Synthesis of Steroids and Terpenoids

Racemic 8a-methyl-3,4,8,8a-tetrahydro-l,6(2H,7H)-naphthalenedione (the Wieland-Miescher ketone) is a versatile building block for the synthesis of steroids and terpenoids. The (S) enantiomer, 3-S, was first obtained by microbiological means and by classical resolution via a derived... 

The Meerwein-Ponndorf-Verley reduction is a reversible reaction and the reverse pathway was reported in detail a couple of years later by Oppenauer who selectively oxidised hydroxyl functions into ketones or aldehydes with the help of acetone or cyclohexanone as proton quencher (oxidant) and aluminium tert-butoxide as catalyst (other common oxidants are acetaldehyde, anisaldehyde, benzaldehyde, benzophenone and cinnamalde-hyde). This mild oxidation method was in many cases used in the synthesis of steroids and terpenoids. 

The prenyl transferase from avian liver has been crystallized,40 and was found to be a dimer of molecular weight 86 000 dalton the subunits could not be resolved by SDS electrophoresis. The enzyme catalysed the formation of FPP from IPP and either DMAPP or GPP, and this was accompanied by the synthesis of small amounts of geranylgeranyl pyrophosphate (GGPP). This is the first stable crystalline enzyme of the steroid and terpenoid pathways to be prepared. 

The hydroxylation of nonactivated centers in hydrocarbons is one of the most useful biotransformations [1040,1074—1079] due to the fact that this process has only very few counterparts in traditional organic synthesis [1080-1082]. In general, the relative reactivity of carbon atoms in bio-hydroxylation reactions declines in the order of secondary > tertiary > primary [1083], which is in contrast to radical reactions (tertiary > secondary > primary) [1084]. There are two main groups of hydrocarbon molecules, which have been thoroughly investigated with respect to microbial hydroxylation, i.e., steroids and terpenoids. Both have in common, that they possess a large main framework, which impedes the metabolic degradation of their hydroxylated products. 

Developed in the early 1970s, this reaction, also called the Hajos-Parrish reaction or Hajos-Parrish-Ender-Sauer-Wiechert reaction, is one of the earliest processes for the stereoselective synthesis of Wieland-Miescher ketone, an important building block for steroids and terpenoid synthesis. This reaction is a proline mediated asymmetric variation to the Robinson annulation. Hajos and Parrish of Hoffmann-La Roche Inc. in 1971 and 1974 published an asymmetric aldol cyclization of triketones such as that of structure 39, which affords optically active annulation products in the presence of catalytic amounts of (S)-proline (Z-proline). One of the early examples is the synthesis of 41 from the triketone 39 (a product of the Michael addition of MVK to the corresponding 2-methylcyclopentane-l,3-dione), the reaction is performed in two steps first by ring formation in the presence of 3 mol % of (iS)-proline in DMF to afford the ketol 40 in 100% yield after crystallization with 93% ee and then by reaction with toluenesulfonic acid to give the dehydrated adduct 41. The formation of the Wieland-Miescher Ketone 44 follows the same synthetic route, starting from the tri-ketone 42 to give the end product in 75% optical purity and 99.8% of optical yield. 

Dehydration of the /S-hydroxy ester Reformatsky products to the corresponding a,/3-unsaturated derivatives can be effected by heating with POCls-pyridine, p-TsOH or molten KHSO4 under acidic conditions. By this means the Reformatsky reaction has been used as an alternative to the Wittig-Homer method, especially in the synthesis of carbon-14-labeled steroids and terpenoids. 

As exemplified in the present procedure, the reaction has been optimized and extended in scope it affords functionalized benzocyclobutenes as well as substituted isoquinolines in high yields. Benzocyclobutenes have been used as intermediates in the synthesis of many naturally occurring alkaloids, - steroids,polycyclic terpenoids,and anthracycline antibiotics. The traditional routes leading to the preparation of benzocyclobutenes have been... 

The recent work on the stereospecificity of hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA reductase 71 76> is particularly interesting. The reaction catalyzed by this enzyme is an important early step in the synthesis of terpenoids and steroids. The yeast enzyme and the liver enzyme both have the same stereospecificities. The overall reaction catalyzed is the reduction of hydroxymethylglutaryl CoA to mevalonic acid, as shown in scheme 1. Two molecules of NADPH are used to reduce the Co-A-bound carboxyl... 

Polyene cyclizations have been of substantial value in the synthesis of polycyclic natural products of the terpene type. These syntheses resemble the processes by which terpenoid and steroidal compounds are assembled in nature. The most dramatic example of biological synthesis of a polycyclic skeleton from a polyene intermediate is the conversion of squalene oxide to the steroid lanosterol. In the biological reaction, the enzyme presumably functions not only to induce the cationic cyclization but also to bind the substrate in a conformation corresponding to the stereochemistry of the polycyclic product.21... 

The alkylation of cyclopentanoid enolate groups, which are part of polycyclic systems, is a common step in natural product syntheses, particularly in the synthesis of terpenoids and steroids. A high degree of stereoselectivity is usually encountered in such reactions, for example, in the preparation of the bicyclic compounds 17-2054 59. Steric, rather than electronic, control elements determine the diastereoselectivity. 

This reaction is particularly suitable for the preparation of the Wieland-Miescher ketone 96, a very useful building block for construction of a broad variety of biologically active compounds such as steroids, terpenoids, and taxol. On the basis of the proline-catalyzed approach described above Barbas et al. recently reported an optimized procedure for formation of the chiral Wieland-Miescher ketone, 96 [105]. It has been shown that this synthesis (which comprises three reactions) can be performed as a one-pot synthesis. The desired product is obtained in 49% yield with enantioselectivity of 76% ee (Scheme 6.43). Here L-proline functions as an efficient catalyst for all three reaction steps (Michael-addition, cydiza-tion, dehydration). It is also worth noting that although many other amino adds and derivatives thereof were tested as potential alternative catalysts, L-proline had the best catalytic properties for synthesis of 96. This result emphasizes the superior catalytic properties of proline reported after previous comparative studies by the Hajos group [100, 101]. 

Schemes 5 and 6 outline the functionalization of a 10/1-Me by a steroidal 6/f-ol [1] and a 2/3-61 nitrite [6], Functionalization of 13/i-Me by a 20a-ol nitrite [7] and functionalization in the terpenoid field [8] are outlined in Schemes 7 and 8. The last example involves a 7-membered cyclic transition state that seldom occurs. Scheme 9 outlines a recent application of the Barton reaction in the synthesis of a biologically active carbacepham [9]. The photolysis of acyclic 5-phenyl-1-pentanol nitrite gives, preferentially, a nitroso dimer arising as a result of the abstraction of a hydrogen attached to the d-carbon, rather than the e-carbon from which the better stabilized benzyl radical can be generated (Scheme 10) [10].

Steroids are naturally occurring terpenoids that are based on a system consisting of four fused rings. In 2006, Chung and co-workers published the synthesis of the basic steroidal skeleton (54->56) and employed an intramolecular PK reaction as the key step (55 —> 56 - Scheme 21).69... 

ABSTRACT In the synthesis of relevant organic compounds such as natural products and analogues, the proportion of the number of steps coupled with the increase of complexity is now a universal paradigm to ascertain the quality and efficiency of a process. Alongwith providing accessibility to a multitude of diversified classes of natural products such as alkaloids, terpenoids, steroids and others, these criteria have been addressed by us via the application of domino processes. The acid-catalyzed intermolecular cyclization has been used as a viable synthetic tool for the stereospecific formation of different classes of polycyclic natural products. 

MVA is now known to be metabolized by routes other than those which give rise to terpenoids and steroids. The breakdown occurs predominantly in the kidneys to give C2 units that can be utilized in fatty-acid synthesis. The sterol and the shunt pathways have been evaluated in nine different tissues of rat previous conclusions that the kidneys are the predominant site of both types of metabolism have been confirmed. MVA is known to accumulate, at a low level, in the blood, and these results suggest that impairment of renal clearance of serum MVA by either route may account for the hypercholesterolaemia associated with some kidney disorders. A study of the effects of possible antimetabolites of MVA (for example the 2,3-anhydro-compound) on the formation of cholesterol in cell-free systems from liver has been reported. ... 

The biosynthesis of cholesterol, related steroids, and phytosterols is dealt with in this section whereas the further metabolism of these classes and the remaining nonsteroidal triterpenoids are covered in the following two sections. Reviews have appeared on the biosynthesis of sterols and higher terpenoids, the in vivo metabolism of steroids in primates" and in plant tissue culture," and dietary feedback control of cholesterol synthesis." The latter contains a reasoned defence of the hypothesis that HMG-CoA reductase is controlled by alterations to its supporting microsomal membrane. Abstracts of a symposium on all aspects of steroid biosynthesis have appeared." ... 

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