Interrupted Dance of Five Heteroatoms: Reinventing Ozonolysis to Make Geminal Alkoxyhydroperoxides from C═N Bonds.

Four heteroatoms dance in the cascade of four pericyclic reactions initiated by ozonolysis of C═N bonds. Switching from imines to semicarbazones introduces the fifth heteroatom that slows this dance, delays reaching the thermodynamically favorable escape path, and allows efficient interception of carbonyl oxides (Criegee intermediates, CIs) by an external nucleophile. The new three-component reaction of alcohols, ozone, and oximes/semicarbazones greatly facilitates synthetic access to monoperoxyacetals (alkoxyhydroperoxides).

Photocatalytic Sulfonyl Peroxidation of Alkenes via Deamination of N-Sulfonyl Ketimines.

A photocatalytic three-component sulfonyl peroxidation of alkenes with N-sulfonyl ketimines and tert-butyl hydroperoxide is reported. The reaction takes place via the photoinduced EnT process, which allows the efficient synthesis of a variety of ß-peroxyl sulfones under mild reaction conditions in the absence of a transition metal catalyst. The downstream derivatizations of the peroxides were also performed. Furthermore, the utility of this protocol was manifested by the synthesis of 11ß-HSD1 inhibitor and the antiprostate cancer drug bicalutamide.

Peroxide derivatives as SARS-CoV-2 entry inhibitors.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is the cause of the ongoing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Host cell invasion is mediated by the interaction of the viral spike protein (S) with human angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) through the receptor-binding domain (RBD). In this work, bio-layer interferometry (BLI) was used to screen a series of fifty-two peroxides, including aminoperoxides and bridged 1,2,4 - trioxolanes (ozonides), with the aim of identifying small molecules that interfere with the RBD-ACE2 interaction. We found that two compounds, compound 21 and 29, exhibit the activity to inhibit RBD-ACE2. They are further demonstrated to inhibit SARS-CoV-2 cell entry, as shown in pseudovirus assay and experiment with authentic SARS-CoV-2. A comprehensive in silico analysis was carried out to study the physicochemical and pharmacokinetic properties, revealing that both compounds have good physicochemical properties as well as good bioavailability. Our results highlight the potential of small molecules targeting RBD inhibitors as potential therapeutic drugs for COVID-19.

Two-Component versus Three-Component Condensations in the Race between Hydrazide, Triketone, and Hydrogen Peroxide-How do All Six Reactive Centers Cooperate to Incorporate the Most Diverse Set of Heteroatomic Bridges in a Tricyclic Frame?

Relief of stereoelectronic frustration drives the acid-catalyzed three-component condensation of ß,δ'-triketones with hydrazides and H2O2 to the direction where both nucleophiles and all three electrophilic carbons are involved in the formation of a tricyclic sp3-rich ring system that includes four heteroatoms. The otherwise inaccessible tricyclic N-substituted aminoperoxides are prepared rapidly and selectively from relatively simple substrates in good to high yields.

Bridged 1,2,4-Trioxolanes: SnCl4-Catalyzed Synthesis and an In Vitro Study against S. mansoni.

A synthesis of bridged 1,2,4-trioxolanes (bridged ozonides) from 1,5-diketones and hydrogen peroxide catalyzed by SnCl4 was developed. It was shown that the ratio of target ozonides can be affected by the application of SnCl4 as a catalyst and varying the solvent. A wide range of bridged 1,2,4-trioxolanes (ozonides) was obtained in yields from 50 to 84%. The ozonide cycle was moderately resistant to the reduction of the ester group near the peroxide cycle to alcohol with LiAlH4. The bridged ozonides were evaluated for their antischistosomal activity. These ozonides exhibited a very high activity against newly transformed schistosomula and adult Schistosoma mansoni.

Antimalarial and Anticancer Activity Evaluation of Bridged Ozonides, Aminoperoxides, and Tetraoxanes.

Bridged aminoperoxides, for the first time, were investigated for the in vitro antimalarial activity against the chloroquine-resistant Plasmodium falciparum strain K1 and for their cytotoxic activities against immortalized human normal liver (LO2) and lung (BEAS-2B) cell lines as well as human liver (HepG2) and lung (A549) cancer cell lines. Aminoperoxides exhibit good cytotoxicity against lung A549 cancer cell line. Synthetic ozonides were shown to have high activity against the chloroquine-resistant P. falciparum. A cyclic voltammetry study of peroxides was performed, and most of the compounds did not show a direct correlation in oxidative capacity-activity. Peroxides were analyzed for ROS production to understand their mechanism of action. However, none of the compounds has an impact on ROS generation, suggesting that ozonides induce apoptosis in HepG2 cells through ROS-independent dysfunction pathway.

Cascade Assembly of Bridged N-Substituted Azaozonides: The Counterintuitive Role of Nitrogen Source Nucleophilicity.

Counterintuitively, the low basicity of the NH2 group in hydrazides makes them preferred nucleophiles for the synthesis of the N-substituted azaozonides in acid-catalyzed three-component condensation with 1,5-diketones and H2O2. In the case of more basic N sources, e.g., hydrazine and primary amines, such condensation does not occur under these reaction conditions. The method can be applied to a wide range of hydrazides and affords the target bicyclic azaozonides in 27-86% yields.

Lewis Acids and Heteropoly Acids in the Synthesis of Organic Peroxides.

Organic peroxides are an important class of compounds for organic synthesis, pharmacological chemistry, materials science, and the polymer industry. Here, for the first time, we summarize the main achievements in the synthesis of organic peroxides by the action of Lewis acids and heteropoly acids. This review consists of three parts: (1) metal-based Lewis acids in the synthesis of organic peroxides; (2) the synthesis of organic peroxides promoted by non-metal-based Lewis acids; and (3) the application of heteropoly acids in the synthesis of organic peroxides. The information covered in this review will be useful for specialists in the field of organic synthesis, reactions and processes of oxygen-containing compounds, catalysis, pharmaceuticals, and materials engineering.

Inverse α-Effect as the Ariadne's Thread on the Way to Tricyclic Aminoperoxides: Avoiding Thermodynamic Traps in the Labyrinth of Possibilities.

Stable tricyclic aminoperoxides can be selectively assembled via a catalyst-free three-component condensation of ß,δ'-triketones, H2O2, and an NH-group source such as aqueous ammonia or ammonium salts. This procedure is scalable and can produce gram quantities of tricyclic heterocycles, containing peroxide, nitrogen, and oxygen cycles in one molecule. Amazingly, such complex tricyclic molecules are selectively formed despite the multitude of alternative reaction routes, via equilibration of peroxide, hemiaminal, monoperoxyacetal, and peroxyhemiaminal functionalities! The reaction is initiated by the "stereoelectronic frustration" of H2O2 and combines elements of thermodynamic and kinetic control with a variety of mono-, bi-, and tricyclic structures evolving under the conditions of thermodynamic control until they reach a kinetic wall created by the inverse α-effect, that is, the stereoelectronic penalty for the formation of peroxycarbenium ions and related transition states. Under these conditions, the reaction stops before reaching the most thermodynamically stable products at a stage where three different heterocycles are assembled and fused at the acyclic precursor frame.

Synthesis and in vitro Study of Artemisinin/Synthetic Peroxide-Based Hybrid Compounds against SARS-CoV-2 and Cancer.

The newly emerged severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) cause life-threatening diseases in millions of people worldwide, in particular, in patients with cancer, and there is an urgent need for antiviral agents against this infection. While in vitro activities of artemisinins against SARS-CoV-2 and cancer have recently been demonstrated, no study of artemisinin and/or synthetic peroxide-based hybrid compounds active against both cancer and SARS-CoV-2 has been reported yet. However, the hybrid drug's properties (e. g., activity and/or selectivity) can be improved compared to its parent compounds and effective new agents can be obtained by modification/hybridization of existing drugs or bioactive natural products. In this study, a series of new artesunic acid and synthetic peroxide based new hybrids were synthesized and analyzed in vitro for the first time for their inhibitory activity against SARS-CoV-2 and leukemia cell lines. Several artesunic acid-derived hybrids exerted a similar or stronger potency against K562 leukemia cells (81-83 % inhibition values) than the reference drug doxorubicin (78 % inhibition value) and they were also more efficient than their parent compounds artesunic acid (49.2 % inhibition value) and quinoline derivative (5.5 % inhibition value). Interestingly, the same artesunic acid-quinoline hybrids also show inhibitory activity against SARS-CoV-2 in vitro (EC50 13-19 µm) and no cytotoxic effects on Vero E6 cells (CC50 up to 110 µM). These results provide a valuable basis for design of further artemisinin-derived hybrids to treat both cancer and SARS-CoV-2 infections.

Correction: Stereoelectronic power of oxygen in control of chemical reactivity: the anomeric effect is not alone.

Correction for 'Stereoelectronic power of oxygen in control of chemical reactivity: the anomeric effect is not alone' by Igor V. Alabugin et al., Chem. Soc. Rev., 2021, DOI: 10.1039/d1cs00386k.

Stereoelectronic power of oxygen in control of chemical reactivity: the anomeric effect is not alone.

Although carbon is the central element of organic chemistry, oxygen is the central element of stereoelectronic control in organic chemistry. Generally, a molecule with a C-O bond has both a strong donor (a lone pair) and a strong acceptor (e.g., a σ*C-O orbital), a combination that provides opportunities to influence chemical transformations at both ends of the electron demand spectrum. Oxygen is a stereoelectronic chameleon that adapts to the varying situations in radical, cationic, anionic, and metal-mediated transformations. Arguably, the most historically important stereoelectronic effect is the anomeric effect (AE), i.e., the axial preference of acceptor groups at the anomeric position of sugars. Although AE is generally attributed to hyperconjugative interactions of σ-acceptors with a lone pair at oxygen (negative hyperconjugation), recent literature reports suggested alternative explanations. In this context, it is timely to evaluate the fundamental connections between the AE and a broad variety of O-functional groups. Such connections illustrate the general role of hyperconjugation with oxygen lone pairs in reactivity. Lessons from the AE can be used as the conceptual framework for organizing disjointed observations into a logical body of knowledge. In contrast, neglect of hyperconjugation can be deeply misleading as it removes the stereoelectronic cornerstone on which, as we show in this review, the chemistry of organic oxygen functionalities is largely based. As negative hyperconjugation releases the "underutilized" stereoelectronic power of unshared electrons (the lone pairs) for the stabilization of a developing positive charge, the role of orbital interactions increases when the electronic demand is high and molecules distort from their equilibrium geometries. From this perspective, hyperconjugative anomeric interactions play a unique role in guiding reaction design. In this manuscript, we discuss the reactivity of organic O-functionalities, outline variations in the possible hyperconjugative patterns, and showcase the vast implications of AE for the structure and reactivity. On our journey through a variety of O-containing organic functional groups, from textbook to exotic, we will illustrate how this knowledge can predict chemical reactivity and unlock new useful synthetic transformations.

Marriage of Peroxides and Nitrogen Heterocycles: Selective Three-Component Assembly, Peroxide-Preserving Rearrangement, and Stereoelectronic Source of Unusual Stability of Bridged Azaozonides.

Stable bridged azaozonides can be selectively assembled via a catalyst-free three-component condensation of 1,5-diketones, hydrogen peroxide, and an NH-group source such as aqueous ammonia or ammonium salts. This procedure is scalable and can produce gram quantities of bicyclic stereochemically rich heterocycles. The new azaozonides are thermally stable and can be stored at room temperature for several months without decomposition and for at least 1 year at -10 °C. The chemical stability of azaozonides was explored for their subsequent selective transformations including the first example of an aminoperoxide rearrangement that preserves the peroxide group. The amino group in aminoperoxides has remarkably low nucleophilicity and does not participate in the usual amine alkylation and acylation reactions. These observations and the 15 pKa units decrease in basicity in comparison with a typical dialkyl amine are attributed to the strong hyperconjugative nN→σ*C-O interaction with the two antiperiplanar C-O bonds. Due to the weakness of the complementary nO→σ*C-N donation from the peroxide oxygens (a consequence of "inverse α-effect"), this interaction depletes electron density from the NH moiety, protects it from oxidation, and makes it similar in properties to an amide.

Application of BF3·Et2O in the synthesis of cyclic organic peroxides (microreview).

A summary of recent applications of Lewis acid BF3·Et2O as a catalyst in the synthesis of cyclic organic peroxides is presented.

How to Build Rigid Oxygen-Rich Tricyclic Heterocycles from Triketones and Hydrogen Peroxide: Control of Dynamic Covalent Chemistry with Inverse α-Effect.

We describe an efficient one-pot procedure that "folds" acyclic triketones into structurally complex, pharmaceutically relevant tricyclic systems that combine high oxygen content with unusual stability. In particular, ß,γ'-triketones are converted into three-dimensional polycyclic peroxides in the presence of H2O2 under acid catalysis. These transformations are fueled by stereoelectronic frustration of H2O2, the parent peroxide, where the lone pairs of oxygen are not involved in strongly stabilizing orbital interactions. Computational analysis reveals how this frustration is relieved in the tricyclic peroxide products, where strongly stabilizing anomeric nO→σC-O* interactions are activated. The calculated potential energy surfaces for these transformations combine labile, dynamically formed cationic species with deeply stabilized intermediate structures that correspond to the introduction of one, two, or three peroxide moieties. Paradoxically, as the thermodynamic stability of the peroxide products increases along this reaction cascade, the kinetic barriers for their formation increase as well. This feature of the reaction potential energy surface, which allows separation of mono- and bis-peroxide tricyclic products, also explains why formation of the most stable tris-peroxide is the least kinetically viable and is not observed experimentally. Such unique behavior can be explained through the "inverse α-effect", a new stereoelectronic phenomenon with many conceptual implications for the development of organic functional group chemistry.

Cyclic Synthetic Peroxides Inhibit Growth of Entomopathogenic Fungus Ascosphaera apis without Toxic Effect on Bumblebees.

In recent years, the number of pollinators in the world has significantly decreased. A possible reason for this is the toxic effects of agrochemicals reducing the immunity of insects that leads to their increased susceptibility to pathogens. Ascosphaera apis is a dangerous entomopathogenic fungus, afflicting both honeybees and bumblebees. We investigated fungicide activity of cyclic synthetic peroxides against A. apis isolated from Bombus terrestris L. The peroxides exhibited high mycelium growth inhibition of A. apis up to 94-100% at concentration 30 mg/L. EC50 values were determined for the most active peroxides. Two peroxides showed higher antifungal activity against A. apis than the commercial fungicide Triadimefon. The studied peroxides did not reduce the ability of bumblebees to fly and did not lead to the death of bumblebees. A new field of application for peroxides was disclosed.

Synthetic Peroxides Promote Apoptosis of Cancer Cells by Inhibiting P-Glycoprotein ABCB5.

This article discloses a new horizon for the application of peroxides in medical chemistry. Stable cyclic peroxides are demonstrated to have cytotoxic activity against cancer cells; in addition a mechanism of cytotoxic action is proposed. Synthetic bridged 1,2,4,5-tetraoxanes and ozonides were effective against HepG2 cancer cells and some ozonides selectively targeted liver cancer cells (the selectivity indexes for compounds 11 b and 12 a are 8 and 5, respectively). In some cases, tetraoxanes and ozonides were more selective than paclitaxel, artemisinin, and artesunic acid. Annexin V flow-cytometry analysis revealed that the active ozonides 22 a and 23 a induced cell death of HepG2 by apoptosis. Further study showed that compounds 22 a and 23 a exhibited a strong inhibitory effect on P-glycoprotein (P-gp/ABCB5)-overexpressing HepG2 cancer cells. ABCB5 is a key player in the multidrug-resistant phenotype of liver cancer. Peroxides failed to demonstrate a direct correlation between oxidative potential and their biological activity. To our knowledge this is the first time that peroxide diastereoisomers have been found to show stereospecific antimalarial action against the chloroquine-sensitive 3D7 strain of Plasmodium falciparum. Stereoisomeric ozonide 12 b is 11 times more active than stereoisomeric ozonide 12 a (IC50 =5.81 vs 65.18 µm). Current findings mean that ozonides merit further investigation as potential therapeutic agents for drug-resistant hepatocellular carcinoma.

Catalyst Development for the Synthesis of Ozonides and Tetraoxanes Under Heterogeneous Conditions: Disclosure of an Unprecedented Class of Fungicides for Agricultural Application.

The catalyst H3+x PMo12-x +6 Mox +5 O40 supported on SiO2 was developed for peroxidation of 1,3- and 1,5-diketones with hydrogen peroxide with the formation of bridged 1,2,4,5-tetraoxanes and bridged 1,2,4-trioxolanes (ozonides) with high yield based on isolated products (up to 86 and 90 %, respectively) under heterogeneous conditions. Synthesis of peroxides under heterogeneous conditions is a rare process and represents a challenge for this field of chemistry, because peroxides tend to decompose on the surface of a catalyst . A new class of antifungal agents for crop protection, that is, cyclic peroxides: bridged 1,2,4,5-tetraoxanes and bridged ozonides, was discovered. Some ozonides and tetraoxanes exhibit a very high antifungal activity and are superior to commercial fungicides, such as Triadimefon and Kresoxim-methyl. It is important to note that none of the fungicides used in agricultural chemistry contains a peroxide fragment.

Chemiluminescence in the reaction of 1,2,4,5-tetraoxanes with ferrous ions in the presence of xanthene dyes: fundamentals and perspectives of analytical applications.

The reaction of biologically active bridged 1,2,4,5-tetraoxanes and diperoxide of trifluoroacetone with ferrous ions in the presence of xanthenes, methylene blue and methylene green is accompanied by bright chemiluminescence (CL) caused by the emission from electronically-excited dyes. The promising perspectives for the employment of the CL method for the analytical detection of tetraoxanes were demonstrated. The most convenient CL system was found to be their reaction with ferrous gluconate in the presence of rhodamine 3B, which allowed the detection of up to 10-9 M of diperoxides. The discovered CL-probe is selective towards tetraoxanes over reactive oxygen species such as singlet oxygen, hydroxyl radicals, hydrogen peroxide, hypochlorite and superoxide ions. It is suggested that electronically-excited states may be involved in biological activities of cyclic organic peroxides.