Total Synthesis of Natural Hyacinthacine C5 and Six Related Hyacinthacine C5 Epimers.

The total synthesis of natural (+)-hyacinthacine C5 was achieved, which allowed correction of its initially proposed structure, as well as six additional hyacinthacine C-type compounds. These compounds were readily accessible from two epimeric anti-1,2-amino alcohols. Keeping a common A-ring configuration, chemical manipulation occurred selectively on the B-ring of the hyacinthacine C-type products through methods of syn-dihydroxylation, SN2 ring-opening of a cyclic sulfate, and also employing either ( R)- or ( R, S)-α-methylallyl amine for the Petasis borono Mannich reaction. Our small analogue library was then assessed for its glycosidase inhibitory potency against a panel of glycosidases. (-)-6- Epi-hyacinthacine C5 and (+)-7- epi-hyacinthacine C5 (compound names are based on the corrected structure of hyacinthacine C5) proved most active, with inhibitory activities ranging between weak (IC50 = 130 µM) and moderate (IC50 = 9.9 µM) against the α-glucosidases of rat intestinal maltase, isomaltase, and sucrase, thus identifying potential new leads for future antidiabetic drug development.

Total synthesis of hyacinthacines B3, B4, and B5 and purported hyacinthacine B7, 7-epi-hyacinthacine B7, and 7a-epi-hyacinthacine B3 from a common precursor.

The total synthesis of hyacinthacines B3, B4, and B5 and purported hyacinthacine B7, 7-epi-hyacinthacine B7, and 7a-epi-hyacinthacine B3 from a common anti-1,2-amino alcohol precursor is described. These syntheses confirmed that the proposed structures and absolute configurations of hyacinthacines B3, B4, and B5 were correct and disclosed that the proposed structure of hyacinthacine B7 was incorrect. Our synthetic and spectroscopic studies suggest that the natural hyacinthacines B5 and B7 are the same compounds; however, without access to authentic samples this cannot be unequivocally proven.