Synthesis of all four nucleoside-based β-amino acids as protected precursors for the synthesis of polyamide-DNA with alternating α-amino acid and nucleoside-β-amino acids

Catalytic Reductions Without External Hydrogen Gas: Broad Scope Hydrogenations with Tetrahydroxydiboron and a Tertiary Amine

Facile reduction of aryl halides with a combination of 5% Pd/C, B₂(OH)₄, and 4-methylmorpholine is reported. Aryl bromides, iodides, and chlorides were efficiently reduced. Aryl dihalides containing two different halogen atoms underwent selective reduction: I over Br and Cl, and Br over Cl. Beyond these, aryl triflates were efficiently reduced. This combination was broadly general, effectuating reductions of benzylic halides and ethers, alkenes, alkynes, aldehydes, and azides, as well as for N-Cbz deprotection. A cyano group was unaffected, but a nitro group and a ketone underwent reduction to a low extent. When B₂(OD)₄ was used for aryl halide reduction, a significant amount of deuteriation occurred. However, H atom incorporation competed and increased in slower reactions. 4-Methylmorpholine was identified as a possible source of H atoms in this, but a combination of only 4-methylmorpholine and Pd/C did not result in reduction. Hydrogen gas has been observed to form with this reagent combination. Experiments aimed at understanding the chemistry led to the proposal of a plausible mechanism and to the identification of N,N-bis(methyl-d ₃)pyridine-4-amine (DMAP-d ₆) and B₂(OD)₄ as an effective combination for full aromatic deuteriation.

Synthesis and DNA/RNA Binding Properties of Conformationally Constrained Pyrrolidinyl PNA with a Tetrahydrofuran Backbone Deriving from Deoxyribose

Sugar-derived cyclic β-amino acids are important building blocks for designing of foldamers and other biomimetic structures. We report herein the first synthesis of a C-activated N-Fmoc-protected trans-(2S,3S)-3-aminotetrahydrofuran-2-carboxylic acid as a building block for Fmoc solid phase peptide synthesis. Starting from 2-deoxy-d-ribose, the product is obtained in a 6.7% overall yield following an 11-step reaction sequence. The tetrahydrofuran amino acid is used as a building block for a new peptide nucleic acid (PNA), which exhibits excellent DNA binding affinity with high specificity. It also shows preference for binding to DNA over RNA and specifically in the antiparallel orientation. In addition, the presence of the hydrophilic tetrahydrofuran ring in the PNA structure reduces nonspecific interactions and self-aggregation, which is a common problem in PNA due to its hydrophobic nature.

Glycine-Linked Nucleoside-β-Amino Acids: Polyamide Analogues of Nucleic Acids

3'-5'-Deoxyribose-sugar-phoshate backbone in DNA is completely replaced by 2'-deoxyribonucleoside-based β-amino acids interlinked by glycine to create uncharged polyamide DNA with 3'-5'-directionality. These oligomers as conjugates of α-amino acids and nucleoside-β-amino acids bind strongly and sequence-specifically only to the antiparallel complementary RNA and DNA.