Catalysis of Radical Cyclizations from Alkyl Iodides under H2: Evidence for Electron Transfer from [CpV(CO)3H].

Radical cyclizations are most often achieved with Bu3SnH in the presence of a radical initiator, but environmental considerations demand that alternative reagents be developed-ones that can serve as a synthetic equivalent to the hydrogen atom. We have revisited [CpV(CO)3H]-, a known replacement for Bu3SnH, and found that it can be used catalytically under H2 in the presence of a base. We have carried out tin-free catalytic radical cyclizations of alkyl iodide substrates. The reactions are atom-efficient, and the conditions are mild, with broad tolerance for functional groups. We have, for example, achieved the first 5-exo radical cyclization involving attack onto a vinyl chloride. We suggest that the radicals are generated by an initial electron transfer.

Carbamoyl anion addition to nitrones.

The addition of carbamoyl anions derived from N,N-disubstituted formamides and LDA to N-tert-butyl nitrones is described. The reaction was demonstrated with a variety of formamides and nitrones and provided a direct route to α-(N-hydroxy)amino amides. The use of a tert-leucinol derived chiral auxiliary on the nitrone provided products in good diastereoselectivity. Derivatization of the products by tert-butyl deprotection or N-deoxygenation was demonstrated.

De novo macrolide-glycolipid macrolactone hybrids: Synthesis, structure and antibiotic activity of carbohydrate-fused macrocycles.

Natural product-like macrocycles were designed as potential antibacterial compounds. The macrocycles featured a D-glucose unit fused into a 12- or 13-member macrolactone. The rings are connected via the C6' and anomeric (C1') positions of the monosaccharide. The new macrocycles/macrolides were characterized by X-ray crystallography. Their structures showed that, in addition to the ester and alkene units, the dihedral angle about the glycosidic linkage (exo-anomeric effect) influenced the overall shape of the molecules. Glycosylation of an available hydroxy group on the macrocycle gave a hybrid macrolide with features common to erythromycin and sophorlipid macrolactone. Weak antibiotic activity (MICs <100 µg/mL) was observed for several of the compounds.

Discovery of a phosphine-mediated cycloisomerization of alkynyl hemiketals: access to spiroketals and dihydropyrazoles via tandem reactions.

Reported here are details on the discovery of a phosphine-catalyzed isomerization of hemiketals and subsequent reactions of the cyclic keto enol ether products. The new cycloisomerization complements a previously reported amine-catalyzed process that gave oxepinones from the same hemiketal starting materials. In the absence of functionality (R(2)) on the cyclic keto enol ether, a rapid and facile dimerization occurs, giving spiroketal products. When the enone is substituted (i.e., R(2) = Ph), the cyclic keto enol ether is sufficiently stable so that it can be isolated; it can then be further reacted in the same pot to provide the corresponding dihydropyrazoles. Both the spiroketal and dihydropyrazole products arise by a tandem reaction that begins with the novel cycloisomerization. The method allows for the rapid introduction of complexity in the products from relatively simple starting materials. It should find application in the synthesis of natural product-like molecules.

H· Transfer-Initiated Synthesis of γ-Lactams: Interpretation of Cycloisomerization and Hydrogenation Ratios.

A cobaloxime/H2 system used to synthesize valuable γ-lactams from acrylamide molecules is described. In addition to cycloisomerized lactams, linear hydrogenated products were also observed. The amounts of the hydrogenation product were observed to correlate with the bulk of the substituent on the acrylamide nitrogen. Further analysis of the product distributions with experimental and computational studies suggested that while cyclization can occur from one C=C acrylamide rotamer, hydrogenation can occur from both. This observation was further evinced through calculation of the hydrogenation rate constant, which was observed to be ca. 102 faster than previously determined for a related system using n Bu3SnH.

Post-Glycosylation Diversification (PGD): An Approach for Assembling Collections of Glycosylated Small Molecules.

Many small molecule natural products with antibiotic and antiproliferative activity are adorned with a carbohydrate residue as part of their molecular structure. The carbohydrate moiety can act to mediate key interactions with the target, attenuate physicochemical properties, or both. Facile incorporation of a carbohydrate group on de novo small molecules would enable these valuable properties to be leveraged in the evaluation of focused compound libraries. While there is no universal way to incorporate a sugar on small molecule libraries, techniques such as glycorandomization and neoglycorandomization have made signification headway toward this goal. Here, we report a new approach for the synthesis of glycosylated small molecule libraries. It puts the glycosylation early in the synthesis of library compounds. Functionalized aglycones subsequently participate in chemoselective diversification reactions distal to the carbohydrate. As a proof-of-concept, we prepared several desosaminyl glycosides from only a few starting glycosides, using click cycloadditions, acylations, and Suzuki couplings as diversification reactions. New compounds were then characterized for their inhibition of bacterial protein translation, bacterial growth, and in a T-cell activation assay.

Turning Spiroketals Inside Out: A Rearrangement Triggered by an Enol Ether Epoxidation.

Invited for this month's cover picture is the group of Professor Mark Peczuh at the University of Connecticut. The cover picture compares the rearrangement of a small molecule to the process of turning a stuffed animal inside out. The recycled, inside-out stuffed animals are both artistic and philosophically provocative. They capture the essence of the rearrangement reaction because the compounds themselves turn inside out over the course of the reaction, extending the diversity of products that can arise from simple starting materials. Small molecules often have functional groups with latent reactivity; under the appropriate conditions, those groups can react with other compounds (e.g., reagents) and also with other groups in the same molecule in an intramolecular reaction. The research team found that the epoxidation of some highly functionalized spiroketal compounds promoted rearrangements of their structures that turned them inside out. Some of the features of the products led them to use X-ray crystallography or a combination of computer-assisted structure elucidation, computation, and a new version of the 1,1-ADEQUATE NMR experiment to determine their structures. For more details, see the Communication on p. 577 ff.

Turning Spiroketals Inside Out: A Rearrangement Triggered by an Enol Ether Epoxidation.

Spiroketals organize small molecule structures into well-defined, three-dimensional configurations that make them good ligands of proteins. We recently discovered a tandem cycloisomerization-dimerization reaction of alkynyl hemiketals that delivered polycyclic, enol-ether-containing spiroketals. Here we describe rearrangements of those compounds, triggered by epoxidation of their enol ethers that completely remodel their structures, essentially turning them "inside out". Due to the high level of substitution on the carbon skeletons of the substrates and products, characterization resorted to X-ray crystallography and advanced computation and NMR techniques to solve the structures of representative compounds. In particular, a new proton-detected ADEQUATE NMR experiment (1,1-HD-ADEQUATE) enabled the unequivocal assignment of the carbon skeleton of one of the new compounds. Solution of the structures of the representative compounds allowed for the assignment of product structures for the other compounds in two separate series. Both the rearrangement and the methods used for structural determination of the products are valuable tools for the preparation of characterization of new small molecule compounds.