Enantioselective Michael addition of 3-hydroxy-2-pyridone to nitroolefins using cinchona-derived bifunctional organocatalysts.

Despite the extensive use of N-heteroarenes in pharmaceuticals and natural products, efficient methods for selective alkylation at the C-4 position of 2-pyridone are scarce. We developed an enantioselective Michael addition of 3-hydroxy-2-pyridone to nitroolefins at the C-4 position using cinchona-derived bifunctional squaramide organocatalysts, achieving up to 95% yield and >99% ee. This selectivity is driven by the bifunctional organocatalysts' hydrogen bonding interactions with 3-hydroxy-2-pyridone and nitroolefins under mild conditions. This method demonstrates the Michael reaction's versatility with various nitroolefins, providing a sustainable approach for synthesizing chiral N-heteroarenes with high enantioselectivity and regioselectivity under environmentally friendly conditions.

Enantioselective Synthesis of (R)-Sitagliptin via Phase-Transfer Catalytic aza-Michael Addition.

The highly enantioselective synthesis of (R)-sitagliptin has been achieved through a series of key steps, including the aza-Michael addition and Baeyer-Villiger oxidation. The enantioselective aza-Michael addition involved the reaction of tert-butyl ß-naphthylmethoxycarbamate with (E)-1-(4-methoxyphenyl)-4-(2,4,5-trifluorophenyl)but-2-en-1-one, utilizing a quinine-derived C(9)-urea ammonium catalyst under phase-transfer catalytic conditions. The aza-Michael addition successfully introduced chirality to the amine in (R)-sitagliptin with 96% ee. The subsequent Baeyer-Villiger oxidation of the aza-Michael adduct led to the formation of 4-methoxyphenyl ester. Hydrolysis and amide coupling were then employed to construct the amide moiety. Further deprotections were performed to complete the synthesis of (R)-sitagliptin (7 steps, 41%, 96% ee).

Asymmetric Phase-Transfer Catalytic aza-Michael Addition to Cyclic Enone: Highly Enantioselective and Diastereoselective Synthesis of Cyclic 1,3-Aminoalcohols.

The highly enantioselective aza-Michael reaction of tert-butyl ß-naphthylmethoxycarbamate to cyclic enones has been accomplished by using a new cinchona alkaloid derived C(9)-urea ammonium catalyst under phase-transfer catalysis conditions with up to 98% ee at 0 °C. The resulting aza-Michael adducts can be converted to versatile intermediates by selective deprotection and the cyclic 1,3-aminoalcohols by diastereoselective reduction with up to 32:1, which have been widely used as important pharmacophores in pharmaceutical development.

Synthesis and biological activity of selenopsammaplin A and its analogues as antitumor agents with DOT1L inhibitory activity.

Disruptor of telomeric silencing-1 like (DOT1L) is a histone H3 methyltransferase which specifically catalyzes the methylation of histone H3 lysine-79 residue. Recent findings demonstrate that DOT1L is abnormally overexpressed and the upregulated DOT1L evokes the proliferation and metastasis in human breast cancer cells. Therefore, the DOT1L inhibitor is considered a promising strategy to treat breast cancers. Non-nucleoside DOT1L inhibitors, selenopsammaplin A and its analogues, were firstly reported in the present study. Selenopsammaplin A was newly designed and synthesized with 25% overall yield in 8 steps from 3-bromo-4-hydroxybenzaldahyde, and thirteen analogues of selenopsammaplin A were prepared for structure-activity relationship studies of their cytotoxicity against cancer cells and inhibitory activity toward DOT1L for antitumor potential. All synthetic selenopsammaplin A analogues exhibited the higher cytotoxicity compared to psammaplin A with up to 6 - 60 times depending on cancer cells, and most analogues showed significant inhibitory activities against DOT1L. Among the prepared analogues, the phenyl analogue (10) possessed the most potent activity with both cytotoxicity and inhibition of DOT1L. Compound 10 also exhibited the antitumor and antimetastatic activity in an orthotopic mouse metastasis model implanted with MDA-MB-231 human breast cancer cells. These biological findings suggest that analogue 10 is a promising candidate for development as a cancer chemotherapeutic agent in breast cancers.

Enantioselective Total Synthesis of Nitraria Alkaloids: (+)-Nitramine, (+)-Isonitramine, (-)-Isonitramine, and (-)-Sibirine via Asymmetric Phase-Transfer Catalytic α-Allylations of α-Carboxylactams.

Many optically active 2-azaspirocyclic structures have frequently been found in biologically active natural products. In particular, Nitraria alkaloids, (+)-nitramine, (+)-isonitramine, (-)-isonitramine, and (-)-sibirine, have stereogenicity on their quaternary carbon of the 2-azaspiro[5,5]undecane-7-ol structure. To synthesize Nitraria alkaloids, we developed a new enantioselective synthetic method for chiral α-quaternary lactams via the α-alkylation of α-tert-butoxycarbonyl lactams. α-Alkylation of α-tert-butoxycarboxylactams in the circumstances of phase-transfer catalytic (PTC) system (solid KOH, toluene, and -40 °C) by virtue of the catalytic action of (S,S)-NAS bromide (5 mol %) furnished the corresponding α-alkyl-α-tert-butoxycarbonyl lactams in very high chemical (<99%) and enantioselectivity (<98% ee). Our catalytic methodology was successfully applied for the enantioselective total synthesis of Nitraria alkaloids. (+)-Isonitramine was obtained in 12 steps (98% ee, 43% yield) from δ-valerolactam through enantioselective phase-transfer catalytic allylation, Dieckmann condensation, and diastereoselective reduction as the key reactions. (-)-Sibirine and (+)-nitramine were prepared from (-)-isonitramine or its intermediate. Switching the phase-transfer catalyst from (S,S)-NAS bromide to (R,R)-NAS bromide afforded (-)-isonitramine (98% ee, 41% yield). (-)-Sibirine was synthesized by N-ethoxycarbonylation of (-)-isonitramine followed by reduction (98% ee, 14 steps, 32% yield). Furthermore, the diastereoselective reduction of (R)-2-benzhydryl-2-azaspiro[5.5]undecane-1,7-dione [(R)-15] followed by reductive removal of the diphenylmethyl group successfully gave (+)-nitramine (98% ee, 11 steps, 40% yield).

Enantioselective Synthesis of (+)-Coerulescine by a Phase-Transfer Catalytic Allylation of Diphenylmethyl tert-Butyl α-(2-Nitrophenyl)Malonate.

A 7-step enantioselective synthetic method for preparing (S)(+)-coerulescine is reported through the use of diphenylmethyl tert-butyl α-(2-nitrophenyl)malonate (16% overall yield, >99% ee). Allylation is the key step under phase-transfer catalytic conditions (86% ee). This synthetic method can be used as a practical route for the synthesis of various derivatives of (S)(+)-coerulescine for analyzing its structure-activity relationships against its biological activities.