Phenolic synthesis pathways

Comprehensive information on the network of pathways responsible for the synthesis of numerous secondary metabolites can be found in Chapter 21. In addition, information on this aspect is also available in articles by Shimada et al. [2003], Toshiaki [2003], Tanner et al. [2003], Boatright et al. [2004], Hoffmann et al. [2004], Dixon et al. [2005], Niemetz and Gross [2005], Xie and Dixon [2005], and Ferrer et al. [2008], Nonetheless, the complete dissection of phenolic metabolic pathway is far from being complete. For example, recent reports underline that important questions still remain to be answered in the field of protoanthocyanidins and tannins [Xie and Dixon, 2005], and that the exact nature of the biosynthetic pathway(s) leading to lignin monomers has not been fully elucidated [Boudet, 2007]. 

The use of vanadium oxyfluoride as a reagent for the intramolecular oxidation of non-phenolic substrates (158) provided a convenient synthesis pathway to dibenzocyclo-octadienes (Scheme 34). It was shown that the racemic diarylbutane... 

Novel Pathways and Reactants This is a very broad area. We will thus restrict discussion to few examples. The first regards the important reaction of phenol synthesis and the possibility to realize it in one step directly from benzene using molecular oxygen as the oxidant. Various aspects of direct phenol synthesis from benzene are discussed in Chapter 13. We highlight here only recent results that exemplify how starting from the previously cited activity of Re complexes in the epoxidation in homogeneous phase could lead to investigation of the behavior of Re complexes when inserted into the channels of zeolites (ZSM-5) and in gas-phase selective oxidations. This has opened a new unexpected direction. 

Kametani et al. (544,545) and other workers (546-561) endeavored to carry out the synthesis of cularine alkaloids by phenolic oxidation (bio-genetic type of synthesis) of the corresponding derivatives of laudanosine. The paper (549) describes the synthesis of these bases via the 6-ethoxycar-bamido-3,4-dihydroisoquinolines, which were converted to 6-amino-isoquinoline. By Ullmann reaction it gives the compound 52 and ( )-cularine (51) (Scheme 18). Cularine-type alkaloids were also synthesized by the intramolecular Ullmann reaction of 7,8-disubstituted isoquinoline obtained by the usual Bischler-Napieralski reaction from the phenolic bromoamide (pathway a) (544, 548). However, in the papers referred to (557,558,561), the rings A, C, and D were formed first (pathway b), and only then was the ring formed during the synthesis of cularine. 

Microbiological Origin and Synthesis Pathways of Ethyl-Phenols in Red Wines... 

The synthesis pathway started with the lithiation of ethylbenzene 121 at the benzylic position, followed by acylation of the toluate anirni intermediate at low temperature. It is noteworthy that a potentially competing orf/io-lithiati(Mi of the type championed by Snieckus 85) i.e. between the two stabilizing methoxyl radicals) was not reported under these conditions. Subsequent reduction of benzyUcetone 122 provided smooth access to the t/irco-dimethyl-substituted bicy-clic intermediate 123 via lactonization. DIBAL reduction (—> 124) and reductive debenzylation with palladium on charcoal gave the ring-opened alcohol 125, which was further demethylated to provide a 1,3-diphenol, and then carboxylated under buffered conditions to yield acid 117, also known as phenol B . This compound was formylated with trimethyl orthoformate and acid, then cyclized to give the quinone structure and natural product, 116 (Scheme 3.1). 

The metabolic routes leading to phenol synthesis, with which this chapter is concerned, utilize the same thioester substrates and depend upon the presence of a multienzyme complex with many properties similar to those of fatty acid synthetase (Dimroth et al., 1970, 1976). They therefore appear to follow genetically determined pathways. These reactions, and those of fatty... 

A plausible pathway is that the aromatisation of the cyclohexadienone 92 by a proton shift is accelerated in the presence of Ac20 under formation of acetate 93. The simultaneously generated acetic acid then cleaves the acetate to form the free phenol 94 (Scheme 44). This effect was observed for the first time during studies towards the total synthesis of the lipid-alternating and anti-atherosclerotic furochromone khellin 99 [64].The furanyl carbene chromium complex 96 was supposed to react with alkoxyalkyne 95 in a benzannulation reaction to give the densely substituted benzofuran derivative 97 (Scheme 45). Upon warming the reaction mixture in tetrahydrofuran to 65 °C the reaction was completed in 4 h, but only a dimerisation product could be isolated. This... 

Metabolic pathways containing dioxygenases in wild-type strains are usually related to detoxification processes upon conversion of aromatic xenobiotics to phenols and catechols, which are more readily excreted. Within such pathways, the intermediate chiral cis-diol is rearomatized by a dihydrodiol-dehydrogenase. While this mild route to catechols is also exploited synthetically [221], the chirality is lost. In the context of asymmetric synthesis, such further biotransformations have to be prevented, which was initially realized by using mutant strains deficient in enzymes responsible for the rearomatization. Today, several dioxygenases with complementary substrate profiles are available, as outlined in Table 9.6. Considering the delicate architecture of these enzyme complexes, recombinant whole-cell-mediated biotransformations are the only option for such conversions. E. coli is preferably used as host and fermentation protocols have been optimized [222,223]. 

Plant metabolism can be separated into primary pathways that are found in all cells and deal with manipulating a uniform group of basic compounds, and secondary pathways that occur in specialized cells and produce a wide variety of unique compounds. The primary pathways deal with the metabolism of carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, and nucleic acids and act through the many-step reactions of glycolysis, the tricarboxylic acid cycle, the pentose phosphate shunt, and lipid, protein, and nucleic acid biosynthesis. In contrast, the secondary metabolites (e.g., terpenes, alkaloids, phenylpropanoids, lignin, flavonoids, coumarins, and related compounds) are produced by the shikimic, malonic, and mevalonic acid pathways, and the methylerythritol phosphate pathway (Fig. 3.1). This chapter concentrates on the synthesis and metabolism of phenolic compounds and on how the activities of these pathways and the compounds produced affect product quality. 

Precursors of phenylpropanoids are synthesized from two basic pathways the shikimic acid pathway and the malonic pathway (see Fig. 3.1). The shikimic acid pathway produces most plant phenolics, whereas the malonic pathway, which is an important source of phenolics in fungi and bacteria, is less significant in higher plants. The shikimate pathway converts simple carbohydrate precursors into the amino acids phenylalanine and tyrosine. The synthesis of an intermediate in this pathway, shikimic acid, is blocked by the broad-spectrum herbicide glyphosate (i.e., Roundup). Because animals do not possess this synthetic pathway, they have no way to synthesize the three aromatic amino acids (i.e., phenylalanine, tyrosine, and tryptophan), which are therefore essential nutrients in animal diets. 

A related dienediol-phenol rearrangement which can occur by different pathways was reported as a new method for synthesis of the oxepine system180. Protonation of the starting diol 344 produces a cation 345 which can follow normal dienone-phenol rearrangement (path a) when the substituents R2 = Me, Ph and R1 = t-Bu are eliminated in the step 346 — 347. However, when R1 = t-Bu and R2 is a substituted phenyl which decreases the nucleophility, the cationoid intermediate 345 cyclizes to the oxonium ion 348 (path b) which then undergoes deprotonation to give the oxepine 349 (equation 124)180. 

The voltammetric response of curcumin and carthamin must, in principle, be dominated by the oxidation of the phenol and/or methoxyphenol groups (see Scheme 2.2). The electrochemistry of methoxyphenols has claimed considerable attention because of their applications in organic synthesis [159-163]. As studied by Quideau et al., in aprotic media, 2-methoxyphenols are oxidized in two successive steps into cyclohexadienone derivatives [163], whereas a-(2)- and a-(4-methoxyphenoxy) alkanoic acids undergo electrochemically induced spirolac-tonization to develop synthetically useful orthoquinone bis- and monoketals. In the presence of methanol, the electrochemical pathway involves an initial one-electron loss, followed by proton loss, to form a monoketal radical. This undergoes a subsequent electron and proton loss coupled with the addition of alcohol to form an orthoquinone monoketal. The formal electrode potential for the second electron transfer... 

The enzyme complex that catalyses steps d to/of Fig. 25-20 has an unusual composition. An a3 trimer of 23.5-kDa subunits is contained within an icosahe-dral shell of 60 16-kDa (3 subunits, similar to the protein coats of the icosahedral viruses (Chapter 7). The (3 subunits catalyze the formation of dimethylribityllu-mazine (steps d, e), while the a3 trimer catalyzes the dismutation reaction of step/, the final step in riboflavin formation.365 A separate bifunctional bacterial ATP-dependent synthetase phosphorylates riboflavin and adds the adenylyl group to form FAD.366 Two separate mammalian enzymes are required.367 Synthesis of deazaflavins of methanogens (Fig. 15-22) follows pathways similar to those of riboflavin. However, the phenolic ring of the deazaflavin originates from the shikimate pathway.368... 

Inflammation is now recognized as a key process in atherogenesis [Libby, 2002]. The potential for dietary flavonoids to inhibit inflammatory activities is of particular interest. A potential anti-inflammatory feature of the flavonoids is the ability to inhibit the biosynthesis of eicosanoids. Selected phenolic acids and some flavonoids have been shown to inhibit both cyclooxygenase (COX) and 5-lipoxygenase (5-LO) pathways [Nijveldt et al., 2001 Takano-Ishikawa et al., 2006], Epicatechin and related flavonoids have been shown to inhibit the synthesis of pro-inflammatory cytokines in vitro [Sanbongi et al., 1997], and plasma metabolites of catechin and quercetin inhibit the adhesion of monocytes to cultured endothelial cells [Koga and Meydani, 2001]. Silymarin has been shown to inhibit the production of inflammatory cytokines, such as interleukin-1, interferon-, and tumor necrosis factor-a (TNFa), from macrophages and T-cells [Matsuda et al., 2005], Some flavonoids can inhibit neutrophil... 

The one-step hydroxylation ofbenzene represents an attractive alternative pathway for the direct synthesis of phenol and many studies are performed using different processes among which the photocatalytic reaction [45,46]. One of the main problem is the low selectivity of the process due to the higher reactivity of phenol towards the oxidation than benzene with the formation of oxidation by-products. In order to avoid these secondary products and to obtain the separation of the phenol from the oxidant reaction environment the use of a membrane system coupled with the photocatalytic process seems a useful solution. 

Use of transition metal catalysts opens up previously unavailable mechanistic pathways. With hydrogen peroxide and catalytic amounts of methyl trioxorhe-nium (MTO), 2-methylnaphthalene can be converted to 2-methylnaphtha-l,4-qui-none (vitamin K3 or menadione) in 58 % yield and 86 % selectivity at 81 % conversion (Eq. 10) [43, 44]. Metalloporphyrin-catalyzed oxidation of 2-methylnaphtha-lene with KHSOs can also be used to prepare vitamin K3 [45]. The MTO-catalyzed process can also be applied to the synthesis of quinones from phenols [46, 47]. In particular, several benzoquinones of cardanol derivatives were prepared in this manner [48], The oxidation is thought to proceed through the formation of arene oxide intermediates [47]. 

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