Thienamycins

Ketene has also been used on a large scale for C-acetylation in the synthesis of the carbapenem antibiotic thienamycin [59995-64-1] (86,87). 

Occurrence, Fermentation, and Biosynthesis. Although a large number of Streptomjces species have been shown to produce carbapenems, only S. cattkja (2) and S. penemfaciens (11) have been reported to give thienamycin (2). Generally the antibiotics occur as a mixture of analogues or isomers and are often co-produced with penicillin N and cephamycin C. Yields are low compared to other P-lactams produced by streptomycetes, and titres are of the order of 1—20 p-g sohdusmL despite, in many cases, a great deal of effort on the optimization of the media and fermentation conditions. The rather poor stabiUty of the compounds also contributes to a low recovery in the isolation procedures. The fermentation and isolation processes for thienamycin and the olivanic acids has been reviewed in some detail (12). 

Properties. Thienamycin is isolated as a colorless, hygroscopic, zwitterionic soHd, although the majority of carbapenems have been obtained as sodium salts and, in the case of the sulfated olivanic acids, as disodium salts (12). Concentrated aqueous solutions of the carbapenems are generally unstable, particularly at low pH. AH the substituted natural products have characteristic uv absorption properties that are often used in assay procedures. The ir frequency of the P-lactam carbonyl is in the range 1760 1790 cm . ... 

In the case of thienamycin (Fig. lb) the absolute stereochemistry at C-5 was unambiguously deterrnined from the ene-lactam (16). The resultant (R)-aspartic acid (17) demonstrated that the absolute stereochemistry at C-5 of thienamycin is (R), corresponding to that found in the C-5 position of both penicillins and cephalosporins. Confirmation of the stereochemical assignments in both thienamycin (2) and the olivanic acid MM 13902 (3, n = 0) has been confirmed by x-ray crystallography (19,21,22). The stmctural determination of the nonsulfated derivatives from S. olivaceus (23), PS-5 (5) (5), the carpetimycins (6), and the asparenomycins (7) followed a similar pattern. 

Reactions. Although carbapenems are extremely sensitive to many reaction conditions, a wide variety of chemical modifications have been carried out. Many derivatives of the amino, hydroxy, and carboxy group of thienamycin (2) have been prepared primarily to study stmcture—activity relationships (24). The most interesting class of A/-derivatives are the amidines which are usually obtained in good yield by reaction of thienamycin with an imidate ester at pH 8.3. Introduction of this basic but less nucleophilic moiety maintains or improves the potency of the natural material while greatiy increasing the chemical stabiUty. Thus /V-formimidoyl thienamycin [64221-86-9] (MK 0787) (18), C 2H yN204S, (25) was chosen for clinical evaluation and... 

In the olivanic acid series of carbapenems the ( )-acetamidoethenyl grouping can be isomerised to the (Z)-isomer (19) (22) and reaction with hypobromous acid provides a bromohydrin that fragments to give a thiol of type (20) when R = H, SO H, or COCH. The thiol is not isolated but can react to provide new alkyl or alkenyl C-2 substituents (28). In the case of the nonsulfated olivanic acids, inversion of the stereochemistry at the 8(3)-hydroxyl group by way of a Mitsunobu reaction affords an entry to the 8(R)-thienamycin series (29). An alternative method for introducing new sulfur substituents makes use of a displacement reaction of a carbapenem (3)-oxide with a thiol (30). Microbial deacylation of the acylamino group in PS-5 (5) has... 

Formal syntheses of thienamycin (2) from precursors such as carbohydrates (43—45), amino acids (46,47), isoxa2ohdines (48), and tricarbonyliron lactam complexes (49) have also been reported. Many other methods for carbapenem synthesis have been widely reviewed (10,50—52). 

In common with the naturally occurring carbapenem thienamycin (2), the introduction of the /n j -6-[l-(R)-hydroxyethyi] group had a profound effect on the biological properties of the penems. This, together with an indication from an early study (93) that, as with other P-lactams, the 5(R)-enantiomer was solely responsible for antibacterial activity, provided impetus for the development of methods for the synthesis of chiral penems. 

Extensive carbapenem and penem antibiotic research has been ongoing since thienamycin was discovered in 1978. However, only the imipenem-cilastatin combination has become a commercial product. Launched in 1985 in the United States as a broad-spectmm hospital product under the name Ptimaxin, this product had worldwide sales of some 300 million in 1988. Sales were predicted to rise to 345 million for the year ending 1989 (154). 

Antibiotics, P-Lactams, Clavulanic Acid, Thienamycin, and Others," in ECT 3rd ed.. Supplement, pp. 83—131, by Allan Brown, Beecham Research Laboratories. 

There are several examples of intramolecular reactions of monocyclic /3-lactams with carbenes or carbenoids most of these involve formation of olivanic acid or clavulanic acid derivatives. Thus treatment of the diazo compound (106) with rhodium(II) acetate in benzene under reflux gives (107), an intermediate in the synthesis of thienamycin (80H(14)1305, 80TL2783). 

When the reaction of acetaldehyde with a 6-diazopenicillanate is catalyzed by BFs-EtiO, an epoxide of unknown stereochemistry is obtained (79H( 13)227). With ZnCh catalysis, however, the 6a-acetyl derivative is obtained, which can be stereospecifically reduced as the Mg chelate to the 6a-(/ -l-hydroxyethyl) derivative as part of an elegant synthesis of the carbapenem thienamycin (Scheme 40) (8UA6765). 

The nitrobenzyl caibonates were prepared to protect a secondary hydroxyl group in a thienamycin precursor. The o-nitrobenzyl carbonate was prepared from the chloroformate (DMAP, CH2CI2, 0° - 20°, 3 h) and cleaved by irradiation, pH 7. The p-nitrobenzyl carbonate was prepared from the chloroformate (—78°, n-BuLi, THE, 85% yield) and cleaved by hydrogenolysis (H2/Pd-C, dioxane, H2O, EtOH, K2HP04). It is also cleaved by electrolytic reduction. ... 

The strained bicyclic carbapenem framework of thienamycin is the host of three contiguous stereocenters and several heteroatoms (Scheme 1). Removal of the cysteamine side chain affixed to C-2 furnishes /J-keto ester 2 as a possible precursor. The intermolecular attack upon the keto function in 2 by a suitable thiol nucleophile could result in the formation of the natural product after dehydration of the initial tetrahedral adduct. In a most interesting and productive retrosynthetic maneuver, intermediate 2 could be traced in one step to a-diazo keto ester 4. It is important to recognize that diazo compounds, such as 4, are viable precursors to electron-deficient carbenes. In the synthetic direction, transition metal catalyzed decomposition of diazo keto ester 4 could conceivably furnish electron-deficient carbene 3 the intermediacy of 3 is expected to be brief, for it should readily insert into the proximal N-H bond to... 

Merck s thienamycin synthesis commences with mono (V-silylation of dibenzyl aspartate (13, Scheme 2), the bis(benzyl) ester of aspartic acid (12). Thus, treatment of a cooled (0°C) solution of 13 in ether with trimethylsilyl chloride and triethylamine, followed by filtration to remove the triethylamine hydrochloride by-product, provides 11. When 11 is exposed to the action of one equivalent of tm-butylmagnesium chloride, the active hydrogen attached to nitrogen is removed, and the resultant anion spontaneously condenses with the electrophilic ester carbonyl four atoms away. After hydrolysis of the reaction mixture with 2 n HC1 saturated with ammonium chloride, enantiomerically pure azetidinone ester 10 is formed in 65-70% yield from 13. Although it is conceivable that... 

To complete the synthesis of thienamycin, it only remains to cleave the carbamate and ester functions in 23. Catalytic hydrogenation of 23 accomplishes both of these objectives, and furnishes (+)-thienamycin (1). Synthetic (+)-thienamycin, prepared in this manner, was identical in all respects with natural thienamycin. 

In 1980, a Merck group disclosed the results of a model study which amply demonstrated the efficiency with which the strained bicyclic ring system of thienamycin can be constructed by the carbene insertion cyclization strategy.12 Armed with this important precedent, Merck s process division developed and reported, in the same year, an alternative route to carbene precursor 4.13 Although this alternative approach suffers from the fact that it provides key intermediate 4, and ultimately thienamycin, in racemic form, it is very practical and is amenable to commercial scale production. The details of this interesting route are presented in Schemes 4-6. 

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