The first total synthesis of the cytotoxic marine macrolide enigmazole A has been completed in 22 steps (longest linear sequence). The sensitive, densely functionalized 2,4-disubstituted oxazole fragment was constructed using an efficient Negishi-type coupling of an oxazol-2-ylzinc reagent formed directly from the parent ethyl 2-iodooxazole-4-carboxylate by zinc insertion. Other key steps include a hetero-Diels-Alder cycloaddition to form the central embedded pyran ring, a Wittig reaction to unite Eastern and Western hemispheres, and a ring size-selective Keck macrolactonization.

Three new omega-halogenated long-chain 2H-azirines were isolated from the sponge Dysidea fragilis. Their structures revealed heterogeneity in both the composition of the terminal 1,1-dihalo-vinyl group and enantiomeric ratios at C2 of the azirine-2-carboxylate ester terminus. Azirine-2-carboxylate esters were shown to racemize spontaneously. A hypothesis is proposed for the biosynthesis of the azirinecarboxylate family of natural products that involves enzyme-catalyzed free radical halogenation followed by elimination of hydrohalic acid.

Rhizochalins C and D ( 1, 2), new representatives of two-headed glycosphingolipids, were isolated from the sponge Rhizochalina incrustata. Rhizochalin D is an unexpected C 29 homologue of the canonical C 28 dimeric sphingolipid structures. Their structures including absolute configurations were established using spectroscopic data, micromolar-scale Baeyer-Villiger oxidation, and LCMS interpretation of the products. Application of the latter method leads to a revision of the structure of oceanapiside and placement of the keto group at C-18 rather than C-11.

Muironolide A, a new chemical entity with an unprecedented chlorinated hexahydro-1H-isoindolone skeleton, was isolated in only 90 microg yield from the same marine sponge, Phorbas sp. that also provided phorboxazoles A and B. The structure was solved by interpretation of NMR data obtained at 600 MHz with a 1.7 mm cryo-microprobe in combination with FTMS, exciton coupled CD, and stereochemical correlation with authentic standards prepared by Reformatsky reaction of (-)-(1R,2S)-2-chloro-1-cyclopropanecarboxaldehyde. The absolute configuration of the chlorocyclopropane ring in 1 is opposite to that of co-occurring phorbasides A-F. Muironolide A is the first described macrolide bearing an esterified trichloromethyl carbinol, and may be produced by a cyanobacterium that also makes phorbasides.

A powerful tandem [4+2]/[3+2] cycloaddition cascade of 1,3,4-oxadiazoles initiated by a transannular [4+2] cycloaddition is detailed. An impressive four rings, four carbon-carbon bonds, and six stereocenters are set on each site of the newly formed central six-membered ring in a cascade thermal reaction that proceeds at temperatures as low as 80 °C. The resulting cycloadducts provide the basis for the synthesis of unique analogues of vinblastine containing metabolically benign deep-seated cyclic modifications at the C3/C4 centers of the vindoline-derived subunit of the natural product.

The discovery and development of new antibiotics capable of curing infections due to multidrug-resistant and pandrug-resistant Gram-negative bacteria are a major challenge with fundamental importance to our global healthcare system. Part of our broad program at Novartis to address this urgent, unmet need includes the search for new agents that inhibit novel bacterial targets. Here we report the discovery and hit-to-lead optimization of new inhibitors of phosphopantetheine adenylyltransferase (PPAT) from Gram-negative bacteria. Utilizing a fragment-based screening approach, we discovered a number of unique scaffolds capable of interacting with the pantetheine site of E. coli PPAT and inhibiting enzymatic activity, including triazolopyrimidinone 6. Structure-based optimization resulted in the identification of two lead compounds as selective, small molecule inhibitors of bacterial PPAT: triazolopyrimidinone 53 and azabenzimidazole 54 efficiently inhibited E. coli and P. aeruginosa PPAT and displayed modest cellular potency against the efflux-deficient E. coli Δ tolC mutant strain.

Two new chlorocyclopropane macrolides, phorbasides A and B, have been characterized from the sponge Phorbas sp. that previously yielded phorboxazoles A and B. We describe the assignment of the absolute configuration of the trans-chlorocyclopropane ring that exploits a CD Cotton effect arising from hyperconjugation to the ene-yne chromophore. Phorbasides and callipeltoside A share the same macrolide configurations but, unexpectedly, opposite cyclopropane configurations.

Since their discovery over five decades ago, quinolone antibiotics have found enormous success as broad spectrum agents that exert their activity through dual inhibition of bacterial DNA gyrase and topoisomerase IV. Increasing rates of resistance, driven largely by target-based mutations in the GyrA/ParC Quinolone Resistance Determining Region, have eroded the utility and threaten the future use of this vital class of antibiotics. Herein we describe the discovery and optimization of a series of 4-(aminomethyl)quinolin-2(1H)-ones, exemplified by 34, that inhibit bacterial DNA gyrase and topoisomerase IV and display potent activity against ciprofloxacin-resistant Gramnegative pathogens. X-ray crystallography reveals that 34 occupies the classical quinolone binding site in the topoisomerase IV-DNA cleavage complex, but does not form significant contacts with residues in the Quinolone Resistance Determining Region.