Steroids, functionalization oxidation

Figure 25 Schematic rendition of the mode of binding of the steroid-functionalized porphyrin (28) and the possible interaction with a steroid substrate at the site of oxidation, as suggested by Groves and Neumann [91]...

Thus, the reduced form of cytochrome P-450 functions as the oxygenactivating biocatalyst of a wide variety of mixed-function oxidations by vertebrate tissues effecting biosynthesis and catabolism of steroid hormones, bile acid formation, and the metabolism of drugs and other xeno-biotics (16). Since reduced pyridine nucleotides do not react directly with hemoproteins, the hydroxylase systems must include components that mediate the electron transport from TPNH to cytochrome P-450. There also must be distinctive diflFerences in composition causing the substrate specificity of the oxygenations. 

The most difflcult pharmaceutically relevant oxidation of steroids is the introduction of a 14 -hydroxyl group. This functional group is found in heart-active steroids (cardenolides) such as digitoxigenin, which also contain a 17/J-butenolide substituent. The 14/ -hydroxyl group is easily cleaved off by dehydration and must therefore not be treated with Lewis or... 

Use of DMF as a solvent for the oxidation of l-o1efins has been reported by Clement and Selwitz. The method requires only a catalytic amount of PdCl2 and gives satisfactory yields under mild conditions. A small amount of olefin migration product is the only noticeable contaminant in the cases reported. The procedure can be applied satisfactorily to various 1-olefins with other functional groups. This useful synthetic method for the preparation of methyl ketones has been applied extensively in the syntheses of natural products such as steroids,macrolides, dihydrojasmone, and muscone. " A comprehensive review article on the palladium-catalyzed oxidation of olefins has... 

Lithium aluminum deuteride reduction of the 2a,3a-oxide function has been carried out with a number of different 5a-steroids (227). ° The isotopic purity of the resulting 2 -d,-3a-ols (228) is usually 96-100%. By mild oxidation, under Jones conditions, these alcohols can be converted into stereospecifically labeled monodeuterio ketones (229) ° of high isotopic purity. (For an alternate preparation of certain a-monodeuterio ketones, see section VI-B.)... 

Although lead tetraacetate can attack many polar and nonpolar functions in the steroid molecule, its greatest reactivity is towards vicinal diols. These diols are generally cleaved so rapidly under stoichiometric conditions that other alcohol functions in the molecule need not be protected. Thus lead tetraacetate in acetic acid at room temperature splits the 17a,20-diol group in (9) to yield the 17-ketone (10), the allylic A -3jS-alcohol remaining intact during this oxidation. Since lead tetraacetate is solublein many anhydrous... 

The simplest method for the addition of a 2-carbon fragment to a 17-keto steroid while retaining an oxygen function at C-17 is via reaction with acetylene or a substituted acetylene e.g., ethoxyacetylene, chloroacetylene). Since the resulting acetylenic carbinol (which is usually obtained in excellent yield) can in turn be hydrated, reduced, rearranged, and oxidized, this reaction offers considerable synthetic possibilities. 

Epoxides are often encountered in nature, both as intermediates in key biosynthetic pathways and as secondary metabolites. The selective epoxidation of squa-lene, resulting in 2,3-squalene oxide, for example, is the prelude to the remarkable olefin oligomerization cascade that creates the steroid nucleus [7]. Tetrahydrodiols, the ultimate products of metabolism of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, bind to the nucleic acids of mammalian cells and are implicated in carcinogenesis [8], In organic synthesis, epoxides are invaluable building blocks for introduction of diverse functionality into the hydrocarbon backbone in a 1,2-fashion. It is therefore not surprising that chemistry of epoxides has received much attention [9]. 

After an overview of neurotransmitter systems and function and a consideration of which substances can be classified as neurotransmitters, section A deals with their release, effects on neuronal excitability and receptor interaction. The synaptic physiology and pharmacology and possible brain function of each neurotransmitter is then covered in some detail (section B). Special attention is given to acetylcholine, glutamate, GABA, noradrenaline, dopamine, 5-hydroxytryptamine and the peptides but the purines, histamine, steroids and nitric oxide are not forgotten and there is a brief overview of appropriate basic pharmacology. 

In the preceding chapters, the synaptic pharmacology of those substances clearly established as NTs in the CNS, i.e. glutamate, GABA, ACh, NA, DA, 5-HT and certain peptides, has been discussed in some detail. There are other substances found in the CNS that could have a minor transmitter role, e.g. ATP, histamine and adrenaline, while still others that cannot claim such a property but clearly modify CNS function in some way, e.g. steroids, prostaglandins and nitric oxide. We will consider each of them in what we hope is appropriate detail. 

Microbiological oxidation has proven of enormous value in steroid chemistry, often affording selective means of functionalizing remote and chemically inactivated positions. It will bear mentioning that the 11-oxygen for all commercially available corticoids is in fact introduced by such a reaction carried out on plant scale. Preparation of the 1-dehydro analogue of 207 involves biooxidation to introduce the 16-hydroxyl. Incubation of 6a-fluoroprednisolone... 

A total synthesis of functionalized 8,14-seco steroids with five- and six-membered D rings has been developed (467). The synthesis is based on the transformation of (S)-carvone into a steroidal AB ring moiety with a side chain at C(9), which allows the creation of a nitrile oxide at this position. The nitrile oxides are coupled with cyclic enones or enol derivatives of 1,3-diketones, and reductive cleavage of the obtained cycloadducts give the desired products. The formation of a twelve-membered ring compound has been reported in the cycloaddition of one of the nitrile oxides with cyclopentenone and as the result of an intramolecular ene reaction, followed by retro-aldol reaction. 

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