Highly Selective Deblocking of Propargyl Carbonates in the Presence of Propargyl Carbamates with Tetrathiomolybdate

α-Chymotrypsin andl-acylase aided synthesis of 5-hydroxypipecolic acid via Jacobsen's hydrolytic kinetic resolution of epoxy amino acids

5-hydroxypipecolic acid synthesis from intramolecular reaction of epoxy amino acids; enantiomers separated by hydrolase and diastereomeric epoxide separated by Jacobsen's hydrolytic kinetic resolution.

O-(triazolyl)methyl carbamates as a novel and potent class of fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH) inhibitors

Inhibition of fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH) activity is under investigation as a valuable strategy for the treatment of several disorders, including pain and drug addiction. A number of potent FAAH inhibitors belonging to different chemical classes have been disclosed to date; O-aryl carbamates are one of the most representative families. In the search for novel FAAH inhibitors, a series of O-(1,2,3-triazol-4-yl)methyl carbamate derivatives were designed and synthesized exploiting a copper- catalyzed [3+2] cycloaddition reaction between azides and alkynes (click chemistry). Exploration of the structure-activity relationships within this new class of compounds identified potent inhibitors of both rat and human FAAH with IC50 values in the single-digit nanomolar range. In addition, these derivatives showed improved stability in rat plasma and kinetic solubility in buffer with respect to the lead compound. Based on the results of the study, the novel analogues identified can be considered to be promising starting point for the development of new FAAH inhibitors with improved drug-like properties.

Development and bioorthogonal activation of palladium-labile prodrugs of gemcitabine

Bioorthogonal chemistry has become one of the main driving forces in current chemical biology, inspiring the search for novel biocompatible chemospecific reactions for the past decade. Alongside the well-established labeling strategies that originated the bioorthogonal paradigm, we have recently proposed the use of heterogeneous palladium chemistry and bioorthogonal Pd⁰-labile prodrugs to develop spatially targeted therapies. Herein, we report the generation of biologically inert precursors of cytotoxic gemcitabine by introducing Pd⁰-cleavable groups in positions that are mechanistically relevant for gemcitabine’s pharmacological activity. Cell viability studies in pancreatic cancer cells showed that carbamate functionalization of the 4-amino group of gemcitabine significantly reduced (>23-fold) the prodrugs’ cytotoxicity. The N-propargyloxycarbonyl (N-Poc) promoiety displayed the highest sensitivity to heterogeneous palladium catalysis under biocompatible conditions, with a reaction half-life of less than 6 h. Zebrafish studies with allyl, propargyl, and benzyl carbamate-protected rhodamines confirmed N-Poc as the most suitable masking group for implementing in vivo bioorthogonal organometallic chemistry.

Development of a mild and efficient protocol for the protection and O-alkylation of allyl alcohols

An efficient, pyridine-free protocol has been developed for the protection of 3°-allyl alcohol of oxindole using a mild base of potassium carbonate under microwave irradiation conditions. The methodology has been tested with a variety of substrates and protecting group reagents, which provides a clean and good yield of desired products within a short reaction time.

Applications of propargyl esters of amino acids in solution-phase Peptide synthesis

Propargyl esters are employed as effective protecting groups for the carboxyl group during solution-phase peptide synthesis. The propargyl ester groups can be introduced onto free amino acids by treating them with propargyl alcohol saturated with HCl. The reaction between propargyl groups and tetrathiomolybdate is exploited to deblock the propargyl esters. The removal of the propargyl group with the neutral reagent tetrathiomolybdate ensures that most of the other protecting groups used in peptide synthesis are untouched. Both acid labile and base labile protecting groups can be removed in the presence of a propargyl ester. Amino acids protected as propargyl esters are employed to synthesize di- to tetrapeptides in solution-phase demonstrating the possible synthetic utilities of the methodology. The methodology described here could be a valuable addition to currently available strategies for peptide synthesis.

Investigations into Competitive Cycloaddition/Cyclization or Elimination from 1,1-Dimethyl-propargylcarbamates of Anilines

The copper-catalyzed reaction of 1,1-dimethyl-O-propargyl aniline carbamates was studied and revealed the unexpected formation of oxazolidin-2-ones and alkylamines. An in-depth study of the reaction conditions showed that the formation of these products was highly dependent on the solvent, copper catalyst and aniline substituents. The reaction can be oriented towards oxazolidinones in pyridine and alkylamines in ethanol, whereas cycloaddition can be achieved in dry tetrahydrofuran.

Dendritic effect of ligand-coated nanoparticles: enhanced apoptotic activity of silica-berberine nanoconjugates

We describe the synthesis and biological characterization of a novel prototype, namely, silica nanoconjugates bearing a covalently linked berberine, a plant alkaloid known to have antiproliferative activity. The effect of synthesized nanoconjugates on cell proliferation, the cell cycle profile, and apoptosis in the human cervical carcinoma cell line (HeLa), human hepatocellular liver carcinoma cell line (HepG2), and human embryonic kidney (HEK) 293T cell line has been studied and compared with the results obtained for free berberine. Our results show that all the nanoconjugates display higher antiproliferative activity than free berberine. The ability of these nanoconjugates to inhibit cellular proliferation is mediated by the cell cycle arrest at the G1 phase. Moreover, silica nanoconugates caused selective apoptotic arrest with a higher efficiency than free berberine followed by apoptotic cell death as shown by quantitative fluorescence-activated cell sorting analyses. Efficiency of the nanoconjugates increases upon an increase in the linker chain length, demonstrating the distinct role of the spacer chain that conjugates nanoparticles and ligands. The actual reason to show enhanced efficiency by the nanoconjugates has not been elucidated in the present study; however, we hypothesize that an increase in local concentration due to the confinement of a ligand on the nanosurface ("dendritic" effect) might have led to the observed effect.

Biotinylated anisomycin: a comparison of classical and "click" chemistry approaches

Two approaches to the synthesis of biotinylated derivatives of the stress-activated protein kinase (SAPK) pathway activator anisomycin have been investigated. Attachment of the biotin moiety to the central core was achieved either through the use of a classical displacement reaction on alpha-halo carbonyl derivatives of biotin or through a copper(I)-catalyzed 1,3-dipolar Huisgen cycloaddition ("click") coupling of biotinylated azides to propargyl-marked analogues of anisomycin. In each case, the resultant N-linked molecular probes were found to be active in SAPK pathway immunoblot assays, while their O-linked counterparts were inactive. However, in sharp contrast to the classical coupling approach which results in low coupling yields, the aqueous "click" coupling process was found to deliver high yields of biotinylated probes, making it the conjugation method of choice. A survey of the available methods for the addition of a propargyl marker onto a range of chemical functionalities strongly suggests that this copper(I)-catalyzed 1,3-dipolar Huisgen cycloaddition approach to biotinylation may be generally applied.

2-O-propargyl ethers: readily cleavable, minimally intrusive protecting groups for beta-mannosyl donors

[reaction: see text]. The use of 2-O-propargyl ethers as protecting groups in 4,6-O-benzylidene-protected mannopyranosyl donors bearing either bulky silyl groups or glycosidic linkages on O3 overcomes the poor stereoselectivity achieved with the corresponding 2-O-benzyl ethers, due to a reduction of steric buttressing. Deprotection is conducted by treatment with potassium tert-butoxide followed by catalytic osmium tetroxide and N-methylmorpholine N-oxide.

But-2-ynylbisoxycarbonyl chloride: a novel C2-symmetric reagent for the protection of amines and amino acids

[reaction: see text] A novel C2-symmetric protecting group for amines, the but-2-ynylbisoxycarbonyl (Bbc) group, is developed, which can be deblocked with tetrathiomolybdate under neutral conditions. One equivalent of the bischloroformate, BbcCl, is used for the protection of 2 equiv of the amine. Its application in peptide synthesis is established through the synthesis of a tripeptide, and its orthogonality with Cbz, Fmoc, and Boc groups has been studied.