Access to Diarylmethanols by Wittig Rearrangement of ortho-, meta-, and para-Benzyloxy-N-Butylbenzamides.

The N-butyl amide group, CONHBu, has been found to be an effective promoter of the [1,2]-Wittig rearrangement of aryl benzyl ethers and thus allow the two-step synthesis of isomerically pure substituted diarylmethanols starting from simple hydroxybenzoic acid derivatives. The method is compatible with a wide range of functional groups including methyl, methoxy, and fluoro, although not with nitro and, unexpectedly, is applicable to meta as well as ortho and para isomeric series.

Further Studies on the [1,2]-Wittig Rearrangement of 2-(2-Benzyloxy)aryloxazolines.

The behaviour of 14 ortho-functionalised 2-aryloxazolines (11 of them prepared and characterised for the first time) with butyllithium has been examined. Significant limitations to the Wittig rearrangement of such systems are revealed. In terms of asymmetric Wittig rearrangement, good diastereoselectivity is obtained with a valine-derived 4-isopropyl oxazoline, but this is compromised by racemisation upon hydrolysis. More encouraging selectivity is achieved in the Wittig rearrangement of an acyclic phenylalanine-derived ortho-benzyloxy benzamide.

C-2 derivatized 8-sulfonamidoquinolines as antibacterial compounds.

A series of C-2 derivatized 8-sulfonamidoquinolines were evaluated for their antibacterial activity against the common mastitis causative pathogens Streptococcus uberis, Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli, both in the presence and absence of supplementary zinc (50 µM ZnSO4). The vast majority of compounds tested were demonstrated to be significantly more active against S. uberis when in the presence of supplementary zinc (MICs as low as 0.125 µg/mL were observed in the presence of 50 µM ZnSO4). Compounds 5, 34-36, 39, 58, 79, 82, 94 and 95 were shown to display the greatest antibacterial activity against S. aureus (MIC ≤ 8 µg/mL; both in the presence and absence of supplementary zinc), while compounds 56, 58 and 66 were demonstrated to also exhibit activity against E. coli (MIC ≤ 16 µg/mL; under all conditions). Compounds 56, 58 and 66 were subsequently confirmed to be bactericidal against all three mastitis pathogens studied, with MBCs (≥3log10 CFU/mL reduction) of ≤ 32 µg/mL (in both the presence and absence of 50 µM ZnSO4). To validate the sanitizing activity of compounds 56, 58 and 66, a quantitative suspension disinfection (sanitizer) test was performed. Sanitizing activity (>5log10 CFU/mL reduction in 5 min) was observed against both S. uberis and E. coli at compound concentrations as low as 1 mg/mL (compounds 56, 58 and 66), and against S. aureus at 1 mg/mL (compound 58); thereby validating the potential of compounds 56, 58 and 66 to function as topical sanitizers designed explicitly for use in non-human applications.

Rationalisation of Patterns of Competing Reactivity by X-ray Structure Determination: Reaction of Isomeric (Benzyloxythienyl)oxazolines with a Base.

Three isomeric (benzyloxythienyl)oxazolines 9, 11 and 13 have been prepared and are found, upon treatment with a strong base, to undergo either Wittig rearrangement or intramolecular attack of the benzylic anion on the oxazoline function to give products derived from cleavage of the initially formed 3-aminothienofuran products. This pattern of reactivity is directly linked to the distance between the two reactive groups as determined by X-ray diffraction, with the greatest distance in 11 leading to exclusive Wittig rearrangement, the shortest distance in 13 giving exclusively cyclisation-derived products, and the intermediate distance in 9 leading to both processes being observed. The corresponding N-butyl amides were also obtained in two cases and one of these undergoes efficient Wittig rearrangement leading to a thieno[2,3-c]pyrrolone product.

Substituted sulfonamide bioisosteres of 8-hydroxyquinoline as zinc-dependent antibacterial compounds.

A series of substituted sulfonamide bioisosteres of 8-hydroxyquinoline were evaluated for their antibacterial activity against the common mastitis causative pathogens Streptococcus uberis, Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli, both in the presence and absence of supplementary zinc. Compounds 9a-e, 10a-c, 11a-e, 12 and 13 were demonstrated to have MICs of 0.0625 µg/mL against S. uberis in the presence of 50 µM ZnSO4. Against S. aureus compounds 9g (MIC 4 µg/mL) and 11d (MIC 8 µg/mL) showed the greatest activity, whereas all compounds were found to be inactive against E. coli (MIC > 256 µg/mL); again in the presence of 50 µM ZnSO4. All compounds were demonstrated to be significantly less active in the absence of supplementary zinc. Compound 9g was subsequently confirmed to be bactericidal, with an MBC (≥3log10 cfu/mL reduction) of 0.125 µg/mL against S. uberis in the presence of 50 µM ZnSO4. To validate the sanitising activity of compound 9g in the presence of supplementary zinc, a quantitative suspension disinfection (sanitizer) test was performed. In this preliminary test, sanitizing activity (>5log10 reduction of CFU/mL in 5 min) was observed against S. uberis for compound 9g at concentrations as low as 1 mg/mL, validating the potential of this compound to function as a topical sanitizer against the major environmental mastitis-causing microorganism S. uberis.

Synthesis, Structure, and Unusual Reactivity of a Stable 3-(Oxazolidin-2-ylidene)thiophen-2-one.

Treatment of 2- and 3-thienyloxazolines with butyllithium and bis(trimethylsilyl) peroxide results in ring hydroxylation to give products that exist mainly as the oxazolidinylidenethiophenones. The 3-oxazolidinylidenethiophen-2-one is a rare example of a stable heterocyclic o-quinone methide analogue that shows a varied pattern of reactivity, including both C- and O-alkylation, Michael addition via C-5 to an acetylenic ester, tetrachlorobenzannulation across positions 4 and 5, and formation of a hexacyclic fused-ring product with N-phenyltriazolinedione. Crystal structures of the products are dominated by inter- and intramolecular NH to CO hydrogen bonding.

2-Arylacetic anhydrides as ammonium enolate precursors.

Readily prepared 2-arylacetic anhydrides act as convenient ammonium enolate precursors in isothiourea (HBTM-2.1)-mediated catalytic asymmetric intermolecular Michael addition-lactonisation processes, giving diverse synthetic building blocks in good yield with high diastereo- and enantiocontrol (up to 98 : 2 dr and >99% ee).

Preparative, in vitro biocatalysis of triketide lactone chiral building blocks.

PKS biocatalysis: The terminal module of erythromycin synthase was used for the in vitro production of chiral triketide lactones. Combining cofactor regeneration, substrate truncation, and enzymatic promiscuity afforded a scalable strategy to generate these molecules from abundant racemic and achiral precursors. The described biocatalytic platform thus facilitates the application and study of enzymes within PKS modules.