Synthesis of Lepadiformine Using a Hydroamination Transform

Dissection of lepadiformine by a double hydroamination transform affords a simple achiral amino diene. This reaction is accomplished in the forward sense by amine-directed hydroboration and an oxidative alkyl shift to nitrogen, both of which occur with high stereoselectivity to generate three stereogenic centers and the lepadiformine skeleton

Stereocontrolled Synthesis of Kalihinol C

We report a concise chemical synthesis of kalihinol C via a possible biosynthetic intermediate, “protokalihinol”, which was targeted as a scaffold en route to antiplasmodial analogs. High stereocontrol of the kalihinol framework relies on a heterodendralene cascade to establish the target stereotetrad. Common problems of regio- and chemoselectivity encountered in the kalihinol class are explained and solved

Stereocontrolled Synthesis of Kalihinol C

We report a concise chemical synthesis of kalihinol C via a possible biosynthetic intermediate, “protokalihinol”, which was targeted as a scaffold en route to antiplasmodial analogs. High stereocontrol of the kalihinol framework relies on a heterodendralene cascade to establish the target stereotetrad. Common problems of regio- and chemoselectivity encountered in the kalihinol class are explained and solved

Synthesis of (−)-Neothiobinupharidine

An eight step, asymmetric synthesis of a dimeric thiaspirane nuphar alkaloid from 3-methyl-2-cyclo-pentenone is reported. The brevity of the route relies on a useful procedure for tandem reductive allylation of cyclopentenones, as well as the minimization of redox manipulations and other functional group interconversions. The distribution of products that arise from spontaneous dimerization points to a more complex biosynthesis

Synthesis of (−)-Neothiobinupharidine

An eight step, asymmetric synthesis of a dimeric thiaspirane nuphar alkaloid from 3-methyl-2-cyclo-pentenone is reported. The brevity of the route relies on a useful procedure for tandem reductive allylation of cyclopentenones, as well as the minimization of redox manipulations and other functional group interconversions. The distribution of products that arise from spontaneous dimerization points to a more complex biosynthesis

Synthesis of a Potent Antimalarial Amphilectene

7-Isocyano-11­(20),14-epiamphilectadiene, the most potent of antimalarial amphilectenes, is synthesized in seven steps from readily available materials. The synthesis is enabled by a new dendrimeric triene (Danishefsky [3]-dendralene) and a new method for stereo- and chemoselective isocyanation. This chemistry provides a useful entry into an underexplored yet promising family of antimalarial terpenoids

Ph(<i>i</i>‑PrO)SiH₂: An Exceptional Reductant for Metal-Catalyzed Hydrogen Atom Transfers

We report the discovery of an outstanding reductant for metal-catalyzed radical hydro­functionali­zation reactions. Observations of unexpected silane solvolysis distributions in the HAT-initiated hydrogenation of alkenes reveal that phenylsilane is not the kinetically preferred reductant in many of these transformations. Instead, isopropoxy­(phenyl)­silane forms under the reaction conditions, suggesting that alcohols function as important silane ligands to promote the formation of metal hydrides. Study of its reactivity showed that isopropoxy­(phenyl)­silane is an exceptionally efficient stoichiometric reductant, and it is now possible to significantly decrease catalyst loadings, lower reaction temperatures, broaden functional group tolerance, and use diverse, aprotic solvents in iron- and manganese-catalyzed hydro­functionali­zations. As representative examples, we have improved the yields and rates of alkene reduction, hydration, hydroamination, and conjugate addition. Discovery of this broadly applicable, chemoselective, and solvent-versatile reagent should allow an easier interface with existing radical reactions. Finally, isotope-labeling experiments rule out the alternative hypothesis of hydrogen atom transfer from a redox-active β-diketonate ligand in the HAT step. Instead, initial HAT from a metal hydride to directly generate a carbon-centered radical appears to be the most reasonable hypothesis

Simple, Chemoselective, Catalytic Olefin Isomerization

Catalytic amounts of Co­(Sal^{<i>t</i>Bu,<i>t</i>Bu})Cl and organo­silane irreversibly isomerize terminal alkenes by one position. The same catalysts effect cyclo­isomer­ization of dienes and retro­cyclo­isomer­ization of strained rings. Strong Lewis bases like amines and imid­azoles, and labile function­alities like epoxides, are tolerated

Iron–Nickel Dual-Catalysis: A New Engine for Olefin Functionalization and the Formation of Quaternary Centers

Alkene hydroarylation forms carbon–carbon bonds between two foundational building blocks of organic chemistry: olefins and aromatic rings. In the absence of electronic bias or directing groups, only the Friedel–Crafts reaction allows arenes to engage alkenes with Markovnikov selectivity to generate quaternary carbons. However, the intermediacy of carbocations precludes the use of electron-deficient arenes, including Lewis basic heterocycles. Here we report a highly Markovnikov-selective, dual-catalytic olefin hydroarylation that tolerates arenes and heteroarenes of any electronic character. Hydrogen atom transfer controls the formation of branched products and arene halogenation specifies attachment points on the aromatic ring. Mono-, di-, tri-, and tetra-substituted alkenes yield Markovnikov products including quaternary carbons within nonstrained rings

Mechanism of Action of the Cytotoxic Asmarine Alkaloids

The asmarines are a family of cytotoxic natural products whose mechanism of action is unknown. Here, we used chemical synthesis to reverse engineer the asmarines and understand the functions of their individual components. We found that the potent asmarine analog “delmarine” arrested the mammalian cell cycle in the G1 phase and that both cell cycle arrest and cytotoxicity were rescued by cotreatment with ferric and ferrous salts. Cellular iron deprivation was clearly indicated by changes in iron-responsive protein markers, and cytotoxicity occurred independently of radical oxygen species (ROS) production. Chemical synthesis allowed for annotation of the distinct structural motifs required for these effects, especially the unusual diazepine, which we found enforced an iron-binding tautomer without distortion of the NCNO dihedral angle out of plane. With this information and a correlation of cytotoxicity with logP, we could replace the diazepine by lipophilic group appendage to N9, which avoided steric clash with the N6-alkyl required to access the aminopyridine. This study transformed the asmarines, scarce marine metabolites, into easily synthesized, modular chemotypes that may complement or succeed iron-selective binders in clinical trials and use