Novel diversity-oriented synthesis-derived respiratory syncytial virus inhibitors identified via a high throughput replicon-based screen.

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infections affect millions of children and adults every year. Despite the significant disease burden, there are currently no safe and effective vaccines or therapeutics. We employed a replicon-based high throughput screen combined with live-virus triaging assays to identify three novel diversity-oriented synthesis-derived scaffolds with activity against RSV. One of these small molecules is shown to target the RSV polymerase (L protein) to inhibit viral replication and transcription; the mechanisms of action of the other small molecules are currently unknown. The compounds described herein may provide attractive inhibitors for lead optimization campaigns.

Mild aromatic palladium-catalyzed protodecarboxylation: kinetic assessment of the decarboxylative palladation and the protodepalladation steps.

Mechanism studies of a mild palladium-catalyzed decarboxylation of aromatic carboxylic acids are described. In particular, reaction orders and activation parameters for the two stages of the transformation were determined. These studies guided development of a catalytic system capable of turnover. Further evidence reinforces that the second stage, protonation of the arylpalladium intermediate, is the rate-determining step of the reaction. The first step, decarboxylative palladation, is proposed to occur through an intramolecular electrophilic palladation pathway, which is supported by computational and mechanism studies. In contrast to the reverse reaction (C-H insertion), the data support an electrophilic aromatic substitution mechanism involving a stepwise intramolecular protonation sequence for the protodepalladation portion of the reaction.

An informatic pipeline for managing high-throughput screening experiments and analyzing data from stereochemically diverse libraries.

Integration of flexible data-analysis tools with cheminformatics methods is a prerequisite for successful identification and validation of "hits" in high-throughput screening (HTS) campaigns. We have designed, developed, and implemented a suite of robust yet flexible cheminformatics tools to support HTS activities at the Broad Institute, three of which are described herein. The "hit-calling" tool allows a researcher to set a hit threshold that can be varied during downstream analysis. The results from the hit-calling exercise are reported to a database for record keeping and further data analysis. The "cherry-picking" tool enables creation of an optimized list of hits for confirmatory and follow-up assays from an HTS hit list. This tool allows filtering by computed chemical property and by substructure. In addition, similarity searches can be performed on hits of interest and sets of related compounds can be selected. The third tool, an "S/SAR viewer," has been designed specifically for the Broad Institute's diversity-oriented synthesis (DOS) collection. The compounds in this collection are rich in chiral centers and the full complement of all possible stereoisomers of a given compound are present in the collection. The S/SAR viewer allows rapid identification of both structure/activity relationships and stereo-structure/activity relationships present in HTS data from the DOS collection. Together, these tools enable the prioritization and analysis of hits from diverse compound collections, and enable informed decisions for follow-up biology and chemistry efforts.

Synthesis and profiling of a diverse collection of azetidine-based scaffolds for the development of CNS-focused lead-like libraries.

The synthesis and diversification of a densely functionalized azetidine ring system to gain access to a wide variety of fused, bridged, and spirocyclic ring systems is described. The in vitro physicochemical and pharmacokinetic properties of representative library members are measured in order to evaluate the use of these scaffolds for the generation of lead-like molecules to be used in targeting the central nervous system. The solid-phase synthesis of a 1976-membered library of spirocyclic azetidines is also described.

Build/couple/pair strategy for the synthesis of stereochemically diverse macrolactams via head-to-tail cyclization.

A build/couple/pair (B/C/P) strategy was employed to generate a library of 7936 stereochemically diverse 12-membered macrolactams. All 8 stereoisomers of a common linear amine precursor were elaborated to form the corresponding 8 stereoisomers of two regioisomeric macrocyclic scaffolds via head-to-tail cyclization. Subsequently, these 16 scaffolds were further diversified via capping of two amine functionalities on SynPhase Lanterns. Reagents used for solid-phase diversification were selected using a sparse matrix design strategy with the aim of maximizing coverage of chemical space while adhering to a preset range of physicochemical properties.

Practical asymmetric synthesis of ß-hydroxy γ-amino acids via complimentary aldol reactions.

Orthogonally protected chiral ß-hydroxy-γ-amino acids can be accessed in >100 g quantities from readily available starting materials and reagents in 3-4 steps. These chiral synthons contain two adjacent stereocenters along with suitably protected functional groups (O-TBS, N-Boc) for downstream reactivity. Implementation of two existing aldol technologies allows rapid access to all possible stereoisomers of 1. The guiding principles during reaction optimization were reaction scalability and operational efficiency. Conversion of the amino acids to a variety of chiral building blocks in 1-2 steps demonstrates their synthetic utility.

An aldol-based build/couple/pair strategy for the synthesis of medium- and large-sized rings: discovery of macrocyclic histone deacetylase inhibitors.

An aldol-based build/couple/pair (B/C/P) strategy was applied to generate a collection of stereochemically and skeletally diverse small molecules. In the build phase, a series of asymmetric syn- and anti-aldol reactions were performed to produce four stereoisomers of a Boc-protected γ-amino acid. In addition, both stereoisomers of O-PMB-protected alaninol were generated to provide a chiral amine coupling partner. In the couple step, eight stereoisomeric amides were synthesized by coupling the chiral acid and amine building blocks. The amides were subsequently reduced to generate the corresponding secondary amines. In the pair phase, three different reactions were employed to enable intramolecular ring-forming processes: nucleophilic aromatic substitution (S(N)Ar), Huisgen [3+2] cycloaddition, and ring-closing metathesis (RCM). Despite some stereochemical dependencies, the ring-forming reactions were optimized to proceed with good to excellent yields, providing a variety of skeletons ranging in size from 8- to 14-membered rings. Scaffolds resulting from the RCM pairing reaction were diversified on the solid phase to yield a 14 400-membered library of macrolactams. Screening of this library led to the discovery of a novel class of histone deacetylase inhibitors, which display mixed enzyme inhibition, and led to increased levels of acetylation in a primary mouse neuron culture. The development of stereo-structure/activity relationships was made possible by screening all 16 stereoisomers of the macrolactams produced through the aldol-based B/C/P strategy.

Perylenequinone natural products: total synthesis of hypocrellin A.

An efficient and stereoselective total synthesis of the perylenequinone natural product hypocrellin A (1) is described. The key features include a potentially biomimetic 1,8-diketone aldol cyclization to set the centrochiral C7,C7'-stereochemistry, bis(trifluoroacetoxy)iodobenzene mediated oxygenation, a palladium-catalyzed decarboxylation, and an enantioselective catalytic oxidative 2-naphthol coupling to establish the biaryl axial chirality. The helical stereochemistry is formed from an axial chiral intermediate and is then utilized in a dynamic stereochemical transfer to dictate the stereochemistry of the C7,C7'-seven membered ring formed during the aldol cyclization.

Perylenequinone natural products: evolution of the total synthesis of cercosporin.

The evolution of the first total synthesis of perylenequinone cercosporin is described. The key features developed during these efforts include a biscuprate epoxide alkylation, installation of the methylidene acetal, palladium-catalyzed O-arylation, and C3,C3'-decarbonylation. Due to the rapid atropisomerization of the helical axis of cercosporin (at 37 degrees C), the sequencing of these transformations was critical. To this end, the developed protocol enabled the formation of a key advanced intermediate on preparative scale absent any atropisomerization. Furthermore, the O-arylation proved to be general, and the strategy was used in an improved synthesis of a helical chiral perylenequinone structure.

Perylenequinone natural products: total syntheses of the diastereomers (+)-phleichrome and (+)-calphostin D by assembly of centrochiral and axial chiral fragments.

The first total synthesis of (+)-calphostin D and the total synthesis of (+)-phleichrome are outlined. The convergent syntheses utilize an enantiopure biaryl common intermediate, which is formed via an enantioselective catalytic biaryl coupling. The established axial chirality is transferred to the perylenequinone helical stereochemistry with good fidelity. Additionally, efforts focused on the installation of the stereogenic C7,C7'-2-hydroxypropyl groups. Three routes were evaluated to establish the C7,C7'-stereochemistry, in which the successful route involved a double epoxide alkylation with a complex axial chiral biscuprate. This strategy not only allowed the synthesis of the unnatural isomers of calphostin D and phleichrome for assessment in biological systems but also provided valuable information for the syntheses of the more complex cercosporin and hypocrellin A.

Perylenequinone natural products: enantioselective synthesis of the oxidized pentacyclic core.

An enantioselective approach to the perylenequinone core found in the mold perylenequinone natural products is outlined. Specifically, the first asymmetric syntheses of helical chiral perylenequinones absent any additional stereogenic centers are described. Key elements of the synthetic venture include a catalytic enantioselective biaryl coupling, a PIFA-induced naphthalene hydroxylation, and a palladium-mediated aromatic decarboxylation. Transfer of the binaphthalene axial stereochemistry to the perylenequinone helical stereochemistry proceeded with good fidelity. Furthermore, the resultant perylenequinones were shown to possess sufficient atropisomeric stability to be viable intermediates in the biogenesis of the perylenequinone natural products. This stability supports the use of the helical axis as a stereochemical relay in synthesis of the natural products containing additional stereochemical centers.

Development of a catalytic aromatic decarboxylation reaction.

A palladium-catalyzed aromatic decarboxylation reaction has been developed. With electron-rich aromatic acids, the reaction proceeds efficiently under fairly mild conditions in good yields. The method was useful with complex functionalized substrates containing hindered carboxylic acids.

Asymmetric total synthesis of nigerone.

[reaction: see text] An enantioselective synthesis of the chiral bisnaphthopyrone natural product nigerone is reported. The key step was an eight-step isomerization process to form the final natural product. The isomerization precursor was constructed via asymmetric oxidative biaryl coupling of an advanced intermediate with a 1,5-diaza-cis-decalin copper catalyst.

Enantioselective oxidative biaryl coupling reactions catalyzed by 1,5-diazadecalin metal complexes: efficient formation of chiral functionalized BINOL derivatives.

Chiral 1,5-diaza-cis-decalins have been examined as ligands in the enantioselective oxidative biaryl coupling of substituted 2-naphthol derivatives. Under the optimal conditions employing 2.5-10 mol % of a 1,5-diaza-cis-decalin copper(II) catalyst with oxygen as the oxidant, enantioselective couplings (44-96% ee) could be achieved for a range of 3-substituted 2-naphthols including the ester, ketone, phosphonyl, and sulfonyl derivatives. The relationship between the substitution of the naphthalene starting materials and reactivity/selectivity is determined by several factors which act in concert: (1) the effect of substituents on the oxidation potential of the substrate, (2) the ability of the substrate to participate in a chelated copper complex which depends on (a) the inherent coordinating ability of the 3-substituent and (b) substituent steric interactions that affect chelation between the 2-hydroxyl and 3-substituent, (3) the effect of substituents on dissociation of the product from the copper catalyst.

General approach for the synthesis of chiral perylenequinones via catalytic enantioselective oxidative biaryl coupling.

By using oxygen as the terminal oxidant, copper complexes derived from chiral 1,5-diaza-cis-decalin catalyze the enantioselective oxidative biaryl coupling of highly functionalized naphthols to provide octa- and decasubstituted binaphthalenes with high selectivity (86-90% ee). Products containing very electron-rich naphthalenes were prone to epimerization under the reaction conditions. This epimerization could be suppressed by employing naphthol starting materials with phenol protecting groups that attenuated the electron-rich nature of the naphthalenes. Direct oxidation of the resultant chiral 1,1'-binaphthol framework completed the first asymmetric synthesis of a perylenequinone containing only an axial chirality element.