Erythromycin Erythronolide

Erythronolide B, the biosynthetic progenitor of the erythromycin antibiotics, was synthesized for the first time, using as a key step a new method for macrolactone ring closure (double activation) which had been devised specifically for this problem. Retrosynthetic simplification included the clearance of the stereocenters at carbons 10 and 11 and the disconnection of the 9,10-bond, leading to precursors A and B. Cyclic stereocontrol and especially the Baeyer-Villiger and halolactonization transforms played a major role in the retrosynthetic simplification of B which was synthesized starting from 2,4,6-trimethylphenol. 

Erylhronoljde B is the biological precursor of erythromycin, a broad-spectrum antibiotic. How many chirality centers does erythronolide B have ... 

The fungus Streptomyces erythreus is the source of a number of structurally related macrolide antibiotics that are collectively known as the erythromycins. The erythromycins occupy a prominent position in medicine by virtue of their useful antibacterial properties. Their use in therapy over the course of the last three decades has been widespread, and has resulted in the saving of many human lives. In this chapter, we address the landmark total synthesis of erythronolide B (1), the biosynthetic precursor of all the erythromycins, by E.J. Corey and his coworkers which was carried out at Harvard in the 1970s.1... 

Natural product total syntheses are particularly valuable when they are attended by the development of general utility methods of synthesis. In some instances, the successful completion of a natural product total synthesis requires the development and application of a new synthetic method. The total synthesis of erythronolide B by Corey et al. is one of these instances. The double activation macro-lactonization method was a fruitful innovation that was introduced in response to the challenge presented by the macrocyclic structures of the erythromycins. Several other methods to achieve the same objective, and numerous applications followed. 

Erythromycin is a macrolide antibiotic consisting of the aglycone, erythronolide A the aminosugar, desosamine and the neutral sugar, cladinose. 

Let us consider Woodward s synthesis of erythronolide A -the aglycone of the antibiotic erythromycin A- which was published posthumously [2]. 

Erythromycins are macrolide antibiotics produced by bacterial fermentation. Fluoiination of erythromycin has been studied as a strategy to insure better stability in acidic medium and/or to achieve better bioavailability. An erythromycin, fluorinated at C-8, flurithromycin, was launched several years ago. Its preparation involves an electrophilic fluorination, with CF3OF [119] or with an N-F reagent A/-fluorobenzenesulfonimide (NFSI) [120], of the 8,9-anhydroerythromy-cin-6,9-hemiacetal or of the erythronolide A (Fig. 44). 

Flurithromycin is an erythromycin fluorinated at C-8, which was launched several years ago (cf. Chapter 8). Its preparation involves an electrophilic fluorination with or with an N— F reagent (NFSI) of 8,9-anhydroerythromycin-6,9-hemiacetal or of erythronolide A. Glycosylations have also been performed by fermentation (Figure 4.57). ... 

In the total synthesis of optically active erythromycin A reported by Woodward and collaborators (87), the bicyclic compound 142 (Fig. 1) was used to produce the two segments Cg-C)5 (143) and Cg-Cg (144) of erythronolide A. These two segments were then combined (-145) and converted into 146). Aldol condensation of a propionate ester derivative with 146 gave the erythronolide A secoacid derivative J 47 (Fig. 2) which was successfully transformed into erythromycin A (149) through a series of chemical transformations where compound 148 was one of the key intermediates. 

RB Woodward, E Logusch, KP Nambiar, K Sakan, D Ward, B-W Au-Yeung, P Balaram, LJ Browne, PJ Card, CH Chen, RB Chenevert, A Fliri, K Frobel, H-J Gais, DG Garrat, K Hayakawa, W Heggie, DP Hesson, D Hoppe, 11 loppe et al. Asymmetric total synthesis of erythromycin. 1. Synthesis of erythronolide A seco acid derivative via asymmetric induction. J Am Chem Soc 103 3210-3213, 1981. 

The molecular backbone of the antibiotic erythromycin A [6-desoxy-erythronolide B (3)] is built up repetitively from one propionyl-coenzyme A (1) and six methyl-malonyl-coenzyme A (2) constituents by the action of polyketide-synthase, which itself consists of three proteins (DEBS 1 -3) (Schemes 1 and 2). Each protein contains two modules with several separate, cat-alytically active domains. In the first section, DEBS 1 carries an additional loading zone, and DEBS 3 contains a thioesterase in the final segment, catalyzing the decoupling of the product by building the lactone ring [6],... 

Two superior, alternative reagents for the Corey method are the disulfides 23 and 24 [19], For example, in the first synthesis [20] of erythronolide B (27), the aglycone of the important antibiotic erythromycin B, cyclization of the hydroxy acid 25 to the 14-membered lactone 26 was effected in 50% yield via the thiol ester of 4-r-butyl-iV-isopropyl-2-mercaptoimidazole by heating in dry toluene under reflux (Scheme 9). 

The total synthesis of erythronolide B, the biosynthetic progenitor of all the erythromycins, employed a Baeyer-Villiger oxidation of the substituted cyclohexanone (31 equation 18). The oxidation was surprisingly slow using customary procedures, but Corey et alP found that forcing conditions provided the required lactone (32). 

Erythromycins, the representative and medicinally important macrolide antibiotics, have been widely studied and are still undoubtedly one of the most challenging target molecules for many synthetic organic chemists (O Fig. 3). Woodward and coworkers accomplished the first total synthesis of erythromycin A (18) in 1981 [8,9,10]. Corey and coworkers synthesized erythronolides A (20) and B (21), the aglycons of erythromycins A (18) and B (19), in 1978 [11,12] and 1979 [13]. 

The C10-C13 segment 24 was prepared from D-ribose (35) (O Scheme 2). In this case, selective protection of the hydroxy groups was realized by isopropylidenation (from 35 to 36). One of the other procedures for conversion of cyclic monosaccharides to acyclic derivatives is nucleophilic addition to the anomeric position in free monosaccharides. Grignard reagent, MeMgl, was added to 36 to provide 37 as the sole product. The subsequent manipulation of 37 to the C10-C13 segment 24, which is not restricted in monosaccharides chemistry, is summarized in O Scheme 2. After the completion of the synthesis of erythronolide A (20), Toshima, Nakata, Tatsuta, Kinoshita, and coworkers achieved the total synthesis of erythromycin A (18) by their own glycosidation method [18,19]. 

Kochetkov and coworkers synthesized erythronolides A (20) and B (21) via a different route [26,27,28]. There have been many reports on the syntheses of erythromycin. Among them, four examples are the Yonemitsu synthesis of erythronolide A (20) [29,30], featuring an extremely efficient macrocyclization (the modified Yamaguchi method) Martin s synthesis of erythromycin B (19) [31,32] Evans synthesis of 6-deoxyerythronolide B [33,34], featuring the aldol-based assemblage of each synthetic segment and the Carreira synthesis of erythronolide A (20), featuring the Mg-mediated cycloadditions of nitrile oxides [35]. 

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