Is samoquasine A indeed benzo[f]phthalazin-4(3H)-one? Unambiguous, straightforward synthesis of benzo[f]phthalazin-4(3H)-one and its regioisomer benzo[f]phthalazin-1(2H)-one

Accurate Structural Elucidation of Samoquasine A and an Unknown Homologue Using a Computation-Based Machine Learning Protocol

The structure of samoquasine A has long been a subject of controversy, which was resolved only upon its successful total synthesis. We examined the structures of the associated compounds using the state-of-the-art SVM-M protocol. The method accurately discriminated all putative structures historically attributed to samoquasine A from a pool of 48 isomeric structures, confirming that samoquasine A is indeed identical to perlolidine. Furthermore, by applying the SVM-M protocol to an additional pool of 67 isomeric structures, we successfully assigned a yet unknown natural product, initially misidentified as perlolidine, as a novel oxime, (E)-3H-cyclopenta[c]quinolin-3-one oxime, representing the first reported cyclone oxime-quinoline natural product.

Enhancing Efficiency of Natural Product Structure Revision: Leveraging CASE and DFT over Total Synthesis

Natural products remain one of the major sources of coveted, biologically active compounds. Each isolated compound undergoes biological testing, and its structure is usually established using a set of spectroscopic techniques (NMR, MS, UV-IR, ECD, VCD, etc.). However, the number of erroneously determined structures remains noticeable. Structure revisions are very costly, as they usually require extensive use of spectroscopic data, computational chemistry, and total synthesis. The cost is particularly high when a biologically active compound is resynthesized and the product is inactive because its structure is wrong and remains unknown. In this paper, we propose using Computer-Assisted Structure Elucidation (CASE) and Density Functional Theory (DFT) methods as tools for preventive verification of the originally proposed structure, and elucidation of the correct structure if the original structure is deemed to be incorrect. We examined twelve real cases in which structure revisions of natural products were performed using total synthesis, and we showed that in each of these cases, time-consuming total synthesis could have been avoided if CASE and DFT had been applied. In all described cases, the correct structures were established within minutes of using the originally published NMR and MS data, which were sometimes incomplete or had typos.

Practical and Scalable Manufacturing Process for the Key Intermediate of Poly(ADP-Ribose) Polymerase Inhibitor Olaparib

Olaparib (Lynparza) is a potent, highly selective inhibitor of poly(ADP-ribose)polymerase enzymes, approved by the U.S. FDA and EMA for the treatment of ovarian cancer. Herein, we report a practical, economical, and scalable process for the synthesis of 2-fluoro-5-((4-oxo-3,4-dihydrophthalazin-1-yl)methyl)benzoic acid, a key intermediate for olaparib. The low-cost industrial byproduct phthalhydrazide was used as the starting material to construct the phthalazinone moiety, which allowed access to the key intermediate by the Negishi coupling reaction. Optimization of each step has enabled the development of an environmentally benign and robust process with effective control of impurities.

Confirmation of the Revised Structure of Samoquasine A and a Proposed Structural Revision of Cherimoline

The identity of the natural product samoquasine A has remained obscure since its isolation from custard apple seeds in 2000. One of the proposed structures, benzo[ f]phthalazin-4(3 H)-one, was prepared in two steps by regioselective ortho-lithiation/formylation of N, N-diisopropyl-2-naphthylamide, followed by cyclization with hydrazine, but was shown to be different from the natural product. Perlolidine, another candidate structure, was synthesized by a novel route involving a β-selective Heck reaction of butyl vinyl ether. Both perlolidine and samoquasine A are converted by trimethylsilyldiazomethane into the same N-methyl derivative. In addition, the ¹³C NMR spectra of perlolidine and another structurally mis-assigned natural product, cherimoline, are almost identical. Thus, both samoquasine A and cherimoline are actually perlolidine.

Biologically active quinoline and quinazoline alkaloids part I

Quinoline and quinazoline alkaloids, two important classes of N-based heterocyclic compounds, have attracted tremendous attention from researchers worldwide since the 19th century. Over the past 200 years, many compounds from these two classes were isolated from natural sources, and most of them and their modified analogs possess significant bioactivities. Quinine and camptothecin are two of the most famous and important quinoline alkaloids, and their discoveries opened new areas in antimalarial and anticancer drug development, respectively. In this review, we survey the literature on bioactive alkaloids from these two classes and highlight research achievements prior to the year 2008 (Part I). Over 200 molecules with a broad range of bioactivities, including antitumor, antimalarial, antibacterial and antifungal, antiparasitic and insecticidal, antiviral, antiplatelet, anti-inflammatory, herbicidal, antioxidant and other activities, were reviewed. This survey should provide new clues or possibilities for the discovery of new and better drugs from the original naturally occurring quinoline and quinazoline alkaloids.

Discovery and optimization of phthalazinone derivatives as a new class of potent dengue virus inhibitors

Using a dengue replicon cell line-based screening, we identified 3-(dimethylamino)propyl(3-((4-(4-fluorophenyl)-1-oxophthalazin-2(1H)-yl)methyl)phenyl)carbamate (10a) as a potent DENV-2 inhibitor, with an IC₅₀ value of 0.64 μM. A series of novel phthalazinone derivatives based on hit 10a were synthesized and evaluated for their in vitro anti-DENV activity and cytotoxicity. The subsequent SAR study and optimization led to the discovery of the most promising compound 14l, which displayed potent anti-DENV-2 activity, with low IC₅₀ value against DENV-2 RNA replication of 0.13 μM and high selectivity (SI = 89.2) with acceptable pharmacokinetics profiles.

Evaluation of the Factors Impacting the Accuracy of 13C NMR Chemical Shift Predictions using Density Functional Theory-The Advantage of Long-Range Corrected Functionals

The various factors influencing the accuracy of ¹³C NMR calculations using density functional theory (DFT), including the basis set, exchange-correlation (XC) functional, and isotropic shielding calculation method, are evaluated. A wide selection of XC functionals (over 70) were considered, and it was found that long-range corrected functionals offer a significant improvement over the other classes of functionals. Based on a thorough study, it is recommended that for calculating NMR chemical shifts (δ) one should use the CSGT method, the COSMO solvation model, and the LC-TPSSTPSS exchange-correlation functional in conjunction with the cc-pVTZ basis set. A selection of problems in natural product identification are considered in light of the newly recommended level of theory.

Synthesis of functionalized pyridazin-3(2H)-ones via selective bromine-magnesium exchange and lactam directed ortho C-H magnesiation

Selective bromine-magnesium exchange on 2-benzyl-5-bromo-4-methoxypyridazin-3(2H)-one could be achieved when MesMgBr was used as reagent. With more nucleophilic RMgCl species (R = Bu, i-Pr, Ph) both nucleophilic addition-elimination at C-4 and bromine-magnesium exchange at C-5 occurred. In 2-benzyl-5-bromopyridazin-3(2H)-one, which does not contain a substituent at C-4, addition could not be suppressed. Less nucleophilic Mg amides (TMPMgCl·LiCl) allowed regioselective C-H magnesiation at the C-4 position in such substrates, as exemplified for 2-benzyl-5-chloro- and 2-benzyl-6-chloropyridazin-3(2H)-one. Quenching of the magnesiated pyridazinones with electrophiles gives access to a variety of hitherto unknown pyridazin-3(2H)-one derivatives.