Nineteen-step total synthesis of (+)-phorbol.

Phorbol, the flagship member of the tigliane diterpene family, has been known for over 80 years and has attracted attention from many chemists and biologists owing to its intriguing chemical structure and the medicinal potential of phorbol esters. Access to useful quantities of phorbol and related analogues has relied on isolation from natural sources and semisynthesis. Despite efforts spanning 40 years, chemical synthesis has been unable to compete with these strategies, owing to its complexity and unusual placement of oxygen atoms. Purely synthetic enantiopure phorbol has remained elusive, and biological synthesis has not led to even the simplest members of this terpene family. Recently, the chemical syntheses of eudesmanes, germacrenes, taxanes and ingenanes have all benefited from a strategy inspired by the logic of two-phase terpene biosynthesis in which powerful C-C bond constructions and C-H bond oxidations go hand in hand. Here we implement a two-phase terpene synthesis strategy to achieve enantiospecific total synthesis of (+)-phorbol in only 19 steps from the abundant monoterpene (+)-3-carene. The purpose of this synthesis route is not to displace isolation or semisynthesis as a means of generating the natural product per se, but rather to enable access to analogues containing unique placements of oxygen atoms that are otherwise inaccessible.

Synthesis and biological evaluation of 12-aminoacylphorboids.

Spurred by the paradoxical anti-inflammatory activity of some aminoacylphorbol derivatives, the naturally occurring and epimeric N,N-dimethylvalinoyl-4alpha-4-deoxyphorbol derivatives 3b and 3d have been prepared from 4alpha-4-deoxyphorbol (3e), a byproduct of the isolation of phorbol from Croton oil and a phorboid polyol so far largely overlooked in terms of biological activity. The configuration of the side chain stereocenter was confirmed for both natural products, and to investigate the side chain structure-activity relationships within this class of compounds, their corresponding N,N-dimethylglycinate (3g) and nor (3h) and di-nor derivatives (3i, 3j) were also prepared. By using a PKC-sensitive model of HIV-1 latency (activation of HIV- gene expression in Jurkat-LAT-GFP cells), it was found that both 3b and 3d can activate PKC-dependent responses, while a series of experiments with isoform-specific PKC inhibitors showed that these compounds target PKCalpha and -delta. Both N,N-dimethylation and the presence of side chain alpha-substitution were critical for activity. Selective PKC binding, rather than COX inhibition, might explain the paradoxical anti-inflammatory activity of extracts containing aminoacylphorboids in the mouse ear edema assay.

Tigliane Diterpenoids as a New Type of Antiadipogenic Agents Inhibit GRα-Dexras1 Axis in Adipocytes.

The phytochemical study of Euphorbia prolifera led to the isolation of two tiglianes (1 and 2) and 23 mysrinanes (3-25). Most of these isolates showed significant antiadipogenic activity in 3T3-L1 adipocyte without apparent cytotoxicity. Subsequent structural modification yielded 10 derivatives, among which 1a, the 5- O-acetyl derivative of 1, turned out to be the most active compound with improved triglyceride-lowering activity (EC50 for 1 and 1a: 0.61 and 0.32 µM, respectively) and reduced cytotoxicity (selectivity index for 1 and 1a: 28 and 312, respectively). The structure-activity relationship study revealed that the trans-fused 5/7/6 ring system in an angular shape was important to the activity. A mechanistic study indicated that 1 and 1a could inhibit the glucocorticoid receptor α-Dexras1 axis in adipocyte, leading to the retardation of cell differentiation at the early stage. These findings may provide a new type of lipid-lowering agents for future antiobesity drug development.

A new approach to phorbol by [4 + 3] oxyallyl cycloaddition and intramolecular Heck reaction.

[formula: see text] A new synthetic strategy for a functionalized tricyclic core of phorbol has been developed by means of a [4 + 3] oxyallyl cycloaddition and subsequent intramolecular Heck reaction. The [4 + 3] oxyallyl cycloadduct 7 was chosen as the B-ring precursor of phorbol. Subsequent elaboration took advantage of its well-defined diastereofacial bias to afford the tricycle 5. This method should be of general value in the construction of 6,7- or 5,7-fused bicyclic systems.

Synthesis of new phorbol derivatives having ethereal side chain and evaluation of their anti-HIV activity.

Several new phorbol derivatives having ethereal substituents at the 12-position were synthesized and subjected to biological evaluation to find new candidates of an anti-HIV agent. Among them, 12-O-(methoxymethyl)phorbol 13-decanoate showed potent inhibitory activity against infection of HIV-1 in MT-4 cells (EC50: 1.3 ng/mL) and relatively low cytotoxicity (CC50: 8.3 microg/mL). This compound was also found to have sufficient stability in mouse plasma compared with the corresponding 12-acetate derivative, which was an equipotent HIV-1 inhibitor, but with an activity that decreased considerably after plasma treatment.

An asymmetric synthesis of aza analogues of the tricyclic skeleton of daphnane and the ABC ring system of phorbol.

An asymmetric synthesis of aza analogues of the ABC ring system of phorbol and related compounds containing the 5-7-6-fused framework of daphnane involved construction of the central seven-membered ring by a regioselective reduction of a chiral imide and cyclization with trifluoromethanesulfonic acid. Subsequent demethylation and oxidative dearomatization of ring C afforded an enantiopure dienone 20 with the same relative and absolute configuration at the 9- and 10-positions of the phorbol skeleton.

Preparation of retinoic acid esters of phorbol derivatives.

The synthesis of 12-O-retinoylphorbol-13-acetate (RPA), an incomplete tumor promoter (second stage promoter) is described. The preparation starts with phorbol-13-acetate-20-tritylether which is acylated by a carbodiimide method to yield its 12-retinoate. The latter is detritylated by acidic methanol to give RPA. Following an analogous procedure, the 4-methyl-ether of RPA is prepared from 4-O-methylphorbol-13-acetate-20-tritylether.

Inhibition of cytopathic effect of human immunodeficiency virus type-1 by various phorbol derivatives.

Forty-eight derivatives of phorbol (9) and isophorbol (14) were evaluated for their inhibition of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-1 induced cytopathic effects (CPE) on MT-4 cells, as well as their activation of protein kinase C (PKC), as indices of anti-HIV-1 and tumor promoting activities, respectively. Of these compounds, the most potent inhibition of CPE was observed in 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol 13-acetate (8) and 12-O-acetylphorbol 13-decanoate (6). The former also showed the strongest PKC activation activity, while the latter showed no activity at 10 ng/ml. Both activities were generally observed in those phorbol derivatives with an A/B trans configuration, but not in the isophorbol derivatives with an A/B cis configuration. Acetylation of 20-OH in the phorbol derivatives significantly reduced the inhibition of CPE, as shown in 12-O-, 20-O-diacetylphorbol 13-decanoate (6a) (IC100=15.6 microg/ml) vs. compound 6 (IC100=0.0076 microg/ml), and 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol 13,20-diacetate (8a) (IC100=15.6 microg/ml) vs. 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol 13-acetate (8) (IC100=0.00048 microg/ml), except in the case of 12-O-decanoylphorbol 13-(2-methylbutyrate) (4) and phorbol 12,13-diacetate (9c). The reduction of a carbonyl group at C-3 abruptly reduced the inhibition of CPE, as observed in 3beta-hydroxyphorbol 12,13,20-triacetate (9f) (IC100=500 microg/ml) vs. phorbol 12,13,20-triacetate (9d) (IC100=62.5 microg/ml). Although 8 was equipotent in the inhibition of CPE, and activation of PKC, both activities were abruptly decreased by the acetylation of 20-OH and methylation of 4-OH [as in 8a and 4-O-methyl-12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol 13,20-diacetate (8b), respectively]. On the other hand, its positional isomer (12-O-acetylphorbol 13-tetradecanoate (8c) showed neither activities. The removal of a long acyl group in 8 led to a substantial loss of both activities, as shown in phorbol 13-acetate (9b). Of the 12-O-acetyl-13-O-acylphorbol derivatives, the highest inhibition of CPE was observed in 6, which has a dodecanoyl residue at C-13. Both an increase and decrease in the number of fatty acid carbon chains resulted in significant reduction of the inhibition of CPE.

12-O-acetylphorbol-13-decanoate potently inhibits cytopathic effects of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1), without activation of protein kinase C.

Through bioactivity-guided fractionation, eight phorbol diesters, including five new ones (1-5), were isolated from the seeds of Croton tiglium collected in Egypt. 12-O-Acetylphorbol-13-decanoate (6) and 12-O-decanoylphorbol-13-(2-methylbutyrate) (4) potently inhibited the HIV-1-induced cytopathic effect on MT-4 cells (IC100 values of 7.6 ng/ml and 7.81 micrograms/ml, and CC0 values of 62.5 micrograms/ml and 31.3 micrograms/ml, respectively) without activating protein kinase C.

Photoaffinity labeling of PKC isozymes by phorbol ester derivatives.

Photoaffinity probes PPDA and PPTD, which have diazoacetyl and trifluorodiazopropionyl group at C-13 position in phorbol, respectively, were synthesized. Photoaffinity labeling of protein kinase C isozymes by both the probes resulted in specific cross-linking.