Modulation of EGFR Activity by Molecularly Imprinted Polymer Nanoparticles Targeting Intracellular Epitopes.

In recent years, molecularly imprinted polymer nanoparticles (nanoMIPs) have proven to be an attractive alternative to antibodies in diagnostic and therapeutic applications. However, several key questions remain: how suitable are intracellular epitopes as targets for nanoMIP binding? And to what extent can protein function be modulated via targeting specific epitopes? To investigate this, three extracellular and three intracellular epitopes of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) were used as templates for the synthesis of nanoMIPs which were then used to treat cancer cells with different expression levels of EGFR. It was observed that nanoMIPs imprinted with epitopes from the intracellular kinase domain and the extracellular ligand binding domain of EGFR caused cells to form large foci of EGFR sequestered away from the cell surface, caused a reduction in autophosphorylation, and demonstrated effects on cell viability. Collectively, this suggests that intracellular domain-targeting nanoMIPs can be a potential new tool for cancer therapy.

Recent progress in asymmetric synergistic catalysis - the judicious combination of selected chiral aminocatalysts with achiral metal catalysts.

In this review we survey recent synergistic applications of a chiral organocatalyst with an achiral metal to perform stereoselective transformations of synthetic utility (since 2016). The transformations are classified by the modes of reactivity deployed, focussing on organocatalytic activation of carbonyl substrates as chiral nucleophiles via the α-position (e.g., as enamines) and as chiral electrophiles via the ß-position (e.g., as iminium ions) combined with complementary activation of their reaction partners by an achiral metal co-catalyst (e.g., Pd or Cu-based). Corresponding radical reactions are also presented in which photocatalysis mediated by achiral metal complexes replaces the metal co-catalyst. Certain privileged structures are revealed and opportunities to develop this exciting field are highlighted.

Understanding the Diastereopreference of Intermediates in Aminocatalysis: Application to the Chiral Resolution of Lactols.

Downstream intermediates are crucial for the reactivity and selectivity of aminocatalytic reactions. We present an analysis of the stereopreference in aminocatalytic downstream intermediates, which reveals an inconspicuous mechanism of chiral recognition between the catalyst and the rest of the molecule. We delineate a stereoelectronic model to rationalize the mode of chiral transmission. We also exploit it for the resolution of chiral lactols relevant in organic synthesis as well as in the flavor and fragrance industry.

Hydroarylation of Alkenes by Protonation/Friedel-Crafts Trapping: HFIP-Mediated Access to Per-aryl Quaternary Stereocenters.

Upon treatment with a combination of HFIP and an organic sulfonic acid, alkenes behave as Brønsted bases and protonate to give carbocations which can be trapped by electron-rich arenes. The reaction constitutes a Friedel-Crafts hydroarylation which proceeds with Markovnikov selectivity and is orthogonal to traditional metal-catalyzed processes. Intermolecular transfer hydrogenation and hydrothiolation under analogous conditions are also demonstrated.

Iodination of terminal alkynes using KI/CuSO4 - A facile method with potential for radio-iodination.

Herein, we report an efficient new method for the iodination of terminal alkynes using stoichiometric KI and CuSO4 in a mix of acetonitrile and acetate buffer that holds promise for further development into a method for radio-iodination.

Rapid Assembly of Saturated Nitrogen Heterocycles in One-Pot: Diazo-Heterocycle "Stitching" by N-H Insertion and Cyclization.

Methods that provide rapid access to new heterocyclic structures in biologically relevant chemical space provide important opportunities in drug discovery. Here, a strategy is described for the preparation of 2,2-disubstituted azetidines, pyrrolidines, piperidines, and azepanes bearing ester and diverse aryl substituents. A one-pot rhodium catalyzed N-H insertion and cyclization sequence uses diazo compounds to stitch together linear 1,m-haloamines (m=2-5) to rapidly assemble 4 -, 5 -, 6 -, and 7 -membered saturated nitrogen heterocycles in excellent yields. Over fifty examples are demonstrated, including examples with diazo compounds derived from biologically active compounds. The products can be functionalized to afford α,α-disubstituted amino acids and applied to fragment synthesis.

3d/4f Coordination Clusters as Cooperative Catalysts for Highly Diastereoselective Michael Addition Reactions.

Michael addition (MA) is one of the most well studied chemical transformation in synthetic chemistry. Here, we report the synthesis and crystal structures of a library of 3d/4f coordination clusters (CCs) formulated as [ZnII2YIII2L4(solv)X(Z)Y] and study their catalytic properties toward the MA of nitrostyrenes with barbituric acid derivatives. Each CC presents two borderline hard/soft Lewis acidic ZnII centers and two hard Lewis acidic YIII centers in a defect dicubane topology that brings the two different metals into a proximity of ∼3.3 Å. Density functional theory computational studies suggest that these tetrametallic CCs dissociate in solution to give two catalytically active dimers, each containing one 3d and one 4f metal that act cooperatively. The mechanism of catalysis has been corroborated via NMR, electron paramagnetic resonance, and UV-vis. The present work demonstrates for the first time the successful use of 3d/4f CCs as efficient and high diastereoselective catalysts in MA reactions.

Kinetic Resolution of 2-Substituted Indolines by N-Sulfonylation using an Atropisomeric 4-DMAP-N-oxide Organocatalyst.

The first catalytic kinetic resolution by N-sulfonylation is described. 2-Substituted indolines are resolved (s=2.6-19) using an atropisomeric 4-dimethylaminopyridine-N-oxide (4-DMAP-N-oxide) organocatalyst. Use of 2-isopropyl-4-nitrophenylsulfonyl chloride is critical to the stereodiscrimination and enables facile deprotection of the sulfonamide products with thioglycolic acid. A qualitative model that accounts for the stereodiscrimination is proposed.

Diels-Alder Reactions of α-Amido Acrylates with N-Cbz-1,2-dihydropyridine and Cyclopentadiene.

Thermal Diels-Alder reactions of α-amido acrylates with N-Cbz-1,2-dihydropyridine and cyclopentadiene have been explored to investigate the factors influencing the endo/exo selectivity. For the dihydropyridine, steric factors allowed the diastereoselectivity to be modulated to favor either endo- or exo-ester adducts. For cyclopentadiene, the endo-ester adducts were favored regardless of steric perturbation, although catalysis by bulky Lewis acids increased the proportion of exo-ester adducts in some cases. These Lewis acids were incompatible with the dihydropyridine diene as they induced its decomposition.

Preclinical evaluation of a CXCR4-specific (68)Ga-labelled TN14003 derivative for cancer PET imaging.

Molecular imaging is an ideal platform for non-invasive detection and assessment of cancer. In recent years, the targeted imaging of CXCR4, a chemokine receptor that has been associated with tumour metastasis, has become an area of intensive research. In our pursuit of a CXCR4-specific radiotracer, we designed and synthesised a novel derivative of the CXCR4 peptidic antagonist TN14003, CCIC16, which is amenable to radiolabelling by chelation with a range of PET and SPECT radiometals, such as (68)Ga, (64)Cu and (111)In as well as (18)F (Al(18)F). Potent in vitro binding affinity and inhibition of signalling-dependent cell migration by unlabelled CCIC16 were confirmed by a threefold uptake in CXCR4-over-expressing cells compared to their isogenic counterparts. Furthermore, in vivo experiments demonstrated the favourable pharmacokinetic properties of the (68)Ga-labelled tracer (68)Ga-CCIC16, along with its CXCR4-specific accumulation in tissues with desirable contrast (tumour-to-muscle ratio: 9.5). The specificity of our tracer was confirmed by blocking experiments. Taking into account the attractive intrinsic PET imaging properties of (68)Ga, the comprehensive preclinical evaluation presented here suggests that (68)Ga-CCIC16 is a promising PET tracer for the specific imaging of CXCR4-expressing tumours.

Bioorthogonal chemistry for (68) Ga radiolabelling of DOTA-containing compounds.

Copper-catalysed 'click' chemistry is a highly utilised technique for radiolabelling small molecules and peptides for imaging applications. The usefulness of these reactions falls short, however, when metal catalysis is not a practically viable route; such as when using metal chelates as radioligands. Here, we describe a method for carrying out 'click-type' radiochemistry in the presence of DOTA chelates, by combining (68) Ga radiolabelling techniques with well-established bioorthogonal reactions, which do not rely upon metal catalysis.

Synthesis of a new fluorine-18 glycosylated 'click' cyanoquinoline for the imaging of epidermal growth factor receptor.

This study reports the radiosynthesis of a new fluorine-18 glycosylated 'click' cyanoquinoline [(18) F]5 for positron emission tomography imaging of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR). The tracer was obtained in 47.7 ± 7.5% (n = 3) decay-corrected radiochemical yield from 2-[(18) F]fluoro-2-deoxy-ß-d-glucopyranosyl azide, and the overall nondecay-corrected radiochemical yield from aqueous fluoride was 8.6 ± 2.3% (n = 3). An in vitro preliminary cellular uptake study showed selectivity of the tracer for EGFR-positive A431 cell lines versus EGFR-negative MCF-7 cell lines. [(18) F]5 tracer uptake in A431 cells was significantly reduced by addition of the cold isotope analogue compound 5.

Enantioselective Phase-Transfer-Catalyzed Synthesis of Spirocyclic Azetidine Oxindoles.

Spiro-3,2'-azetidine oxindoles combine two independently important pharmacophores in an understudied spirocyclic motif that is attractive for medicinal chemistry. Here, the enantioselective synthesis of these structures is achieved in up to 2:98 er through intramolecular C-C bond formation, involving activation of the substrate with a novel SF5-containing chiral cation phase-transfer (PT) catalyst. The products are readily elaborated/deprotected to afford medicinally relevant enantioenriched compounds. Control experiments suggest an interfacial PT mechanism, whereby catalytic asymmetric induction is achieved through the activation of the chloride leaving group.

Improving the accuracy of computed 13C NMR shift predictions by specific environment error correction: fragment referencing.

The accuracy of both Gauge-including atomic orbital (GIAO) and continuous set of gauge transformations (CSGT) (13)C NMR spectra prediction by Density Functional Theory (DFT) at the B3LYP/6-31G** level is shown to be usefully enhanced by employing a 'fragment referencing' method for predicting chemical shifts without recourse to empirical scaling. Fragment referencing refers to a process of reducing the error in calculating a particular NMR shift by consulting a similar molecule for which the error in the calculation is easily deduced. The absolute accuracy of the chemical shifts predicted when employing fragment referencing relative to conventional techniques (e.g., using TMS or MeOH/benzene dual referencing) is demonstrated to be improved significantly for a range of substrates, which illustrates the superiority of the technique particularly for systems with similar chemical shifts arising from different chemical environments. The technique is particularly suited to molecules of relatively low molecular weight containing 'non-standard' magnetic environments, e.g., α to halogen atoms, which are poorly predicted by other methods. The simplicity and speed of the technique mean that it can be employed to resolve routine structural assignment problems that require a degree of accuracy not provided by standard incremental or hierarchically ordered spherical description of environment (HOSE) algorithms. The approach is also demonstrated to be applicable when employing the MP2 method at 6-31G**, cc-pVDZ, aug-cc-pVDZ, and cc-pVTZ levels, although none of these offer advantage in terms of accuracy of prediction over the B3LYP/6-31G** DFT method.

Bioorthogonal chemistry for pre-targeted molecular imaging--progress and prospects.

The aim of this perspective is to critically review the three most prominent bioorthogonal reactions that are used presently, on both a purely chemical level and in the context of biological systems. This includes the uses both for synthesis of therapeutic molecules, modification of large biomolecules or antibodies, and in particular, the exciting use in the field of 'pre-targeting', for both possible treatment and imaging technologies. We will compare the validity of each reaction when compared to others, and their usefulness in biological systems, as each methodology has clear advantages over the others in differing environments.

Towards the enantioselective synthesis of (-)-euonyminol--preparation of a fully functionalised lower-rim model.

The development of a stereoselective total synthesis of ß-dihydroagarofuran 4 is described. This compound contains the same oxygenation pattern on its 'lower-rim' as found in the natural sesquiterpene (-)-euonyminol (1) and it is expected that the route described should be applicable to the synthesis of that complex natural product. (-)-Euonyminol is found as the core scaffold of a series of complex macrodilactone sesquiterpenoids isolated from the Celastraceae which possess interesting biological activities (e.g. anti-HIV activity). The synthetic route builds upon an epoxidative asymmetric desymmetrisation of meso-diallylic alcohol 10 that we have reported previously. It features a lactate Ireland-Claisen rearrangement to establish the quaternary stereocentre at C11 (27→28a) and an unusual dealkylative intramolecular epoxide-opening by the C11 methyl ether to establish the tetrahydrofuranyl C-ring of the ß-dihydroagarofuran skeleton (35→36).

Scavenging strategy for specific activity improvement: application to a new CXCR4-specific cyclopentapeptide positron emission tomography tracer.

Huisgen cycloaddition is attractive to label peptide because of its rapidity and bioorthogonality. However, for larger tracers, the physico-chemical differences between the precursor and the tracer are usually insufficient to allow their separation by HPLC, reducing the specific activity. This is of importance for peptidic tracers because the combination of their high-affinity receptor with low specific activity results in the precursor saturating the receptors, causing non-specific tracer binding. Here, we report a fast, one-pot, general strategy to circumvent this issue, yielding a tracer of improved specific activity. It consists in adding a lipophilic azide after the labeling step to scavenge unreacted precursor into a more lipophilic species that does not co-elute with the tracer. We applied this strategy to a new fluorinated cyclopentapeptidic CXCR4 antagonist for the PET imaging of cancer, CCIC15, for which we managed to reduce the apparent peptide concentration by a factor of 34 in 10 min. This tracer was radiolabeled by click chemistry with 2-[(18) F]fluoroethylazide, yielding the tracer in 18 ± 6% (n = 5) end-of-synthesis radiochemical yields (EOS-RCY) in 1.5 h from [(18) F]fluoride with a specific activity of 19.4 GBq µmol(-1) . Preliminary biological evaluation of the probe confirmed potency and specificity for CXCR4; further biological evaluation is underway.

Structural assignment of a bis-cyclopentenyl-ß-cyanohydrin formed via alkene metathesis from either a triene or a tetraene precursor.

The identity of the major product of Ru-catalysed alkene metathesis of two polyene substrates has been determined using density functional theory (DFT) NMR prediction, a (1)H-(1)H Total Correlated Spectroscopy (TOCSY) NMR experiment and ultimately by single-crystal X-ray crystallography. The substrates were designed as those that would potentially allow expedient access to the trans-decalin skeleton of the natural product (-)-euonyminol, but the product was found to be a bis-cyclopentenyl-ß-cyanohydrin [1-(1-hydroxycyclopent-3-en-1-yl)cyclopent-3-ene-1-carbonitrile, C11H13NO] rather than the trans-2,3,6,7-dehydrodecalin-ß-cyanohydrin.

Differential effects of mutations of POPDC proteins on heteromeric interaction and membrane trafficking.

The Popeye domain containing (POPDC) genes encode sarcolemma-localized cAMP effector proteins. Mutations in blood vessel epicardial substance (BVES) also known as POPDC1 and POPDC2 have been associated with limb-girdle muscular dystrophy and cardiac arrhythmia. Muscle biopsies of affected patients display impaired membrane trafficking of both POPDC isoforms. Biopsy material of patients carrying mutations in BVES were immunostained with POPDC antibodies. The interaction of POPDC proteins was investigated by co-precipitation, proximity ligation, bioluminescence resonance energy transfer and bimolecular fluorescence complementation. Site-directed mutagenesis was utilised to map the domains involved in protein-protein interaction. Patients carrying a novel homozygous variant, BVES (c.547G > T, p.V183F) displayed only a skeletal muscle pathology and a mild impairment of membrane trafficking of both POPDC isoforms. In contrast, variants such as BVES p.Q153X or POPDC2 p.W188X were associated with a greater impairment of membrane trafficking. Co-transfection analysis in HEK293 cells revealed that POPDC proteins interact with each other through a helix-helix interface located at the C-terminus of the Popeye domain. Site-directed mutagenesis of an array of ultra-conserved hydrophobic residues demonstrated that some of them are required for membrane trafficking of the POPDC1-POPDC2 complex. Mutations in POPDC proteins that cause an impairment in membrane localization affect POPDC complex formation while mutations which leave protein-protein interaction intact likely affect some other essential function of POPDC proteins.

Theoretical prediction of selectivity in kinetic resolution of secondary alcohols catalyzed by chiral DMAP derivatives.

The mechanism of esterification of the secondary alcohol 1-(1-naphthyl)ethanol 9 by isobutyric anhydride catalyzed by 4-pyrrolidinopyridine (PPY, 11) and a series of single enantiomer atropisomeric 4-dialkylaminopyridines 8a-g has been studied computationally at the B3LYP/6-311+G(d,p)//B3LYP/6-31G(d) level. Comparison of the levels of enantioselectivity predicted computationally with the results obtained experimentally allowed the method to be validated. The value of the approach is demonstrated by the successful prediction that a structural modification of an aryl group within the catalyst from phenyl to 3,5-dimethylphenyl would lead to improved levels of selectivity in this type of kinetic resolution (KR) reaction, as was subsequently verified following synthesis and evaluation of this catalyst (8d). Experimentally, the selectivity of this type of KR is found to exhibit a significant deuterium isotope effect (for 9 vs d(1)-9).