María de Gracia Retamosa

Hydrazones as Singular Reagents in Asymmetric Organocatalysis

This Minireview summarizes strategies and developments regarding the use of hydrazones as reagents in asymmetric organocatalysis, their distinct roles in nucleophile-electrophile, cycloaddition, and cyclization reactions. The key structural elements governing the reactivity of these reagents in a preferred pathway will be discussed, as well as their different interactions with organocatalysts, leading to diverse activation modes. Along these studies, the synthetic equivalence of N-monoalkyl, N,N-dialkyl, and N-acyl hydrazones with several synthons is also highlighted. Emphasis is also put on the mechanistic studies performed to understand the observed reactivities. Finally, the functional group transformations performed from the available products has also been analyzed, highlighting the synthetic value of these methodologies, which served to access numerous families of valuable multifunctional compounds and nitrogen-containing heterocycles.

Densely Substituted L-Proline Esters as Catalysts for Asymmetric Michael Additions of Ketones to Nitroalkenes.

Homochiral methyl 4-aminopyrrolidine-2-carboxylates are readily obtained by means of asymmetric (3 + 2) cycloadditions between azomethine ylides and nitroalkenes, followed by catalytic hydrogenation of the intermediate 4-nitro cycloadducts. These 4-aminopyrrolidine-2-carboxylate esters belong to the L-series of natural amino acids and catalyze asymmetric Michael additions of ketones to nitroalkenes. However, the enantioselectivity observed with these novel unnatural organocatalysts is opposite to that obtained with L-proline. Since both 4-nitro and 4-amino L-proline esters are efficient organocatalysts of aldol reactions, these results permit to modulate asymmetric quimioselective aldol and conjugate addition reactions.

Aromatic Esters of Bicyclic Amines as Antimicrobials against Streptococcus pneumoniae

A double approach was followed in the search of novel inhibitors of the surface choline-binding proteins (CBPs) of Streptococcus pneumoniae (pneumococcus) with antimicrobial properties. First, a library of 49 rationally-designed esters of alkyl amines was screened for their specific binding to CBPs. The best binders, being esters of bicyclic amines (EBAs), were then tested for their in vitro effect on pneumococcal growth and morphology. Second, the efficiency of EBA-induced CBP inhibition was enhanced about 45,000-fold by multivalency effects upon synthesizing a poly(propylene imine) dendrimer containing eight copies of an atropine derivative. Both approaches led to compounds that arrest bacterial growth, dramatically decrease cell viability, and exhibit a protection effect in animal disease models, demonstrating that the pneumococcal CBPs are adequate targets for the discovery of novel antimicrobials that overcome the currently increasing antimicrobial resistance issues.

Bifunctional Squaramide Organocatalysts for the Asymmetric Addition of Formaldehyde tert-Butylhydrazone to Simple Aldehydes

The nucleophilic addition of formaldehyde tert-butylhydrazone to simple aldehydes (a formal hetero-carbonyl-ene reaction) can be performed with good reactivity and excellent enantioselectivity by virtue of the dual hydrogen-bonding activation exerted by amide-squaramide organocatalysts. The resulting hydroxydiazenes (azo alcohols) were isolated in high yields as enantiomerically enriched azoxy compounds after a regioselective azo-to-azoxy transformation. Subsequent derivatization provides an entry to relevant amino alcohols, oxazolidinones, and derivatives thereof.

Widening the antimicrobial spectrum of esters of bicyclic amines: In vitro effect on gram-positive Streptococcus pneumoniae and gram-negative non-typeable Haemophilus influenzae biofilms

Antibiotic resistance is a global current threat of increasing importance. Moreover, biofilms represent a medical challenge since the inherent antibiotic resistance of their producers demands the use of high doses of antibiotics over prolonged periods. Frequently, these therapeutic measures fail, contributing to bacterial persistence, therefore demanding the development of novel antimicrobials. Esters of bicyclic amines (EBAs), which are strong inhibitors of Streptococcus pneumoniae growth, were initially designed as inhibitors of pneumococcal choline-binding proteins on the basis of their structural analogy to the choline residues in the cell wall. However, instead of mimicking the characteristic cell chaining phenotype caused by exogenously added choline on planktonic cultures of pneumococcal cells, EBAs showed an unexpected lytic activity. In this work we demonstrate that EBAs display a second, and even more important, function as cell membrane destabilizers. We then assayed the inhibitory and disintegrating activity of these molecules on pneumococcal biofilms. The selected compound (EBA 31) produced the highest effect on S. pneumoniae (encapsulated and non-encapsulated) biofilms at very low concentrations. EBA 31 was also effective on mixed biofilms of non-encapsulated S. pneumoniae plus non-typeable Haemophilus influenzae, two pathogens frequently forming a self-produced biofilm in the human nasopharynx. These results support the role of EBAs as a promising alternative for the development of novel, broad-range antimicrobial drugs encompassing both Gram-positive and Gram-negative pathogens.