Total syntheses and biological reassessment of lactimidomycin, isomigrastatin and congener glutarimide antibiotics.

Lactimidomycin (1) was described in the literature as an exquisitely potent cell migration inhibitor. Encouraged by this claim, we developed a concise and scalable synthesis of this bipartite glutarimide-macrolide antibiotic, which relies on the power of ring-closing alkyne metathesis (RCAM) for the formation of the unusually strained 12-membered head group. Subsequent deliberate digression from the successful path to 1 also brought the sister compound isomigrastatin (2) as well as a series of non-natural analogues of these macrolides into reach. A careful biological re-evaluation of this compound collection showed 1 and progeny to be potently cytotoxic against a panel of cancer cell lines, even after one day of compound exposure; therefore any potentially specific effects on tumor cell migration were indistinguishable from the acute effect of cell death. No significant cell migration inhibition was observed at sub-toxic doses. Although these findings cannot be reconciled with some reports in the literature, they are in accord with the notion that lactimidomycin is primarily a ribosome-binder able to effectively halt protein biosynthesis at the translation stage.

Concise total synthesis of the potent translation and cell migration inhibitor lactimidomycin.

An efficient total synthesis of the antiproliferative macrolide and cell migration inhibitor lactimidomycin (3) is reported, which relies on the performance of ring closing alkyne metathesis (RCAM). The strained 12-membered 1,3-enyne 21 as the key intermediate was forged with the aid of [(Ph(3)SiO)(3)Mo≡CPh]·OEt(2) (27) as the most effective member of a new generation of powerful alkyne metathesis catalysts. 21 was elaborated to the target by a ruthenium catalyzed trans-hydrosilylation/proto-desilylation sequence and a highly diastereoselective Mukaiyama aldol reaction controlled by oxazaborolidinone 29 as strategic operations.

Chemoselective catalysis with organosoluble Lewis acidic polyoxotungstates.

The preparation of new organosoluble Lewis acidic polyoxometalates (POMs) is reported. These complexes were prepared by the incorporation of Zr, Sc, and Y atoms into the corresponding monolacunary Dawson [P(2)W(17)O(61)](10-) and Keggin [PW(11)O(39)](7-) polyoxotungstates. The catalytic activity of these compounds was evaluated for C-C bond formation in the Diels-Alder, Mannich, and Mukaiyama-type reactions. Comparisons with previously described Lewis acidic POMs are reported. Competitive reactions between imines and aldehydes or between various imines demonstrated that fine tuning of the reactivity could be reached by varying the metal atom incorporated into the polyanionic framework. A series of experiments that employed pyridine derivatives allowed us to distinguish between the Lewis and induced Brønsted acidity of the POMs. These catalysts activate imines in a Lewis acidic way, whereas aldehydes are activated by indirect Brønsted catalysis.

Chiral recognition of hybrid metal oxide by peptides.

Resolution of gram quantities of a subtly chiral polyoxometalate (POM; the chirality originates from substitution of one metal in the nanosized framework) is possible by reaction with small peptides. Functionalizable acyl polyoxotungstate (TBA)(6)[alpha(1)-P(2)W(17)O(61){SnCH(2)CH(2)C(=O)}] (see picture) can be resolved by kinetic resolution. This approach paves the way for applications of chiral POMs ranging from asymmetric catalysis to their bioactivity.

Regioselective activation of oxo ligands in functionalized dawson polyoxotungstates.

The organic side chain of tin-substituted Dawson polyoxotungstates alpha1- and alpha2-[P2W17O61{SnCH2CH2COOH}]7- can be used to direct regioselective acylations of oxo ligands in the inorganic backbone, which was examined both experimentally and computationally. Acylation of the oxo ligand gave exalted electrophilicity to the acyl moiety, and the compounds that were obtained led to direct ligation of POMs to complex organic molecules.

A general strategy for ligation of organic and biological molecules to Dawson and Keggin polyoxotungstates.

The copper-catalyzed azide/alkyne cycloaddition (click chemistry) is used for the first time in polyoxometalate chemistry to graft any kind of organics (lipophilic, water-soluble, biologically relevant) to polyoxotungstates to generate hybrids. The method is not limited by solvent matching between the polyoxometallic platforms and the organic substrates.

Exploring the utility of organo-polyoxometalate hybrids to inhibit SOX transcription factors.

BACKGROUND: SOX transcription factors constitute an attractive target class for intervention with small molecules as they play a prominent role in the field of regenerative biomedicine and cancer biology. However, rationally engineering specific inhibitors that interfere with transcription factor DNA interfaces continues to be a monumental challenge in the field of transcription factor chemical biology. Polyoxometalates (POMs) are inorganic compounds that were previously shown to target the high-mobility group (HMG) of SOX proteins at nanomolar concentrations. In continuation of this work, we carried out an assessment of the selectivity of a panel of newly synthesized organo-polyoxometalate hybrids in targeting different transcription factor families to enable the usage of polyoxometalates as specific SOX transcription factor drugs. RESULTS: The residual DNA-binding activities of 15 different transcription factors were measured after treatment with a panel of diverse polyoxometalates. Polyoxometalates belonging to the Dawson structural class were found to be more potent inhibitors than the Keggin class. Further, organically modified Dawson polyoxometalates were found to be the most potent in inhibiting transcription factor DNA binding activity. The size of the polyoxometalates and its derivitization were found to be the key determinants of their potency. CONCLUSION: Polyoxometalates are highly potent, nanomolar range inhibitors of the DNA binding activity of the Sox-HMG family. However, binding assays involving a limited subset of structurally diverse polyoxometalates revealed a low selectivity profile against different transcription factor families. Further progress in achieving selectivity and deciphering structure-activity relationship of POMs require the identification of POM binding sites on transcription factors using elaborate approaches like X-ray crystallography and multidimensional NMR. In summary, our report reaffirms that transcription factors are challenging molecular architectures and that future polyoxometalate chemistry must consider further modification strategies, to address the substantial challenges involved in achieving target selectivity.

Increased Lewis acidity in hafnium-substituted polyoxotungstates.

Monolacunary polyoxotungstates [alpha(1)-P(2)W(17)O(61)](10-) and [alpha-PW(11)O(39)](7-) react with HfCl(4) to yield [alpha(1)-HfP(2)W(17)O(61)](6-) and [alpha-Hf(OH)PW(11)O(39)](4-), isolated as organo-soluble tetrabutylammonium (TBA) salts. Subsequent analyses, including mass spectrometry, show that they are stronger Lewis acids than (TBA)(5)H(2)[alpha(1)-YbP(2)W(17)O(61)]. The new polyoxotungstates catalyze Lewis acid mediated organic reactions, such as Mukaiyama aldol and Mannich-type additions. In particular, reactions with aldehydes, which were impossible with lanthanide polyoxotungstates, are made possible. Thus these modifications of the polyoxometalate composition allowed fine tuning of the Lewis acidity. The catalysts could be easily recovered and reused.