Synthesis of novel nucleosides and stereoselectivity of N-glycosidation

Synthesis of 4,4-Disubstituted 3,4-Dihydropyrimidin-2(1H)-ones and -thiones, the Corresponding Products of Biginelli Reaction Using Ketone, and Their Antiproliferative Effect on HL-60 Cells

An efficient synthetic method for novel 4,4-disubstituted 3,4-dihydropyrimidin-2(1H)-ones 5 and -thiones 6 was developed. The cyclocondensation reaction of O-methylisourea hemisulfate salt 11 with 8 gives a tautomeric mixture of dihydropyrimidines 12 and 13 following acidic hydrolysis of the cyclized products to produce 5 in high yields. Thionation reaction of 5 at the 2-position smoothly proceeds to give 2-thioxo derivatives 6. These compounds 5 and 6, corresponding to the products of a Biginelli-type reaction using urea or thiourea, a ketone and a 1,3-dicarbonyl compound, have long been inaccessible and hitherto unavailable for medicinal chemistry. These methods are invaluable for the synthesis of 5 and 6, which have been inaccessible by conventional methods. Therefore, the synthetic methods established in this study will expand the molecular diversity of their related derivatives. These compounds were also assessed for their antiproliferative effect on a human promyelocytic leukemia cell line, HL-60. Treatment of 10 µM 6b and 6d showed high inhibitory activity similarly to 1 µM all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA), indicating that the 2-thioxo group and length of two alkyl substituents at the 4-position are strongly related to activity.

Efficient synthesis of 2'-deoxyzebularine and its α-anomer by the silyl method of N-glycosylation. Crystal structures and conformational study in solution

2'-Deoxyzebularine and its α-anomer have been efficiently synthesized with relatively high stereoselectivity by a modified procedure of the silyl method of the N-glycosidic bond formation. An SnCl4-catalyzed condensation of silylated pyrimidin-2-one with 1-α-chloro-3,5-di-O-p-toluoyl-2-deoxy-d-ribofuranose under kinetic control condition (-33°C, 1,2-dichloroethane) led to the mixture of β- and α-anomeric nucleosides in 3:1 ratio. Analogous condensation at +35°C (thermodynamic control conditions) provided mainly p-toluoyl protected α-2'-deoxyzebularine (α:β=4:1), easily separated by crystallization from the anomeric mixture. The structures of both 2'-deoxyzebularine anomers were confirmed by X-ray analysis of the crystals and conformational studies in solution performed using an NMR method.