Wolfgang Fröhner

Synthesis and activity of carbazole derivatives against Mycobacterium tuberculosis

Infecting one-third of the world’s inhabitants, Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) is deemed a serious public health concern. Failure to follow the current regimen along with the HIV pandemic have led to the emergence of multiple drug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) strains. The pursuit of more efficacious drugs and prophylaxis is warranted. Findings of some naturally occurring carbazole alkaloids (Figure 1), exhibiting antituberculosis activity, have prompted us to explore further carbazole derivatives for structure–activity relationships. Clausine K or clauszoline J, a natural product isolated independently from several sources, was found to have weak antituberculosis activity (MIC of 100 mgmL 1 against the H37Ra strain). Ma et al. isolated micromeline from the stem bark of Micromelum hirsutum along with some known carbazole alkaloids, and found the MIC to be 31.5 mgmL 1 against M. tuberculosis H37Rv (selectivity index >3). [8] Based on these findings, we screened a series of carbazole alkaloids and derivatives for their in vitro anti-TB activity to find out whether the carbazole framework represents a novel antituberculosis scaffold. The intention of the present study was to identify potent anti-TB active carbazoles and to establish preliminary structure–activity relationships (SAR). Compounds 4a–i were purchased from Sigma Aldrich; 4 j–v and 8–15 were prepared using either the iron-mediated or the palladium-catalyzed approach previously developed by our group (Schemes 1 and 2, Table 1). An electrophilic aromatic substitution of the tricarbonyliron-cyclohexadienylium salts 1 and the arylamines 2 affords functionalized tricarbonyliron complexes 3. The oxidative cyclization of the tricarbonyliron complexes 3 furnishes substituted carbazole derivatives 4. In another approach, the palladium(0)-catalyzed amination of aryl

Palladium-catalyzed total synthesis of the antibiotic carbazole alkaloids carbazomycin G and H1

A highly efficient palladium-catalyzed synthesis affords carbazole-1,4-quinones which can be transformed directly into the carbazomycins G and H and are shown to represent precursors for several other biologically active carbazole alkaloids.