A Direct Sulfation Process of a Marine Polysaccharide in Ionic Liquid.

GY785 is an exopolysaccharide produced by a mesophilic bacterial strain Alteromonas infernus discovered in the deep-sea hydrothermal vents. GY785 highly sulfated derivative (GY785 DRS) was previously demonstrated to be a promising molecule driving the efficient mesenchymal stem cell chondrogenesis for cartilage repair. This glycosaminoglycan- (GAG-) like compound was modified in a classical solvent (N,N'-dimethylformamide). However, the use of classical solvents limits the polysaccharide solubility and causes the backbone degradation. In the present study, a one-step efficient sulfation process devoid of side effects (e.g., polysaccharide depolymerization and/or degradation) was developed to produce GAG-like derivatives. The sulfation of GY785 derivative (GY785 DR) was carried out using ionic liquid as a reaction medium. The successful sulfation of this anionic and highly branched heteropolysaccharide performed in ionic liquid would facilitate the production of new molecules of high specificity for biological targets such as tissue engineering or regenerative medicine.

Carbohydrate conformation and lipid condensation in monolayers containing glycosphingolipid Gb3: influence of acyl chain structure.

Globotriaosylceramide (Gb3), a glycosphingolipid found in the plasma membrane of animal cells, is the endocytic receptor of the bacterial Shiga toxin. Using x-ray reflectivity (XR) and grazing incidence x-ray diffraction (GIXD), lipid monolayers containing Gb3 were investigated at the air-water interface. XR probed Gb3 carbohydrate conformation normal to the interface, whereas GIXD precisely characterized Gb3's influence on acyl chain in-plane packing and area per molecule (APM). Two phospholipids, 1,2-distearoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DSPC) and 1,2-dipalmitoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphoethanolamine (DPPE), were used to study Gb3 packing in different lipid environments. Furthermore, the impact on monolayer structure of a naturally extracted Gb3 mixture was compared to synthetic Gb3 species with uniquely defined acyl chain structures. XR results showed that lipid environment and Gb3 acyl chain structure impact carbohydrate conformation with greater solvent accessibility observed for smaller phospholipid headgroups and long Gb3 acyl chains. In general, GIXD showed that Gb3 condensed phospholipid packing resulting in smaller APM than predicted by ideal mixing. Gb3's capacity to condense APM was larger for DSPC monolayers and exhibited different dependencies on acyl chain structure depending on the lipid environment. The interplay between Gb3-induced changes in lipid packing and the lipid environment's impact on carbohydrate conformation has broad implications for glycosphingolipid macromolecule recognition and ligand binding.

Benzofurans as efficient dienophiles in normal electron demand [4 + 2] cycloadditions.

Dearomatization of electron-poor benzofurans is possible through involvement of the aromatic 2,3-carbon-carbon double bond as dienophile in normal electron demand [4 + 2] cycloadditions. The tricyclic heterocycles thereby produced bear a quaternary center at the cis ring junction, a feature of many alkaloids such as morphine, galanthamine, or lunaridine. The products arising from the reaction have been shown to depend on different factors among which the type of the electron-withdrawing substituent of the benzofuran, the nature of the reacting diene, and the method of activation. In the presence of all-carbon dienes, the reaction yields the expected Diels-Alder adducts. When thermal activation is insufficient, a biactivation associating zinc chloride catalysis and high pressure is required to generate the cycloadducts in good yields and high stereoselectivities, for instance, when cyclohexadiene is involved in the process. The use of more functionalized dienes, such as those bearing alkoxy or silyloxy substituents, also shows the limits of the thermal activation, and hyperbaric conditions are, in this case, well-suited. The involvement of Danishefsky's diene induces a competition in the site of reactivity. The aromatic 2,3-carbon-carbon double bond is unambiguously the most reactive dienophile, and the 3-carbonyl unit becomes a competitive site of reactivity with benzofurans bearing substituents prone to heterocyloaddition, in particular under Lewis acid activation. The sequential involvement of both the aromatic double bond and the carbonyl moiety as dienophiles is then possible by using an excess of diene under high-pressure activation. In line with the experimental results, DFT computations suggest that the Diels-Alder process involving the aromatic double bond is preferred over the hetero-Diels-Alder route through an asynchronous concerted transition state. However, Lewis acid catalysis appears to favor the heterocycloaddition pathway through a stepwise mechanism in some cases.

Azetidinic amino acids: stereocontrolled synthesis and pharmacological characterization as ligands for glutamate receptors and transporters.

A set of ten azetidinic amino acids, that can be envisioned as C-4 alkyl substituted analogues of trans-2-carboxyazetidine-3-acetic acid (t-CAA) and/or conformationally constrained analogues of (R)- or (S)-glutamic acid (Glu) have been synthesized in a diastereo- and enantiomerically pure form from beta-amino alcohols through a straightforward five step sequence. The key step of this synthesis is an original anionic 4-exo-tet ring closure that forms the azetidine ring upon an intramolecular Michael addition. This reaction was proven to be reversible and to lead to a thermodynamic distribution of two diastereoisomers that were easily separated and converted in two steps into azetidinic amino acids. Azetidines 35-44 were characterized in binding studies on native ionotropic Glu receptors and in functional assays at cloned metabotropic receptors mGluR1, 2 and 4, representing group I, II and III mGlu receptors, respectively. Furthermore, azetidine analogues 35, 36, and 40 were also characterized as potential ligands at the glutamate transporter subtypes EAAT1-3 in the FLIPR Membrane Potential (FMP) assay. The (2R)-azetidines 35, 37, 39, 41 and 43 were inactive in iGlu, mGlu and EAAT assays, whereas a marked change in the pharmacological profile at the iGlu receptors was observed when a methyl group was introduced in the C-4 position, compound 36 versus t-CAA. At EAAT1-3, compound 35 was inactive, whereas azetidines 36 and 40 were both identified as inhibitors and showed selectivity for the EAAT2 subtype.