Natural and unnatural products from

Synthesis of Natural and Unnatural Products from Sugar Synthons... 

We have developed two methods for the synthesis of natural and unnatural products from D-glucose. Enantio-and diastereo-switching method established a new strategy for the synthesis of four possible stereomers for natural products synthesis, and this powerful method was successfully applied to the synthesis of unnatural protein phosphatase inhibitors. The second synthetic method involved the preparation of the urea-glycosidic linkages for the synthesis of glycopeptide mimics. 

As described above, many copper-mediated reactions play important roles in tlie syntlieses of natural and unnatural products. To date natural product syntlieses using organocoppet reagents have beeti accomplisbed, and w ill undoubtedly be increasing greatly from now on. 

Application of an aldolase to the synthesis of the tricyclic microbial elicitor (-)-syringolide (Figure 10.34) is another excellent example that enzyme-catalyzed aldolizations can be used to generate sufficient quantities of enantiopure material in multistep syntheses of complex natural and unnatural products [159]. Remarkably, the aldolase reaction established absolute and relative configuration of the only chiral centers that needed to be externally induced in the adduct (95) from achiral precursor (94) during the subsequent cyclization events, all others seemed to follow by kinetic preference. 

The availability of cyclopentenones from butanolides allows the lactone annulation to facilitate the synthesis of cyclopentyl natural and unnatural products. An example that highlights the latter is dodecahedrane (178) for which 179 constitutes a critical synthetic intermediate 136,137). Lateral fusion of cyclopentenones as present in 179 can arise by acid induced reorganization and dehydration of 180. While a variety of routes can be envisioned to convert a ketone such as 182 into 180, none worked satisfactorily137 On the other hand, the cyclobutanone spiro-annulation approach via 181 proceeds in 64 % overall yield. Thus, the total carbon cource of dodecahedrane derives from two building blocks — cyclopentadiene and the cyclopropyl sulfonium ylide. 

This article provides a brief overview of several recent total syntheses of natural and unnatural products that have benefited from the use of catalytic asymmetric processes. The article is divided by the type of bond formation that the catalytic enan-tioselective reaction accomplishes (e.g C-C or C-0 bond formation). Emphasis is made on instances where a catalytic asymmetric reaction is utilized at a critical step (or steps) within a total synthesis however, cases where catalytic enantioselective transformations are used to prepare the requisite chiral non-racemic starting materials are also discussed. At the close of the article, two recent total syntheses are examined, where asymmetric catalytic reactions along with a number of other catalyzed processes are the significant driving force behind the successful completion of these efforts (Catalysis-Based Total Syntheses). 

One of the earliest industrial applications of monoterpenes is in the steroid synthesis. Robinson annelation is used frequently in these transformations as a key step. The first example of this reaction was by Robinson himself to synthesize a-cyperone from dihydrocarvone.56 This synthesis has been shown to follow a stereospecific course to give (+)-a-cyperone (37) from (+)-dihydrocar-vone (38) (Scheme 5.14).57-59 Since then, numerous modifications and improvements have been made to apply this type of reaction for syntheses of a variety of natural and unnatural products.60... 

The Nazarov cyclization has been featured in a variety of synthetic endeavors involving both natural and unnatural products. In the area of polyquinane natural products ( )-hirsutene (88), ( )-mod-hephene (89), ( )-silphinene (90), ( )-A 2)-capnellene (91) and ( )-cedrene, have all been prepared (Scheme 37). The synthesis of (91) is noteworthy in the iterative use of the silicon-directed Nazarov cyclization. TIk divinyl ketones were constructed by the carbonylation-coupling of enol triflates (92) and (95) with the -silylvinylstannane (Scheme 38). llie diquinane (94), obtained from Nazarov cyclization of (93), was transformed into enol triflate (95) which was coupled with the -silylvinylstaimane as before. Silicon-directed Nazarov cyclization of (96) was highly diastereoselective to provide the cis,anti,cis isomer of (16). The synthesis was completed by routine manipulations. 

A simultaneous reduction-oxidation sequence of hydroxy carbonyl substrates in the Meerwein-Ponndorf-Verley reduction can be accomplished by use of a catalytic amount of (2,7-dimethyl-l,8-biphenylenedioxy)bis(dimethylaluminum) (8) [33], This is an efficient hydride transfer from the sec-alcohol moiety to the remote carbonyl group and, because of its insensitivity to other functionalities, should find vast potential in the synthesis of complex polyfunctional molecules, including natural and unnatural products. Thus, treatment of hydroxy aldehyde 18 with 8 (5 mol%) in CH2CI2 at 21 °C for 12 h resulted in formation of hydroxy ketone 19 in 78 % yield. As expected, the use of 25 mol% 8 enhanced the rate and the chemical yield was increased to 92 %. A similar tendency was observed with the cyclohexanone derivative. It should be noted that the present reduction-oxidation sequence is highly chemoselective, and can be utilized in the presence of other functionalities such as esters, amides, rert-alco-hols, nitriles and nitro compounds, as depicted in Sch. 10. 

Apart from studies by Pauson and coworkers, this reaction was not widely investigated until the seminal report by Schore in 1981 which detailed the first intramolecular example of a Pauson-Khand reaction [10]. Following this report, activity in this area flourished, and the frequent apphcation of this methodology in the total synthesis of natural and unnatural products demonstrated the versatility of this reaction. A detailed discussion of these efforts is beyond the scope of this article, but a number of excellent reviews on the subject have been published [11]. 

Structural Characterization of Natural and Unnatural Products An Antioxidant from Grape Seeds and a Fake Drug in Herbal Medicines... 

Dioxin vinylogous esters derived from cyclic 1,3-diketones (e.g., 4) are valuable building blocks for the construction of natural and unnatural carbocyclic products.2 In connection with a synthesis of plant-growth regulators, Crow and... 

Finally, this study excluded a reaction pathway involving the quaternary ammonium salt 28. When this salt, prepared by intramolecular alkylation, was submitted to the conditions of the coupling reaction with vindoline, no binary alkaloid was obtained, thus ruling out participation of the ammonium salt as an intermediate on the reaction pathway (28). However, consideration of the quaternary salt 28 as a possible intermediate was reopened by a report from Atta-ur-Rahman on the production of binary alkaloids of both the natural and unnatural C-16 configuration (29), in which the coupling reaction was effected by using 28 as the electro-... 

Phospholipases are very versatile enzymes which allow the transformation of inexpensive natural products into highly valuable compounds like specific structurally defined phospholipids, organic monophosphates or diphosphates and DAG with the natural absolute configuration. Of particular synthetic utility is PLD from bacterial sources which is able to effect the phosphoryl transfer in a water-containing biphasic system. PLD shows a wide substrate specificity for both the polar head and the alcohol acceptors as well as for the lipophilic part of the molecule. The enzyme behaves like a generic phosphodiesterase with broad substrate specificity and high transphosphatidylation ability. The molecular basis of this behavior should become clear by inspection of the three-dimensional structure and comparison with other phosphoric acid ester hydrolytic enzymes. The crystal structure of this enzyme has not been elucidated. The potential of the many different PLD from plants which show peculiar substrate specificity should allow one to expand the synthetic utility to the hydrolysis-synthesis of natural and unnatural phosphatidylinositols. 

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