10 research outputs found

    Mechanistic Studies on Covalent Assemblies of Metal-Mediated Hemi-Aminal Ethers

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    The use of reversible covalent bonding in a four-component assembly incorporating chiral alcohols was recently reported to give a method for determining the enantiomeric excess of the alcohols via CD spectroscopy. Experiments that probe the mechanism of this assembly, which consists of 2-formylpyridine (2-PA), dipicolylamine (DPA), Zn(II) and alcohols to yield zinc complexes of tren-like ligands, are presented. The studies focus upon the mechanism of conversion of a hemi-aminal (1) to a hemi-aminal ether (3), thereby incorporating the fourth component. It was found that molecular sieves along with 3 to 4 equivalents of alcohol are required to drive the conversion of 1 to 3. Attempts to isolate an intermediate in this reaction via addition of strong Lewis acids led to the discovery of a five-membered ring pyridinium salt (5), but upon exposure to Zn(II) and alcohols gave different products to the assembly. This was interpreted to support the intermediacy of an iminium species. Kinetic studies reveal that the conversion of 1 to 3 is zero-order in alcohol in large excesses of alcohol, supporting rate-determining formation of an intermediate prior to reaction with alcohol. Further, the magnitudes of the rate constants for interconversion of 1 and 3 are similar, supporting the notion that there are similar rate-determining steps (rds) for the forward and reverse reactions. Hammett plots show that the rds involves creation of a negative charge (interpreted as the loss of positive charge), supporting the notion that the decomplexation of Zn(II) from the assemblies to generate apo-forms of 1 and 3 is rate-determining. The individual mechanistic conclusions are combined to create a qualitative reaction coordinate diagram for the interconversion of 1 and 3.National Institutes of Health R01GM077437Welch Foundation F-1151, F-1390National Science Foundation CHE-1212971NIH GM059802Chemistr

    Synthesis of 5-Fluoro- and 5-Hydroxymethanoprolines via Lithiation of <i>N</i>-BOC-methanopyrrolidines. Constrained C<sup>γ</sup>-Exo and C<sup>γ</sup>-Endo Flp and Hyp Conformer Mimics

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    Proline derivatives with a C<sup>γ</sup>-exo pucker typically display a high amide bond trans/cis (<i>K</i><sub>T/C</sub>) ratio. This pucker enhances n→π* overlap of the amide oxygen and ester carbonyl carbon, which favors a trans amide bond. If there were no difference in n→π* interaction between the ring puckers, then the correlation between ring pucker and <i>K</i><sub>T/C</sub> might be broken. To explore this possibility, proline conformations were constrained using a methylene bridge. We synthesized discrete gauche and anti 5-fluoro- and 5-hydroxy-<i>N</i>-acetylmethanoproline methyl esters from 3-syn and 3-anti fluoro- and hydroxymethanopyrrolidines using directed α-metalation to introduce the α-ester group. NBO calculations reveal minimal n→π* orbital interactions, so contributions from other forces might be of greater importance in determining <i>K</i><sub>T/C</sub> for the methanoprolines. Consistent with this hypothesis, greater trans amide preferences were found in CDCl<sub>3</sub> for anti isomers en-MetFlp and en-MetHyp (72–78% trans) than for the syn stereoisomers ex-MetFlp and ex-MetHyp (54–67% trans). These, and other, <i>K</i><sub>T/C</sub> results that we report here indicate how substituents on proline analogues can affect amide preferences by pathways other than ring puckering and n→π* overlap and suggest that caution should be exercised in assigning enhanced pyrrolidine C<sup>γ</sup>-exo ring puckering based solely on enhanced trans amide preference

    Quantification of a Pharmacodynamic ERK End Point in Melanoma Cell Lysates: Toward Personalized Precision Medicine

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    Protein kinases are mutated or otherwise rendered constitutively active in numerous cancers where they are attractive therapeutic targets with well over a dozen kinase inhibitors now being used in therapy. While fluorescent sensors have capacity to measure changes in kinase activity, surprisingly they have not been utilized for biomarker studies. A first-generation peptide sensor for ERK based on the Sox fluorophore is described. This sensor called ERK-sensor-D1 possesses high activity toward ERK and more than 10-fold discrimination over other MAPKs. The sensor can rapidly quantify ERK activity in cell lysates and monitor ERK pathway engagement by BRAF and MEK inhibitors in cultured melanoma cell lines. The dynamic range of the sensor assay allows ERK activities that have potential for profound clinical consequences to be rapidly distinguished
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