David L. Van Vranken

Palladium-catalyzed insertion reactions of trimethylsilyldiazomethane

Abstract Palladium(II) salts catalyze the Kirmse reaction of allylsulfides with trimethylsilyldiazomethane (TMSD) to give homoallylsulfides. Similarly, TMSD can intercept ArPdX intermediates generated during Stille couplings to give benzhydryl derivatives. The yields of this process are limited by overinsertion and β-elimination. Insertion and elimination can be harnessed to generate styrenes from benzylic halides in the presence of palladium (0) catalysts.

Palladium-catalyzed carbene insertion and trapping with carbon nucleophiles.

Palladium catalysts are shown to catalyze the three-component coupling of vinyl halides, trimethylsilyldiazomethane, and stabilized carbon nucleophiles. The reaction is believed to proceed through a palladium-carbene intermediate LX(R)PdCHSiMe 3 that undergoes migration of the vinyl substituent to the electrophilic carbene center to generate an eta 3-allylpalladium intermediate. The allylpalladium intermediate is attacked by the carbon nucleophile to generate a vinylsilane product.

Cyclization reactions involving palladium-catalyzed carbene insertion into aryl halides.

Palladium is shown to catalyze the insertion of trimethylsilylmethylene into aryl halides, leading to benzylpalladium intermediates that cyclize to give indenylsilanes through carbopalladation of pendant alkenes or allenes. Allylsilanes generated through these processes are susceptible to protodesilylation in situ.

Carbenylative Amination with N-Tosylhydrazones

A Pd-catalyzed reaction of vinyl iodides and N-tosylhydrazones that assembles η(3)-allyl ligands through carbene insertion is demonstrated. Intramolecular trapping with nitrogen nucleophiles generates good yields of cinnamyl and pentadienyl amines like those found in alkaloid natural products. Carbenylative amination was the key reaction to complete the synthesis of the alkaloid caulophyllumine B. Migratory insertion was biased to provide allylamines with optical purity up to 64% ee, but in a lower yield.

RebG- and RebM-catalyzed indolocarbazole diversification

Rebeccamycin and staurosporine represent two broad classes of indolocarbazole glycoside natural products with antitumor properties. Based upon previous sequence annotation and in vivo studies, rebG encodes for the rebeccamycin N‐glucosyltransferase, and rebM for the requisite 4′‐O‐methyltransferase. In the current study, an efficient in vivo biotransformation system for RebG was established in both Streptomyces lividans and Escherichia coli. Bioconversion experiments revealed RebG to glucosylate a set of indolocarbazole surrogates, the products of which could be further modified by in vitro RebM‐catalyzed 4′‐O‐methylation. Both RebG and RebM displayed substrate promiscuity, and evidence for a remarkable lack of RebG regioselectivity in the presence of asymmetric substrates is also provided. In the context of the created indolocarbazole analogues, cytotoxicity assays also highlight the importance of 4′‐O‐methylation for their biological activity.

The fluorescence of scorpions and cataractogenesis.

BACKGROUND Protein cross-linking and fluorescence are widely recognized markers of oxidative aging in human proteins. Oxidative protein aging is a combinatorial process in which diversity arises from the heterogeneity of the targets and is amplified by the nonselective nature of the reactants. The cross-links themselves defy analysis because they are generally embedded in a covalent matrix. Arthropods rely upon oxidative cross-linking in the hardening of the cuticle - a process known as sclerotization. Among arthropods, scorpions are noteworthy in that the process of sclerotization is accompanied by the buildup of strong visible fluorescence. To date, the nature of the fluorescent species has remained a mystery. RESULTS We have identified one of the soluble fluorescent components of the scorpions Centuroides vittatus and Pandinus imperator as beta-carboline - a tryptophan derivative that has previously been identified by hydrolysis and oxidation of lens protein. We have also shown that beta-carboline-3-carboxylic acid is released from both scorpion exuvia (the shed cuticle) and human cataracts upon hydrolysis, suggesting that the protein-bound beta-carboline and free beta-carboline have common chemical origins. CONCLUSIONS Cataractogenesis and cuticular sclerotization are disparate oxidative processes - the former is collateral and the latter is constitutive. The common formation of beta-carbolines shows that similar patterns of reactivity are operative. These fundamental mechanisms provide predictive insight into the consequences of human protein aging.

Cyclization of η3-benzylpalladium intermediates derived from carbene insertion.

Migratory insertion of benzylidene carbene ligands into arylpalladium(II) species generates η(3)-benzylpalladium intermediates that can cyclize to generate five- and six-membered rings with new sp(3) centers. The reaction tolerates a range of arene functional groups and stabilized enolates. The products generated through this reaction are 1-arylindanes and 1-aryltetralins that are common to a range of natural products.

Cyclizations of unsymmetrical bis-1,2-(3-indolyl)ethanes: Synthesis of (−)-tjipanazole F1

Abstract The inter- and intramolecular dimerization of 3-substituted indoles was studied. The rate and extent of dimerization depends on the indole substituents. The intramolecular dimerization of unsymmetrical bis-1,2-(3-indolyl)ethanes could be controlled using either thermodynamic reaction conditions (neat trifluoroacetic acid) or kinetic conditions (2 equiv acid/chloroform). This control of regiochemistry has been applied to an efficient synthesis of (−)-tjipanazole F1.

Metal-catalyzed ylide formation and [2,3] sigmatropic rearrangement of allyl sulfides with trimethylsilyldiazomethane

Abstract Trimethylsilyldiazomethane is compared with ethyl diazoacetate for the rhodium, copper, and cobalt catalyzed formation and [2,3] rearrangement of allylsulfonium ylides. At room temperature, the reaction can be carried out using the allyl sulfide as the limiting reagent by slow addition of 3 equivalents of the diazo compound. Slightly better yields were obtained with trimethylsilyldiazomethane than with ethyl diazoacetate.

Enantioselective Palladium‐Catalyzed Carbene Insertion into the N−H Bonds of Aromatic Heterocycles

C3-substituted indoles and carbazoles react with α-aryl-α-diazoesters under palladium catalysis to form α-(N-indolyl)-α-arylesters and α-(N-carbazolyl)-α-arylesters. The products result from insertion of a palladium-carbene ligand into the N-H bond of the aromatic N-heterocycles. Enantioselection was achieved using a chiral bis(oxazoline) ligand, in many cases with high enantioselectivity (up to 99 % ee). The method was applied to synthesize the core of a bioactive carbazole derivative in a concise manner.