Tetrahydrofuran-Based Amino Acids as Library Scaffolds

An efficient route towards a new branched tetrahydrofurane δ-sugar amino acid from a pyrolysis product of cellulose

(1R,5S)-1-hydroxy-3,6-dioxa-bicyclo[3.2.1]octan-2-one, is a bicyclic lactone obtained in gram-scale by catalytic pyrolysis of the renewable source cellulose. Now it has been used as a chiral building block in the preparation of the new δ-sugar amino acid, (3R,5S)-5-(aminoethyl)-3-hydroxytetrahydrofurane-3-carboxylic acid, by an efficient synthesis in five steps with a 67% overall yield. The structure of this tetrahydrofurane amino acid, isolated in protonated form, was assigned by extensive mono- and bidimensional (1)H- and (13)C-NMR analysis and mass spectrometry, including measurements by electrospray and matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization techniques, the latter one for high-resolution experiments. This amino acid is an isoster of dipeptide glycine-alanine (H-Gly-Ala-OH), with a potential use in the access of new peptidomimetics with conformationally restricted structures due to the presence of tetrahydrofurane ring. As a preliminary study in order to disclose this effect, density functional theory calculation performed in water using polar continuum model was applied to the new amino acid and H-Gly-Ala-OH dipeptide, so that to evaluate and compare the relative torsional angles for the energy-minimized structures.

Classification of conformation for sugar amino acid systems using chiroptical spectroscopy

A number of structurally related sugar amino acid systems have been examined by chiroptical methods to aid interpretation of their conformational preference. The use of circular dichroism, in addition to NMR and solution IR, has enabled classification of the conformations adopted by sugar amino acid systems as hydrogen-bonded regular, non-hydrogen-bonded regular, and non-hydrogen-bonded irregular. A set of tetrameric SAAs are examined and the effect of change in primary structure related to conformation.

Carbohydrates as scaffolds in drug discovery

Drug discovery has long suffered from the difficulty of having to place pharmacophoric groups in just the right spatial arrangement to elicit the desired biological response. Although some molecule classes have been discovered that seem to be privileged structures for at least some drug-receptor interactions, there remains the challenge to design and synthesize molecules with high specific affinity to pharmacologically important targets. With their high density of stereochemical information and their relative rigidity, carbohydrates provide excellent platforms upon which to display a number of substituents in a sterically defined way, hence offering the opportunity to harness their unique features for the drug-discovery process. This review highlights the progress that has been made in the development of carbohydrate scaffolds for drug discovery.

Integrated microreaction system for optical resolution of racemic amino acids

We developed a novel microreaction system for optical resolution of racemic amino acids. This device, which is based on a continuous microfluidic system, consists of an enzyme-immobilized microreactor and a microextractor. Use of the enzyme-microreactor, which was prepared by membrane formation on the microchannel surface, enabled a highly enantioselective reaction for a racemic amino acid derivative. The microextractor provided a laminar flow of two immiscible solutions, which enabled selective extraction of the product. Using this integrated device, we could perform efficient continuous production of optically pure unnatural amino acids.

Helix-Forming Carbohydrate Amino Acids

[reaction: see text] The solution-phase conformational properties of tetrameric and octameric chains of C-glycosyl alpha-d-lyxofuranose configured tetrahydrofuran amino acids (where the C-2 and C-5 substituents on the tetrahydrofuran ring are trans to each other) were examined using NMR and IR and CD in organic solvents. Studies by NMR and IR demonstrated that in chloroform solution, the tetramer 7 does not adopt a hydrogen-bonded conformation whereas the octamer 10 populates a well-defined helical secondary structure stabilized by 16-membered (i, i - 3) interresidue hydrogen bonds, similar to a pi-helix. Circular dichroism studies in trifluoroethanol are consistent with this conformation for the octamer 10, and also indicate that the tetramer 7 adopts a rigid conformation not stabilized by hydrogen bonds.

Circular dichroism studies of carbopeptoid-cyclodextrins

A series of sugar amino acids, based on open chain sugars, have been oligomerised and cyclised. The resulting cyclic carbopeptoids have been examined for desirable properties such as host-guest chemistry (as in cyclodextrins) or self-assembling properties (e.g., peptide nanotubes). Initial studies of these systems, by circular dichroism and X-ray crystallography, have given valuable insight into their stability and properties. One of the four cyclic species studied was found to interact with ion/molecular probes.

Carbohydrates in peptide and protein design

Monosaccharides and amino acids are fundamental building blocks in the assembly of nature's polymers. They have different structural aspects and, to a significant extent, different functional groups. Oligomerization gives rise to oligosaccharides and peptides, respectively. While carbohydrates and peptides can be found conjoined in nature, e.g., in glycopeptides, the aim of this review is the radical redesign of peptide structures using carbohydrates, particularly monosaccharides and cyclic oligosaccharides, to produce novel peptides, peptidomimetics, and abiotic proteins. These hybrid molecules, chimeras, have properties arising largely from the combination of structural characteristics of carbohydrates with the functional group diversity of peptides. This field includes de novo designed synthetic glycopeptides, sugar (carbohydrate) amino acids, carbohydrate scaffolds for nonpeptidal peptidomimetics of cyclic peptides, cyclodextrin functionalized peptides, and carboproteins, i.e., carbohydrate-based proteinmimetics. These successful applications demonstrate the general utility of carbohydrates in peptide and protein architecture.

Alkylated Sugar Amino Acids: A New Entry toward Highly Functionalized Dipeptide Isosters

[reaction: see text] Novel highly functionalized dipeptide isosters are synthesized via a diastereoselective alkyl/arylation protocol of a glucose-derived (R)-tert-butanesulfinylimine. One of these novel sugar amino acid derivatives, a D-Ala-Ser/Thr isostere, was applied in a peptide synthesis protocol to afford a cyclic tetramer.