Boronic acid peptide derivatives

A group of peptide derivatives such as peptide arginals and boronic acid peptide derivatives belong to another class of reversible thrombin inhibitors. One such inhibitor is PPACK (D-Phe-Pro-Arg chloromethyl ketone), which functions as a powerful irreversible thrombin inhibitor by alkylating the histidine residue at the catalytic site of thrombin (58). It, however, is unstable in neutral solution, as it undergoes cyclization and inactivation. However, the D-methyl derivative of D-Phe-Pro-Arg-H (D-Mephe-Pro-Arg-H) called efegatran, with a molecular mass of 515 Da, is a stable selective reversible inhibitor of thrombin with a K. of approximately 100 nM. The basic amino terminus in this compound is responsible for promoting the specificity toward thrombin (63). 

Conceptually this new three-component reaction resembles the methods applied by Steglich, Enders et al. [8a] and Yamamoto et al. [8b], who treated the preformed iminoesters 26 and 29 at low temperature with the electron-rich olefins 27 and 30, respectively [9]. However, the use of boronic acid derivatives appears to be a versatile method with a great deal of potential. As Petasis and Zavialov note at the end of their paper, unprotected amino acids and peptides, aryl boronic acids, and chiral boronates can also participate in their three component condensation [7a]. Transition metal catalysis also... 

The main drawback in the catalytic hydrogenolysis of Z-protected peptide derivatives is caused by the presence of sulfur-containing amino acid residues (Cys, Pen, or Met) due to catalyst poisoning. Attempts to overcome these restrictions by addition of either tertiary basesf or boron trifluoride-diethyl ether complext to the hydrogenation mixture were of limited usefulness. More efficient appears to be the use of liquid ammonia (at —33°C) as the solvent to prevent poisoning of the Pd/C catalyst.f °l... 

Boronic acids (5a) were among the first examples of low-molecular-weight, reversible inhibitors of serine proteinases [151, 152]. Significant inhibition was initially demonstrated against a-chymotrypsin. Unlike the carbonyl-derived reversible inhibitors, which require a polypeptide or peptide-like chain, activity was found with simple alkylboronic acids (e.g. the value for PhCH2CH2B(OH)2 with a-chymotrypsin was = 40 //M) [153], Weak inhibition of elastase (PPE) was first reported for a series of arylboronic acids, for example, (10-1) [123]. Some of the boron-based inhibitors Figure 2.5) were tested as either the difluoroboranes (5b) or as the pinacol boronate esters (5c). These modifications were employed because they were more readily synthesized and/or purified than the boronic acids. For both of these derivatives inhibition was shown to be due to in situ hydrolysis to the parent boronic acid (5a) [154, 155]. 

Asymmetric hydrogenation of bromo-substituted aromatic a-enamides 14 affords the corresponding bromo-amino acid derivatives 15, which subsequently is subjected to Pd-catalyzed cross-coupling with aryl and vinyl boronic acids. In addition to diverse phenylalanine derivatives 16, a broad array of other novel aromatic and heterocyclic amino acids have been produced rapidly from a small number of bromo-functionalized intermediates [24], This same two-step process may be applied to the production of many other classes of aromatic and heterocyclic chiral building blocks, such as arylalkylamines, amino alcohols, diamines, and directly on peptides as well. 

Useful for modification of solubility properties of peptide derivatives The reactive hydroxyl functions of the boronic acid (pKg -9) can be masked by rapid, reversible reactions with diols. 

In a parallel study, Wipf and Fritch11041 have shown that also urethane-protected (Boc), and even amino acid segments, are tolerated as acyl compounds on the aziridine nitrogen. The best results were obtained with alkylcopper reagents derived from CuCN and an alkyl-lithium in the presence of boron trifluoride-diethyl ether complex. Some 6-alkylated compounds (11-15%) were isolated as well. This work was extended to a solid-phase procedure that resulted in resin-bound alkene isosteres that could immediately be used in further peptide synthesis.11051 For this purpose, the 2-nitrophenylsulfonyl (oNbs) group was used for nitrogen protection and aziridine activation. It could be readily cleaved with benzenethio-late, which was compatible with the acid-sensitive Wang linker used. 

Other reports for the boron-Mannich reaction include the synthesis of aminophenol derivatives,561 a-arylglycines,576 a growth hormone secretagogue NN703,577 a polyhydroxyindolizine alkaloid uniflorine A,578 and cyclic ct-amino acids.579 The reaction has been applied to solution-phase reactions580 and the solid-phase reaction581-585 for the synthesis of libraries of peptides, a-amino acids, and bicyclic diketopiperazines. The reactions were accelerated by the irradiation of microwave.586... 

Evans et al. utilized the chiral oxazolidones to prepare optically pure 3-hydroxy-a-amino acids, - important constituents of peptides and 3-lactams. As shown in Scheme 31, an asymmetric aldol reaction using the boron enolate derived from the V-(a-haloacyl)oxazolidone (68) provides the jyn-3-hydroxy-ot-halocarbonyl derivative (69), which is converted to the ann-3-hydroxy-a-azidocarbonyl derivative (70)... 

S,3S,4R)-4-Amino-3-hydroxy-2-methylpentanoic acid (3), having three consecutive asymmetric centers, was prepared by the aldol condensation of (R)-2-aminopropionaldehyde derivative (15) and -boron enolate (16) (Fig. 11) [42]. The aldol product (17) was obtained in 35 1 stereoselectivity and used directly as an active ester for the subsequent peptide synthesis, i.e., the coupling with tripeptide S (18) facilitated by cupric acetate afforded tetrapeptide S (19) [43]. These studies were included in the first total synthesis of deglyco-BLM and BLM by Umezawa and his co-workers which included our group in 1982 [44, 45] and the synthesis by Hecht s group was completed in the same year [46, 47], proving the entire structure of BLM. 

---