Diels-Alder/thiol-olefin co-oxygenation approach to antimalarials incorporating the 2,3-dioxabicyclo[3.3.1]nonane pharmacophore.

A Diels-Alder/thiol-olefin co-oxygenation approach to the synthesis of novel bicyclic endoperoxides 17a-22b is reported. Some of these endoperoxides (e.g., 17b, 19b, 22a and 22b) have potent nanomolar in vitro antimalarial activity equivalent to that of the synthetic antimalarial agent arteflene. Iron(II)-mediated degradation of sulfone-endoperoxide 19b and spin-trapping with TEMPO provide a spin-trapped adduct 25 indicative of the formation of a secondary carbon centered radical species 24. Reactive C-radical intermediates of this type may be involved in the expression of the antimalarial effect of these bicyclic endoperoxides.

Total syntheses of Yingzhaosu A and of its C(14)-epimer including the first evaluation of their antimalarial and cytotoxic activities.

[reaction: see text] The molecular structure of the naturally occurring antimalarial agent yingzhaosu A (1) is characterized by a 2,3-dioxabicyclo[3.3.1]nonane system (3a), an allylic alcohol, a homoallylic alcohol, and five stereogenic centers. Herein we report on the total synthesis of yingzhaosu A (1) in eight steps and 7.3% overall yield starting from (S)-limonene (12). To maximize efficacy, the bridged bicyclic endoperoxide molecular core was constructed by a multicomponent free-radical domino reaction in which five bonds are formed in a single operation. In addition, reaction protocols that are compatible with the sensitivity of the peroxide function to strong basic and nucleophilic reagents as well as to reducing agents were employed. An intriguing step involved the selective hydrogenation of a carbon-carbon double bond in the presence of a peroxide and an aldehyde function to give aldehyde peroxide 7. The two major synthons (aldehydoperoxide 7 and its complementary five-carbon atom unit 35) were linked through a Mukaiyama aldol reaction followed by in situ dehydration under mild buffered basic conditions. The carbonyl group in the resulting peroxidic enone 39 was stereoselectively reduced with either R-CBS catalyst (42b) to give, after in situ desilylation, yingzhaosu A (1) or with S-CBS catalyst (42a) its C(14)-epimer 40. The first quantitative in vitro and in vivo data for the antimalarial activity of yingzhaosu A (1) and its C(14)-epimer 40 are reported. The C(14)-epiyingzhaosu A (40) exhibits potent cytotoxic activity against the KB nasal-pharyngeal cancer cell line in vitro.

Application of thiol-olefin co-oxygenation methodology to a new synthesis of the 1,2,4-trioxane pharmacophore.

[reaction: see text] Thiol-olefin co-oxygenation (TOCO) of substituted allylic alcohols generates alpha-hydroxyperoxides that can be condensed in situ with various ketones to afford a series of functionalized 1,2,4-trioxanes in good yields. Manipulation of the phenylsulfenyl group in 4a allows for convenient modification to the spiro-trioxane substituents, and we describe, for the first time, the preparation of a new class of antimalarial prodrug.

Efficient stereoselective alkenylation through a homolytic domino reaction involving a 1,5 sulfur-to-carbon translocation.

An effective method for cis-stereoselective attachment of functionalized alkenyl appendages to sp3 carbon is reported. This method is based on a free-radical process, involving a sequence of addition-elimination steps, resulting in alkenyl group transposition from divalent sulfur to a prochiral carbon radical. Absolute stereoselectivity is secured since the new carbon-carbon bond is formed in a ring-closure reaction leading to a bridged bicyclic carbon-centered radical intermediate. The latter undergoes beta-scission of the C-S bond, leaving the alkenyl side chain in its predetermined position while releasing a thiyl radical. This thiyl radical is trapped by tri-n-butylstyryltin, affording a (styrylsulfanyl)methyl side chain and a tri-n-butyltin radical that continues the chain. When 2-(alkenylsulfanyl)methyl-4-bromo(or iodo)pyrrolidines were used as starting materials 2,4-cis-disubstituted 4-alkenyl-2-(styrylsulfanyl)methylpyrrolidines were obtained as products (70-90% yield). Tri-n-butylstyryltin was used rather then the more common n-Bu3SnH as tin radicals sources because the latter led predominantly to bridged bicyclic 3-thia-6-azabicyclo[3.2.1]octanes (up to 77% yield). An additional advantage of using tri-n-butylstyryltin derives from the discovery that the resulting styrylsulfide functionality is an excellent synthetic equivalent to the formyl group. Thus, using a Pummerer-type oxidative desulfurization, 4-cis-alkenyl-proline aldehydes were obtained.

A short synthesis and biological evaluation of potent and nontoxic antimalarial bridged bicyclic beta-sulfonyl-endoperoxides.

The syntheses and in vitro antimalarial screening of 50 bridged, bicyclic endoperoxides of types 9-13 are reported. In contrast to antimalarial trioxanes of the artemisinin family, but like yingzhaosu A and arteflene, the peroxide function of compounds 9-13 is contained in a 2,3-dioxabicyclo[3.3.1]nonane system 6. Peroxides 9 and 10 (R(1) = OH) are readily available through a multicomponent, sequential, free-radical reaction involving thiol-monoterpenes co-oxygenation (a TOCO reaction). beta-Sulfenyl peroxides 9 and 10 (R(1) = OH) are converted into beta-sulfinyl and beta-sulfonyl peroxides of types 11-13 by controlled S-oxidation and manipulation of the tert-hydroxyl group through acylation, alkylation, or dehydration followed by selective hydrogenation. Ten enantiopure beta-sulfonyl peroxides of types 12 and 13 exhibit in vitro antimalarial activity comparable to that of artemisinin (IC(50) = 6-24 nM against Plasmodium falciparum NF54). In vivo testing of a few selected peroxides against Plasmodium berghei N indicates that the antimalarial efficacies of beta-sulfonyl peroxides 39a, 46a, 46b, and 50a are comparable to those of some of the best antimalarial drugs and are higher than artemisinin against chloroquine-resistant Plasmodium yoelii ssp. NS. In view of the nontoxicity of beta-sulfonyl peroxides 39a, 46a, and 46b in mice, at high dosing, these compounds are regarded as promising antimalarial drug candidates.

Stereoselective Synthesis of (+/-)-alpha-Kainic Acid Using Free Radical Key Reactions.

Thiol-mediated free radical isomerization of a deliberately substituted but-3-enyl isocyanide 12a, and n-Bu(3)SnH/AIBN-mediated free radical cyclization of a deliberately substituted but-3-enyl isothiocyanate 22, afforded, respectively, the (ethylthio)pyrroline 13a and the thiopyroglutamates 5 and 23. Reduction, protection, and deprotection of these heterocyclic compounds afforded proline derivatives 6 and 25 which contain all the structural elements of alpha-kainic acid (1) except the C-2 acetic acid moiety. These intermediates were stereospecifically converted into (+/-)-alpha-kainic acid using a new method of temporary sulfur connection. Accordingly, CH(2)CO(2)Me is linked to the chiral isopropenyl anchor and then intramolecularly connected to the pyrrolidine ring and eventually disconnected from its anchor by a sequential reductive double elimination process in which the isopropenyl double bond is restored.