Antineoplastic agents 582. Part 1: Isolation and structure of a cyclobutane-type sesquiterpene cancer cell growth inhibitor from Coprinus cinereus (Coprinaceae)

Concise Synthesis of (±)-Myrioneurinol Enabled by Sequential [2+2] Cycloaddition/Retro-Mannich Fragmentation/Mannich Reaction

A concise total synthesis of (±)-myrioneurinol has been achieved in 14 steps. An efficient AgSbF₆ /t-BuCl-catalyzed intramolecular [2+2] cycloaddition reaction of the alkynone-tethered enamine was developed to prepare the highly strained cyclobutene. It was used in combination with a subsequent retro-Mannich fragmentation/Mannich reaction to efficiently construct the tricyclic core of myrioneurinol.

A Combined Molecular Docking and Density Functional Theory Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Study of Trans-Dehydrocrotonin Interacting with COVID-19 Main Protease and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 3C-Like Protease

For the development of drugs that treat SARS-CoV-2, the fastest way is to find potential molecules from drugs already on the market. Unfortunately, there is currently no specific drug or treatment for COVID-19. Among all structural proteins in SARS-CoV, the spike protein is the main antigenic component responsible for inducing host immune responses, neutralizing antibodies, and/or protecting immunity against virus infection. Molecular docking is a technique used to predict whether a molecule will bind to another. It is usually a protein to another or a protein to a binding compound. Natural products are potential binders in several studies involving coronavirus. The structure of the ligand plays a fundamental role in its biological properties. The nuclear magnetic resonance technique is one of the most powerful tools for the structural determination of ligands from the origin of natural products. Nowadays, molecular modeling is an important accessory tool to experimentally got nuclear magnetic resonance data. In the present work, molecular docking studies aimed is to investigate the limiting affinities of trans-dehydrocrotonin molecule and to identify the main amino acid residues that could play a fundamental role in their mechanism of action of the SARS-CoV spike protein. Another aim of this work is all about to evaluate 10 hybrid functionalities, along with three base pairs using computational programs to discover which ones are more reliable with the experimental result the best computational method to study organic compounds. We compared the results between the mean absolute deviation (MAD) and root-mean-square deviation (RMSD) of the molecules, and the smallest number between them was the best result. The positions assumed by the ligands in the active site of the spike glycoprotein allow assuming associations with different local amino acids.

Illudane Sesquiterpenoids from Edible Mushroom Agrocybe salicacola and Their Bioactivities

To comprehensively understand the chemical constituents of the edible mushroom Agrocybe salicacola and their biological functions, a phytochemical separation of the cultural broth of A. salicacola led to the isolation of four new illudane sesquiterpenoids, agrocybins H-K (1-4), along with 10 known analogues (5-14). Compounds 2-4 were racemates of which 2 and 3 were further separated into single enantiomers as 2a/2b and 3a/3b. All new structures with absolute configurations were elucidated on the basis of an extensive spectroscopic analysis and quantum chemistry calculations. Compound 1 possesses a new carbon skeleton that might be derived from the protoilludane backbone. Compounds 1, 5, 8, and 9 show a certain degree of cytotoxicity to five human cancer cell lines. Compound 1 shows a mild inhibitory effect on nitric oxide production with an IC₅₀ value of 31.4 μM. It is concluded that A. salicacola is rich in illudin derivatives with potential bioactivity prospects, which would make A. salicacola a good material of medicine and food homology.

Selective Asymmetric Hydrogenation of Four-Membered Exo-α,β-Unsaturated Cyclobutanones Using RuPHOX-Ru as a Catalyst

The selective asymmetric hydrogenation of four-membered exo-α,β-unsaturated cyclobutanones has been achieved for the first time using RuPHOX-Ru as a catalyst, providing four-membered exo-cyclic chiral allylic alcohols in high yields and with up to 99.9% ee. The reaction could be performed on a gram scale with a relatively low catalyst loading (up to 10000 S/C), and the resulting products can be transformed to several biologically active molecules.

Structural determination of complex natural products by quantum mechanical calculations of (13)C NMR chemical shifts: development of a parameterized protocol for terpenes

Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy is one of the most important tools for determining the structures of organic molecules. Despite the advances made in this technique, revisions of erroneously established structures for natural products are still commonly published in the literature. In this context, the prediction of chemical shifts through ab initio and density functional theory (DFT) calculations has become a very powerful tool for assisting with the structural determination of complex organic molecules. In this work, we present the development of a protocol for (13)C chemical shift calculations of terpenes, a class of natural products that are widely distributed among plant species and are very important due to their biological and pharmacological activities. This protocol consists of GIAO-DFT calculations of chemical shifts and the application of a parameterized scaling factor in order to ensure accurate structural determination of this class of natural products. The application of this protocol to a set of five terpenes yielded accurate calculated chemical shifts, showing that this is a very attractive tool for the calculation of complex organic structures such as terpenes.

Isolation and Structure of Cancer Cell Growth Inhibitory Tetracyclic Triterpenoids from the Zimbabwean Monadenium lugardae

The Zimbabwean medicinal plant Monadenium lugardae was evaluated as a potential source of new anticancer constituents. Four new tetracyclic triterpene (1-4) were isolated, accompanied by four previously known triterpenes (5-8). Against a panel of human tumor cell lines, lugardstatins 1 (1) and 2 (2) had good cancer cell growth inhibitory activity. All of the triterpene structures (1-8) were established by 1D and 2D NMR spectrometric and HR mass spectrometric analysis.

Overproduction of geranylgeraniol in Coprinopsis cinerea by the expression of geranylgeranyl diphosphate synthase gene

(E, E, E)-Geranylgeraniol (GGOH) is a valuable ingredient of many perfumes and a valuable precursor for synthesizing pharmaceuticals. In an attempt to increase the GGOH concentration in Coprinopsis cinerea, we demonstrated that the expression of geranylgeranyl diphosphate synthase (ggpps) gene isolated from Taxus x media could promote GGOH production. Furthermore, the concentrations of squalene and ergosterol were measured in the engineered strains. Expectedly, significant decreases of squalene and ergosterol levels were observed in those strains transformed with ggpps gene. This could be explained by the partial redirection of metabolic flux from squalene to GGOH, whose biosynthesis competes for the same precursor with squalene. This work suggested that the expression of ggpps in higher fungi was an effective method for bio-production of GGOH.

Guanacastane-type diterpenoids with cytotoxic activity from Coprinus plicatilis

Four new guanacastane-type diterpenoids (1-4), together with the known compound, guanacastepene E (5), were isolated from a basidiomycete of the macro-fungi, Coprinus plicatilis 82. Their structures were elucidated on the basis of extensive spectroscopic analyses, including FT-ICR-MS, UV, IR and 1D and 2D NMR experiments. The in vitro cytotoxic activities of all compounds against the human cancer cell lines HepG2, HeLa, MDA-MB-231, BGC-823, HCT 116, and U2OS were evaluated, only compound 1 exhibited significant cytotoxicities with IC(50) values ranging from 1.2 to 6.0 μM.

Two novel fomannosane-type sesquiterpenoids from the culture of the basidiomycete Agrocybe salicacola

Two novel fomannosane-type sesquiterpenoids, agrocybins H (1) and I (2), together with a known compound illudosin (3), were isolated from the culture broth of the mushroom Agrocybe salicacola. Their structures were elucidated by extensive spectroscopic analysis. The relative stereochemistry of 1 was determined by the use of single crystal X-ray crystallographic diffraction.