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The 1,2-diamine motif is present in a number of natural products with interesting biological activity and in many important pharmaceutical agents. Chiral 1,2-diamines are also widely used as the control elements in asymmetric synthesis and catalysis. Such compounds are thus an attractive target for the synthetic chemist. Although the diamination of an alkene seems an obvious route to these structures, far less research has been devoted to it than to the analogous dihydroxylation or aminohydroxylation reactions that are well-established processes in asymmetric synthesis. Here, we examine recent advances in metal-catalysed diamination reactions and their asymmetric variants. Given the prevalence of these structures, it seems likely that they will find extensive application in the construction of natural products and drug molecules in the near future.

Total synthesis of naturally occurring casuarine (1) and the first total synthesis of casuarine 6-O-alpha-glucoside (2) were achieved through complete stereoselective nitrone cycloaddition, Tamao-Fleming oxidation and selective alpha-glucosylation as key steps. Biological assays of the two compounds proved their strong and selective inhibitory properties towards glucoamylase NtMGAM and trehalase Tre37A, respectively, which place them among the most powerful inhibitors of these enzymes. The structural determination of the complexes of NtMGAM with 1 and of Tre37A with 2 revealed interesting similarities in the catalytic sites of these two enzymes which belong to different families and clans.

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The synthesis of polyhydroxylated indolizidines and pyrrolizidines belonging to the class of iminosugars, endowed with a vast and assorted biological activity, can be achieved in a straightforward manner by a general strategy consisting of a highly stereoselective 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition of polyhydroxylated pyrroline-N-oxides followed by simple transformations of the isoxazolidine adducts. The strategy allows the complete control of the relative and absolute stereochemistry of the numerous stereogenic centers decorating these compounds.

Highly diastereoselective nucleophilic additions to cyclic nitrones derived from L-malic acid and D-arabinose have been used for the construction of enantiomerically pure polyhydroxylated pyrrolidines. The synthetic strategy adopted was based on an oxidation/reduction protocol involving hydroxylamine/nitrone pairs and demonstrates the use of reagent-and substrate-derived stereocontrol. In most cases reactions took place with total diastereoselectivity and in quantitative yield, with no purification being necessary. By this strategy, 2-(hydroxymethyl)-, 2-(aminomethyl)-, and 2-aryl-

[reaction: see text] A novel and simple procedure for reduction of hydroxylamines to the corresponding amines by means of indium powder in aqueous media is reported. Applicability to one-pot reactions and isoxazolidine N-O bond reduction is also demonstrated. A catalytic version of the process using 2-5% In in the presence of other metals (Zn, Al) has been successfully developed.

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