Brian M. Stoltz

A Comprehensive History of Arynes in Natural Product Total Synthesis

Within 14 years of the seminal experiments of J. D. Roberts leading to the first proposal of the structure of benzyne (1), synthetic organic chemists recognized the potential to exploit this highly reactive intermediate (and its substituted variants) in the total synthesis of natural products. More specifically, it was recognized that arynes offered the strategic advantage of rapidly functionalizing an aromatic ring by forming multiple carbon− carbon or carbon−heteroatom bonds in a single operation, often in a regioselective manner. Initially, the scope of synthetic applications was somewhat limited by the harsh conditions required to produce the aryne species. Many of these methods required strong bases, such as n-BuLi, or high temperatures (Scheme 1). However, with the development of milder methods for the generation of arynes came increased interest in employing them in the synthesis of more complex polycyclic systems. Most recently, the use of o-silyl aryl triflates as aryne precursors has allowed generation of the reactive intermediate under almost neutral conditions. To date, over 75 individual natural products have been prepared using arynes to generate key synthetic intermediates. Herein are recounted the reports of total syntheses that utilize arynes in ways that build complexity or introduce motifs essential to the completion of their targets. The methods by which the authors featured in this review accomplish this task reflect the versatility of arynes as reactive intermediates for synthesis (Scheme 2). For the purposes of organization, the syntheses are divided into subgroups on the basis of the type of aryne transformation: (i) nucleophilic additions or multicomponent reactions, (ii) σ-bond insertion reactions, (iii) [4 + 2]- and [2 + 2]-cycloaddition strategies, and (iv) metal-catalyzed aryne reactions.

Reversible inhibitor of p97, DBeQ, impairs both ubiquitin-dependent and autophagic protein clearance pathways

A specific small-molecule inhibitor of p97 would provide an important tool to investigate diverse functions of this essential ATPase associated with diverse cellular activities (AAA) ATPase and to evaluate its potential to be a therapeutic target in human disease. We carried out a high-throughput screen to identify inhibitors of p97 ATPase activity. Dual-reporter cell lines that simultaneously express p97-dependent and p97-independent proteasome substrates were used to stratify inhibitors that emerged from the screen. N2,N4-dibenzylquinazoline-2,4-diamine (DBeQ) was identified as a selective, potent, reversible, and ATP-competitive p97 inhibitor. DBeQ blocks multiple processes that have been shown by RNAi to depend on p97, including degradation of ubiquitin fusion degradation and endoplasmic reticulum-associated degradation pathway reporters, as well as autophagosome maturation. DBeQ also potently inhibits cancer cell growth and is more rapid than a proteasome inhibitor at mobilizing the executioner caspases-3 and -7. Our results provide a rationale for targeting p97 in cancer therapy.

The total synthesis of (-)-cyanthiwigin F by means of double catalytic enantioselective alkylation

Double catalytic enantioselective transformations are powerful synthetic methods that can facilitate the construction of stereochemically complex molecules in a single operation. In addition to generating two or more stereocentres in a single reaction, multiple asymmetric reactions also impart increased enantiomeric excess to the final product in comparison with the analogous single transformation. Furthermore, multiple asymmetric operations have the potential to independently construct several stereocentres at remote points within the same molecular scaffold, rather than relying on pre-existing chiral centres that are proximal to the reactive site. Despite the inherent benefits of multiple catalytic enantioselective reactions, their application to natural product total synthesis remains largely underutilized. Here we report the use of a double stereoablative enantioselective alkylation reaction in a concise synthesis of the marine diterpenoid (-)-cyanthiwigin F (ref. 8). By employing a technique for independent, selective formation of two stereocentres in a single stereoconvergent operation, we demonstrate that a complicated mixture of racemic and meso diastereomers may be smoothly converted to a synthetically useful intermediate with exceptional enantiomeric excess. The stereochemical information generated by means of this catalytic transformation facilitates the easy and rapid completion of the total synthesis of this marine natural product.

Orthogonal synthesis of indolines and isoquinolines via aryne annulation.

Described in this report is the development of two unique methodologies exploiting the reactivity of arynes. Reaction of N-carbamoyl-functionalized enamine derivatives with benzyne affords substituted indolines. An orthogonal reactivity is uncovered when related enamine derivatives are modified as amides, such that isoquinolines are formed as the product of condensation with benzyne. This latter transformation is applied to a concise total synthesis of the opiate alkaloid papaverine.

Silylation of C–H bonds in aromatic heterocycles by an Earth-abundant metal catalyst

Heteroaromatic compounds containing carbon–silicon (C–Si) bonds are of great interest in the fields of organic electronics and photonics, drug discovery, nuclear medicine and complex molecule synthesis, because these compounds have very useful physicochemical properties. Many of the methods now used to construct heteroaromatic C–Si bonds involve stoichiometric reactions between heteroaryl organometallic species and silicon electrophiles or direct, transition-metal-catalysed intermolecular carbon–hydrogen (C–H) silylation using rhodium or iridium complexes in the presence of excess hydrogen acceptors. Both approaches are useful, but their limitations include functional group incompatibility, narrow scope of application, high cost and low availability of the catalysts, and unproven scalability. For this reason, a new and general catalytic approach to heteroaromatic C–Si bond construction that avoids such limitations is highly desirable. Here we report an example of cross-dehydrogenative heteroaromatic C–H functionalization catalysed by an Earth-abundant alkali metal species. We found that readily available and inexpensive potassium tert-butoxide catalyses the direct silylation of aromatic heterocycles with hydrosilanes, furnishing heteroarylsilanes in a single step. The silylation proceeds under mild conditions, in the absence of hydrogen acceptors, ligands or additives, and is scalable to greater than 100 grams under optionally solvent-free conditions. Substrate classes that are difficult to activate with precious metal catalysts are silylated in good yield and with excellent regioselectivity. The derived heteroarylsilane products readily engage in versatile transformations enabling new synthetic strategies for heteroaromatic elaboration, and are useful in their own right in pharmaceutical and materials science applications.

Synthesis and structural analysis of 2-quinuclidonium tetrafluoroborate

The amide functional group is one of the most fundamental motifs found in chemistry and biology, and it has been studied extensively for the past century. Typical acyclic amides are planar. But the amide groups of bicyclic bridgehead lactams are highly twisted, and this distortion from planarity can dramatically affect the stability and reactivity of these amides; it also increases the basicity of the nitrogen so that it often behaves more like an amine than a typical planar amide. As a result, the structures and reactivity profiles of these ‘anti-Bredt’ amides differ significantly from those of planar amides. It is possible that this twisting phenomenon is not exclusive to cyclic systems—non-planarity may also be a critical biological design element that leads to amide ground-state destabilization and alters the reactivity, selectivity and mechanism of various protein and enzymatic processes (such as amide hydrolysis). The intriguing qualities of these twisted amides were first recognized in 1938 (ref. 11), wherein one of the simplest families was introduced—molecules containing the 1-azabicyclo[2.2.2]octan-2-one system. But the parent member of this group, 2-quinuclidone (molecule 1 in this paper), has not yet been unambiguously synthesized. Here, we report the chemical synthesis, isolation and full characterization of the HBF4 salt of 1. Critical to the success of the synthesis and isolation was the decision to generate 1 by a route other than classical amide bond formation. We anticipate that these results will provide a greater understanding of the properties of amide bonds.

Palladium-Catalyzed Asymmetric Conjugate Addition of Arylboronic Acids to Five-, Six-, and Seven-Membered β-Substituted Cyclic Enones: Enantioselective Construction of All-Carbon Quaternary Stereocenters

The first enantioselective Pd-catalyzed construction of all-carbon quaternary stereocenters via 1,4-addition of arylboronic acids to β-substituted cyclic enones is reported. Reaction of a wide range of arylboronic acids and cyclic enones using a catalyst prepared from Pd(OCOCF(3))(2) and a chiral pyridinooxazoline ligand yields enantioenriched products bearing benzylic stereocenters. Notably, this transformation is tolerant to air and moisture, providing a practical and operationally simple method of synthesizing enantioenriched all-carbon quaternary stereocenters.

Catalytic Enantioselective Stereoablative Alkylation of 3‐Halooxindoles: Facile Access to Oxindoles with C3 All‐Carbon Quaternary Stereocenters

From 2 to 1! Racemic tertiary halooxindoles proceed to enantioenriched oxindoles bearing all-carbon quaternary stereocenters as a result of a catalytic enantioselective stereoablative process (see scheme). The application of this procedure allows for the rapid asymmetric construction of biologically significant alkaloid core motifs.

Natural products as inspiration for the development of asymmetric catalysis

Biologically active natural products often contain particularly challenging structural features and functionalities in terms of synthesis. Perhaps the greatest difficulties are those caused by issues of stereochemistry. A useful strategy for synthesizing such molecules is to devise methods of bond formation that provide opportunities for using enantioselective catalysis. In using this tactic, the desire for a particular target structure ultimately drives the development of catalytic methods. New enantioselective catalytic methods contribute to a greater fundamental understanding of how bonds can be constructed and lead to valuable synthetic technologies that are useful for a variety of applications.

Side Chain Chemistry Mediates Backbone Fragmentation in Hydrogen Deficient Peptide Radicals

A crown ether based, photolabile radical precursor which forms noncovalent complexes with peptides has been prepared. The peptide/precursor complexes can be electrosprayed, isolated in an ion trap, and then subjected to laser photolysis and collision induced dissociation to generate hydrogen deficient peptide radicals. It is demonstrated that these peptide radicals behave very differently from the hydrogen rich peptide radicals generated by electron capture methods. In fact, it is shown that side chain chemistry dictates both the occurrence and relative abundance of backbone fragments that are observed. Fragmentation at aromatic residues occurs preferentially over most other amino acids. The origin of this selectivity relates to the mechanism by which backbone dissociation is initiated. The first step is abstraction of a beta-hydrogen from the side chain, followed by beta-elimination to yield primarily a-type fragment ions. Calculations reveal that those side chains which can easily lose a beta-hydrogen correlate well with experimentally favored sites for backbone fragmentation. In addition, radical mediated side chain losses from the parent peptide are frequently observed. Eleven amino acids exhibit unique mass losses from side chains which positively identify that particular amino acid as part of the parent peptide. Therefore, side chain losses allow one to unambiguously narrow the possible sequences for a parent peptide, which when combined with predictable backbone fragmentation should lead to greatly increased confidence in peptide identification.