Dennis Svatunek

Development of a 18F‐Labeled Tetrazine with Favorable Pharmacokinetics for Bioorthogonal PET Imaging

A low-molecular-weight (18) F-labeled tetrazine derivative was developed as a highly versatile tool for bioorthogonal PET imaging. Prosthetic groups and undesired carrying of (18) F through additional steps were evaded by direct (18) F-fluorination of an appropriate tetrazine precursor. Reaction kinetics of the cycloaddition with trans-cyclooctenes were investigated by applying quantum chemical calculations and stopped-flow measurements in human plasma; the results indicated that the labeled tetrazine is suitable as a bioorthogonal probe for the imaging of dienophile-tagged (bio)molecules. In vitro and in vivo investigations revealed high stability and PET/MRI in mice showed fast homogeneous biodistribution of the (18) F-labeled tetrazine that also passes the blood-brain barrier. An in vivo click experiment confirmed the bioorthogonal behavior of this novel tetrazine probe. Due to favorable chemical and pharmacokinetic properties this bioorthogonal agent should find application in bioimaging and biomedical research.

Design, Synthesis, and Evaluation of a Low-Molecular-Weight 11C-Labeled Tetrazine for Pretargeted PET Imaging Applying Bioorthogonal in Vivo Click Chemistry

A low-molecular-weight tetrazine labeled with the short-lived positron emitter carbon-11 was developed as a bioorthogonal PET probe for pretargeted imaging. A method for efficient and fast synthesis of this imaging agent is presented using radiolabeling of a readily available precursor. High reactivity with trans-cyclooctenes was observed and in vivo investigations including PET/MR scanning showed homogeneous biodistribution, good metabolic stability, and rapid excretion in naive mice. These properties are key to the success of bioorthogonal (11)C-PET imaging, which has been shown in a simple pretargeting experiment using TCO-modified mesoporous silica nanoparticles. Overall, this (11)C-labeled tetrazine represents a highly versatile and advantageous chemical tool for bioorthogonal PET imaging and enables pretargeting approaches using carbon-11 for the first time.

Synthesis of zearalenone-16-β,D-glucoside and zearalenone-16-sulfate: A tale of protecting resorcylic acid lactones for regiocontrolled conjugation

Summary The development of a reliable procedure for the synthesis of the 16-glucoside and 16-sulfate of the resorcylic acid lactone (RAL) type compound zearalenone is presented. Different protective group strategies were considered and applied to enable the preparation of glucosides and sulfates that are difficult to access up to now. Acetyl and p-methoxybenzyl protection led to undesired results and were shown to be inappropriate. Finally, triisopropylsilyl-protected zearalenone was successfully used as intermediate for the first synthesis of the corresponding mycotoxin glucoside and sulfate that are highly valuable as reference materials for further studies in the emerging field of masked mycotoxins. Furthermore, high stability was observed for aryl sulfates prepared as tetrabutylammonium salts. Overall, these findings should be applicable for the synthesis of similar RAL type and natural product conjugates.

Efficient low-cost preparation of trans-cyclooctenes using a simplified flow setup for photoisomerization.

Bioorthogonal ligations have emerged as highly versatile chemical tools for biomedical research. The exceptionally fast reaction between 1,2,4,5-tetrazines and trans-cyclooctenes (TCOs), also known as tetrazine ligation, is frequently used in this regard. Growing numbers of applications for the tetrazine ligation led to an increased demand for TCO compounds, whose commercial availability is still very limited. Reported photochemical procedures for the preparation of TCOs using flow chemistry are straightforward and high yielding but require expensive equipment. Within this contribution, we present the construction and characterization of a low-cost flow photoreactor assembled from readily accessible components. Syntheses of all commonly used trans-cyclooctene derivatives were successfully carried out using the described system. We are convinced that the presented system for photoisomerization will promote access to bioorthogonally reactive TCO derivatives.Graphical abstract

DFT study of the Lewis acid mediated synthesis of 3-acyltetramic acids

AbstractThe synthesis of 3-acyltetramic acids by C-acylation of pyrrolidine-2,4-diones was studied by density functional theory (DFT). DFT was applied to the mycotoxin tenuazonic acid (TeA), an important representative of these bioactive natural compounds. Lewis acid mediated C-acylation in combination with previous pH-neutral domino N-acylation–Wittig cyclization can be used for the efficient preparation of 3-acyltetramic acids. Nevertheless, quite harsh conditions are still required to carry out this synthetic step, leading to unwanted isomerization of stereogenic centers in some cases. In the presented study, the reaction pathway for the C-acetylation of (5S,6S-5-s-butylpyrrolidine-2,4-dione was studied in terms of mechanism, solvent effects, and Lewis acid activation, in order to obtain an appropriate theoretical model for further investigations. Crucial steps were identified that showed rather high activation barriers and rationalized previously reported experimental discoveries. After in silico optimization, aluminum chlorides were found to be promising Lewis acids that promote the C-acylation of pyrrolidine-2,4-diones, whereas calculations performed in various organic solvents showed that the solvent had only a minor effect on the energy profiles of the considered mechanisms. This clearly indicates that further synthetic studies should focus on the Lewis-acidic mediator rather than other reaction parameters. Additionally, given the results obtained for different reaction routes, the stereochemistry of this C-acylation is discussed. It is assumed that the formation of Z-configured TeA is favored, in good agreement with our previous studies.n FigureLewis acid mediated synthesis of tetramic acids starting from pyrrolidine-2,4-diones (shown for tenuazonic acid).

A computational model to predict the Diels–Alder reactivity of aryl/alkyl-substituted tetrazines

The tetrazine ligation is one of the fastest bioorthogonal ligations and plays a pivotal role in time-critical in vitro and in vivo applications. However, prediction of the reactivity of tetrazines in inverse electron demand Diels–Alder-initiated ligation reactions is not straight-forward. Commonly used tools such as frontier molecular orbital theory only give qualitative and often even wrong results. Applying density functional theory, we have been able to develop a simple computational method for the prediction of the reactivity of aryl/alkyl-substituted tetrazines in inverse electron demand Diels–Alder reactions.Graphical Abstract

Chemoselectivity of Tertiary Azides in Strain-Promoted Alkyne-Azide Cycloadditions

Abstract The strain‐promoted alkyne‐azide cycloaddition (SPAAC) is the most commonly employed bioorthogonal reaction with applications in a broad range of fields. Over the years, several different cyclooctyne derivatives have been developed and investigated in regard to their reactivity in SPAAC reactions with azides. However, only a few studies examined the influence of structurally diverse azides on reaction kinetics. Herein, we report our investigations of the reactivity of primary, secondary, and tertiary azides with the cyclooctynes BCN and ADIBO applying experimental and computational methods. All azides show similar reaction rates with the sterically non‐demanding cyclooctyne BCN. However, due to the increased steric demand of the dibenzocyclooctyne ADIBO, the reactivity of tertiary azides drops by several orders of magnitude in comparison to primary and secondary azides. We show that this chemoselective behavior of tertiary azides can be exploited to achieve semiorthogonal dual‐labeling without the need for any catalyst using SPAAC exclusively.