Solvolysis of [3-13C]-4-homoadamantyl tosylate. Limited degeneracy of 4-homoadamantyl cation via multiple Wagner-Meerwein rearrangement and vicinal hydride shifts under solvolytic conditions

Identification of a Novel Inhibitor of TfR1 from Designed and Synthesized Muriceidine A Derivatives

The transferrin receptor 1 (TfR1) plays a key role in cellular iron uptake through its interaction with iron-bound Tf. TfR1 is often reported to be overexpressed in malignant cells, and this increase may be associated with poor prognosis in different types of cancer, which makes it an attractive target for antitumor therapy. The marine natural product Muriceidine A is a potent anticancer agent reported in our previous work. In this study, we designed and synthesized a series of Muriceidine A derivatives and described the systematic investigation into their cytotoxic activities against four tumor cells. Most of the derivatives showed stronger antitumor activity and we found that the introduction of electron-donating groups at position C-2 of unsaturated piperidine was beneficial to anticancer activity and unsaturated piperidine was responsible for the antiproliferative activity. Among these compounds, 12b (methyl at position C-2 of unsaturated piperidine) exhibited the strongest cytotoxicity against MDA-MB-231 cells. Further pharmacological research showed that 12b bound to Transferrin receptor 1 (TfR1) directly caused iron deprivation and ROS imbalance along with the degradations of several oncoproteins, especially FGFR1, through the proteasome pathway; thus, inducing cell cycle arrest and apoptosis in MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells. Our findings indicate that 12b is a promising lead compound targeting TfR1 for triple negative breast cancer.

Wagner-Meerwein type rearrangement in 5-oxohomoadamantane series

Efficient methods for introducing various substituents into the α-position of ethyl 5-oxohomoadamantyl-4-carboxylate are reported. An unexpected acid-catalysed 1,2-alkyl shift in the series of synthesized α,α-bis-substituted 5-oxohomoadamantanes, and also in the hydroxy derivatives of homoadamantane was found. Such a retropinacol-like rearrangement leads to tetra- or pentacyclic mono- or bis-lactones containing a homoadamantane moiety. This new transformation opens access to the synthesis of previously unknown 2,4-di and 2,3,4-trisubstituted derivatives of homoadamantane. The resulting caged γ-butyro- and δ-valerolactones could be considered as potential synthetic or metabolic precursors of conformationally restricted GABA and δ-aminovaleric acid analogues.

13C NMR spectroscopy for the quantitative determination of compound ratios and polymer end groups

(13)C NMR spectroscopic integration employing short relaxation delays was evaluated as a quantitative tool to obtain ratios of diastereomers, regioisomers, constitutional isomers, mixtures of unrelated compounds, peptoids, and sugars. The results were compared to established quantitative methods such as (1)H NMR spectroscopic integration, gas chromatography, and high-performance liquid chromatography and were found to be within <3.4% of (1)H NMR spectroscopic values (most examples give results within <2%). Acquisition of the spectra took 2-30 min on as little as 10 mg of sample, proving the general utility of the technique. The simple protocol was extended to include end group analysis of low molecular weight polymers, which afforded results in accordance with (1)H NMR spectroscopy and matrix-assisted laser desorption-ionization time-of-flight spectrometry.

Solvolysis of 2-Bicyclo

The solvolysis rate of 2-bicyclo[3.2.2]nonyl p-toluenesulfonate (6-OTs) was nearly equal to that of cycloheptyl p-toluenesulfonate in 2,2,2-trifluoroethanol (TFE). This indicates that the ethylene bridge in 6-OTs does not significantly enhance the rate and that 6-OTs ionizes without anchimeric assistance. The solvolysis of [1-(13)C]-2-bicyclo[3.2.2]nonyl p-toluenesulfonate in methanol or TFE gave 2-substituted bicyclo[3.2.2]nonane, exo-2-substituted bicyclo[3.3.1]nonane, 2-bicyclo[3.2.2]nonene (10), and 2-bicyclo[3.3.1]nonene (11), whose distributions of (13)C labels were determined by quantitative (13)C NMR analysis using a relaxation reagent. The (13)C labels were exclusively placed at only two positions, the ratios of them were not unity, and the labels in 10 were less extensively scrambled than those in other products. These results indicate that the 2-bicyclo[3.2.2]nonyl cation is classical and that 10 is formed at a former ionization stage than 2-substituted bicyclo[3.2.2]nonane. The (13)C redistributions for both exo-2-substituted bicyclo[3.3.1]nonane and 11, which are yielded via 1,3-hydride shift, were similar to that of 2-substituted bicyclo[3.2.2]nonane, suggesting that 1,3-hydride shift occurs mainly at the solvent-separated ion pair.