Development of Allosteric Small Molecule APOBEC3B Inhibitors from In Silico Screening.

APOBEC3B cytosine deaminase contributes to the mutational burdens of tumors, resulting in tumor progression and therapy resistance. Small molecule APOBEC3B inhibitors have potential to slow or mitigate these detrimental outcomes. Through molecular dynamics (MD) simulations and computational solvent mapping analysis, we identified a novel putative allosteric pocket on the C-terminal domain of APOBEC3B (A3Bctd), and virtually screened the ChemBridge Diversity Set (N~110,000) against both the active and potential allosteric sites. Selected high-scoring compounds were subsequently purchased, characterized for purity and composition, and tested in biochemical assays, which yielded 13 hit compounds. Orthogonal NMR assays verified binding to the target protein. Initial selectivity studies suggest these compounds preferentially target A3Bctd over related deaminase APOBEC3A (A3A), and MD simulations indicate this selectivity may be due to the steric repulsion from H56 that is unique to A3A. Taken together, our studies represent the first virtual screening effort against A3Bctd that has yielded candidate inhibitors suitable for further development.

Gold Catalysts Can Generate Nitrone Intermediates from a Nitrosoarene/Alkene Mixture, Enabling Two Distinct Catalytic Reactions: A Nitroso-Activated Cycloheptatriene/Benzylidene Rearrangement.

Gold-catalyzed reactions of cycloheptatrienes with nitrosoarenes yield nitrone derivatives efficiently. This reaction sequence enables us to develop gold-catalyzed aerobic oxidations of cycloheptatrienes to afford benzaldehyde derivatives using CuCl and nitrosoarenes as co-catalysts (10-30 mol %). Our density functional theory calculations support a novel nitroso-activated rearrangement, tropylium → benzylidene. With the same nitrosoarenes, we developed their gold-catalyzed [2 + 2 + 1]-annulations between nitrosobenzene and two enol ethers to yield 5-alkoxyisoxazolidines using 1,4-cyclohexadienes as hydrogen donors.

Gold(I)-Catalyzed Reactions between 2-(1-Alkynyl)-2-alken-1-ones and Vinyldiazo Ketones for Divergent Synthesis of Nonsymmetric Heteroaryl-Substituted Triarylmethanes: N- versus C-Attack Paths.

Gold-catalyzed synthesis of nonsymmetrical heteroaryl-substituted triarylmethanes using 2-(1-alkynyl)-2-alken-1-ones and vinyldiazo ketones is described. In this catalytic sequence, vinyldiazo ketones attack gold-containing 3-furylbenzyl cations to form the observed C(1)-addition products. We also note that vinyldiazo ketones can be thermally cyclized to yield pyrazole derivatives, which can react with 3-furylbenzyl cations to afford pyrazole-containing triarylmethanes, corresponding to a N(5)-addition path.

Gold(I)-Catalyzed Highly Diastereo- and Enantioselective Cyclization-[4+3] Annulation Cascades between 2-(1-Alkynyl)-2-alken-1-ones and Anthranils.

This work reports gold-catalyzed [4+3]-annulations of 2-(1-alkynyl)-2-alken-1-ones with anthranils to yield epoxybenzoazepine products with excellent exo-diastereoselectivity (dr>25:1). The utility of this new gold catalysis is manifested by applicable substrates over a broad scope. More importantly, the enantioselective versions of these [4+3]-cycloadditions have been developed satisfactorily with chiral gold catalysts under ambient conditions (DCM, 0 °C); the ee levels range from 88.0-99.9 %. With DFT calculations, we postulate a stepwise pathway to rationalize the preferable exo-stereoselection.

Two Distinct Ag(I)- and Au(I)-Catalyzed Olefinations between α-Diazo Esters and N-Boc-Derived Imines.

Metal-catalyzed reactions between α-diazo esters and imines were well-known to yield aziridine derivatives exclusively. This work reports two new olefination reactions between N-Boc-derived (Boc = tert-Butyloxycarbonyl) imines and α-diazo esters with Ag(I) and Au(I) catalysts, respectively. Our mechanistic studies reveal that these new olefinations involve an initial attack of diazo esters on metal/imine complexes to form Mannich-addition intermediates, which subsequently afford α-aryl-ß-aminoacrylates via a Roskamp reaction, or to form ß-aryl-ß-aminoacrylates via the formation of silver carbenes.

Gold-Catalyzed [4 + 1]-Annulation Reactions between 1,4-Diyn-3-ols and Isoxazoles To Construct a Pyrrole Core.

This work reports gold-catalyzed [4 + 1]-annulation reactions between 1,4-diyn-3-ols and isoxazoles or benzisoxazoles to yield pyrrole derivatives. The reaction chemoselectivity is controlled by an initial attack of an isoxazole at a less hindered alkyne to form gold carbenes, further inducing a 1,2-migration of a second alkyne group. A broad substrate scope of 1,4-diyn-3-ols, isoxazoles and even benzisoxazoles highlighted the reaction utility.