Gram-Scale Total Synthesis of TAB with Cardioprotective Activity and the Structure-Activity Relationship of Its Analogs

Traditional Chinese medicine has been proven to be of great significance in cardioprotective effects. Clinopodium chinense (Lamiaceae) has unique advantages in the treatment and prevention of cardiovascular diseases. Tournefolic acid B (TAB) was proven to be a potent component against myocardial ischemia reperfusion injury (MIRI) from Clinopodium chinense (Lamiaceae). This article will attempt to establish a gram-scale synthesis method of TAB and discuss the structure-activity relationship of its analogs. The total synthesis of TAB was completed in 10 steps with an overall yield of 13%. In addition, analogs were synthesized, and their cardioprotective activity was evaluated on the hypoxia/reoxygenation of H9c2 cells. Amidation of the acid position is helpful to the activity, while methylation of phenolic hydroxyl groups greatly decreased the cardioprotective activity. The easily prepared azxepin analogs also showed cardioprotective activity. Most of the clogP values calculated by Molinspiration ranged from 2.5 to 5, which is in accordance with Lipinski’s rule of 5. These findings represent a novel kind of cardioprotective agent that is worthy of further study.