Synthesis and structure-activity relationships of M(2)-selective muscarinic receptor ligands in the 1-[4-(4-arylsulfonyl)-phenylmethyl]-4-(4-piperidinyl)-piperazine family.

The synthesis and muscarinic binding properties of compounds based on the 1-[4-(4-arylsulfonyl)phenylmethyl]-4-(1-aroyl-4-piperidinyl)-piperazine skeleton are described. For compounds, substituted with appropriately configured methyl groups at the benzylic center and at the piperazine 2-position, high levels of selective, M(2) subtype affinity could be obtained, particularly when the terminal N-aroyl residue was ortho-substituted.

Total Synthesis of (+)-Himbacine and (+)-Himbeline.

Himbacine (1), a complex piperidine alkaloid isolated from the bark of Australian magnolias, is a promising lead in Alzheimer's disease research due to its potent muscarinic receptor antagonist property. We have described here a highly efficient synthetic strategy that resulted in the total synthesis of himbacine (1) in about 10% overall yield and isohimbacine (1a), an unnatural isomer of himbacine, in 18% overall yield. The total synthesis of himbacine was initially approached using an intramolecular Diels-Alder reaction as the key step to generate intermediate 5 followed by a [3 + 2] cycloaddition with nitrone 4 to produce the isoxazolidine derivative 3. Methylation followed by catalytic reduction of 3 gave 12'-hydroxyhimbacine (20), which, upon dehydration, gave isohimbacine (1a) as the sole product. In an alternative approach, an all-encompassing intramolecular Diels-Alder reaction of an appropriately substituted tetraene derivative 31, which bears the entire latent carbon framework and functional group substitution of himbacine, gave the desired advanced tricyclic intermediate 33, which was readily converted to (+)-himbeline (2) and (+)-himbacine (1).