Expeditious Microwave-Assisted Synthesis of 5‑Alkoxyoxazoles from α‑Triflyloxy Esters and Nitriles

A rapid and general access to diversely substituted 5-alkoxyoxazoles <b>2</b> (i.e., R¹, R² = alkyl, phenyl) from easily accessible α-triflyloxy/hydroxy esters <b>1</b> and nitriles with good yields (41–76%) is reported. The versatility of the cyclization is shown for a range of substrates with high selectivity toward triflates over mesylates and proved to be compatible with sensitive functional groups. As an illustration of this transformation, the first synthesis of the recently isolated hydroxypyridine methyl multijuguinate <b>4</b> was achieved in four steps through a hetero Diels–Alder reaction of the 5-alkoxyoxazole and acrylic acid, followed by a protodecarboxylation reaction

Thermally Controlled Decarboxylative [4 + 2] Cycloaddition between Alkoxyoxazoles and Acrylic Acid: Expedient Access to 3‑Hydroxypyridines

A modified Kondrat’eva cycloaddition involving an unprecedented thermally controlled metal-free decarboxylative aromatization affords an expedient access to natural 3-hydroxypyridine/piperidine systems

Metal-Free Decarboxylative Hetero-Diels–Alder Synthesis of 3‑Hydroxypyridines: A Rapid Access to <i>N</i>‑Fused Bicyclic Hydroxypiperidine Scaffolds

A complete experimental and theoretical study of the thermally controlled metal-free decarboxylative hetero-Diels–Alder (HDA) reaction of 5-alkoxyoxazoles with acrylic acid is reported. This strategy offers a new entry to valuable 2,6-difunctionalized 3-hydroxypyridines from readily available 2- and 4-disubstituted 5-alkoxyoxazoles. The reaction conditions proved compatible with, among others, ketone, amide, ester, ether, and nitrile groups. The broad functional group tolerance of the protocol allows a rapid and versatile access to both hydroxyindolizidine and hydroxyquinolizidine derivatives via a pyridine dearomatization strategy

Kondrat’eva Ligation: Diels–Alder-Based Irreversible Reaction for Bioconjugation

Diversification of existing chemoselective ligations is required to efficiently access complex and well-defined biomolecular assemblies with unique and valuable properties. The development and bioconjugation applications of a novel Diels–Alder-based irreversible site-specific ligation are reported. The strategy is based on a Kondrat’eva cycloaddition between bioinert and readily functionalizable 5-alkoxyoxazoles and maleimides that readily react together under mild and easily tunable reaction conditions to afford a fully stable pyridine scaffold. The potential of this novel bioconjugation is demonstrated through the preparation of fluorescent conjugates of biomolecules and a novel Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET)-based probe suitable for the in vivo detection and imaging of urokinase-like plasminogen activator (uPA), which is a key protease involved in cancer invasion and metastasis

Synthesis, Biological Evaluation, and <i>in Vivo</i> Imaging of the first Camptothecin–Fluorescein Conjugate

The first synthesis and photophysical properties of a fluorecently labeled camptothecin derivative, namely, camptothecin-FI (CPT-FI), an antitumoral agent that targets topoisomerase I, are reported. The preparation of this fluorescent conjugate is based on a highly convergent and flexible approach which enables the rapid chemical modification of the AB ring system of this fragile pentacyclic alkaloid, aimed at introducing an anchoring point to graft the fluorophore. The selection of a fluorescein analogue as the reporter group has enabled us to get the first green-emitting CPT conjugate exhibiting valuable spectral properties and retaining biological properties of native CPT. Indeed, in biological models, i.e., glioma cell lines U87 and/or T98, the kinetics of cell endocytosis, as well as the efficacy of CPT-FI were compared to those of CPT. CPT-FI fluorescence was measured in the cytosolic compartment of T98 glioma cells from 5 min treatment and remained detectable until 48 h. As CPT, CPT-FI drastically inhibited glioma growth and cell cycle but exhibited a reduced affinity as compared to the native CPT. <i>In vivo</i> and <i>ex vivo</i> imaging studies of CPT-FI intratumoraly injected into a model of NIH-3T3 murine tumor xenografts in nude mice, showed accumulation around the injected site area, which is very promising to target tumors and follow biodistribution <i>in vivo</i>