Comprehensive Account on the Synthesis of (-)-Balanol and its Analogues

BACKGROUND

A variety of diseases have been associated with hyperactivation of protein kinase C (PKC) enzymes such as cancer, diabetes, asthma, cardiovascular and central nervous system disorders. There is a dire need to selectively inhibit these enzymes by synthesizing new potent inhibitors. Balanol, a fungal metabolite belonging to the PKC inhibitor family, is especially included in this aspect. Tremendous effort has been put towards the synthesis of balanol by different research groups.

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this review is to provide a detailed description of synthetic approaches adopted for the synthesis of key fragments of balanol (azepane and benzophenone). All the factors that resulted in excellent yield and high enantioselectivity have also been mentioned.

CONCLUSION

It has been shown throughout this review that the synthesis of hexahydroazepine and benzophenone cores of balanol was achieved by employing a variety of important key steps with commercially available starting precursors, which make this total synthesis more valuable. Moreover, this article provides ideas to the synthetic as well as pharmaceutical chemists for the synthesis of (-)-balanol and its analogues.

A unified approach to the important protein kinase inhibitor balanol and a proposed analogue

A common approach to the important protein kinase inhibitor (−)-balanol and an azepine-ring-modified balanol derivative has been developed using an efficient fragment coupling protocol which proceeded in good overall yield.

Total synthesis of (-)-balanol, all stereoisomers, their N-tosyl analogues, and fully protected ophiocordin: an easy route to hexahydroazepine cores from garner aldehydes

Total syntheses of (-)-balanol and all of its stereoisomers starting from easily available Garner aldehydes are described. Diastereoselective Grignard reactions on Garner aldehydes and ring-closing metatheses are the key steps for the construction of hexahydroazepine subunits. The benzophenone subunits were constructed through coupling of suitably functionalized aromatic aldehyde and bromo components. The synthetic route constitutes a convenient and scalable reaction sequence to generate all of the stereoisomers of balanol. The methodology is explored further for the synthesis of N-tosyl analogues of balanol and of fully protected ophiocordin.

Chiral version of the Burgess reagent and its reactions with oxiranes: application to the formal enantiodivergent synthesis of balanol

An efficient formal synthesis of a (-)-balanol intermediate ( 25a) from cyclohexadiene oxide was accomplished in eight steps. An asymmetric version of the Burgess reagent allows for an enantiodivergent approach to both enantiomers of balanol from a racemic starting material.

The Synthesis of Substituted Tetrahydro-1H-xanthen-1-ones and Xanthenes

A short and an efficient methodology for the synthesis of substituted tetrahydro-1H-1-xanthenones and xanthenes is described.

Synthesis of the benzophenone fragment of balanol via an intramolecular cyclization event

Studies are reported on the use of either a 7-exo radical cyclization or an intramolecular Heck reaction as the key step for the construction of the benzophenone fragment of the PKC inhibitor, balanol. Whereas, the former approach was unsuccessful, the Heck reaction proved to be viable for the coupling of two fully functionalized aryl subunits affording regioselectively a biaryl seven-membered lactone with an exocyclic alkene as the major component, in contrast to the competing eight-membered ring lactone. Hydrolysis of the lactone followed by oxidative cleavage of the alkene with ruthenium tetraoxide completed this short synthesis of the benzophenone unit.

Studies on the SmI2-promoted pinacol-type cyclization: synthesis of the hexahydroazepine ring of balanol

The efficiency of the samarium(II) iodide induced pinacol-type coupling for the construction of seven-membered cyclic amino alcohols has been investigated. With the acyclic carbonylhydrazones 6 and 16, good yields of the hexahydroazepines 22 and 23 were obtained (56-57%) with high trans-selectivity (= 10:1), which compares well with similar reactions generating the corresponding five- and six-membered carbocycles (Fallis, A. G.; Sturino, C. F. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1994, 116, 7447). It is essential for ring formation that the strongly electron-donating ligand, hexamethylphosphoramide, be present, as in its absense intermolecular pinacol coupling forming the diols 27-30 is the dominant reaction. Hence, the role for HMPA appears not only to increase the rate of electron transfer but also to modulate rate constants for the subsequent reactions (cyclization and pinacol coupling) of the intermediate ketyl. This ring forming reaction has been applied to the construction of the fully functionalized hexahydroazepine ring of the PKC inhibitor, balanol. Initial attempts to develop an asymmetric version of this reaction indicate the use of chiral ligands based on the structure of HMPA.

Formal total synthesis of (-)-balanol: concise approach to the hexahydroazepine segment based on RCM

A concise synthesis of the hexahydroazepine moiety 13 of (-)-balanol 1 is described that comprises only eight steps and is distinctly shorter than all previous reported approaches to this particular compound. Sharpless epoxidation of divinylcarbinol 4 and ring closing alkene metathesis (RCM) reaction for the formation of the heterocyclic scaffold 9 constitute the key transformations of this sequence. The latter reaction is best achieved with catalytic amounts of the ruthenium indenylidene complex 18 recently reported. Furthermore, it is demonstrated that RCM can be successfully carried out even in the presence of an azido function provided that Schrock's molybdenum alkylidene complex Mo(=NAr)(=CHCMe2Ph)[OC(Me)(CF3)2]2 (Ar = 2,6-diisopropylphenyl) is used as precatalyst.

An organoiron approach to the benzophenone appendage of the protein kinase C inhibitor balanol

[formula: see text] A new synthetic route to the benzophenone appendage of balanol, based on sequential iron-assisted nucleophilic aromatic substitution and ring-opening as well as regioselective oxidative cyanation, is described.

Asymmetric synthesis of the balanol heterocycle via a palladium-mediated epimerization and olefin metathesis

[formula: see text] The enantioselective formal synthesis of balanol, a potent protein kinase C inhibitor, was accomplished from D-serine utilizing a Pd-catalyzed equilibration of diastereomeric 5-vinyloxazolines to set the stereochemistry of the vicinal amino and hydroxyl groups. A ruthenium-catalyzed ring-closing metathesis was employed to form the seven-membered nitrogen heterocyle.

Crystal structure of the potent natural product inhibitor balanol in complex with the catalytic subunit of cAMP-dependent protein kinase

Endogenous protein kinase inhibitors are essential for a wide range of physiological functions. These endogenous inhibitors may mimic peptide substrates as in the case of the heat-stable protein kinase inhibitor (PKI), or they may mimic nucleotide triphosphates. Natural product inhibitors, endogenous to the unique organisms producing them, can be potent exogenous inhibitors against foreign protein kinases. Balanol is a natural product inhibitor exhibiting low nanomolar Ki values against serine and threonine specific kinases, while being ineffective against protein tyrosine kinases. To elucidate balanol's specific inhibitory effects and provide a basis for understanding inhibition-regulated biological processes, a 2.1 A resolution crystal structure of balanol in complex with cAMP-dependent protein kinase (cAPK) was determined. The structure reveals conserved binding regions and displays extensive complementary interactions between balanol and conserved cAPK residues. This report describes the structure of a protein kinase crystallized with a natural ATP mimetic in the absence of metal ions and peptide inhibitor.

Synthesis and protein kinase C inhibitory activities of balanol analogues with modification of 4-hydroxybenzamido moiety

A series of racemic balanol analogues with modification of the benzamido moiety of balanol have been synthesized and evaluated for their inhibitory activities against human protein kinase C isozymes (PKC-alpha, -beta I, -beta II, -gamma, -delta, -epsilon, and -eta). The structural modification includes replacement of the 4-hydroxyphenyl group with variously substituted phenyl rings, substitution of the amide linkage with a sulfonamide or an ester, and replacement of the 4-hydroxyphenyl substructure with a hydroxyl substituted indole or a hydroxybenzyl group. in general, these analogues were found to be less potent than balanol, but a number of analogues were identified with improved isozyme selectivity. The structure-activity relationship studies of these analogues also indicated that (1) the optimal general PKC inhibition requires a free 4-hydroxyl group in the benzamido portion of the molecule, (2) the amide linkage of the benzamido moiety is important for PKC inhibition, and (3) the conformation associated with the benzamido moiety seems to have a profound effect on PKC inhibition. The requirement of a free 4-hydroxyl group in conjunction with an appropriate conformation of the benzamido moiety for optimal PKC inhibition suggests that the 4-hydroxyphenyl group may be involved in a specific inhibitor-enzyme interaction important for PKC inhibition.