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1. Study of conditions for streamlined assembly of a model bacteriochlorophyll from two dihydrodipyrrin halves

   https://doi.org/10.1039/d0nj04855k  

   Nguyen, Khiem Chau ; Wang, Pengzhi ; Lindsey, Jonathan S. ( January 2021 , New Journal of Chemistry)

   null (Ed.)

   A long-term goal is to gain synthetic access to native photosynthetic bacteriochlorophylls. A recently developed route entails Knoevenagel condensation of an AD dihydrodipyrrin ( I , bearing a carboxaldehyde attached to pyrroline ring D) and a BC dihydrodipyrrin ( II , bearing a β-ketoester attached to pyrrole ring C) to form the Z / E -enone. Acid-mediated double-ring closure of the E -enone III-E (Nazarov cyclization, electrophilic aromatic substitution, and elimination of methanol) affords the bacteriochlorophyll skeleton BC-1 containing the isocyclic ring (ring E), a trans -dialkyl group in ring D, and a gem-dimethyl group in ring B. Prior work established the synthesis and the integrity of the resulting trans -dialkyl groups and bacteriochlorin chromophore. The counterpart report here concerns an in-depth study of conditions for the double-ring closure: catalyst/solvent surveys; grid search including time courses of [ III-E ] versus [acid] concentrations emphasizing equimolar, inverse molar, and variable acid lines of inquiry; and chlorin byproduct quantitation. Key findings are that (1) the double-ring closure can be carried out in 4 h ( t 1/2 ∼ 40 min) instead of 20 h, affording ∼1/5th the chlorin byproduct (0.16%) while maintaining the yield of BC-1 (up to 77%); (2) the separate Z / E -enones of III have comparable reactivity; (3) sub-stoichiometric quantities of acid are ineffective; (4) the Knoevenagel condensation (40 mM, room temperature, piperidine/acetic acid in acetonitrile) and the acid-mediated double-ring closure (0.20 mM, 80 °C, Yb(OTf) 3 in acetonitrile) can be carried out in a two-step process; and (5) zinc insertion to form ZnBC-1 is straightforward. Together, the results enable streamlined conversion of dihydrodipyrrin reactants to the bacteriochlorophyll model compounds. 

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2. Synthesis of AD-Dihydrodipyrrins Equipped with Latent Substituents of Native Chlorophylls and Bacteriochlorophylls

   https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.joc.1c01239  

   Wang, Pengzhi ; Lindsey, Jonathan S. ( July 2021 , The Journal of Organic Chemistry)

   null (Ed.)

   Native chlorophylls and bacteriochlorophylls share a common trans-substituted pyrroline ring D (17-propionic acid, 18-methyl), whereas diversity occurs in ring A particularly at the 3-position. Two dihydrodipyrrins equipped with native-like D-ring substituents and tailorable A-ring substituents have been synthesized. The synthesis relies on a Schreiber-modified Nicholas reaction to construct the stereochemically defined precursor to ring D, a dialkyl-substituted pent-4-ynoic acid. The carboxylic acid group of the intact propionic acid proved unworkable, whereupon protected propionate (−CO2tBu) and several latent propyl ethers were examined. The tert-butyldiphenylsilyl-protected propanol substituent proved satisfactory for reaction of the chiral N-acylated oxazolidinone, affording (2S,3S)-2-(3-((tert-butyldiphenylsilyl)-oxy)propyl)-3-methylpent-4-ynoic acid in ∼30% yield over 8 steps. Two variants for ring A, 2-tert-butoxycarbonyl-3-Br/H-5-iodo-4- methylpyrrole, were prepared via the Barton−Zard route. Dihydrodipyrrin formation from the pyrrole and pentynoic acid entailed Jacobi Pd-mediated lactone formation, Petasis methenylation, and Paal−Knorr-type pyrroline formation. The two AD- dihydrodipyrrins bear the D-ring methyl and protected propanol groups with a stereochemical configuration identical to that of native (bacterio)chlorophylls, and a bromine or no substitution in ring A corresponding to the 3-position of (bacterio)chlorophylls. The analogous β-position of a lactone−pyrrole intermediate on the path to the dihydrodipyrrin also was successfully brominated, opening opportunities for late-stage diversification in the synthesis of (bacterio)chlorophylls. 

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3. Strategies and Discoveries Leading to the Synthesis of Trichoaurantianolide Natural Products

   https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-822212-6.00002-3  

   Williams, David R ( January 2022 , Strategies and tactics in organic synthesis)

   Harmata, Michael (Ed.)

   Several years ago, a small family of diterpenoid natural products attracted our attention as novel targets for synthesis studies. Initially, four compounds were independently characterized by the research teams of Vidari1 and Steglich.2 Trichoaurantianolides AeD (1e4 of Fig. 9.1) were isolated from fruiting bodies of the mushrooms Tricholoma aurantium and Tricholoma fracticum in 1995. Subsequent efforts of Stermer and coworkers3 described the isolation of the closely related lepistal (5) and lepistol (6) of Fig. 9.2 as the corresponding C8 deoxygenated compounds of this family. In addition, the corresponding acetate of trichoaurantianolide B was discovered and named as 6-O-aetyl- trichoaurantin (7).2 Structure assignments were based upon extensive nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) studies, and the features of relative stereo- chemistry were confirmed by an X-ray crystallographic analysis of trichoaurantianolide B (2).1b,2 These original investigators described the trichoaurantianolides as examples of a new class of diterpenes named as neodolastanes that signified a structural relationship to the tricyclic metabo- lites of marine origins known as dolastanes as represented by dolatriol (8)4 and the clavularane 95 of Fig. 9.2. Neodolastanes were defined as substances in which the bridgehead methyl substituent appears in a vicinal relationship with respect to the isopropyl group as exemplified in 4,5-deoxyneodolabelline (10) of Fig. 9.2, a related class of marine natural products.6 Steglich and coworkers2 also indicated an assignment of absolute stereo- chemistry for 2 that was based on Hamilton’s applications of linear-hypothesis testing of crystallographic data. This seldom-used technique was in agreement with the proposed absolute configuration of 2 that was advanced by Vidari, based on an assessment of the observed Cotton effects in CD spectroscopy. In 2003, Ohta and coworkers7 reported the discovery of related neodolastanes tricholomalides A, B, and C (structures 11, 12, and 13 of Fig. 9.3) from Tricholoma sp. They concluded that the tricholomalides possessed the opposite absolute configuration claimed for the trichoaurantianolides. This conclusion was based upon the independent analysis of their circular dichroism studies. By application of the octant rule for substituent effects on cisoid a,b- unsaturated ketones,8 Ohta and coworkers suggested a revision of the prior assignment of absolute configuration for the trichoaurantianolides. This asser- tion was advanced in spite of the consistently positive specific rotations recorded in different solvents for trichoaurantianolides A, B, and C1,2 versus the negative values of tricholomalides A (11) and B (12) (compare values in Figs. 9.1 and 9.3). Note that tricholomalide C (13) only differs from trichoaurantianolide B (2) as a C-8 diastereomeric alcohol, presented in the antipodal series. The specific rotation of 13 was of little value since it was recorded as [a]0 (c 0.01, MeOH).7 In 2006, Danishefsky described a pathway for the total synthesis of racemic tricholomalides A and B, and this effort led to a revision of the relative C-2 stereochemistry (Fig. 9.3; revised structures 14 and 15).9 It seemed rather unusual that genetically similar fungi would produce closely related metabolites as enantiomers, but certainly this is not unprecedented. As a starting point, this issue lacked clarity, and we concluded that our synthesis plans must unambig- uously address the issues of absolute configuration. The chemistry of dolabellane and dolastane diterpenes has been reviewed.10 The proposed pathway for biosynthesis of the trichoaurantianolides and related compounds (Fig. 9.4) follows an established sequence from geranyl- geranyl pyrophosphate (16), which undergoes p-cation cyclization to initially form the eleven-membered ring of 17. The event is followed by a second cyclization to form the dolabellane cation 18, and this [9.3.0]cyclotetradecane skeleton is central to several families of natural products. Direct capture or elimination from 18 leads to the 3,7-dolabelladiene 19, which presents the most common pattern of unsaturation within this class. Compounds within this group are traditionally numbered beginning with C-1 as the bridgehead carbon bearing the methyl group rather than following the connectivity presented in ger- anylgeranyl 16. The cation 18 also undergoes a 1,2-hydrogen migration and elimination, which leads to a transannular cyclization yielding the 5e7e6 tri- cyclic dolastane 20. The secodolastanes, represented by 21, are a small collec- tion of marine natural products, which arise from oxidative cleavage of C10eC14 in the parent tricycle 20. In analogous fashion, the neodolabellane structure 22 is produced from 18 by stereospecific backbone migrations that result in the vicinal placement of the bridgehead methyl and isopropyl substituents. Transannular cyclizations, stemming from 22, yield the class of neodolastane diterpenes (23). Trichoaurantianolides and the related lepistal A (5) are the result of oxidations and cleavage of the C-ring (C4eC5) of 23, which leads to the features of an unusual butyrolactone system. The guanacastepenes, such as 24,11 and heptemerones, such as 25,12 are primary examples of the 5e7e6 neodolastane family, and these metabolites have also been isolated from fungi sources. A characteristic structural feature is the vicinal, syn-relationship of the bridgehead methyl and isopropyl sub- stituents as compared with the 1,3-trans relationship found in dolastanes (Fig. 9.2, structures 8 and 9). Guanacastepenes have proven to be attractive targets for synthesis studies.11,13 However, these fungal metabolites exhibit the antipodal, absolute stereochemistry as compared with neodolastanes from marine origins, such as sphaerostanol (26) (Fig. 9.5).14 

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4. On the formation of complex organic molecules in the interstellar medium: untangling the chemical complexity of carbon monoxide–hydrocarbon containing ice analogues exposed to ionizing radiation via a combined infrared and reflectron time-of-flight analysis

   https://doi.org/10.1039/C9CP01793C  

   Abplanalp, Matthew J. ; Kaiser, Ralf I. ( August 2019 , Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics)

   Recently, over 200 molecules have been detected in the interstellar medium (ISM), with about one third being complex organic molecules (COMs), molecules containing six or more atoms. Over the last few decades, astrophysical laboratory experiments have shown that several COMs are formed via interaction of ionizing radiation within ices deposited on interstellar dust particles at 10 K (H 2 O, CH 3 OH, CO, CO 2 , CH 4 , NH 3 ). However, there is still a lack of understanding of the chemical complexity that is available through individual ice constituents. The present research investigates experimentally the synthesis of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen bearing COMs from interstellar ice analogues containing carbon monoxide (CO) and methane (CH 4 ), ethane (C 2 H 6 ), ethylene (C 2 H 4 ), or acetylene (C 2 H 2 ) exposed to ionizing radiation. Utilizing online and in situ techniques, such as infrared spectroscopy and tunable photoionization reflectron time-of-flight mass spectrometry (PI-ReTOF-MS), specific isomers produced could be characterized. A total of 12 chemically different groups were detected corresponding to C 2 H n O ( n = 2, 4, 6), C 3 H n O ( n = 2, 4, 6, 8), C 4 H n O ( n = 4, 6, 8, 10), C 5 H n O ( n = 4, 6, 8, 10), C 6 H n O ( n = 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14), C 2 H n O 2 ( n = 2, 4), C 3 H n O 2 ( n = 4, 6, 8), C 4 H n O 2 ( n = 4, 6, 8, 10), C 5 H n O 2 ( n = 6, 8), C 6 H n O 2 ( n = 8, 10, 12), C 4 H n O 3 ( n = 4, 6, 8), and C 5 H n O 3 ( n = 6, 8). More than half of these isomer specifically identified molecules have been identified in the ISM, and the remaining COMs detected here can be utilized to guide future astronomical observations. Of these isomers, three groups – alcohols, aldehydes, and molecules containing two of these functional groups – displayed varying degrees of unsaturation. Also, the detection of 1-propanol, 2-propanol, 1-butanal, and 2-methyl-propanal has significant implications as the propyl and isopropyl moieties (C 3 H 7 ), which have already been detected in the ISM via propyl cyanide and isopropyl cyanide, could be detected in our laboratory studies. General reaction mechanisms for their formation are also proposed, with distinct follow-up studies being imperative to elucidate the complexity of COMs synthesized in these ices. 

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5. Using peptide substrate analogs to characterize a radical intermediate in NosN catalysis

   Wang, Bo ; Silakov, Alexey ; Booker, Squire J. ( April 2022 , Methods in enzymology)

   Britt, David R. (Ed.)

   Nosiheptide is a ribosomally produced and post-translationally modified thiopeptide antibiotic that displays potent antibacterial activity in vitro, especially against Grampositive pathogens. It comprises a core peptide macrocycle that contains multiple thiazole rings, dehydrated serine and threonine residues, a tri-substituted 3-hydroxypyridine ring and several other modifications. Among these additional modifications includes a 3,4-dimethyl-2-indolic acid (DMIA) moiety that bridges Glu6 and Cys8 of the core peptide to form a second smaller ring system. This side-ring system is formed by the action of NosN, a radical S-adenosylmethionine (SAM) enzyme that falls within the class C radical SAM methylase (RSMT) family. However, the true function of NosN is to transfer a methylene group from the methylmoiety of SAM to C4 of 3-methylindolic acid (MIA) attached in a thioester linkage to Cys8 of the core peptide to set up a highly electrophilic species. This species is then trapped by the side chain of Glu6, resulting in formation of a lactone and the side-ring system. The NosN reaction requires two simultaneously bound molecules of SAM. The first, SAMI, is cleaved to generate a 50-deoxyadenosyl 50-radical, which abstracts a hydrogen atom from the methyl group of the second molecule of SAM. The resulting SAM radical is believed to add to C4 of MIA, affording a radical intermediate on the MIA substrate. Herein we describe synthetic approaches that allow detection of this radical by electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy. 

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