Jack L.-Y. Chen

Highly Diastereo- and Enantioselective Allylboration of Aldehydes using α-Substituted Allyl/Crotyl Pinacol Boronic Esters via in Situ Generated Borinic Esters

Readily available, α-substituted allyl/crotyl pinacol boronic esters often give low E/Z selectivity (with Z favored) in reactions with aldehydes. We found that addition of nBuLi to the pinacol boronic ester followed by trapping of the alkoxide with TFAA leads to an intermediate allyl borinic ester which undergoes allylboration with very high E selectivity. The substrate scope includes primary to tertiary alkyl α-substituents, crotyl substrates, and the previously unreported β-methallyl pinacol boronic esters. The latter give very high Z selectivity under standard conditions which is completely reversed to high E selectivity under the new conditions. Monitoring the reaction by (11)B NMR confirmed that the reaction proceeds through a borinic ester intermediate.

Highly Diastereoselective and Enantiospecific Allylation of Ketones and Imines Using Borinic Esters: Contiguous Quaternary Stereogenic Centers†

3,3-Disubstituted allylic boronic esters are not sufficiently reactive to react with ketones and imines. However, they can be converted into the corresponding borinic esters by the sequential addition of nBuLi and TFAA. These reactive intermediates possess the perfect balance between reactivity and configurational stability. Their enhanced reactivity allows the highly selective allylation of both ketones and ketimines, and facile access to adjacent quaternary stereocenters with full stereocontrol. The versatility of the methodology is demonstrated in the construction of all possible stereoisomers of a quaternary-quaternary motif and by the allylation of the heterocycles, dihydroisoquinoline and indole.

Enantiospecific, Regioselective Cross-Coupling Reactions of Secondary Allylic Boronic Esters

Asymmetric cross-coupling reactions in which stereo- chemistry-bearing CC bonds are created are still in their infancy. Considering the wealth of compounds that can be prepared by cross-coupling methodologies, and the impor- tance of synthetic methods leading to enantiomerically en- riched products, this is a surprising reality. Advances in this area have occurred in the past few years, in the realm of enantioselective or enantiospecific cross-couplings of chiral electrophiles. (1) In the area of cross-coupling of stereodefined nucleo- philes, Crudden originally reported the enantiospecific cross-coupling of chiral enantiomerically enriched benzylic boronic esters (Eq. (1)). (2, 3)

Synthesis of the bis-spiroacetal C25–C40 moiety of the antimitotic agent spirastrellolide B using a bis-dithiane deprotection/spiroacetalisation sequence

Use of a bis-dithiane deprotection-tandem bis-spiroacetalisation sequence was key to the successful synthesis of the [5,6,6]-bis-spiroacetal of the antimitotic agent spirastrellolide B, achieved in a highly convergent fashion involving successive dithiane alkylations.

Synthesis of the Bis-Spiroacetal Core of the Antimitotic Agent Spirastrellolide B

The spirastrellolides are a family of potent antimitotic agents isolated from the marine sponge Spirastrella coccinea . Synthetic studies toward the DEF bis-spiroacetal core of spirastrellolide B are reported. A modular approach was pursued by the use of two dithiane disconnections to enable a highly convergent synthesis. The ease of lithiation and nucleophilicity of these 2-substituted-1,3-dithianes were investigated during the course of the synthesis, and the alkylations were found to proceed most efficiently at elevated temperatures. Formation of the [5,6,6]-bis-spiroacetal ring system was achieved via a double dithiane deprotection/spiroacetalization strategy.

Natural products targeting telomere maintenance

Telomeres are repetitive sequences of DNA found at the ends of chromosomes which determine and restrict the number of replications a cell can undertake. In the majority of cancer cells, telomerase has been found to maintain the length of telomeres, conferring cell immortality and prevention of cell senescence. With the ready availability of assays to detect telomerase activity, numerous telomerase inhibitors have been discovered from a variety of natural sources. This article gives an outline of these natural product-based telomerase inhibitors and their inspiration for analogue design.

Transient self-assembly of molecular nanostructures driven by chemical fuels.

Over the past decades, chemists have mastered the art of assembling small molecules into complex nanostructures using non-covalent interactions. The driving force for self-assembly is thermodynamics: the self-assembled structure is more stable than the separate components. However, biological self-assembly processes are often energetically uphill and require the consumption of chemical energy. This allows nature to control the activation and duration of chemical functions associated with the assembled state. Synthetic chemical systems that operate in the same way are essential for creating the next generation of intelligent, adaptive materials, nanomachines and delivery systems. This review focuses on synthetic molecular nanostructures which self-assemble under dissipative conditions. The chemical function associated with the transient assemblies is operational as long as chemical fuel is present.

Tandem Allylboration–Prins Reaction for the Rapid Construction of Substituted Tetrahydropyrans: Application to the Total Synthesis of (−)-Clavosolide A

Abstract Tetrahydropyrans are common motifs in natural products and have now been constructed with high stereocontrol through a three‐component allylboration‐Prins reaction sequence. This methodology has been applied to a concise (13 steps) and efficient (14 % overall yield) synthesis of the macrolide (−)‐clavosolide A. The synthesis also features an early stage glycosidation reaction to introduce the xylose moiety and a lithiation‐borylation reaction to attach the cyclopropyl‐containing side chain.

Chiral Nanozymes ‐ Gold Nanoparticle‐based Transphosphorylation Catalysts Capable of Enantiomeric Discrimination

Enantioselectivity in RNA cleavage by a synthetic metalloenzyme has been demonstrated for the first time. Thiols containing chiral Zn(II) -binding head groups have been self-assembled on the surface of gold nanoparticles. This results in the spontaneous formation of chiral bimetallic catalytic sites that display different activities (kcat ) towards the enantiomers of an RNA model substrate. Substrate selectivity is observed when the nanozyme is applied to the cleavage of the dinucleotides UpU, GpG, ApA, and CpC, and remarkable differences in reactivity are observed for the cleavage of the enantiomerically pure dinucleotide UpU.

Telomerase Inhibition Studies of Novel Spiroketal-Containing Rubromycin Derivatives

Twenty nine novel spiroketal derivatives related to the rubromycins were evaluated for their anti-telomerase activity using the real-time quantitative telomeric repeat amplification protocol assay. The parent compound γ-rubromycin exhibited the highest potency against human telomerase activity within the series. Modification of the spiroketal motif by the introduction of heteroatoms and substituents at different positions produced analogues with varying bioactivity. Variation at the isocoumarin subunit of the title compound resulted in weaker activity, indicative of its importance in telomerase inhibition.