Synthesis of Azanucleosides by Anodic Oxidation in a Lithium Perchlorate-Nitroalkane Medium and Diversification at the 4'-Nitrogen Position.

Azanucleosides, in which the 4'-oxygen atom has been replaced with a nitrogen atom, have drawn much attention owing to their anticancer and antivirus activity, and tolerance towards nucleases. However, the traditional synthetic strategy requires multiple steps and harsh conditions, thereby limiting the structural and functional diversity of the products. Herein we describe the synthesis of azanucleosides by an electrochemical reaction in a lithium perchlorate-nitroethane medium, followed by postmodification at the 4'-N position. N-Acryloyl prolinol derivatives were converted into azanucleosides by anodic activation of the N-α-C-H bond. Moreover, the use of nitroethane instead of nitromethane lowered the oxidation potential of the N-acryloyl prolinols and increased the Faradic yield. The prepared azanucleosides were efficiently functionalized at the 4'-N-acryloyl group with a lipophilic alkanethiol and a fluorescent dye by conjugate addition and olefin cross-metathesis, respectively.

Synthetic Method for Oligonucleotide Block by Using Alkyl-Chain-Soluble Support.

A straightforward method for the synthesis of oligonucleotide blocks using a Cbz-type alkyl-chain-soluble support (Z-ACSS) attached to the 3'-OH group of 3'-terminal nucleosides was developed. The Z-ACSS allowed for the preparation of fully protected deoxyribo- and ribo-oligonucleotides without chromatographic purification and released dimer- to tetramer-size oligonucleotide blocks via hydrogenation using a Pd/C catalyst without significant loss or migration of protective groups such as 5'-end 4,4'-dimethoxtrityl, 2-cyanoethyl on internucleotide bonds, or 2'-TBS.

Anodic substitution reaction of proline derivatives using the 2,4,6-trimethoxyphenyl leaving group.

An efficient method for modifying a proline moiety through anodic carbon-carbon bond cleavage is developed. Use of the 2,4,6-trimethoxyphenyl (TMP) moiety as a leaving group at the 5-position allows the incorporation of various functional groups for modification in both the N- and C-terminal direction due to the stability of the N1-C5-C linkage. This approach also enables anodic substitution reactions using reactants with lower oxidation potential compared to N-carbonyl bonds.

Electrochemical synthesis of azanucleoside derivatives using a lithium perchlorate-nitromethane system.

We have developed a highly efficient synthetic method for azanucleosides using a lithium perchlorate-nitromethane reaction medium, allowing direct and exclusive installation of various nucleophiles, including protected nucleobases into prolinol derivatives at the preferred 5-position.

Liquid-phase RNA synthesis by using alkyl-chain-soluble support.

Recent progress in the RNA therapeutics has increased demand for the synthesis of large quantities of oligoribonucleotides. The assembly of RNA oligomers relies mainly on solid-phase approaches. These allow rapid product purification and the ability to drive a target reaction to completion through the use of excess reagents. Despite the known advantages of solid-phase synthesis, some issues in the process remain to be addressed, such as low and limited scale, reagent accessibility, and the use of a very large excess of reagents. Herein, we report a highly efficient and practical method of liquid-phase synthesis of RNA oligomers by using alkyl-chain-soluble support. We demonstrate the utility of the liquid-phase method through 21-mer RNA synthesis on a gram scale.

Tag-assisted liquid-phase peptide synthesis using hydrophobic benzyl alcohols as supports.

A soluble tag-assisted liquid-phase peptide synthesis was successfully established based on simple hydrophobic benzyl alcohols, which can be easily prepared from naturally abundant materials. Excellent precipitation yields can be obtained at each step, combining the best properties of solid-phase and liquid-phase techniques. This approach can also be applied efficiently to fragment couplings, allowing chemical synthesis of several bioactive peptides.

Electrochemically active cross-linking reaction for fluorescent labeling of aliphatic alkenes.

Although cross-linking reactions serve as a valuable tool for the integration of two or more functionalities or properties, the application of electrochemical synthesis to cross-linking reactions is restricted due to the difficulty of mass transfer. Thus, the primary purpose of this research is to explore electrochemical cross-linking systems to construct a fluorescent probe, triggered by the formation of a covalent linkage. The second purpose is to apply the probe to insoluble targets. Towards these goals, a combination of electrochemically active phenol derivatives and aliphatic alkenes were employed to form polycyclic compounds. Several of the dihydrobenzofuran derivatives formed through [3+2] cyclization reactions exhibited fluorescence. Furthermore, this approach allowed the effective modification of alkene-modified silica gel with electrochemically active species, which enables the construction of fluorescent probes that are triggered by C-C bond formation.

Hydrophobic tag-assisted liquid-phase synthesis of a growth hormone-inhibiting peptide somatostatin.

Hydrophobic tag-assisted liquid-phase peptide synthesis technique and disulfide bond formation have been well-combined, leading to the efficient and practical preparation of a growth hormone-inhibiting peptide somatostatin. Intramolecular disulfide bond formation has successfully been carried out even under relatively high concentrations, enabling the effective peptide modifications in preparative scale.

A practical solution-phase synthesis of an antagonistic peptide of TNF-α based on hydrophobic tag strategy.

A simple acid-resistant hydrophobic tag, which can be removed rapidly in a single-step procedure after overall peptide synthesis, has been developed to accomplish practical solution-phase synthesis of a 15-mer antagonistic peptide of TNF-α (A-TNF-α). Hydrophobically tagged peptides can be separated as precipitates at each step by addition of a polar organic solvent.

Rapid magnetic catch-and-release purification by hydrophobic interactions.

A reversible, conventional, and rapid purification method of hydrophobically tagged products using hydrophobic magnetic nanoparticles was developed. The reversible purification system entails simply controlling the polarity of solvents. First, for the catching procedure, poor solvents were added into a well-dispersed system of magnetic nanoparticles and tagged products. Once the poor solvents were added to the system, the products were recrystallized among the nanoparticles and the aggregation of magnetic nanoparticles occurred due to hydrophobic interactions. These aggregates with the products contained within them were able to be collected rapidly by magnets. Then, the releasing procedure can be easily performed by redispersing the collected aggregates into good solvents. The availability of this purification protocol was confirmed by using a hydrophobically tagged fluorescent model product. Furthermore, this rapid purification method was successfully applied to a peptide elongation reaction system which enabled the synthesis of peptides such as Leu-Enkephalin in high purity, in high yield, and in a short time.

Phase-separable aqueous amide solutions as a thermal history indicator.

Aqueous solutions of several new amide compounds for use as simple thermal history indicators in the low-temperature transport of food and other products were synthesized. The phase transition temperatures of the aqueous solutions can be freely adjusted by changing the amide-water ratio in solution, the sodium chloride concentration of the water, and the type of amide compound. It is expected that these aqueous solutions can be applied as new thermal history indicators.

An oxidative carbon-carbon bond formation system in cycloalkane-based thermomorphic multiphase solution.

A selective anodic oxidation system in which a carbocation intermediate is generated exclusively by use of a temperature-controlled multiphase solution to separate the different stages of the reaction from each other and from the products is described. The formation of a thermomorphic middle layer in an electrolytic solution composed of c-Hex and LPC/MeNO2 results in enhanced interaction between aliphatic alkenes and polar unstable cation.

Solution-phase oligosaccharide synthesis in a cycloalkane-based thermomorphic system.

The cycloalkane-based thermomorphic (CBT) system is a convenient and practical method for oligosaccharide synthesis, and hydrophobically modified oligosaccharides have a remarkable affinity for CBT solutions composed of methylcyclohexane and propionitrile.

Rate enhancement of Diels-Alder reactions in aqueous perfluorinated emulsions.

A marked acceleration property for the Diels-Alder reaction was observed in an aqueous micellar system composed of perfluorohexane and lithium perfluorooctanesulfonate. The reaction rate increased with the concentration of the equimolar mixture of PFH and LiFOS, and the rate in 500 mM PFH and 500 mM LiFOS was about 100-fold greater than that in water without the fluorous field. After completion of the reaction, the products were simply extracted from the aqueous reaction mixture using n-hexane. [reaction: see text].

Calcineurin inhibitors block dorsal-side signaling that affect late-stage development of the heart, kidney, liver, gut and somitic tissue during Xenopus embryogenesis.

Calcineurin, a calcium/calmodulin-dependent serine/threonine protein phosphatase, is a key constituent of signaling pathways involved in antigen-dependent T-cell activation and development of the mammalian heart. In addition, calcineurin constitutes a part of the Wnt/calcium-signaling pathway that regulates early stages of dorsoventral axis formation in Xenopus embryos. Although some of the Wnt family members are involved in organ formation at relatively late stages of Xenopus development, the involvement of calcineurin in the development of those organs remains unclear. In the present study, we demonstrate that calcineurin inhibitors (cyclosporine A, FK506, and FK520), but not non-calcineurin inhibitors (rapamycin and GPI1046) that bind the same intracellular receptor as that for FK506, induce edema and gut coiling disruption and exhibit teratogenesis in the kidney, heart, gut, liver, and somitic tissue during Xenopus development. The same effects were observed by injecting the calcineurin inhibitors into the dorsal side, but not ventral side, of blastomeres at the 4-cell stage, although the inhibitors did not affect dorsoventral axis formation. These results suggest that calcineurin is involved in dorsal-side signaling that leads to the formation of the heart, kidney, liver, gut and somitic tissue during Xenopus embryogenesis.

Anodic modification of proline derivatives using a lithium perchlorate/nitromethane electrolyte solution.

[reaction: see text] N-Acyliminium cation of prolines was efficiently generated to accumulate in an undivided cell at 0 degrees C by an anodic oxidation of N-acylprolines or alpha'-phenylsulfanylated N-acylproline derivatives in a lithium perchlorate/nitromethane solution. The iminium cation intermediates gave modified prolines by a reaction with nucleophiles under mild conditions.

A liquid-phase peptide synthesis in cyclohexane-based biphasic thermomorphic systems.

Combinations of typical organic solvents composed of cyclohexane and qualified aprotic polar organic solvents were found to realize an effective, biphasic thermomorphic system in arbitrary ratios of upper and lower phases that enable a practical application of a liquid-phase peptide synthesis.