Following the Lead from Nature: Divergent Pathways in Natural Product Synthesis and Diversity-Oriented Synthesis

Direct metal-catalyzed regioselective functionalization of enamides

Enamides are stable enamine surrogates and provide key intermediates for the synthesis of small but complex nitrogen-containing compounds. Metal-catalyzed regioselective functionalization of enamides provides a rapid method to synthesize useful nitrogen containing heterocycles. This review discloses the recent progress made in the development of the C-H functionalization of enamides involving efficient and atom-economical routes. Syntheses of different heterocycles are classified based on the site reactivity of enamides and key mechanistic insights are given for each transformation.

Solid-phase synthesis of peptide thioureas and thiazole-containing macrocycles through Ru-catalyzed ring-closing metathesis

N-Terminally modified α-thiourea peptides can selectively be synthesized on solid support under mild reaction conditions using N,N'-di-Boc-thiourea and Mukaiyama's reagent (2-chloro-1-methyl-pyridinium iodide). This N-terminal modification applies to the 20 proteinogenic amino acid residues on three commonly used resins for solid-phase synthesis. Complementary methods for the synthesis of α-guanidino peptides have also been developed. The thiourea products underwent quantitative reactions with α-halo ketones to form thiazoles in excellent purities and yields. When strategically installed between two alkene moieties, said thiazole core was conveniently embedded in peptide macrocycles via Ru-catalyzed ring-closing metathesis reactions. Various 15-17 membered macrocycles were easily accessible in all diastereomeric forms using this methodology. The developed "build/couple/pair" strategy is well suited for the generation of larger and stereochemically complete screening libraries of thiazole-containing peptide macrocycles.