Catalysts, peptide-based

Although, as stated above, we wiU mostly focus on hydrolytic systems it is worth discussing oxidation catalysts briefly [8]. Probably the best known of these systems is exemphfied by the antitumor antibiotics belonging to the family of bleomycins (Fig. 6.1) [9]. These molecules may be included in the hst of peptide-based catalysts because of the presence of a small peptide which is involved both in the coordination to the metal ion (essential co-factor for the catalyst) and as a tether for a bisthiazole moiety that ensures interaction with DNA. It has recently been reported that bleomycins will also cleave RNA [10]. With these antibiotics DNA cleavage is known to be selective, preferentially occurring at 5 -GpC-3 and 5 -GpT-3 sequences, and results from metal-dependent oxidation [11]. Thus it is not a cleavage that occurs at the level of a P-O bond as expected for a non-hydrolytic mechanism. 

Hoveyda and co-workers presented the asymmetric addition of alkylzincs to small-, medium-, and large-ring nitroolefins with chiral peptide-based phosphines 57 as catalyst.87 The enantioselectivities were typically >90%. Ligand 57 also worked well in the asymmetric addition of dialkylzinc to acyclic disubstituted nitroalkenes (up to 95% ee Scheme 26).88... 

Scheme 36.10 Enantioselective hydrogenation using libraries of peptide-based rhodium catalysts.

Snapper and Hoveyda reported a catalytic enantioselective Strecker reaction of aldimines using peptide-based chiral titanium complex [Eq. (13.11)]. Rapid and combinatorial tuning of the catalyst structure is possible in their approach. Based on kinetic studies, bifunctional transition state model 24 was proposed, in which titanium acts as a Lewis acid to activate an imine and an amide carbonyl oxygen acts as a Bronsted base to deprotonate HCN. Related catalyst is also effective in an enantioselective epoxide opening by cyanide "... 

Miller also explored the ASD of glycerol derivatives through an enantioselective acylation process which relies on the use of a pentapeptide-catalyst which incorporates an A-terminal nucleophilic 3-(l-imidazolyl)-(5)-alanine residue [171], Most recently, Miller has probed in detail the role of dihedral angle restriction within a peptide-based catalyst for ferf-alcohol KR [172], site selective acylation of erythromycin A [173], and site selective catalysis of phenyl thionoformate transfer in polyols to allow regioselective Barton-McCombie deoxygenation [174],... 

The development of chiral peptide-based metal catalysts has also been studied. The group of Gilbertson has synthesized several phosphine-modified amino adds and incorporated two of them into short peptide sequences.[45J,71 They demonstrated the formation of several metal complexes, in particular Rh complexes, and reported their structure as well as their ability to catalyze enantioselectively certain hydrogenation reactions.[481 While the enantioselectivities observed are modest so far, optimization through combinatorial synthesis will probably lead to useful catalysts. The synthesis of the sulfide protected form of both Fmoc- and Boc-dicyclohexylphosphinoserine 49 and -diphenylphosphinoserine 50 has been reported, in addition to diphenylphosphino-L-proline 51 (Scheme 14).[49 To show their compatibility with solid-phase peptide synthesis, they were incorporated into hydrophobic peptides, such as dodecapeptide 53, using the standard Fmoc protocol (Scheme 15).[451 For better results, the phosphine-modified amino acid 50 was coupled as a Fmoc-protected dipeptide 56, rather than the usual Fmoc derivative 52.[471 As an illustrative example, the synthesis of diphe-nylphosphinoserine 52 is depicted in Scheme 16J45 ... 

In 1998, Jacobsen and Sigman demonstrated that peptide-based ligands, such as the one shown in Eq. (1), can be used to access optically enriched amino nitriles. The identity of the optimal catalyst was determined through examination of parallel libraries of catalyst candidates [2], Later, it was demonstrated that this protocol may be extended to additions to ketoimines, affording tertiary amino nitriles in high enantioselectivities [3]. 

Fig. 3. Peptide-based catalysts for kinetic resolution of alcohols...

A variety of unfunctionalized secondary alcohols, including saturated and unsaturated carbinols, are resolved by catalyst 25 with moderate to high selectivi-ties (fcrei=4 to >50, see Scheme 5) [25]. Octapeptide 25 was discovered by screening a split-pool library of peptide catalyst candidates for acylation of 1-phe-nylethanol (3), using a reactivity-based fluorescence screen [26], followed by structure optimization with directed libraries. While substrates with increased steric bulk about the alcohol are resolved with highest selectivities, even 2-butanol is resolved with modest selectivity (fcrei=4). Peptide-based catalysts have also been applied to the resolution of tertiary alcohols, a relatively unexplored area of nonenzymatic asymmetric acylation catalysis [27-29], By using a fluores-... 

A modification of this system was also used in intramolecular MBH reactions (also called as aldol cycloisomerization) [71, 74]. In this reaction, optically active pipecolinic acid 61 was found to be a better co-catalyst than proline, and allowed ee-values of up to 80% to be obtained, without a peptide catalyst. The inter-molecular aldol dimerization, which is an important competing side-reaction of the basic amine-mediated intramolecular MBH reaction, was efficiently suppressed in a THF H20 (3 1) mixture at room temperature, allowing the formation of six-membered carbocycles (Scheme 5.14). The enantioselectivity of the reaction could be improved via a kinetic resolution quench by adding acetic anhydride as an acylating agent to the reaction mixture and a peptide-based asymmetric catalyst such as 64 that mediates a subsequent asymmetric acylation reaction. The non-acylated product 65 was recovered in 50% isolated yield with ee >98%. 

Job A, Janeck CF, Bettray W, Peters R, Enders D (2002) Tetrahedron 58 2253 Josephsohn NS, Kuntz KW, Snapper ML, Hoveyda AH (2001) Mechanism of enantioselective Ti-catalyzed Strecker reaction peptide-based metal complexes as bifunctional catalysts. J Am Chem Soc 123 11594—11599 Juhl K, Gathergood N, Jprgensen KA (2001) Catalytic asymmetric direct Man-nich reactions of carbonyl compounds with alpha-imino esters. Angew Chem Int Ed Engl 40 2995-2997... 

Miller, S. J. In search of peptide-based catalysts for asymmetric organic synthesis. Acc. Chem. Res. 2004 37 601-610. 

Josephsohn, N. S., Kuntz, K. W., Snapper, M. L., Hoveyda, A. H. Mechanism of Enantioselective Ti-Catalyzed Strecker Reaction Peptide-Based Metal Complexes as Bifunctional Catalysts. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2001,123,11594-11599. 

The peptide-based isocyanides 50a-e were successfully polymerized by Ni(II) catalysts under an inert atmosphere [63-66]. An alanine-derived isocyanide, whose isocyano group was labeled using 13C and 15N, was prepared and successfully polymerized for structure elucidation [67]. Several solvent systems were used in the polymerization of the peptide-based isocyanides, depending upon the solubility of the isocyanides. As mentioned earlier, the use of alcohols as a solvent or co-solvent can accelerate the polymerization. The protective groups on the ester, hydroxy, and imidazole groups were removed after polymerization by treatment with aqueous NaOH to yield poly(isocyanide)s bearing unprotected peptide side chains. 

Isocyanide polymerization has also been used to polymerize peptide-based monomers. Cornelissen et al. [31,32] prepared oligopeptides based on alanine and functionalized the N-terminus with an isocyanide moiety. These monomers were subsequently polymerized using a Ni catalyst into /3-helical poly isocyanopeptides with the dipeptides in the side chain. It was found that these polymers formed rigid rods, which were revealed by AFM to have extremely long persistence lengths. This rigidity was caused by the formation of /5-sheets between the alanines in the side chain. The same group... 

An interesting approach to develop an asymmetric allylic alkylation catalyst by using a peptide-based phosphine hgand was examined by Gilbertson (Scheme 3.70) [135]. Phosphine-sulfide amino acid 211 was incorporated into a peptide sequence on a polymer support After reduchon of the phosphine sulfide to phosphine, the polymer-supported pephde sequence having phosphine-(support-Gly-Pps-D-Ala-Pro-Pps-D-Ala-Ac) was prepared. The complex of the peptide with Pd was uhhzed for the asymmetric addition of dimethyl malonate 202 to 3-acetoxycy-clopentene 212 to give 213 in 59% yield and 66% ee. 

Recently, Miller and co-workers developed a number of peptide-based catalysts for asymmetric acyl transfer reactions [44]. For example, the catalytic asymmetric monophosphorylation of 2,4,6-tri-O-benzyl-myo-inositol was achieved by means of... 

It is clear that, in addition to providing a useful and simple approach for the synthesis of interesting new ligands, a peptide-based approach to ligand synthesis provides an opportunity to use peptide secondary structure to control catalyst selectivity. This is an area where real progress has already been made but where more work is needed for a more thorough understanding of how catalyst activity can be predicted. 

The peptide-based phosphine ligand 105 was identified from a polymer-supported phosphine library of 75 members [154]. Enantioposition-selective desymmetrization of the meso-cyclopentenediol derivative 100 was promoted by a palladium complex of 105 to afford the cyclic carbamate 101 with 76% ee. This result demonstrated that the combinatorial approach is effective in the lead-generation stage of stereoselective catalyst development [155, 156]. The resin-supported palladium complex of Ac-D-Phg-Pro-D-Val-Pps-D-Leu-NH resin 106, which has also been developed through the combinatorial approach. 

Peptide catalysts, peptides that catalyze chemical reactions such as aldol, retro-aldol, and Michael reactions. In contrast to enzymes or catalytic antibodies ( abzymes), small peptides often display limited catalytic activity and substrate specificity. Combinatorial methods combined with reaction-based or catalysis-based high-throughput selection approaches are suited for catalyst optimization [E. Tanaka, Chem. Record 2005, 5, 276]. 

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