer of (S)-[3,3-dichloro-2-oxopropyl]-O-ethyl dithiocarbonate (xanthate), is described. The adducts can then be converted into Z-enoates by exposure to Et3N in methanol. In the case of certain substrates, it was possible to form skipped dienoic acid and methyl E,E-dienoates.

RANEY® cobalt, which was first prepared in the 1930s, is known to function effectively as a catalyst for certain chemoselective reductions. However, its utility in chemical synthesis does not seem to have been fully appreciated. This first comprehensive survey of the literature on chemical transformations involving RANEY® cobalt attempts to redress matters by, among other things, highlighting the differences between the performance of this system and its much more well-known but usually less selective congener RANEY® nickel. A reliable method for preparing consistently effective RANEY® cobalt is presented together with a protocol that avoids the need to use it with high pressures of dihydrogen. As such, it is hoped more attention will now be accorded to the title reagent that offers considerable promise as a powerful tool for chemical synthesis, particularly in the assembly of polycyclic frameworks through tandem reductive cyclisation processes.

A simple radical-based route to gem-α-dichloroketones, relying on the degenerative addition transfer of (S)-[3,3-dichloro-2-oxopropyl]-O-ethyl dithiocarbonate (xanthate), is described. The adducts can then be converted into Z-enoates by exposure to Et3N in methanol. In the case of certain substrates, it was possible to form skipped dienoic acid and methyl E,E-dienoates.

The enzymatically derived and enantiomerically pure (1S,2S)-3-bromocyclohexa-3,5-diene-1,2-diol (7) has been elaborated over 17 steps into compounds 8 and 32, each of which embodies the pentacyclic framework and much of the functionality associated with the alkaloid vindoline (3). This work sets the stage for effecting the conversion of the related metabolite (1S,6R)-5-ethyl-1,6-dihydroxycyclohexa-2,4-diene-1-carboxylic acid (4) into compound 3, the latter being a biogenetic precursor to the clinically significant anticancer agents vinblastine and vincristine.

The application of the title building blocks, the 6,6-dibromobicyclo[3.1.0]hexanes and the cis-1,2-dihydrocatechols, to the total synthesis of crinine and lycorinine alkaloids is described.

The structure 3 recently proposed, on the basis of computed NMR chemical shifts, for the natural product nobilisitine A has been synthesized from its C5-epimer (+)-clividine (4). The spectral data derived from compound 3 match those reported for the natural product.

RANEY® cobalt, which was first prepared in the 1930s, is known to function effectively as a catalyst for certain chemoselective reductions. However, its utility in chemical synthesis does not seem to have been fully appreciated. This first comprehensive survey of the literature on chemical transformations involving RANEY® cobalt attempts to redress matters by, among other things, highlighting the differences between the performance of this system and its much more well-known but usually less selective congener RANEY® nickel. A reliable method for preparing consistently effective RANEY® cobalt is presented together with a protocol that avoids the need to use it with high pressures of dihydrogen. As such, it is hoped more attention will now be accorded to the title reagent that offers considerable promise as a powerful tool for chemical synthesis, particularly in the assembly of polycyclic frameworks through tandem reductive cyclisation processes.

We thank the Australian Research Council and the Institute of Advanced Studies for generous financial support.

The total syntheses of a wide range of terrestrially derived alkaloids, especially ones isolated from members of the Amaryllidaceae family, are described. Two recurring themes associated with these syntheses are the use of two types of building blocks, namely ring-fused cyclopropanes, especially geminally-dihalogenated ones, and enzymatically derived cis-1,2-dihydrocatechols. These have often served as precursors to 2- or 3-halogenated 2-cyclohexen-1-ols that are themselves engaged in cross-coupling reactions, radical addition-elimination processes and/or Claisen- or Overman-type rearrangements so as to construct the highly functionalized six-membered rings associated with the target alkaloids.

The title compound, ent-1, the non-natural enantiomeric form of the lycorenine-type alkaloid (-)-clividine (1), has been prepared using the enantiomerically pure (ee >99.8%) cis-1,2-dihydrocatechol 3 as starting material. A key feature associated with the closing stages of the synthesis involved the diastereoselective addition of a nitrogen-centered radical onto a pendant cyclohexene to establish the cis-fused D-ring and the required stereochemistry at C11b in the final product ent-1.

The epoxyquinol natural product (+)-isoepiepoformin (1) has been synthesized for the first time and in an unambiguous fashion by using the scalemic cis-1,2-dihydrocatechol 2 as starting material. The spectroscopic data derived from the synthetic sample of compound 1 match those reported in the literature for the natural product and thereby confirm the structure assigned to the latter.

The bromoepoxide 5a, which is obtained from the homochiral and enzymatically derived cis-1,2-dihydrocatechol 1a, is readily and efficiently transformed into either isomer 8a or the corresponding methoxymethyl-ether 2a. Though both of these products can be fully characterized, they are somewhat unstable, with the former being converted into the crystalline enone 3a on standing and the latter readily participating in a Diels–Alder cycloaddition reaction with the potent dienophile N-phenyl-1,2,4-triazoline-3,5-dione to give adduct 7a. The single-crystal X-ray structures of compounds 3a and 7a are reported. Using the related chemistry the chloro-analogue, 3b, of enone 3a can be obtained.

Levoglucosenone (1), a compound that will soon be available in tonne quantities through the pyrolysis of acid-treated lignocellulosic biomass, has been converted into isolevoglucosenone (2) using Wharton rearrangement chemistry. Treatment of compound 1 with alkaline hydrogen peroxide gave the γ-lactones 5 and 6 rather than the required epoxy-ketones 3 and/or 4. However, the latter pair of compounds could be obtained by an initial Luche reduction of compound 1, electrophilic epoxidation of the resulting allylic alcohol 8 and oxidation of the product oxiranes 9 and 10. Independent treatment of compounds 3 and 4 with hydrazine then acetic acid followed by oxidation of the ensuing allylic alcohols finally afforded isolevoglucosenone (2). Details of the single-crystal X-ray analyses of epoxy-alcohols 9 and 10 are reported.