Spongipyran Synthetic Studies. Total Synthesis of (+)-Spongistatin 2

Total Synthesis of (-)-Bastimolide A: A Showcase for Type I Anion Relay Chemistry

A highly convergent total synthesis of (-)-bastimolide A (1), a polyhydroxy antimalarial macrolide, has been achieved via a longest linear sequence of twenty steps from commercially available glycidyl ethers. Type I Anion Relay Chemistry (ARC) coupling tactics enable rapid construction of the molecule's 1,5-polylol backbone. A late-stage B-alkyl Suzuki-Miyaura union and an Evans-modified Mukaiyama macrolactonization generate the forty-membered Z-α,β-unsaturated macrocyclic lactone.

Concise Large-Scale Synthesis of Tomatidine, A Potent Antibiotic Natural Product

Tomatidine has recently generated a lot of interest amongst the pharmacology, medicine, and biology fields of study, especially for its newfound activity as an antibiotic agent capable of targeting multiple strains of bacteria. In the light of its low natural abundance and high cost, an efficient and scalable multi-gram synthesis of tomatidine has been developed. This synthesis uses a Suzuki-Miyaura-type coupling reaction as a key step to graft an enantiopure F-ring side chain to the steroidal scaffold of the natural product, which was accessible from low-cost and commercially available diosgenin. A Lewis acid-mediated spiroketal opening followed by an azide substitution and reduction sequence is employed to generate the spiroaminoketal motif of the natural product. Overall, this synthesis produced 5.2 g in a single pass in 15 total steps and 15.2% yield using a methodology that is atom economical, scalable, and requires no flash chromatography purifications.

Conquering peaks and illuminating depths: developing stereocontrolled organic reactions to unlock nature's macrolide treasure trove

The structural complexity and biological importance of macrolide natural products has inspired the development of innovative strategies for their chemical synthesis. With their dense stereochemical content, high level of oxygenation and macrocyclic cores, we viewed the efficient total synthesis of these valuable compounds as an aspirational driver towards developing robust methods and strategies for their construction. Starting out from the initial development of our versatile asymmetric aldol methodology, this personal perspective reflects on an adventurous journey, with all its trials, tribulations and serendipitous discoveries, across the total synthesis, in our group, of a representative selection of six macrolide natural products of marine and terrestrial origin - swinholide A, spongistatin 1, spirastrellolide A, leiodermatolide, chivosazole F and actinoallolide A.

Iodine/water-mediated deprotective oxidation of allylic ethers to access α,β-unsaturated ketones and aldehydes

The first iodine/water-mediated deprotective oxidation of allylic ethers to access α,β-unsaturated ketones and aldehydes was achieved. The reaction tolerates a wide range of functionalities. Furthermore, this protocol was found to be applicable to the oxidative transformation of allylic acetates. The proposed mechanism involves an oxygen transfer from solvent water to the carbonyl products.

The first iodine/water-mediated deprotective oxidation of allylic ethers to access α,β-unsaturated ketones and aldehydes was effectively achieved.

Design and 22-step synthesis of highly potent D-ring modified and linker-equipped analogs of spongistatin 1

Spongistatin 1 is among the most potent anti-proliferative agents ever discovered rendering it an attractive candidate for development as a payload for antibody-drug conjugates and other targeted delivery approaches. Unfortunately, it is unavailable from natural sources and its size and complex stereostructure render chemical synthesis highly time- and resource-intensive. As a result, the design and synthesis of more acid-stable and linker functional group-equipped analogs that retain the low picomolar potency of the parent natural product requires more efficient and step-economical synthetic access. Using uniquely enabling direct complex fragment coupling crotyl- and alkallylsilylation reactions, we report a 22-step synthesis of a rationally designed D-ring modified analog of spongistatin 1 that is characterized by GI50 values in the low picomolar range, and a proof-of-concept result that the C(15) acetate may be replaced with linker functional group-bearing esters with only minimal reductions in potency.

Conformation-activity relationships of polyketide natural products

Polyketides represent an important class of secondary metabolites that interact with biological targets connected to a variety of disease-associated pathways. Remarkably, nature's assembly lines, polyketide synthases, manufacture these privileged structures through a combinatorial mixture of just a few structural units. This review highlights the role of these structural elements in shaping a polyketide's conformational preferences, the use of computer-based molecular modeling and solution NMR studies in the identification of low-energy conformers, and the importance of conformational analogues in probing the bound conformation. In particular, this review covers several examples wherein conformational analysis complements classic structure-activity relationships in the design of biologically active natural product analogues.

Exploiting pseudo C2-symmetry for an efficient synthesis of the F-ring of the spongistatins

A concise and efficient synthesis of the F-ring fragment of the potent antimitotic marine macrolide spongistatin 1 has been developed. The key sequence involves double cross-metathesis/Sharpless asymmetric dihydroxylation reactions to establish four stereocenters in a pseudo C2-symmetric array, followed by a selective protection reaction that breaks the pseudosymmetry, establishes a fifth stereocenter, and effectively differentiates the ester termini. Overall, the six contiguous stereocenters in the C(37)-C(45) F-ring fragment are established in just seven steps.

Toward a more step-economical and scalable synthesis of spongistatin 1 to facilitate cancer drug development efforts

An efficient, step-economical, and scalable synthesis of a diene-bearing AB spiroketal fragment of spongistatin 1, and a demonstration of its efficient coupling to an aldehyde derived from silylformylation of a homopropargyl alcohol to produce the entire complex C(13)-C(17) linker region are described. The scalability of the synthesis of the AB spiroketal fragment was demonstrated by the preparation of 34.5 grams by one chemist in ~60 workdays, and more than 40 grams overall. With this material in hand and having established a method for its efficient coupling to the CD fragment, we have set the stage for the rapid synthesis and evaluation of a series of analogs of the CD spiroketal.

Complex fragment coupling by crotylation: A powerful tool for polyketide natural product synthesis

The first examples of the use of crotylation as a stereocontrolled complex fragment coupling strategy are described. Asymmetric aldehyde isoprenylation provides access to 2-substituted-1,3-butadienes that may be subjected to highly regio- and stereoselective 1,4 hydrosilylation with trichlorosilane. After complexation with a chiral diamine, the 2-sub-stituted-cis-crotylsilanes may be employed in highly diastereoselective Sc(OTf)3-catalyzed aldehdye crotylation reactions.

Toward an enantioselective synthesis of (-)-zampanolide: preparation of the C9-C20 region

Progress toward the synthesis of the microtubule-stabilizing agent, (-)-zampanolide, is reported. Construction of the 2,6-cis-tetrahydropyran ring was accomplished utilizing ether transfer methodology in conjunction with an intramolecular radical cyclization reaction. Efficient installation of the C16-C20 side chain relied on a one-pot cross-metathesis/olefination sequence, Sharpless epoxidation, and selective reduction of a vinyl epoxide.

Design, synthesis, and biological evaluation of diminutive forms of (+)-spongistatin 1: lessons learned

The design, synthesis, and biological evaluation of two diminutive forms of (+)-spongistatin 1, in conjunction with the development of a potentially general design strategy to simplify highly flexible macrocyclic molecules while maintaining biological activity, have been achieved. Examination of the solution conformations of (+)-spongistatin 1 revealed a common conformational preference along the western perimeter comprising the ABEF rings. Exploiting the hypothesis that the small-molecule recognition/binding domains are likely to comprise the conformationally less mobile portions of a ligand led to the design of analogues, incorporating tethers (blue) in place of the CD and the ABCD components of the (+)-spongistatin 1 macrolide, such that the conformation of the retained (+)-spongistatin 1 skeleton would mimic the assigned solution conformations of the natural product. The observed nanomolar cytotoxicity and microtubule destabilizing activity of the ABEF analogue provide support for both the assigned solution conformation of (+)-spongistatin 1 and the validity of the design strategy.

The medicinal potential of promising marine macrolides with anticancer activity

Marine natural products have become a major source of new chemical entities in the discovery of potential anticancer agents that potently suppress various molecular targets. In particular, the marine macrolides, which include an array of novel biomolecules endowed with outstanding cytotoxic and/or antiproliferative activities, are a prominent class of marine natural products that offer continued promise for breakthroughs in anticancer research. Herein we highlight some recent studies of promising marine macrolides, paying particular attention to their discovery, anticancer activities, mechanisms of action, chemical synthesis, and representative analogues.

Short diastereoselective synthesis of the C1-C13 (AB spiroacetal) and C17-C28 fragments (CD spiroacetal) of spongistatin 1 and 2 through double chain-elongation reactions

A unique and practical synthetic sequence for rapid access to polyketides and to further the spiroacetals derived from them, which utilizes a bidirectional Hosomi-Sakurai allylation approach around key allylsilanes in the synthesis of the AB and CD ring systems of spongistatin 1 and 2, is reported. The synthesis of the AB spiroacetal 9 requires 13 steps, with a longest linear sequence of seven steps in an overall yield of 27%. The synthesis of the CD spiroacetal 13 requires 15 steps, with a longest linear sequence of 11 steps in an overall yield of 30%. Both syntheses start from but-3-enol.