Chagosensine: A Riddle Wrapped in a Mystery Inside an Enigma.

The marine macrolide chagosensine is supposedly distinguished by a (Z,Z)-configured 1,3-chlorodiene contained within a highly strained 16-membered lactone ring, which also incorporates two trans-2,5-disubstituted tetrahydrofuran (THF) rings; this array is unique. After our initial synthesis campaign had shown that the originally proposed structure is incorrect, the published data set was critically revisited to identify potential mis-assignments. The "northern" THF ring and the anti-configured diol in the "southern" sector both seemed to be sites of concern, thus making it plausible that a panel of eight diastereomeric chagosensine-like compounds would allow the puzzle to be solved. To meet the challenge, the preparation of the required building blocks was optimized, and a convergent strategy for their assembly was developed. A key role was played by the cobalt-catalyzed oxidative cyclization of alken-5-ol derivatives ("Mukaiyama cyclization"), which is shown to be exquisitely chemoselective for terminal alkenes, leaving even terminal alkynes (and other sites of unsaturation) untouched. Likewise, a palladium-catalyzed alkyne alkoxycarbonylation reaction with formation of an α-methylene-γ-lactone proved instrumental, which had not found application in natural product synthesis before. Further enabling steps were a nickel-catalyzed "Tamaru-type" homocrotylation, stereodivergent aldehyde homologations, radical hydroindation, and palladium-catalyzed alkyne-1,2-bis-stannation. The different building blocks were assembled in a serial fashion to give the idiosyncratic chlorodienes by an unprecedented site-selective Stille coupling followed by copper-mediated tin/chlorine exchange. The macrolactones were closed under forcing Yamaguchi conditions, and the resulting products were elaborated into the targeted compound library. Yet, only one of the eight diastereomers turned out to be stable in the solvent mixture that had been used to analyze the natural product; all other isomers were prone to ring opening and/or ring expansion. In addition to this stability issue, our self-consistent data set suggests that chagosensine has almost certainly little to do with the structure originally proposed by the isolation team.

Discovery and characterization of highly potent and selective allosteric USP7 inhibitors.

Given the importance of ubiquitin-specific protease 7 (USP7) in oncogenic pathways, identification of USP7 inhibitors has attracted considerable interest. Despite substantial efforts, however, the development of validated deubiquitinase (DUB) inhibitors that exhibit drug-like properties and a well-defined mechanism of action has proven particularly challenging. In this article, we describe the identification, optimization and detailed characterization of highly potent (IC50 < 10 nM), selective USP7 inhibitors together with their less active, enantiomeric counterparts. We also disclose, for the first time, co-crystal structures of a human DUB enzyme complexed with small-molecule inhibitors, which reveal a previously undisclosed allosteric binding site. Finally, we report the identification of cancer cell lines hypersensitive to USP7 inhibition (EC50 < 30 nM) and demonstrate equal or superior activity in these cell models compared to clinically relevant MDM2 antagonists. Overall, these findings demonstrate the tractability and druggability of DUBs, and provide important tools for additional target validation studies.

Total Synthesis of Putative Chagosensine.

The marine macrolide chagosensine is the only natural product known to date that embodies a Z,Z-configured chloro-1,3-diene unit. This distinguishing substructure was prepared by a sequence of palladium-catalyzed 1,2-distannation of an alkyne precursor, regioselective Stille cross-coupling at the terminus of the resulting bisstannyl alkene with an elaborated alkenyl iodide, followed by chloro-destannation of the remaining internal site. The preparation of the required substrates centered on cobalt-catalyzed oxidative cyclization reactions of hydroxylated olefin precursors, which allowed the 2,5-trans-disubstituted tetrahydrofuran rings, embedded into each building block, to be formed with excellent selectivity. The highly strained macrolactone could ultimately be closed under forcing Yamaguchi conditions. Comparison of the spectral data of the synthetic sample with those of authentic chagosensine methyl ester confirmed that the structure of this intriguing compound has been mis-assigned by the isolation team.

C-H Cyanation of 6-Ring N-Containing Heteroaromatics.

Heteroaromatic nitriles are important compounds in drug discovery, both for their prevalence in the clinic and due to the diverse range of transformations they can undergo. As such, efficient and reliable methods to access them have the potential for far-reaching impact across synthetic chemistry and the biomedical sciences. Herein, we report an approach to heteroaromatic C-H cyanation through triflic anhydride activation, nucleophilic addition of cyanide, followed by elimination of trifluoromethanesulfinate to regenerate the cyanated heteroaromatic ring. This one-pot protocol is simple to perform, is applicable to a broad range of decorated 6-ring N-containing heterocycles, and has been shown to be suitable for late-stage functionalization of complex drug-like architectures.

5-Amino-2-pyridyl 1-thioglycosides in synthesis of analogs of glycosyltransferases substrates.

We present the synthesis of 1-thioglycosyl derivatives of uridine, which were designed to act as potential donor substrates for glycosyltransferases. We constructed such analogs using 5-amino-2-pyridyl 1-thioglycosides as glycosyl units which were connected to uridine via succinic linker. For preparation of the amide bonds we applied different condensation procedures.

Identification and Structure-Guided Development of Pyrimidinone Based USP7 Inhibitors.

Ubiquitin specific protease 7 (USP7, HAUSP) has become an attractive target in drug discovery due to the role it plays in modulating Mdm2 levels and consequently p53. Increasing interest in USP7 is emerging due to its potential involvement in oncogenic pathways as well as possible roles in both metabolic and immune disorders in addition to viral infections. Potent, novel, and selective inhibitors of USP7 have been developed using both rational and structure-guided design enabled by high-resolution cocrystallography. Initial hits were identified via fragment-based screening, scaffold-hopping, and hybridization exercises. Two distinct subseries are described along with associated structure-activity relationship trends, as are initial efforts aimed at developing compounds suitable for in vivo experiments. Overall, these discoveries will enable further research into the wider biological role of USP7.

Direct sulfonylation of anilines mediated by visible light.

Sulfones feature prominently in biologically active molecules and are key functional groups for organic synthesis. We report a mild, photoredox-catalyzed reaction for sulfonylation of aniline derivatives with sulfinate salts, and demonstrate the utility of the method by the late-stage functionalization of drugs. Key features of the method are the straightforward generation of sulfonyl radicals from bench-stable sulfinate salts and the use of simple aniline derivatives as convenient readily available coupling partners.

A new mild method for the C-acylation of ketone enolates. A convenient synthesis of ß-keto-esters, -thionoesters, and -thioesters.

A new method for ketone enolate C-acylation is described which utilizes alkyl pentafluorophenylcarbonates, thiocarbonates, and thionocarbonates as the reactive acylating agents, and MgBr(2)·Et(2)O, DMAP, and i-Pr(2)NEt as the reagents for enolization. A wide range of ketones have been observed to undergo clean C-acylation via this protocol.

A new stereocontrolled synthetic route to (-)-echinosporin from D-glucose via Padwa allenylsulfone [3 + 2]-anionic cycloadditive elimination.

A new formal total synthesis of (-)-echinosporin has been developed based upon the Padwa [3 + 2]-cycloadditive elimination reaction of allenylsulfone 4 with the D-glucose-derived enone 14 which provides cycloadduct 12.