A novel enzymatic production system of optically pure β‐hydroxy α‐amino acids was developed. Two enzymes were used for the system: an N‐succinyl L ‐amino acid β‐hydroxylase (SadA) belonging to the iron(II)/α‐ketoglutarate‐dependent dioxygenase superfamily and an N‐succinyl L ‐amino acid desuccinylase (LasA). The genes encoding the two enzymes are part of a gene set responsible for the biosynthesis of peptidyl compounds found in the Burkholderia ambifaria AMMD genome. SadA stereoselectively hydroxylated several N‐succinyl aliphatic L ‐amino acids and produced N‐succinyl β‐hydroxy L ‐amino acids, such as N‐succinyl‐L ‐β‐hydroxyvaline, N‐succinyl‐L ‐threonine, (2S,3R)‐N‐succinyl‐L ‐β‐hydroxyisoleucine, and N‐succinyl‐L ‐threo‐β‐hydroxyleucine. LasA catalyzed the desuccinylation of various N‐succinyl‐L ‐amino acids. Surprisingly, LasA is the first amide bond‐forming enzyme belonging to the amidohydrolase superfamily, and has succinylation activity towards the amino group of L ‐leucine. By combining SadA and LasA in a preparative scale production using N‐succinyl‐L ‐leucine as substrate, 2.3 mmol of L ‐threo‐β‐hydroxyleucine were successfully produced with 93% conversion and over 99% of diastereomeric excess. Consequently, the new production system described in this study has advantages in optical purity and reaction efficiency for application in the mass production of several β‐hydroxy α‐amino acids.
We describe a practical (time‐efficient, with commercially available building blocks, user friendly reaction conditions, high purity of products) synthesis of pharmacologically relevant quinoxalinones with three points of diversification that takes advantage of solid‐phase synthesis and cyclative cleavage. Resin‐bound (S)‐2‐(N‐alkyl‐2‐nitrophenyl)sulfonamide‐3‐alkyl‐N‐(2‐hydroxyethyl)propanamides, which are accessible from Fmoc‐protected α‐amino acids, 2‐nitrobenzenesulfonyl chloride and alcohols, underwent base‐mediated N‐arylation. The reduction of the nitro group produced acyclic intermediates that were subjected to acid‐mediated cyclative cleavage to yield 3,4‐dihydroquinoxalin‐2(1H)‐ones.
A highly efficient protocol for the synthesis of benzimidazole‐substituted arylboronic acids was developed via aerobic oxidative cyclization of 1,2‐aryldiamines and formyl‐substituted aryl MIDA (N‐methyliminodiacetic acid) boronates using potassium iodide as a nucleophilic catalyst. Furthermore, a one‐pot protocol for the synthesis of benzimidazole‐substituted arylboronic acids from 1,2‐phenylenediamines and formyl‐substituted arylboronic acids was developed without the isolation of any intermediates. The resulting boronic acids were further subjected to Suzuki–Miyaura coupling reactions without isolation, leading to diaryl‐substituted benzimidazoles with only one separation step.
A three‐component reaction of a 1,2‐amino alcohol or 1,3‐amino alcohol with a formaldehyde solution and a propiolic acid was developed and studied. This new strategy provided an efficient access to biologically and synthetically important N‐propargyl oxazolidines, 1,3‐oxazinanes and thiazolidine bearing a diverse range of substituents in good yields. The transformation involves a cascade process that begins with an annulation and is followed by the metal‐free decarboxylative coupling.
Highly regio‐ and diastereoselective 1,2‐addition of organolithium reagents to chiral fluoroalkyl α,β‐unsaturated N‐tert‐butanesulfinyl ketimines was developed, providing a general and efficient method for the asymmetric synthesis of structurally diverse α‐tertiary fluoroalkyl allylic amines in high yields and with excellent diastereoselectivities (dr up to>99:1). The synthetic application of the method was demonstrated by the rapid and convenient preparation of challenging α‐fluoroalkyl α‐amino acids with α‐tetrasubstituted carbon.
The enantioselective organocatalytic nucleophilic addition of thiols to isatin‐derived ketimines has been developed utilizing only 1 mol% of an enantiopure BINOL‐derived phosphoric acid. The new protocol provides a series of isatin‐derived N,S‐acetals in high yields (up to 98%) and high enantioselectivities (up to 93% ee).
The paper describes the oxidative Heck arylation of various allylic amines using arylboronic acids for the preparation of tetrasubstituted alkenes. As oxidant the commercially available 2,2,6,6‐tetramethylpiperidine‐N‐oxyl (TEMPO) is used and coupling reactions occur under very mild conditions at room temperature. The densely substituted alkenes are formed in good to excellent yields with complete control of the diastereoselectivity. Substrate scope with respect to the allylic amine and the arylboronic acid is investigated.
A range of N‐methyliminodiacetic acid (MIDA) boronates of commercially available but unstable ortho‐phenolboronic acid derivatives can be readily prepared through simple condensation between the corresponding phenolboronic acids and MIDA in the presence of molecular sieves. The resulting MIDA boronates are bench‐top stable and display a remarkable stability even in DMSO solution at high temperature (>120 °C) compared with their parent boronic acids. Moreover, the utility of the resulting MIDA boronate was successfully demonstrated in a cross‐coupling reaction using the slow‐release protocol to afford the cross‐coupled product in much better yield compared with its parent boronic acid counterpart. In addition, an alternative, but more efficient, synthetic route for difficult‐to‐access ortho‐phenol MIDA boronates has been developed through the MIDA boronate formation of methoxymethyl (MOM) protected ortho‐phenolboronic acid, followed by deprotection of the MOM group with TMSCl under ambient conditions.
The catalytic asymmetric [4+2] annulations of isatins with but‐3‐yn‐2‐one catalyzed by the Cinchona alkaloids‐derived oragnocatalyst (DHQD)2PHAL have been developed in the presence of 3.0 equivalents of D ‐diethyl tartrate in the mixed solvent (diphenyl ether/diethyl ether=1/1) or a slightly modified one, affording the corresponding substituted spiro[indoline‐3,2′‐pyran]‐2,4′(3′H)‐diones in good to excellent yields with high enantioselectivities under mild conditions.
Access to enantiopure β‐amino acids : β‐Aminopeptidases are hydrolases that possess the unique ability to cleave N‐terminal β‐amino acids from peptides and amides. Hydrolysis of racemic β‐amino acid amides catalyzed by these enzymes displays enantioselectivity with strong preference for substrates with the L ‐configuration, and gives access to various aliphatic β‐amino acids of high enantiopurity.
Interactions between C34 and N36 : Synthetic peptides with D ‐amino acid substitutions that mimic the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) gp41 HR2 region may lead to new peptidic anti‐HIV‐1 drugs that retain potent antiviral activity while being more resistant to proteolytic degradation.
A synthetic strategy has been developed for the synthesis of 2‐dialkylaminoquinolines from easily available quinoline N‐oxides, tertiary amines, diisopropyl H‐phosphonate and carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) in one pot under metal‐free conditions at room temperature.
An unprecedented organocatalytic enantioselective cascade Michael/hemiketalization/retro‐aldol reaction of 2‐[(E)‐2‐nitrovinyl]phenols and 2,4‐dioxo‐4‐arylbutanoates is described. With a bifunctional squaramide catalyst incorporating (1R,2R)‐1,2‐diphenylethane‐1,2‐diamine, the reactions afford products in 75–99% yields with 80–98% ee. This process provides an enantioselective pathway for the synthesis of chiral α‐keto esters, precursors of 3‐arylproline derivatives, δ‐amino α‐keto acids or cyclic α‐keto lactams.
Visible light irradiation of N‐bromosuccinimide serves as an effective means to convert methyl 2‐(azidomethyl)‐3‐arylpropenoates and 2‐(azidomethyl)‐3‐arylacrylonitriles to the corresponding iminyl radicals via α‐hydrogen abstraction and subsequent extrusion of dinitrogen. Thus formed iminyl radicals then undergo intramolecular ortho attack on the aryl ring, affording methyl quinoline‐3‐carboxylates and quinoline‐3‐carbonitriles respectively.
A divergent synthesis of cyclitol derivatives has been developed utilizing an N‐heterocyclic carbene‐catalyzed benzoin‐type cyclization of C2‐symmetrical dialdoses. The resulting inososes are versatile intermediates, which are readily converted into not only inositols but also amino‐, deoxy‐, O‐methyl‐ and C‐methyl‐inositols.
A convenient and efficient protocol has been developed for the synthesis of 1,2,4‐triazoles, N‐fused 1,2,4‐triazoles and 1,2,4‐oxadiazoles using molybdenum hexacarbonyl where, for the first time, molybdenum hexacarbonyl acts as a convenient and reliable solid source of carbon monoxide. This procedure provides an easy access to a library of 1,2,4‐triazole, N‐fused 1,2,4‐triazole and 1,2,4‐oxadiazole derivatives in fair to good yields without the need of gaseous carbon monoxide and palladium catalysts.
A direct transition metal‐free regioselective C‐3 amidation of indoles has been developed with the commercially available N‐fluorobenzenesulfonimide (NFSI) as the amino source under external oxidant‐free conditions. This amidation requires only a catalytic amount of base and exhibits excellent functional group tolerance and regioselectivity. The C‐3 regioselectivity was proposed to realize by a free radical mechanism.
Copper chloride‐catalyzed aerobic oxidative annulation of N‐furfuryl‐β‐enaminones provides access to polysubstituted pyrroles and indoles. This protocol involves an unprecedented copper chloride‐catalyzed oxidative chlorination of furan and pyrrole rings with oxygen as the terminal oxidant.
A chiral dinuclear zinc complex can effectively catalyse the direct aldol reactions of pyruvic acid ester with various chiral sugar aldehydes, thus functionally mimicking the pyruvate‐dependent type II aldolases. Application of sterically hindered aryl esters allows for the elusive aldol reaction of the pyruvate donor with controlled anti‐selectivity en route to the short and efficient synthesis of 3‐deoxy‐2‐ulosonic acids. Pyruvic acid ester is here used as a chemical equivalent of phosphoenol pyruvate (PEP) in imitation of the synthetic principle used in nature. The presented biomimetic methodologies use enol formation for the highly efficient and flexible formation of various C6–C9 ulosonic acids. Particularly, efficient and concise syntheses of 3‐deoxy‐D ‐erythro‐hex‐2‐ulosonic acid (KDG, overall 50% yield), 3‐deoxy‐D ‐ribo‐hept‐2‐ulosonic acid (DRH, overall 53% yield) and 3‐deoxy‐D ‐glycero‐D ‐talo‐non‐2‐ulosonic acid (4‐epi‐KDN, overall 78% yield) are described. This direct efficient application of pyruvic esters does not require additional demasking steps and thus surpassess previously methodologies utilising masked pyruvic synthons such 2‐acetylthiazole and pyruvic aldehyde dimethyl acetal.
A comparison of the relative catalytic efficiencies of Lewis‐basic amines vs. N‐oxides for the acylation, sulfonylation and silylation of primary, secondary and tertiary alcohols is reported. Whilst the amines are generally superior to the N‐oxides for acylation, the N‐oxides are superior for sulfonylation and silylation. In particular, 1‐methylimidazole N‐oxide (NMI‐O) is found to be a highly efficient catalyst for sulfonylation and silylation reactions. To the best of our knowledge, NMI‐O is the first amine or N‐oxide Lewis basic organocatalyst capable of promoting the efficient silylation of tert‐alcohols in high yield with low catalyst loading under mild reaction conditions.
