Development of a plate-based scintillation proximity assay for the mycobacterial AftB enzyme involved in cell wall arabinan biosynthesis.

A number of mycobacterial arabinosyltransferases, such as the Emb proteins, AftA, AftB, AftC, and AftD have been characterized and implicated to be involved in the cell wall arabinan assembly. These arabinosyltransferases are essential for the viability of the organism and are logically valid targets for developing new anti-tuberculosis agents. For instance, Ethambutol, a first line anti-tuberculosis drug, targets the Emb proteins involved in the formation of the arabinan of cell wall arabinogalactan. Among these arabinosyltransferases, the terminal ß-(1→2) arabinosyltransferase activity has been associated with AftB. The predicted topology of AftB in Mycobacterium tuberculosis has 10 N terminal transmembrane domains and a C terminal hydrophilic domain similar to the Emb proteins. It has a conserved GT-C motif and is difficult to express. In a cell free assay, synthetic disaccharide, α-D-Araf-(1→5)-α-D-Araf-octyl, has been used as a substrate to explore the function of AftB. In our work, the disaccharide was synthesized in its pentenylated and biotinylated form, and the enzymatic product formed was identified as the ß-(1→2) arabinofuranose adduct. When synthetic tri- and tetra-saccharides were used as substrates, a mixture of products containing both ß-(1→2) and α-(1→5) linkages were formed. Therefore, the biotinylated disaccharide was selected to develop a scintillation proximity assay.

Synthesis of a core arabinomannan oligosaccharide of Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

The synthesis of a core arabinomannan (AM) oligosaccharide from Mycobacterium tuberculosis has been achieved using a convergent [6 + 6] glycosylation strategy and a defined set of building blocks. Dodecasaccharide 1, containing the key AM structural features of lipoarabinomannan (LAM), was obtained in excellent yield and selectivity from hexamannan 3 and hexaarabinan 5. This flexible synthetic strategy involves late-stage couplings and modifications, thus providing ready access to several different LAM fragments. The incorporation of a thiol linker at the reducing end of the oligosaccharide allows for the attachment of these compounds to microarrays and protein carriers.

Carbohydrate diversity: synthesis of glycoconjugates and complex carbohydrates.

The fundamental role of glycoconjugates in many biological processes is now well appreciated and has intensified the development of innovative and improved synthetic strategies. All areas of synthetic methodology have seen major advances and many complex, highly branched carbohydrates and glycoproteins have been prepared using solution- and/or solid-phase approaches. The development of an automated oligosaccharide synthesizer provides rapid access to biologically relevant compounds. These chemical approaches help to produce sufficient quantities of defined oligosaccharides for biological studies. Synthetic chemistry also supports an improved understanding of glycobiology and will eventually result in the discovery of new therapeutics.

Regioselective samarium diiodide induced couplings of carbonyl compounds with 1,3-diphenylallene and alkoxyallenes: a new route to 4-hydroxy-1-enol ethers.

Since its introduction into synthetic organic chemistry, samarium diiodide has found broad application in a variety of synthetically important transformations. Herein, we describe the first successful intermolecular additions of samarium ketyls to typical allenes such as 1,3-diphenylallene (7), methoxyallene (12) and benzyloxyallene (25). Reaction of different samarium ketyls with 1,3-diphenylallene (7) occurred exclusively at the central carbon atom of the allene to afford products 9 in moderate to good yields. In contrast, reductive coupling of cyclic ketones to methoxyallene (12) regioselectively provided 4-hydroxy-1-enol ethers 13, which derive from addition to the terminal allene carbon atom of 12, in moderate to good yields. Whereas the E/Z selectivity with respect to the enol ether double bond is low, excellent diastereoselectivity has been observed in certain cases with regard to the ring configuration (e.g. compound 13 b). Studies with deuterated tetrahydrofuran and alcohol were performed to gain information about the reaction mechanism of this coupling process, which involves alkenyl radicals. The couplings of samarium ketyls derived from acyclic ketones and aldehydes gave lower yields, and in several cases cyclopentanols 20 are formed as byproducts. Branched acyclic ketones and conformationally more flexible cyclic ketones such as cycloheptanone led to a relatively high amount of cyclopentanol derivatives 20, whose formation involves an intramolecular hydrogen atom transfer through a geometrically favoured six-membered transition state followed by a cyclization step. The samarium diiodide mediated addition of 8 b to benzyloxyallene (25) afforded the expected enol ethers 26, albeit in only low yield. Additionally, spirocyclic compounds 27 and 28 were obtained, which are formed by a cascade reaction involving an addition/cyclization sequence. In the novel coupling process described here methoxyallene (12) serves as an equivalent of acrolein. The 1,4-dioxygenated products obtained contain a masked aldehyde functionality and are therefore valuable building blocks in organic synthesis.

Samarium diiodide-induced couplings of carbonyl compounds with methoxyallene leading to 4-hydroxy 1-enol ethers.

A surprising samarium diiodide-induced coupling reaction of carbonyl compounds with methoxyallene provided 4-hydroxy 1-enol ethers, which are versatile synthetic building blocks. In this coupling reaction, methoxyallene serves as an acrolein equivalent, which cannot directly be employed. [reaction: see text]