An efficient synthesis of an exo-enone analogue of LL-Z1640-2 and evaluation of its protein kinase inhibitory activities

Anticancer activities, structure-activity relationship, and mechanism of action of 12-, 14-, and 16-membered macrolactones

Cancer remains one of the major causes of death worldwide despite the encouraging breakthroughs in the discovery of novel chemotherapeutic agents in recent years. The development of new effective anticancer candidates still represents a challenging endeavor due to the severe anticancer demands and the emergence of drug-resistant, especially multidrug-resistant, cancers. Macrolactones could regulate multiple signaling pathways in cancer cells and demonstrated potential anticancer effects, including inhibition of proliferation, metastasis, and angiogenic activity. Accordingly, macrolactones possess excellent efficacy against both drug-sensitive and drug-resistant cancer cells, and the rational design of macrolactones may provide valuable therapeutic interventions for cancers. The purpose of this review is as follows: (1) outline the recent advances made in the development of 12-, 14-, and 16-membered macrolactones with anticancer potential; (2) summarize the structure-activity relationship; and (3) discuss their anticancer mechanisms.

Synthetic Opportunities and Challenges for Macrocyclic Kinase Inhibitors

Macrocycles are typically cyclic variants of inhibitors derived from uncyclized canonical molecules or from natural products. For medicinal chemistry, drug-like macrocycles have received increasing interest over the past few years, since it has been demonstrated that macrocyclization can favorably alter the biological and physiochemical properties as well as selectivity in comparison to the acyclic analogue. Recent drug approvals such as Lorlatinib, glecaprevir, or voxilaprevir underline the clinical relevance of drug-like macrocycles. However, the synthesis of drug-like macrocycles can be challenging, since the ring-closing reaction is generally challenging with yields depending on the size and geometry of the bridging linker. Nevertheless, macrocycles are one opportunity to expand the synthetic toolbox for medicinal chemistry to provide bioactive molecules. Therefore, we reviewed the past literature of drug-like macrocycles highlighting reactions that have been successfully used for the macrocyclization. We classified the cyclization reactions by their type, ring-size, yield, and macrocyclization efficiency index.

Natural and Synthetic Lactones Possessing Antitumor Activities

Cancer is one of the leading causes of death globally, accounting for an estimated 8 million deaths each year. As a result, there have been urgent unmet medical needs to discover novel oncology drugs. Natural and synthetic lactones have a broad spectrum of biological uses including anti-tumor, anti-helminthic, anti-microbial, and anti-inflammatory activities. Particularly, several natural and synthetic lactones have emerged as anti-cancer agents over the past decades. In this review, we address natural and synthetic lactones focusing on their anti-tumor activities and synthetic routes. Moreover, we aim to highlight our journey towards chemical modification and biological evaluation of a resorcylic acid lactone, L-783277 (4). We anticipate that utilization of the natural and synthetic lactones as novel scaffolds would benefit the process of oncology drug discovery campaigns based on natural products.

Resorcylic acid lactones (RALs) and their structural congeners: recent advances in their biosynthesis, chemical synthesis and biology

Resorcylic acid lactones (RALs) are naturally occurring 14-membered macrolactones that constitute a class of polyketides derived from fungal metabolites and that possess significant and promising biological activity.

Total Syntheses of the Resorcylic Acid Lactones Paecilomycin F and Cochliomycin C Using an Intramolecular Loh-Type α-Allylation Reaction for Macrolide Formation

Subjection of the resorcylic ester 16 to a Nozaki-Hiyama-Kishi reaction afforded the 12-membered lactone 17, while treatment of it under the Loh-type α-allylation conditions using indium metal gave the isomeric, 14-membered macrolide 18. Compound 18 was readily elaborated to the resorcylic acid lactone type natural products paecilomycin F and cochliomycin C.