Sequential organocatalytic additions of 2-furanone and dihydroxyacetone derivatives to a crotonaldehyde lynchpin provide polyhydroxylated chains reminiscent of lactonized deoxo Kdn type sugars. Further homologation via Kulinkovich ring opening of the butyrolactone and acylation of the zinc homoenolate derived from the incipient cyclopropanol allows assembly of functionalized chain precursors to portimine. Our experiments probe the stability and reactivity of monosubstituted methylidene pyrrolines and generate advanced intermediates useful for exploring the biosynthesis and de novo synthesis of portimine.
4-isocyanobut-1-ene reacts rapidly with acetyl bromide to afford an unstable imidoyl bromide adduct. Subsequent in situ cyclization under Heck conditions generates a stable prototropic isomer of 2-acetyl-3-methyl pyrrole. The reactivity of this molecule towards acid, base and oxidants is explored and its conversion to ∝-methylidene γ-lactam is demonstrated. In protonated form, its acetylated vinyl imine functions as a reactive dienophile in Diels-Alder reactions.
Ruthenium is a platinoid that exhibits a range of unique chemical properties in solution, which are exploited in a variety of applications, including luminescent probes, anticancer therapies, and artificial photosynthesis. This paper focuses on a recently demonstrated ability of this metal in its +3 oxidation state to form highly stable complexes with tris (hydroxymethyl)aminomethane (H2NC(CH2OH)3, Tris‐base or T) and imidazole (Im) ligands, where a single RuIII cation is coordinated by two molecules of each T and Im. High‐resolution electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI MS) is used to characterize RuIII complexes formed by placing a RuII complex [(NH3)5RuIICl]Cl in a Tris buffer under aerobic conditions. The most abundant ionic species in ESI MS represent mononuclear complexes containing an oxidized form of the metal, ie, [XnRuIIIT2 – 2H]+, where X could be an additional T (n = 1) or NH3 (n = 0‐2). Di‐ and tri‐metal complexes also give rise to a series of abundant ions, with the highest mass ion representing a metal complex with an empirical formula Ru3C24O21N6H66 (interpreted as cyclo(T2RuO)3, a cyclic oxo‐bridged structure, where the coordination sphere of each metal is completed by two T ligands). The empirical formulae of the binuclear species are consistent with the structures representing acyclic fragments of cyclo(T2RuO)3 with addition of various combinations of ammonia and dioxygen as ligands. Addition of histidine in large molar excess to this solution results in complete disassembly of poly‐nuclear complexes and gives rise to a variety of ionic species in the ESI mass spectrum with a general formula [RuIIIHiskTm (NH3)n − 2H]+, where k = 0 to 2, m = 0 to 3, and n = 0 to 4. Ammonia adducts are present for all observed combinations of k and m, except k = m = 2, suggesting that [His2RuIIIT2 − 2H]+ represents a complex with a fully completed coordination sphere. The observed cornucopia of RuIII complexes formed in the presence of histidine is in stark contrast to the previously reported selective reactivity of imidazole, which interacts with the metal by preserving the RuT2 core and giving rise to a single abundant ruthenium complex (represented by [Im2RuIIIT2 − 2H]+ in ESI mass spectra). Surprisingly, the behavior of a hexa‐histidine peptide (HHHHHH) is similar to that of a single imidazole, rather than a single histidine amino acid: The RuT2 core is preserved, with the following ionic species observed in ESI mass spectra: [HHHHHH·(RuIIIT2)m − (3m‐1)H]+ (m = 1‐3). The remarkable selectivity of the imidazole interaction with the RuIIIT2 core is rationalized using energetic considerations at the quantum mechanical level of theory.
The naturally occurring flavonoid (–)-epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) is a potent disaggregant of tau fibrils. Guided by the recent cryo-electron microscopy (cryoEM) structure of EGCG bound to fibrils of tau derived from an Alzheimer’s brain donor, we report methods to site-specifically modify the EGCG D-ring with aminoPEGylated linkers. The resultant molecules inhibit tau fibril seeding in Alzheimer’s brain extracts. Formulations of aminoPEGylated EGCG conjugated to the (quasi)-brain-penetrant nanoparticle Ferumoxytol inhibit seeding by AD-tau with linker length affecting activity. The protecting group free catalytic cycloaddition of amino azides to mono propargylated EGCG described here provides a blueprint for access to stable nanoparticulate forms of EGCG potentially useful as therapeutics to eliminate Alzheimer’s-related tau tangles.
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