SignificanceThe multistep assembly of catharanthine and tabersonine from strictosidine remains poorly characterized for understanding the biochemistry of anticancer monoterpenoid indole alkaloid (MIA) biosynthesis in the medicinal plant, Catharanthus roseus. The seven-step pathway from 19E-geissoschizine to four major MIA skeletons enables the assembly of catharanthine and tabersonine that complete the pathway for biosynthesis of the anticancer drugs, anhydrovinblastine and vincristine as well as for production of other biologically active MIAs.
The development of density functional theory (DFT) methods for the calculation of vibrational circular dichroism (VCD), electronic circular dichroism (ECD), and transparent spectral region optical rotation (OR) has revolutionized the determination of the absolute configurations (ACs) of chiral molecules using these chiroptical properties. We report the first concerted application of DFT calculations of VCD, ECD, and OR to the determination of the AC of a natural product whose AC was previously undetermined. The natural product is the alkaloid schizozygine, isolated from Schizozygia caffaeoides. Comparison of DFT calculations of the VCD, ECD, and OR of schizozygine to experimental data leads, for each chiroptical technique, to the AC 2R,7S,20S,21S for the naturally occurring (+)-schizozygine. Three other alkaloids, schizogaline, schizogamine, and 6,7-dehydro-19beta-hydroxyschizozygine, have also been isolated from S. caffaeoides and shown to have structures closely related to schizozygine. Assuming a common biosynthetic pathway, their ACs are defined by that of schizozygine.
This review provides a comprehensive coverage of the history, biology and chemistry of tetrodotoxin (TTX). It traces the origin of this remarkable molecule all the way back to the ancient Chinese medicine records. The discovery of biological activity, isolation, and a brief overview of structure elucidation are summarized. Next, the biology of TTX is discussed, primarily in the context of its activity in the sodium channels, its anesthetic properties, and its potential use in cancer treatment or drug addiction. Biosynthesis of TTX is covered before the discussion of the total syntheses. All total, formal or partial syntheses are covered but those total syntheses that have been discussed in previous reviews are only briefly summarized. Finally, the synthesis of natural and unnatural derivatives is surveyed, and a conclusion and outlook are provided for this very extensive field of endeavor. To the best of our knowledge the literature coverage is complete up to December 2018.
The development of density functional theory (DFT) methods for the calculation of vibrational circular dichroism (VCD), electronic circular dichroism (ECD), and transparent spectral region optical rotation (OR) has revolutionized the determination of the absolute configurations (ACs) of chiral molecules using these chiroptical properties. We report the concerted application of DFT calculations of VCD, ECD, and OR to the determination of the ACs of the isoschizozygane alkaloid natural products, isoschizogaline, and isochizogamine, whose ACs have not previously been determined. The ACs of naturally occurring (-)-isoschizogaline and (-)-isoschizogamine, are both determined definitively to be 2R, 7R, 20S, 21S.
Methane-, ethene-, and ethynesulfenic acids were generated in the gas phase by flash-vacuum pyrolysis of the corresponding tert-butyl sulfoxides at 400 °C and 10-4 Pa. Benzenesulfenic acid was prepared from phenyl 3-buten-1-yl sulfoxide at 350 °C and 10-4 Pa. The sulfenic acids were characterized by mass spectrometry Threshold ionization energies (IE) were measured as IE(CH3SOH) = 9·07 ± 0·03 eV, IE(CH2=CHSOH) = 8·70 ± 0·03 eV, IE(HCCSOH) = 8·86 ± 0·04 eV, and IE(C6H5SOH) = 8·45 + 0·03 eV. Radical cations [CH3SOH].+, [CH2=CHSOH].+, and [HCCSOH].+ were generated by electron-impact-induced loss of propene from the corresponding propyl sulfoxides and their heats of formation were assessed by appearance energy measurements as 685, 824, and 927 kJ mol-1, respectively. Heats of formation of the neutral sulfenic acids and the S-(O) (C), S-(O) (Cd), S-(O) (Ct) and S-(O) (CB) group equivalents were determined. The experimental data, supported by MNDO calculations, point to sulfenate-like structures (R-S-OH) for the sulfenic acids under study.
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