3-Hydroxymollugin 2 and 3-methoxymollugin 3 are cytotoxic compounds isolated as minor compounds from Pentas longiflora and Rubia cordifolia. Syntheses of 3-hydroxymollugin 2 and 3-methoxymollugin 3 were developed starting from easily available 3-bromomollugin 6. Surprisingly, it was found that the reaction of 3-bromomollugin 6 with sodium methoxide in methanol resulted in the formation of 3-methoxymollugin 3 and the ring-contracted methyl isopropenylfuromollugin 7. A mechanism for this ring contraction is proposed on the basis of a pericyclic retro oxa-6pi ring-opening reaction. A second synthesis of 3-hydroxymollugin 2 was based on epoxidation of methyl 3-(3-methylbut-2-enyl)-1,4-naphthoquinone-2-carboxylate 17 and subsequent reduction of the quinone moiety, ring transformation, and DDQ oxidation. The latter oxidation process results in 3-hydroxymollugin 2 along with the rearranged furomollugin 4, which is a ring-contracted analogue of the natural product mollugin 1.
Optimized epoxidation conditions of mono- and dialkylated naphthoquinones are presented. Based on the epoxidation protocol making use of H(2)O(2)/Na(2)CO(3), naphthoquinone epoxides are obtained in high yields. The optimized epoxidation conditions are applied in a short and high yielding synthesis of the pharmaceutically important beta-lapachone.
An efficient synthesis of naturally occurring compounds isolated from Pentas longiflora, cis-3,4-dihydroxy-3,4-dihydromollugin 2, and trans-3,4-dihydroxy-3,4-dihydromollugin 3 is described. The O-protected mollugins were dihydroxylated using OsO4 to achieve the corresponding cis-dihydroxy derivatives in excellent yield. The synthesis of trans-3,4-dihydroxy-3,4-dihydromollugin was achieved using Oxone in good yield. A mechanism for the formation of cis-3,4-dihydroxymollugin acetonide from the reaction of mollugin with Oxone is proposed.
The recently isolated natural product harounoside, namely 5,10-dihydroxy-2H-naphtho[2,3-c]pyran-b-D-bisglucopyranoside, was conveniently synthesized for the first time from pentalongin in 84% yield over three steps.
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