Total Synthesis of a Pyrroloindoloquinazoline Alkaloid

Exploring the synthetic potential of epoxide ring opening reactions toward the synthesis of alkaloids and terpenoids: a review

Epoxides are oxygen containing heterocycles which are significantly employed as crucial intermediates in various organic transformations. They are considered highly reactive three-membered heterocycles due to ring strain and they undergo epoxide ring opening reactions with diverse range of nucleophiles. Epoxide ring-opening reactions have gained prominence as flexible and effective means to obtain various functionalized molecules. These reactions have garnered substantial attention in organic synthesis, driven by the need to comprehend the synthesis of biologically and structurally important organic compounds. They have also found applications in the synthesis of complex natural products. In this review article, we have summarized the implementation of epoxide ring opening reactions in the synthesis of alkaloids and terpenoids based natural products reported within the last decade (2014-2023).

Synthesis of pyrimidine-containing alkaloids

This review deals with the synthesis of naturally occurring alkaloids containing partially or completely saturated pyrimidine nuclei. The interest in these compounds is associated with their structural diversity, high biological activity and toxicity. The review is divided into four parts, each of which describes a number of synthetic methodologies toward structurally different naturally occurring alkaloids containing saturated cyclic six-membered amidine, guanidine, aminal and urea (thiourea) moieties, respectively. The development of various synthetic strategies for the preparation of these compounds has remarkably increased during the past few decades. This is primarily due to the fact that some of these compounds are isolated only in limited quantities, which makes it practically impossible to study their full structural characteristics and biological activity.

Switching of Enantioselectivity in the Cu-Catalyzed Asymmetric Decarboxylative Aldol Reaction of Tryptanthrin with β-Keto Acids: An Unexpected Counteranion Effect

Cu-bisoxazoline-catalyzed enantioselective decarboxylative aldol reaction of tryptanthrin with aryl-substituted β-keto acids is developed, providing a straightforward approach to deliver a series of phaitanthrin A analogues. Both enantiomers of the products can be obtained with good to high enantioselectivity in the presence of a single chiral ligand by simply changing the copper salts. Based on the X-ray crystallographic analysis of chiral Cu(II)-bisoxazoline complexes, the tentative stereochemical models are presented to account for the observed counteranion-induced switching in enantioselectivity.

Divergent Synthesis of Methylisatoid and Tryptanthrin Derivatives by Ph3P-I2-Mediated Reaction of Isatins with and without Alcohols

A novel phosphonium-mediated reaction of isatins is described. In the presence of alcohol, the reaction proceeds to furnish C-12 modified tryptanthrin derivatives. Without alcohol, self-dimerization of isatins gives rise to tryptanthrin and its analogs. This divergent and step-economic approach provides a facile access to diverse indoloquinazoline structures including the natural alkaloids, methylisatoid and cephalanthrin B, in high yields from simple precursors under mild and metal-free reaction conditions.

Efficient synthesis of SCF3-substituted tryptanthrins by a radical tandem cyclization

Herein, we report a new, efficient and atom-economical strategy for the synthesis of SCF₃-substituted tryptanthrin derivatives. These previously unreported derivatives were obtained by means of a radical tandem cyclization. The reaction was triggered by addition of a SCF₃ radical to a carbon-carbon double bond and involved the formation of a C(sp³)-SCF₃ bond, a C(sp²)-C bond, and a C(sp²)-N bond. This method has mild conditions and a wide range of substrates which is particularly useful for the preparation of substituted indolquinazoline derivatives that widely exist in many natural products, but are not easy to obtain by conventional approaches.

Synthesis of 6-substituted indoloquinazolinones from arynes and 2-acyl-4-quinazolinones: a transition-metal free C–N and C–C bond formation strategy

A versatile transition-metal free synthetic strategy has been developed for the direct synthesis of 6-substituted indoloquinazolinones from 2-acyl-4-quinazolinones and aryne precursors. This cascade strategy proceeds via successive C–N and C–C bond formation in a single reaction vessel.

Stereoselective construction of deoxy-cruciferane alkaloids by NHC-catalyzed intramolecular annulation of homoenolate with quinazolinone

Novel NHC-catalyzed intramolecular stereoselective [3 + 2] cycloaddition of enal with quinazolinone is developed to construct a pyrroloindoloquinazolinone scaffold of deoxy-cruciferane alkaloids.

Exploiting 1,2,3-Triazolium Ionic Liquids for Synthesis of Tryptanthrin and Chemoselective Extraction of Copper(II) Ions and Histidine-Containing Peptides

Based on a common structural core of 4,5,6,7-tetrahydro[1,2,3]triazolo[1,5-a]pyridine, a number of bicyclic triazolium ionic liquids 1–3 were designed and successfully prepared. In our hands, this optimized synthesis of ionic liquids 1 and 2 requires no chromatographic separation. Also in this work, ionic liquids 1, 2 were shown to be efficient ionic solvents for fast synthesis of tryptanthrin natural product. Furthermore, a new affinity ionic liquid 3 was tailor-synthesized and displayed its effectiveness in chemoselective extraction of both Cu(II) ions and, for the first time, histidine-containing peptides.

Zirconocene dichloride catalysed one-pot synthesis of pyrroles through nitroalkene-enamine assembly

Zirconocene dichloride was found to be a highly efficient catalyst for the synthesis of multi-substituted pyrroles by a three-component, one-pot reaction.

An efficient catalyst-free Mukaiyama-aldol reaction of fluorinated enol silyl ethers with tryptanthrin

We report an efficient Mukaiyama-aldol reaction of tryptanthrin with fluorinated enol silyl ethers, which is carried out in methanol without the use of any catalyst. This represents the first modification of tryptanthrin by a fluoroalkyl group, which is applied to the total synthesis of the difluoro analogues of the natural product Phaitanthrin B.

Recent developments in the chemistry of quinazolinone alkaloids

This review focuses on the recent advances in the chemistry of quinazolinone alkaloids which covers the newly isolated quinazolinone alkaloids with their biological activities and the recently reported total syntheses of quinazolinone alkaloids from 2006 to 2015.

Simple indole alkaloids and those with a nonrearranged monoterpenoid unit

This review summarizes the isolation, structure determination, total syntheses and biological activities of simple indole alkaloids and those with a nonrearranged monoterpenoid unit, with literature coverage from 2012 to 2013.

Total synthesis of cruciferane via epoxidation/tandem cyclization sequence

The total synthesis of alkaloid cruciferane is performed in three steps with an overall yield of 60.3%.