Kim Le Mai Hoang

The intriguing dual-directing effect of 2-cyanobenzyl ether for a highly stereospecific glycosylation reaction

The diverse presence as well as their very specific bio-responses of glycoconjugates found in all living species requires scientists to synthesize the precise structure of these complex oligosaccharides for various studies on glycoscience. Very few approaches were able to offer the sole α- or β-glycosylated products, even at the cost of complicating the preparative route or usage of exotic chiral auxiliaries to drive the stereoselectivity. In this report, the unification of solvent assistance and neighbouring group participation concepts have led us to the use of 2-cyanobenzyl ether as the dual-directing auxiliary for stereospecific construction of α- and β-glycosidic bonds from a single starting material, and both isomers can be obtained in exclusive stereoselectivity. This work demonstrates the difference in reactivities of glycosyl acceptors can be employed to completely drive the stereoselectivity, drawing the parallel comparison with the arming/disarming concept, which has been exclusively confined to glycosyl donors.

Reversing the Stereoselectivity of a Palladium‐Catalyzed O‐Glycosylation through an Inner‐Sphere or Outer‐Sphere Pathway

An efficient and concise method for the construction of various O-glycosidic bonds by a palladium-catalyzed reaction with a 3-O-picoloyl glucal has been developed. The stereochemistry of the anomeric center derives from either an inner-sphere or outer-sphere pathway. Harder nucleophiles, such as aliphatic alcohols and sodium phenoxides give β-products, and α products result from using softer nucleophiles, such as phenol.

Pd-catalyzed cross-coupling of aromatic compounds with carboxylic acids via C–H bond activation

An efficient synthesis for an oxidative coupling of aromatic compounds with carboxylic acids via Pd-catalyzed C–H bond activation and C–O bond formation has been developed. This catalytic system works in a simple and efficient manner, by simply using aromatic compounds and carboxylic acids as coupling partners for C–O bond formation to synthesize esters with good to excellent yields.

Cascade reactions initiated by radical addition of tetrahydrofuran to β-bromonitrostyrenes

A silver(I) catalyzed addition of THF radicals to β-bromonitrostyrenes under mild basic conditions in the presence of air has been developed. An isotope labelling experiment with 18O2 was conducted and showed that dioxygen was involved in the mechanism to form the carbonyl group.

A simple approach to separate a mixture of homopropargylic and allenic alcohols.

A simple and practical approach to separate homopropargylic alcohol from allenic alcohol has been developed. It involves the formation of an insoluble silver acetylide species between silver nitrate and homopropargylic alcohol in aqueous acetone which can be separated from the allenic alcohol through a simple filtration. The homopropargylic alcohol can subsequently be recovered by hydrolysis with 1 N HCl. This protocol has been applied to the separation of a mixture of chiral homopropargylic and allenic alcohols in excellent yields with retention of absolute stereochemistry.

Palladium-catalyzed glycosylation: novel synthetic approach to diverse N-heterocyclic glycosides.

An efficient and highly stereoselective method for the construction of N-heterocyclic glycosides is reported. This method is based on a palladium-catalyzed allylation which proceeded to provide N-heterocyclic glycosyl compounds in good-to-excellent yields with β- or α-selectivity. Various N-nucleophiles were examined for this reaction and selected N-glycosyl isatin substrates were further elaborated to bis-indole sugars which have potential as antiproliferative drugs.

Identification of a biosynthetic gene cluster for the polyene macrolactam sceliphrolactam in a Streptomyces strain isolated from mangrove sediment

Streptomyces are a genus of Actinobacteria capable of producing structurally diverse natural products. Here we report the isolation and characterization of a biosynthetically talented Streptomyces (Streptomyces sp. SD85) from tropical mangrove sediments. Whole-genome sequencing revealed that Streptomyces sp. SD85 harbors at least 52 biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs), which constitute 21.2% of the 8.6-Mb genome. When cultivated under lab conditions, Streptomyces sp. SD85 produces sceliphrolactam, a 26-membered polyene macrolactam with unknown biosynthetic origin. Genome mining yielded a putative sceliphrolactam BGC (sce) that encodes a type I modular polyketide synthase (PKS) system, several β-amino acid starter biosynthetic enzymes, transporters, and transcriptional regulators. Using the CRISPR/Cas9–based gene knockout method, we demonstrated that the sce BGC is essential for sceliphrolactam biosynthesis. Unexpectedly, the PKS system encoded by sce is short of one module required for assembling the 26-membered macrolactam skeleton according to the collinearity rule. With experimental data disfavoring the involvement of a trans-PKS module, the biosynthesis of sceliphrolactam seems to be best rationalized by invoking a mechanism whereby the PKS system employs an iterative module to catalyze two successive chain extensions with different outcomes. The potential violation of the collinearity rule makes the mechanism distinct from those of other polyene macrolactams.

Intramolecular CN Bond Formation under Metal-free Conditions: Synthesis of Indolizines

Polysubstituted indolizine derivatives are constructed via intramolecular CN bond formation/CH bond cleavage under metal-free conditions. These methods offer straightforward pathways to transform pyridyl chalcones into a variety of indolizines.

Exploring the Native Chemical Ligation Concept for Highly Stereospecific Glycosylation Reactions

Various O-alkyl glycosides were obtained in a highly stereospecific manner with retention of configuration at the anomeric center. Our method has customized native chemical ligation concept for glycoconjugates synthesis, utilizing a meticulously controlled activating system. To explain the origin of stereoselective preference, an S(N)i mechanism was proposed and corroborated by computational calculations.

N-Linked Glycosyl Auxiliary-Mediated Native Chemical Ligation on Aspartic Acid: Application towards N-Glycopeptide Synthesis.

A practical approach towards N-glycopeptide synthesis using an auxiliary-mediated dual native chemical ligation (NCL) has been developed. The first NCL connects an N-linked glycosyl auxiliary to the thioester side chain of an N-terminal aspartate oligopeptide. This intermediate undergoes a second NCL with a C-terminal thioester oligopeptide. Mild cleavage provides the desired N-glycopeptide.