Indrajit Das

PPh3⋅HBr-DMSO Mediated Expedient Synthesis of γ-Substituted β,γ-Unsaturated α-Ketomethylthioesters and α-Bromo Enals: Application to the Synthesis of 2-Methylsulfanyl-3(2 H)-furanones

An efficient chemoselective general procedure for the synthesis of γ-substituted β,γ-unsaturated α-ketomethylthioesters from α,β-unsaturated ketones has been achieved through an unprecedented PPh3 ⋅HBr-DMSO mediated oxidative bromination and Kornblum oxidation sequence. The newly developed reagent system serves admirably for the synthesis of α-bromoenals from enals. Furthermore, AuCl3 -catalyzed efficient access to 3(2H)-furanones from the above intermediates under extremely mild conditions are described.

A peptide nucleic acid-aminosugar conjugate targeting transactivation response element of HIV-1 RNA genome shows a high bioavailability in human cells and strongly inhibits tat-mediated transactivation of HIV-1 transcription.

The 6-aminoglucosamine ring of the aminoglycoside antibiotic neomycin B (ring II) was conjugated to a 16-mer peptide nucleic acid (PNA) targeting HIV-1 TAR RNA. For this purpose, we prepared the aminoglucosamine monomer 15 and attached it to the protected PNA prior to its cleavage from the solid support. We found that the resulting PNA-aminoglucosamine conjugate is stable under acidic conditions, efficiently taken up by the human cells and fairly distributed in both cytosol and nucleus without endosomal entrapment because cotreatment with endosome-disrupting agent had no effect on its cellular distribution. The conjugate displayed very high target specificity in vitro and strongly inhibited Tat mediated transactivation of HIV-1 LTR transcription in a cell culture system. The unique properties of this new class of PNA conjugate suggest it to be a potential candidate for therapeutic application.

PPh3·HBr–DMSO: A Reagent System for Diverse Chemoselective Transformations

The broad applicability of the hitherto unexplored reagent combination PPh3·HBr-DMSO is exemplified with multiple highly diverse one-step transformations to synthetically useful building blocks, such as flavones, 4H-thiochromen-4-ones, α-hydroxy ketones, 1,4-naphthoquinones (including vitamin K3), 2-bromo-3-substituted-1H-1-indenones, 2-methylthio-1H-1-indenones, 3-butyne-1,2-dione, and 4-pentene-2,3-diones. The simple and mild reaction conditions make the reagent superior in terms of yield and substrate scope in comparison with the existing alternatives.

Gold(III) Chloride Catalyzed Synthesis of Chiral Substituted 3- Formyl Furans from Carbohydrates: Application in the Synthesis of 1,5-Dicarbonyl Derivatives and Furo[3,2-c]pyridine

This report describes a gold(III)-catalyzed efficient general route to densely substituted chiral 3-formyl furans under extremely mild conditions from suitably protected 5-(1-alkynyl)-2,3-dihydropyran-4-one using H2 O as a nucleophile. The reaction proceeds through the initial formation of an activated alkyne-gold(III) complex intermediate, followed by either a domino nucleophilic attack/anti-endo-dig cyclization, or the formation of a cyclic oxonium ion with subsequent attack by H2 O. To confirm the proposed mechanistic pathway, we employed MeOH as a nucleophile instead of H2 O to result in a substituted furo[3,2-c]pyran derivative, as anticipated. The similar furo[3,2-c]pyran skeleton with a hybrid carbohydrate-furan derivative has also been achieved through pyridinium dichromate (PDC) oxidation of a substituted chiral 3-formyl furan. The corresponding protected 5-(1-alkynyl)-2,3-dihydropyran-4-one can be synthesized from the monosaccharides (both hexoses and pentose) following oxidation, iodination, and Sonogashira coupling sequences. Furthermore, to demonstrate the potentiality of chiral 3-formyl furan derivatives, a TiBr4 -catalyzed reaction of these derivatives has been shown to offer efficient access to 1,5-dicarbonyl compounds, which on treatment with NH4 OAc in slightly acidic conditions afforded substituted furo[3,2-c]pyridine.

ZnI2-Catalyzed Diastereoselective [4 + 2] Cycloadditions of β,γ-Unsaturated α-Ketothioesters with Olefins.

The potential of β,γ-unsaturated α-ketothioesters participating in hetero-Diels-Alder reaction has remained unexplored. We report herein the first study of a ZnI2-catalyzed highly diastereoselective inverse electron demand hetero-Diels-Alder reaction of β,γ-unsaturated α-ketothioesters with olefins to access highly substituted 3,4-dihydro-2H-pyrans. All the reactions proceed with cis-selectivity in moderate to excellent yields. Under similar reaction conditions, terminal alkynes undergo direct conjugate 1,4-addition to yield δ,ε-acetylenic α-ketothioesters. Furthermore, the utility of these cycloadducts has been demonstrated by an NBS-MeOH mediated stereospecific efficient access to fully substituted pyran rings. The product bromoethers undergo E2 elimination with DBU, resulting in substituted 3,6-dihydro-2H-pyrans. In addition, the thioester moiety of the products has been used for further transformations, such as amidations and Fukuyama coupling reactions.

Base Induced Chiral Substituted Furans and Imidazoles from Carbohydrate-Derived 2-Haloenones.

Chiral substituted furans and imidazoles are key intermediates to access biologically important molecules. We describe herein a catalyst/ligand free cascade Michael-type addition/intramolecular cyclization/carbohydrate-ring opening of 2-haloenones with 1,3-dicarbonyl compounds or amidines utilizing K2CO3/DMSO at ambient temperature that provides a straightforward approach to a variety of optically active (poly)hydroxy furans and imidazoles containing multiple stereocenters with good yield and excellent regioselectivity. The furan intermediates provide efficient access to synthetically valuable substituted α-benzyloxyvinyl ketones. The NMR spectrum of the substituted 2-methylfurans shows an unusual long-range ((5)JH-H) (1)H-(1)H COSY cross-peak between C2-CH3 and C4-H signals.

Copper(II)-Catalyzed Reactions of α-Keto Thioesters with Azides via C-C and C-S Bond Cleavages: Synthesis of N-Acylureas and Amides

Cu(II)-catalyzed reaction of α-keto thioesters with trimethylsilyl azide (TMSN3) proceeds with the transformation of the thioester group into urea through C-C and C-S bond cleavages, constituting a practical and straightforward synthesis of N-acylureas. When diphenyl phosphoryl azide (DPPA) is used instead as the azide source in an aqueous environment, primary amides are formed via substitution of the thioester group. The reactions are proposed to proceed through Curtius rearrangement of the initially formed α-keto acyl azide to generate an acyl isocyanate intermediate, which reacts further with an additional amount of azide or water and rearranges to afford the corresponding products. To demonstrate the potentiality of the method, one-step syntheses of pivaloylurea and isovaleroylurea, displaying anticonvulsant activities, have been carried out.