The ethoxycarbonyl group as both activating and protective group in N-acyl-Pictet-Spengler reactions using methoxystyrenes. A short approach to racemic 1-benzyltetrahydroisoquinoline alkaloids.
Beilstein J Org Chem
; 17: 2716-2725, 2021.
Article
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| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-34804241
ABSTRACT
We present a systematic investigation on an improved variant of the N-acyl-Pictet-Spengler condensation for the synthesis of 1-benzyltetrahydroisoquinolines, based on our recently published synthesis of N-methylcoclaurine, exemplified by the total syntheses of 10 alkaloids in racemic form. Major advantages are a) using ω-methoxystyrenes as convenient alternatives to arylacetaldehydes, and b) using the ethoxycarbonyl residue for both activating the arylethylamine precursors for the cyclization reaction, and, as a significant extension, also as protective group for phenolic residues. After ring closure, the ethoxycarbonyl-protected phenols are deprotected simultaneously with the further processing of the carbamate group, either following route A (lithium alanate reduction) to give N-methylated phenolic products, or following route B (treatment with excess methyllithium) to give the corresponding alkaloids with free N-H function. This dual use of the ethoxycarbonyl group shortens the synthetic routes to hydroxylated 1-benzyltetrahydroisoquinolines significantly. Not surprisingly, these ten alkaloids did not show noteworthy effects on TPC2 cation channels and the tumor cell line VCR-R CEM, and did not exhibit P-glycoprotein blocking activity. But due to their free phenolic groups they can serve as valuable intermediates for novel derivatives addressing all of these targets, based on previous evidence for structure-activity relationships in this chemotype.
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MEDLINE
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Beilstein J Org Chem
Ano de publicação:
2021
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Article
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Alemanha