Stereopermutation on the Putative Structure of the Marine Natural Product Mucosin.

A stereodivergent total synthesis has been executed based on the plausibly misassigned structure of the unusual marine hydrindane mucosin (1). The topological connectivity of the four contiguous all-carbon stereocenters has been examined by selective permutation on the highlighted core. Thus, capitalizing on an unprecedented stereofacial preference of the cis-fused bicycle[4.3.0]non-3-ene system when a Michael acceptor motif is incorporated, copper-mediated conjugate addition furnished a single diastereomer. Cued by the relative relationship reported for the appendices in the natural product, the resulting anti-adduct was elaborated into a probative target structure 1*.

Microporous Molecular Materials from Dipeptides Containing Non-proteinogenic Residues.

Dipeptides with two hydrophobic side chains have proved to be an exceptional source of microporous organic materials, but since previous structures were limited to the incorporation of only proteinogenic residues, their full potential as adsorbents has remained unexplored. Single-crystal XRD data for ten new compounds with non-proteinogenic L-2-aminobutanoic acid and/or L-2-amino-pentanoic acid are presented. The gas-phase accessibility of their crystal pores, with cross-sections of 2.3 to 5.1 Å, was monitored by CO2 and CH4 adsorption isotherms. Included CO2 was also detected spectroscopically by 2D MAS NMR. An extensive conformational analysis reveals that the use of linear rather than branched side chains (such as L-valine and L-isoleucine) affords peptides with a greater degree of conformational freedom and yields more-flexible channel surfaces that may easily adapt to a series of potential guest molecules.

Synthesis and initial biological evaluation of new mimics of the LXR-modulator 22(S)-hydroxycholesterol.

The generic, synthetic oxysterol 22(S)-hydroxycholesterol (22SHC) has shown antagonistic effects towards liver X receptor (LXR) in vitro and promising effects on plasma triacylglycerol level and body weight-gain in animal studies. On the contrary, the endogenic LXR agonist 22(R)-hydroxycholesterol (22RHC) and synthetic LXR agonists convincingly have shown agonistic effects on genes involved in lipogenesis, and inhibitory effects on cell proliferation in vitro and in vivo. We hypothesized that the carbon side chain containing the hydroxyl group at the 22-position was a pharmacophore affecting these opposite effects on LXR. This prompted us to initiate a rational drug design incorporating the 22-hydroxylated 20-27 cholesterol moiety into cholesterol-mimicking building blocks. The two enantiomers of the 22-hydroxylated 20-27 cholesterol moiety were synthesized with an excellent enantiomeric excess and the stereochemistry are supported by X-ray crystallography. Molecular modelling of the new compounds showed promising LXR selectivity (LXRß over LXRα) and initial in vitro biological evaluation in human myotubes showed that compound 16b had agonistic effects on the gene expression of SCD1 and increased lipogenesis.

Redetermined structure of ß-dl-me-thio-nine at 105†K: an example of the importance of freely refining the positions of the amino-group H atoms.

Diffraction data were taken from the contribution named 'ß-dl-Me-thio-nine at 105 K' by Alagar et al. [Acta Cryst. (2005 ▶). E61, o1165-o1167]. Refinement of the coordinates of the three amino H atoms, previously constrained to an idealized geometry, shows that the amino group is in fact rotated 13.5° from the perfectly staggered orientation. This apparently modest change has a profound impact on the calculated hydrogen-bond geometries.

Redetermined crystal structure of α-dl-me-thio-nine at 340†K.

Two forms, α and ß, are known for the racemic amino acid dl-me-thio-nine, C5H11NO2S. The phase transition between them, taking place around 326 K, is associated with sliding at the central inter-faces of the hydro-phobic regions in the crystal, leaving the hydrogen-bonding pattern unperturbed. For the high-temperature α phase, only a structure of rather low quality has been available [R factor = 0.118, no H-atom coordinates; Taniguchi et al. (1980 ▶). Bull. Chem. Soc. Jpn, 53, 803-804]. We here present accurate structural data for this polymorph [R(F) = 0.049], which are compared with other related amino acid structures with similar properties. We report for the first time that the side chain of this phase has a minor disorder component [occupancy 0.0491 (18)] with a gauche+ rather than a gauche- conformation for the N-C-C-C group. In the crystal of the title compound, N-H⋯O hydrogen bonds link the mol-ecules into (100) sheets.

The polymorphs of L-phenylalanine.

The solid-state structure of the amino acid phenylalanine (Phe) offers a potential key to understanding the behavior of a large class of important aromatic compounds. Obtaining good single crystals is, however, notoriously difficult. The structure of the common polymorph of Phe, form I, was first reported by Weissbuch et al. (as D-Phe) in 1990, but the correctness of the published C2 unit cell with two disordered molecules in the asymmetric unit was later questioned and other space groups suggested. The identity of form I of L-Phe is here established to be P21 with Z'=4, based on data from a well-diffracting single crystal grown from an acetic acid solution of the amino acid. A second new polymorph, form IV, together with the two recently described forms II and III provide unprecedented information on the structural complexity of this essential amino acid. It is furthermore documented that the racemate, dl-Phe, does not grow proper single crystals.

A water wire in L-prolyl-L-serine monohydrate.

Despite the extra functional group in the serine side chain, the crystal packing arrangement of the title compound {systematic name: (S)-3-hydroxy-2-[(S)-pyrrolidine-2-carboxamido]propanoic acid monohydrate}, C8H14N2O4·H2O, is essentially the same as observed for a series of L-Pro-L-Nop peptide hydrates, where Nop is a strictly nonpolar residue. This is rendered possible by a monoclinic P2(1) packing arrangement with Z' = 2 that deviates from orthorhombic P2(1)2(1)2(1) symmetry only for the seryl hydroxy groups, which form infinite O-H···O-H hydrogen-bonded chains along the 5.3 Ša axis. At the same time, cocrystallized water molecules form parallel water wires.

N-(L-2-aminopentanoyl)-L-phenylalanine dihydrate, a hydrophobic dipeptide with a nonproteinogenic residue.

The title dipeptide, better known as L-norvalyl-L-phenylalanine {systematic name: (S)-2-[(S)-2-aminopentanamido]-3-phenylpropanoic acid dihydrate}, C14H20N2O3·2H2O, has a nonproteinogenic N-terminal residue. In the solid state, it takes on a molecular conformation typical for one of the three classes of nanoporous dipeptides, but like two related compounds with a hydrophobic N-terminal residue and a C-terminal L-phenylalanine, it fails to form channels or pores. Instead, the crystal structure is divided into distinct hydrophobic and hydrophilic layers, the latter encompassing cocrystallized water molecules connecting the charged N- and C-terminal groups.

An unexpected tetragonal unit cell for N-(L-2-aminobutyryl)-L-serine.

The title dipeptide {systematic name: (S)-2-[(S)-2-azaniumylbutanamido]-3-hydroxypropanoate}, C7H14N2O4, was synthesized in the anticipation that it would form nanoporous crystals with hexagonal symmetry. Single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis showed that it had instead adopted a unit cell in the space group I4, similar to L-alanyl-L-alanine [Fletterick, Tsai & Hughes (1970). J. Phys. Chem. 75, 918-922]. The resulting packing arrangement has a high density for a peptide (1.462 Mg m⁻³), which is rendered possible by extensive disorder over two positions for the ethyl side chain of the 2-aminobutyric acid fragment and over three positions for the serine side chain.

A solid-state oxidation of 1,1,3,3-tetramethylguanidinium 4-methylbenzenesulfinate to 1,1,3,3-tetramethylguanidinium 4-methylbenzenesulfonate.

The organic acid-base complex 1,1,3,3-tetramethylguanidinium 4-methylbenzenesulfonate, C5H14N3(+)·C7H7O3S(-), was obtained from the corresponding 1,1,3,3-tetramethylguanidinium 4-methylbenzenesulfinate complex, C5H14N3(+)·C7H7O2S(-), by solid-state oxidation in air. Comparison of the two crystal structures reveals similar packing arrangements in the monoclinic space group P2(1)/c, with centrosymmetric 2:2 tetramers being connected by four strong N-H···O=S hydrogen bonds between the imine N atoms of two 1,1,3,3-tetramethylguanidinium bases and the O atoms of two acid molecules.

(2S,3S)-2,6-dimethylheptane-1,3-diol, the oxygenated side chain of 22(S)-hydroxycholestrol, and its synthetic precursor (R)-4-benzyl-3-[(2R,3S)-3-hydroxy-2,6-dimethylheptanoyl]-1,3-oxazolidin-2-one.

(2S,3S)-2,6-dimethylheptane-1,3-diol, C9H20O2, (I), was synthesized from the ketone (R)-4-benzyl-3-[(2R,3S)-3-hydroxy-2,6-dimethylheptanoyl]-1,3-oxazolidin-2-one, C19H27NO4, (II), containing C atoms of known chirality. In both structures, strong hydrogen bonds between the hydroxy groups form tape motifs. The contribution from weaker C-H···O hydrogen bonds is much more evident in the structure of (II), which furthermore contains an example of a direct short Osp(3)···Csp(2) contact that represents a usually unrecognized type of intermolecular interaction.

1,4-Bis(2-diazo-acet-yl)piperazine.

The asymmetric unit of the title compound, C8H10N6O2, contains one-half mol-ecule, which is completed by a crystallographic center of symmetry. The piperazine ring adopts a chair conformation. In the crystal, weak C-H⋯O inter-actions link the mol-ecules into layers parallel to the bc plane. The crystal packing also exhibits short N⋯N contacts of 3.0467 (16) Šbetween the terminal diazo N atoms from neighbouring mol-ecules.

(Acetonitrile){2-[bis-(pyridin-2-ylmethyl-κ(2)N)amino-κN]-N-(2,6-dimethyl-phen-yl)acetamide-κO}(perchlorato-κO)zinc (acetonitrile){2-[bis-(pyridin-2-ylmethyl-κ(2)N)amino-κN]-N-(2,6-dimethyl-phen-yl)acetamide-κO}zinc tris-(perchlorate).

In the title salt, [Zn(C(22)H(24)N(4)O)(CH(3)CN)][Zn(ClO(4))(C(22)H(24)N(4)O)(CH(3)CN)](ClO(4))(3), two differently coordinated zinc cations occur. In the first complex, the metal ion is coordinated by the N,N',N'',O-tetra-dentate acetamide ligand and an acetonitrile N atom, generating an approximate trigonal-bipyramidal coordination geometry, with the O atom in an equatorial site and the acetonitrile N atom in an axial site. In the second complex ion, a perchlorate ion is also bonded to the zinc ion, generating a distorted trans-ZnO(2)N(4) octa-hedron. Of the uncoordinating perchlorate ions, one lies on a crystallographic twofold axis and one lies close to a twofold axis and has a site occupancy of 0.5. N-H⋯O and N-H⋯(O,O) hydrogen bonds are observed in the crystal. Disordered solvent mol-ecules occupy about 11% of the unit-cell volume; their contribution to the scattering was removed with the SQUEEZE routine of the PLATON program [Spek (2009 ▶). Acta Cryst. D65, 148-155.].

Single-crystal investigation of L-tryptophan with Z' = 16.

A complex, disorder-free structure in the space group P1 has been established for L-tryptophan, for which no crystal structure has previously been available. The 16 molecules in the asymmetric unit can be divided into two groups of eight; one where the side chains have gauche orientations and one with trans orientations. Molecules within each group have almost identical molecular geometries. The unit-cell parameters mimic a hexagonal cell, but deviations from 90° for the cell angles α = 84.421 (4) and ß = 87.694 (4)° give a small tilt that rules out hexagonal symmetry. The hydrogen-bonding pattern resembles that found in the crystal structure of the racemic structure of DL-tryptophan, but a lower density combined with longer hydrogen bonds and inter-aromatic interactions show that the enantiomeric structure is less efficiently packed.

Stapling of a 3(10)-helix with click chemistry.

Short peptides are important as lead compounds and molecular probes in drug discovery and chemical biology, but their well-known drawbacks, such as high conformational flexibility, protease lability, poor bioavailability and short half-lives in vivo, have prevented their potential from being fully realized. Side chain-to-side chain cyclization, e.g., by ring-closing olefin metathesis, known as stapling, is one approach to increase the biological activity of short peptides that has shown promise when applied to 3(10)- and α-helical peptides. However, atomic resolution structural information on the effect of side chain-to-side chain cyclization in 3(10)-helical peptides is scarce, and reported data suggest that there is significant potential for improvement of existing methodologies. Here, we report a novel stapling methodology for 3(10)-helical peptides using the copper(I)-catalyzed azide-alkyne cycloaddition (CuAAC) reaction in a model aminoisobutyric acid (Aib) rich peptide and examine the structural effect of side chain-to-side chain cyclization by NMR, X-ray diffraction, linear IR and femtosecond 2D IR spectroscopy. Our data show that the resulting cyclic peptide represents a more ideal 3(10)-helix than its acyclic precursor and other stapled 3(10)-helical peptides reported to date. Side chain-to-side chain stapling by CuAAC should prove useful when applied to 3(10)-helical peptides and protein segments of interest in biomedicine.

N-(tert-butoxycarbonyl)-O-allyl-L-seryl-α-aminoisobutyryl-L-valine methyl ester: a protected tripeptide with an allylated serine residue.

The title compound [systematic name (6S,12S)-methyl 6-(allyloxymethyl)-12-isopropyl-2,2,9,9-tetramethyl-4,7,10-trioxo-3-oxa-5,8,11-triazatridecan-13-oate], C(21)H(37)N(3)O(7), containing the little studied O-allyl-L-serine residue [Ser(All)], crystallizes in the monoclinic space group C2 with one molecule in the asymmetric unit. The compound is an analogue of the Ser140-Val142 segment of the water channel aquaporin-4 (AQP4). It forms a distorted type-II ß-turn with a P(II)-3(10L)-P(II) backbone conformation (P(II) is polyproline II). The overall backbone conformation is markedly different from that of the CO(Pro139)-Val142 stretch of rat AQP4, but is quite similar to the corresponding segment of human AQP4, despite significant differences at the level of the individual residues. The side chain of the Ser(All) residue adopts a gauche conformation relative to the backbone CO-C(α) and C(α)-N bonds. The H atoms of the two CH(2) groups in the Ser(All) side chain are almost eclipsed. The crystal packing of the title compound is divided into one-molecule-thick layers, each layer having a hydrophilic core and distinct hydrophobic interfaces on either side.

N-(tert-butoxycarbonyl)-α-aminoisobutyryl-α-aminoisobutyric acid methyl ester: two polymorphic forms in the space group P2(1)/n.

The title compound (systematic name: methyl 2-{2-[(tert-butoxycarbonyl)amino]-2-methylpropanamido}-2-methylpropanoate), C(14)H(26)N(2)O(5), (I), crystallizes in the monoclinic space group P2(1)/n in two polymorphic forms, each with one molecule in the asymmetric unit. The molecular conformation is essentially the same in both polymorphs, with the α-aminoisobutyric acid (Aib) residues adopting ϕ and ψ values characteristic of α-helical and mixed 3(10)- and α-helical conformations. The helical handedness of the C-terminal residue (Aib2) is opposite to that of the N-terminal residue (Aib1). In contrast to (I), the closely related peptide Boc-Aib-Aib-OBn (Boc is tert-butoxycarbonyl and Bn is benzyl) adopts an α(L)-P(II) backbone conformation (or the mirror image conformation). Compound (I) forms hydrogen-bonded parallel ß-sheet-like tapes, with the carbonyl groups of Aib1 and Aib2 acting as hydrogen-bond acceptors. This seems to represent an unusual packing for a protected dipeptide containing at least one α,α-disubstituted residue.

N-(tert-butoxycarbonyl)-L-valyl-L-valine methyl ester: a twisted parallel ß-sheet in the crystal structure of a protected dipeptide.

The title compound, C(16)H(30)N(2)O(5), crystallizes with three molecules in the asymmetric unit, each adopting a ß-strand/polyproline II backbone conformation. The main-chain functional groups are hydrogen bonded into tapes having the characteristics of parallel ß-sheets. Each tape has a left-handed twist and thus forms a helix, with six peptide molecules needed to complete a full 360° rotation. A comparison of hydrogen-bond lengths and twisting modes is made with other related structures of protected dipeptides and with a hexapeptide derived from amyloid-ß containing the Val-Val segment. Additionally, a comparison of the backbone conformation is made with that of the Val141-Val142 segment of the water channel aquaporin-4 (AQP4).

1,1'-(4,4'-Bipiperidine-1,1'-di-yl)bis-(2,2,2-trifluoro-ethanone).

The title compound, C(14)H(18)F(6)N(2)O(2), has a central center of symmetry with both piperidine rings occurring in regular chair conformations. Even though the structure is fairly compact with no sizable voids, the shortest H⋯O distance is as long as 2.58 Å.

2-Diazo-1-(1,1-dioxothio-morpholin-4-yl)ethanone.

In the mol-ecule of the title compound, C(6)H(9)N(3)O(3)S, at 105 K, the six-membered ring is predominantly found in the chair conformation, with 1.89 (14)% in the boat conformation. In the crystal structure, there are five inter-molecular C-H⋯O=C and C-H⋯O=S contacts less than 2.6 Å, as well as a weak C-H⋯N=N inter-action to the diazo group.