Diels-Alder cycloaddition of o-quinonedimethides and alkylidene-5H-furan-2-ones: new and rapid access to lambertellol cores and arthrinone derivatives

International audienceAn efficient synthesis of deoxy-lambertellols was reported through a highly chemo- and diastereoselective intermolecular Diels-Alder cycloaddition between trans-1,2-disiloxybenzocyclobutenes and 2-methylproto- anemonine. Such transformation with d-substituted c- alkylidenebutenolides, to prepare new analogues of these tricyclic spirolactones, which would be very difficult to prepare by other ways, was also studied

Trans-1,2-disiloxybenzocyclobutene, an adequate partner for the auto-oxisation: EPR/spin trapping and theoretical studies

International audienceThe auto-oxidation of trans-1,2-disiloxybenzocyclobutene was found to be very efficient, giving endoperoxide in quantitative yield. Each step of the mechanism of spin-forbidden addition of triplet oxygen O2 was studied by both EPR/spin trapping and theoretical studies

Micro-confinement of bacteria into w/o emulsion droplets for rapid detection and enumeration

International audienceToday, rapid detection and identification of bacteria in microbiological diagnosis is a major issue. Reference methods usually rely on growth of microorganisms, with the drawback of lengthy time-to-result. The method provides global information on a clonal population that is known to be inhomogeneous relative to metabolic states and activities. Therefore, there may be a significant advantage of methods that allow characterisation of individual bacteria from a large population, both for test time reduction and the clinical value of the characterisation. We report here a method for rapid detection and real-time monitoring of the metabolic activities of single bacteria. Water-in-oil emulsions were used to encapsulate single Escherichia coli cells into picolitre (pL)-sized microreactor droplets. The glucuronidase activity in each droplet was monitored using the fluorogenic reporter molecule MUG (4-methylumbelliferyl- - d-glucuronide) coupled to time-lapse fluorescence imaging of the droplets. Such bacterial confinement provides several major advantages. (1) Enzymatic activities of a large number of single bacterium-containing droplet could be monitored simultaneously, allowing the full characterisation of metabolic heterogeneity in a clonal population. We monitored glucuronidase enzymatic activity and growth over ∼200 single bacteria over a 24-h period. (2) Micro-confinement of cells in small volumes allows rapid accumulation of the fluorescent metabolite, hence decreasing the detection time. Independent of the initial concentration of bacteria in the sample, detection of the presence of bacteria could be achieved in less than 2 h. (3) Considering the random distribution of bacteria in droplets, this method allowed rapid and reliable enumeration of bacteria in the initial sample. Overall, the results of this study showed that confinement of bacterial cells increased the effective concentration of fluorescent metabolites leading to rapid (2 h) detection of the fluorescent metabolites, thus significantly reducing time to numeration

Dramatic influence of the substitution of alkylidene-5H-furan-2-ones in Diels-Alder cycloadditions with o-quinonedimethide as diene partner: en route to the CDEF polycyclic ring system of lactonamycin

International audienceAn efficient and rapid synthesis of the CDEF ring system of lactonamycinone is reported via a highly chemo- and diastereoselective intermolecular Diels-Alder cycloaddition between trans-1,2- disilyloxybenzocyclobutene and the appropriate γ-alkylidenebutenolide. The feasibility and the total chemoselectivity of the [4 + 2] cycloaddition for the construction of a spirolactone moiety via an intramolecular approach (IMDA) using both partners is also described demonstrating the versatility of the γ-alkylidenebutenolide building block

Diels-Alder cycloaddition of o-quinonedimethides and alkylidene-5H-furan-2-ones: new and rapid access to lambertellol cores and arthrinone derivatives

International audienceAn efficient synthesis of deoxy-lambertellols was reported through a highly chemo- and diastereoselective intermolecular Diels-Alder cycloaddition between trans-1,2-disiloxybenzocyclobutenes and 2-methylproto- anemonine. Such transformation with d-substituted c- alkylidenebutenolides, to prepare new analogues of these tricyclic spirolactones, which would be very difficult to prepare by other ways, was also studied

A convergent Approach based on local symmetry en route to (-)-Callystatin

International audienceA convergent synthetic approach of the highly cytotoxic natural product (−)-callystatin A was developed assembling three fragments through Julia-Kocienski olefination and Stille cross-coupling. The new strategy relies on a pivotal local symmetry of the target molecule. In this preliminary study, particular attention was devoted to facilitate the catalytic enantiocontrol of strategic stereogenic centers present in each of the fragments

Carboxylate-Directed Tandem Functionalizations of α,β-Dihaloalkenoic Acids with 1-Alkynes: A Straightforward Access to (Z)-Configured, α,β-Substituted γ-Alkylidenebutenolides

International audienceAn easy and mild copper(I)-catalysed lactonisation of readily available (E)-2,3-dihalopropenoic acid derivatives regio- and stereoselectively leads to rarely described (Z)-3-halo-5-ylidene-5H-furan-2-ones. These compounds are subsequently able to undergo classical Pd-catalysed cross-coupling reactions, providing 3-substituted and 3,4-disubstituted 5-ylidene-5H-furan-2-one