A mild and efficient interconversion from silyl ethers to sulfonates esters is reported with good yields. This silyl-sulfonyl exchange proceeds readily in acetonitrile at room temperature in the presence of p-toluenesulfonyl fluoride and a catalytic amount of 1,8-diazabicyclo[5.4.0]undec-7ene (DBU). This method can be used with trimethysilyl (TMS), triethylsilyl (TES) and tert-butyldimethylsilyl (TBDMS) ethers.

The paper describes, in its first part, a new synthesis of benzo-delta-carbolines, cryptolepines, and their salts. The strategy is based on the association between halogen-dance and hetero-ring cross-coupling. It is fully convergent and regioselective with interesting overall yields from 27% to 70%. A halogen-dance mechanism in quinoline series is also proposed. The formal synthesis of potential antimalarial compounds and the first total synthesis of 11-isopropylcryptolepine are also described. In the second part, cytotoxic activity against mammalian cells and activities against Plasmodium falciparum and Trypanosoma cruzi of benzo-delta-carbolines and delta-carbolines were evaluated in vitro to study the structure-activity relationships. For benzo-delta-carbolines, methylation at N-5 increases the cytotoxic and antiparasitic activities. A further alkylation on C-11 generally increases the cytotoxic activity but not the antiparasitic activity, cryptolepine and 11-methylcryptolepine being the most active on both parasites. Taking advantage of the fluorescence of the indoloquinoline chromophore, cryptolepine was localized by fluorescence microscopy in parasite DNA-containing structures suggesting that these compounds act through interaction with parasite DNA as proposed for cryptolepine on melanoma cells. For delta-carbolines, methylation at N-1 is essential for the antimalarial activity. 1-Methyl-delta-carboline specifically accumulates in the intracellular parasite. It has weak cytotoxic activity and can be considered as a potential antimalarial compound.

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The ethyl oxazole-4-carboxylate was directly and regioselectively alkenylated, benzylated and alkylated with alkenyl-, benzyl-, allyl- and alkyl halides in the presence of catalytic amounts of palladium acetate with caesium carbonate using Buchwald's JohnPhos ligand.

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A very simple, safe and powerful method for the in situ generation of formaldehyde at low temperature in anhydrous conditions is described. This new tool avoids the use of gaseous formaldehyde and is suitable for basic carbon nucleophiles which cannot be generated in aqueous reaction media. Various substrates, including organolithium reagents and enolates, underwent smooth hydroxymethylation showing the versatility of this process. A Wittig reaction was also carried out in high yield. [reaction: see text]