Iron Catalyzed Dearomatization of Pyridines into Annelated Azepine Derivatives in a One-Step, Three-Component Reaction.

Commercially available Fe(TTP)Cl catalyzes three-component dearomative formal cycloaddition reactions between pyridines, diazo compounds, and coumalates. Diversely substituted annelated seven-membered N-heterocycles could be generated in less than 10 min in one step at room temperature. The reaction is compatible to gram scale. The extension to benzimidazoles in place of pyridines has been successfully demonstrated. The mechanism of this reaction has been carefully examined by computational studies that corroborate the observed regioselectivities.

A Solvent-free, Catalyst-free Formal [3+3] Cycloaddition Dearomatization Strategy: Towards New Fluorophores for Biomolecules Labelling.

A general, sustainable dearomatization reaction for nitrogen-containing heterocycles was developed. Under solvent free conditions and without catalyst, the biorenewable methyl coumalate (MC) reacted as an efficient C3 partner to convert nine types of basic aromatic rings into their pyrido[1,2-a] fused derivatives in good to excellent yields. The fluorescence properties of some of the products were harnessed to conjugate fluorescent tags to bovine serum albumin (BSA) and immunoglobulin G.

The bio-based methyl coumalate involved Morita-Baylis-Hillman reaction.

We report the first use of renewable, bio-based, non-hazardous feedstock methyl coumalate (MC) in organocatalyzed Morita-Baylis-Hillman (MBH) reactions. This atom-economical pathway employs inexpensive Et3N as a catalyst in ethanol. Synthon MC efficiently constructs C-C bonds with various imines and aldehydes in moderate to good yields. This catalytic process is triggered via an unprecedented 1,6-conjugated addition, as opposed to the classical MBH reaction. Moreover, this methodology expands Morita-Baylis-Hillman donor capabilities to a 2-pyrone derivative for the first time. MBH adducts described herein could be applied to the synthesis of fine chemicals with biologically active structural cores, such as diphenylmethanol, hydroisobenzofurans, and hydroisoindoles.

Preparation of Substituted 2H-Pyrans via a Cascade Reaction from Methyl Coumalate and Activated Methylene Nucleophiles.

The reaction of methyl coumalate with a wide range of methylene active compounds, such as keto-esters or keto-sulfones and cyclic or acyclic diketones, afforded more than 30 2,3,5,6-tetrasubstituted 2H-pyrans. The reaction proceeds via a cascade reaction involving a Michael addition-6π-electrocyclic ring opening-proton transfer and 6π electrocyclization, in which a variety of functional groups were tolerated.

Design, synthesis and biological evaluation of gentiopicroside derivatives as potential antiviral inhibitors.

Based on classical drug design theory, a novel series of gentiopicroside derivatives was designed and synthesized. All synthesized compounds were then biologically evaluated for their inhibition of influenza virus and anti-HCV activity in vitro. Some of the gentiopicroside derivatives, such as 11a, 13d and 16 showed interesting anti-influenza virus activity with IC50 at 39.5 µM, 45.2 µM and 44.0 µM, respectively. However, no significant anti-HCV activity was found for all of gentiopicroside derivatives. The preliminary results indicate that modification of the sugar moiety on gentiopicroside was helpful for enhancing the anti-influenza activities. Our works demonstrate the importance of secoiridoid natural products as new leads in the development of potential antiviral inhibitors.

Research Progress of Natural Product Gentiopicroside - a Secoiridoid Compound.

Gentiopicroside is a secoiridoid compound isolated from Gentiana lutea which is called Qin Jiao in Chinese. It is one of the most common herbal medicines used in China. In this article, we review the pharmacological and biological activity (antiviral, anti-inflammatory, analgesia, antihepatotoxic and choleretic), as well as biotransformation of the gentiopicroside. In addition, attempt towards the total synthesis of gentiopicroside is also presented.

Synthesis of enantiopure cis- and trans-2,3-disubstituted piperidines.

The synthesis of enantiopure cis- and trans-2,3-disubstituted piperidines 4 is described. The key step of the synthesis involves the stereoselective reduction of chiral nonracemic lactams 2 by using BH3.Me2S. A rationalization of the stereoselectivity is presented.