Highlights d Lysine lactoylation occurs via a non-enzymatic acyl transfer from lactoylglutathione d Glycolytic enzymes are heavily modified by lactoylation d Glyoxalase 2 is the critical regulator for lactoylglutathione and lysine lactoylation d Glycolytic output is significantly repressed in glyoxalase 2 knockout cells

A highly enantioselective Strecker reaction of difluoromethyl and trifluoromethyl ketoimines was developed. Remarkable fluorine effect on the reactivity and selectivity is observed and discussed.

A Pd(II)-catalyzed formal [4+1] cycloaddition of aryl diazoacetates and aryl propargyl alcohols is reported to afford 2,5-dihydrofuran derivatives as the dominant product over other traditional ones. The auto-tandem catalytic process is proposed to occur via Pd(II)-catalyzed intermolecular oxonium ylide formation and subsequent intramolecular trapping of the ylide with Pd(II)-activated alkynes.

The blockade of A 2A adenosine receptor (A 2A AR) activates immunostimulatory response through regulating signaling in tumor microenvironment. Thus, A 2A AR has been proposed as a promising target for cancer immunotherapy. In this work, we designed a new series of benzo [4,5]imidazo[1,2-a]pyrazin-1-amine derivatives bearing an amide substitution at 3-position to obtain potent antitumor antagonist in vivo. The structure−activity relationship studies were performed by molecular modeling and radioactive assay. The in vitro anticancer activities were evaluated by 3′,5′-cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) functional and T cell activation assay. The most potent compound 12o•2HCl showed much higher affinity toward A 2A AR (K i = 0.08 nM) and exhibited more significant in vitro immunostimulatory anticancer activity than clinical antagonist AZD4635. More importantly, 12o•2HCl significantly inhibited the growth of triple-negative breast cancer by reversing immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment in the xenograft mouse model without severe toxicity at the testing dose. These results make 12o•2HCl a promising immunotherapy anticancer drug candidate.

A metal-free tandem Friedel-Crafts/lactonization reaction to 3,3-diaryl or 3-alkyl-3-aryl benzofuranones catalyzed by HClO(4) was reported. A variety of tertiary α-hydroxy acid esters could readily react with substituted phenols to afford the desired products in rich diversity. The synthetic utility of the products was demonstrated by the synthesis of polycyclic compounds. (1)H NMR studies supported that this tandem reaction proceeded via tandem Friedel-Crafts/lactonization sequence.

A one-pot tandem Wittig/conjugate reduction/Paal-Knorr reaction is reported for the synthesis of di- or trisubstituted furans. This novel sequence first demonstrates the possibility of successively recycling waste from upstream steps to catalyze downstream reactions.

Incorporation of the histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor, suberoylanilide hydroxamic acid (SAHA), to a culture broth of the endophytic fungus Phoma sp. nov. LG0217 isolated from Parkinsonia microphylla changed its metabolite profile and resulted in the production of (10′S)-verruculide B (1), vermistatin (2) and dihydrovermistatin (3). When cultured in the absence of the epigenetic modifier, it produced a new metabolite, (S,Z)-5-(3′,4′-dihydroxybutyldiene)-3-propylfuran-2(5H)-one (4) together with nafuredin (5). The structure of 4 was elucidated by spectroscopic analyses and its absolute configuration was determined by application of the modified Mosher’s ester method. The absolute structure of (10′S)-verruculide B was determined as 5-[(10′S,2′E,6′E)-10′,11′-dihydroxy-3′,7′,11′-trimethyldodeca-2′,6′-dien-1′-yl]-(3R)-6,8-dihydroxy-3-methylisochroman-1-one (1) with the help of CD and NOE data. Compound 1 inhibited the activity of protein tyrosine phosphatases (PTPs) 1B (PTP1B), Src homology 2-containing PTP 1 (SHP1) and T-cell PTP (TCPTP) with IC50 values of 13.7±3.4, 8.8±0.6, and 16.6±3.8 μM, respectively. Significance of these activities and observed modest selectivity of 1 for SHP1 over PTP1B and TCPTP is discussed.

We report a green synthesis of spiro[2,3-dihydrofuran-3,3′-oxindole] derivatives which are of potential value in medicinal chemistry.