Straightforward synthesis of enantiomerically pure 1,2,3-triazoles derived from amino esters.

A practical and straightforward approach that enables, for the first time, the synthesis of enantiomerically pure 1,4,5-trisubstituted, 1,5-disubstituted, and fused 1,2,3-triazole derivatives has been developed. The synthesis employs enantiomerically pure amino esters derived from amino acids and commercially available ketones under metal-free conditions.

One-pot synthesis of enantiomerically pure N-protected allylic amines from N-protected α-amino esters.

An improved protocol for the synthesis of enantiomerically pure allylic amines is reported. N-Protected α-amino esters derived from natural amino acids were submitted to a one-pot tandem reduction-olefination process. The sequential reduction with DIBAL-H at -78 °C and subsequent in situ addition of organophosphorus reagents yielded the corresponding allylic amines without the need to isolate the intermediate aldehyde. This circumvents the problem of instability of the aldehydes. The method tolerates well both Wittig and Horner-Wadsworth-Emmons organophosphorus reagents. A better Z-(dia)stereoselectivity was observed when compared to the previous one-pot method. The (dia)stereoselectivity of the process was affected neither by the reaction solvent nor by the amount of DIBAL-H employed. The method is compatible with the presence of free hydroxy groups as shown with serine and threonine derivatives.

Synthesis and antiproliferative activity of glutamic acid-based dipeptides.

A small and focused library of 22 dipeptides derived from N,N-dibenzylglutamic acid α- and γ-benzyl esters was prepared in a straightforward manner. The evaluation of the antiproliferative activity in the human solid tumor cell lines HBL-100 (breast), HeLa (cervix), SW1573 (non-small cell lung), T-47D (breast), and WiDr (colon) provided γ-glutamyl methionine (GI50 = 6.0-41 µM) and α-glutamyl proline (GI50 = 7.5-18 µM) as lead compounds. In particular, glutamyl serine and glutamyl proline dipeptides were more active in the resistant cancer cell line WiDr than the conventional anticancer drugs cisplatin and etoposide. Glutamyl tryptophan dipeptides did not affect cell growth of HBL-100, while in T-47D cells, proliferation was inhibited. This result might be attributed to the inhibition of the ATB(0,+) transporter.

Synthesis and identification of unprecedented selective inhibitors of CK1ε.

A small and structure-biased library of enantiopure anti-ß-amino alcohols was prepared in a straightforward manner by a simplified version of the Reetz protocol. Antiproliferative activity testing against a panel of five human solid tumor cell lines gave GI50 values in the range 1-20 µM. The reverse screening by computational methods against 58 proteins involved in cancer pointed to kinases as possible therapeutic target candidates. The experimental determination of the interaction with 456 kinases indicated that the compounds behave as selective CK1ε inhibitors. Our results demonstrate that the lead compound represents the first selective CK1ε inhibitor with proven antiproliferative activity in cancer cell lines.

Enantioselective synthesis of cis-decalins using organocatalysis and sulfonyl Nazarov reagents.

The first organocatalytic synthesis of cis-decalins using sulfonyl Nazarov reagents is reported. The Jørgensen's catalyst directs this highly enantioselective synthesis using different cyclohexenal derivatives.

Oxidation with air by ascorbate-driven quinone redox cycling.

Transition metal-free oxidation with air at room temperature has been achieved by simply using ascorbate (vitamin C) and catalytic amounts of menadione (vitamin K3). A combination of the mentioned vitamins transforms atmospheric oxygen into hydrogen peroxide, which is able to oxidize arylboronic acids and other chemical moieties.

Direct stereoselective synthesis of enantiomerically pure anti-ß-amino alcohols.

Enantiomerically pure anti-ß-amino alcohols were synthesized from optically pure α-(N,N-dibenzylamino)benzyl esters, derived from α-amino acids, by the sequential reduction to aldehyde with DIBAL-H at -78 °C and subsequent in situ addition of Grignard reagents. Besides anti-ß-amino alcohols, anti-2-amino-1,3-diols and anti-3-amino-1,4-diols were obtained in good yields (60-95%) and excellent stereoselectivity (de > 95%). Our technique is compatible with free hydroxyl groups present in the substrate. To demonstrate the versatility of the method, spisulosine and sphinganine were synthesized in two steps from the appropriate N,N-dibenzyl-l-aminobenzyl ester in 42% and 45% yield, respectively.

Molecular docking studies of the interaction between propargylic enol ethers and human DNA topoisomerase IIα.

Having identified a novel human DNA topoisomerase IIα (TOP2) catalytic inhibitor from a small and structure-focused library of propargylic enol ethers, we decided to analyze if the chirality of these compounds plays a determinant role in their antiproliferative activity. In this study, we describe for the first time the synthesis of the corresponding enantiomers and the biological evaluation against a panel of representative human solid tumor cell lines. Experimental results show that chirality does not influence the reported antiproliferative activity of these compounds. Docking studies of corresponding enantiomers against TOP2 reinforce the finding that the biological effect is not chiral-dependent and that these family of compounds seem to act as TOP2 catalytic inhibitors.