Setting out from protected l-cysteine a 2,5-diketopiperazine V can be synthesized, the reduction of which with NaBH 4 /TiCl 4 leads to (6R,8aR)-7-methyl-6-(sulfanylmethyl)-thiazolidine [3,4-a] piperazine, L 1 H as well as N,NЈ-dimethyl-(2R,5R)-bis(sulfanylmethyl) piperazine, L 2 H 2 , which were separated and characterized. L 2 H 2 can be obtained selectively, if V is reduced by NaBH 4 /TiCl 4 in the presence of DIEA·HCl, and it represents a precursor for a novel, chiral ligand, as after deprotonation it provides two thiolato and two amino donor * Prof. Dr. C. Limberg E-Mail: christian.limberg@chemie.hu-berlin.de [a] 1577 functions for the coordination of a metal atom. Deprotonation of L 1 H and L 2 H 2 with NaOMe followed by treatment with NiBr 2 (dme) led to the isolation of the dimeric complexes [L 1 NiBr] 2 (1) and [L 2 Ni] 2 (2), respectively. Both were fully characterized, and cyclic voltammetry indicated the possibility of Ni II Ǟ Ni III oxidations for complex 2. 2 can be regarded as a structural model for the A clusters of the acetyl coenzyme A synthase. thus electronically resembles cysteinate a lot. It even exhibits chirality -a common feature of enzymatic reaction pockets, in the simulation of which we have been interested in recent years. [17,18]
Results and DiscussionThe structure of peptides is often simulated by 2,5-dioxypiperazines. These dipetides are the smallest possible cyclopeptides and they can be synthesized starting from natural amino acids. A facile and elegant synthesis for cyclo-peptides has been developed 1968 by D. E. Nitecki et al. setting out from amino acids like phenylalanine, alanine, leucine, valine or threonine. [19] In a first step an optically pure Boc-dipeptide methyl ester (I) is generated from an N-boc protected amino acid and an O-methylated amino acid in a condensation reaction (see AA 1 and AA 2 in Scheme 1). After cleavage of the boc protection group under acidic conditions the resulting dipeptide ester re-Scheme 1. Synthesis of cyclodipeptides (DCC = N,N'-dicyclo-hexylcarbodiimide).