Stereoselective Palladium-Catalyzed Approach to Vitamin D3 Derivatives in Protic Medium.

We describe an efficient convergent synthesis of vitamin D3 metabolites and analogues. The synthetic strategy relies on a tandem Pd-catalyzed A-ring closure and Suzuki-Miyaura coupling to the CD-side chain component to set directly the vitamin D triene system under protic conditions. This strategy enables rapid access to vitamin D3 and 3-epi-vitamin D3 metabolites and analogues modified at the side chain for biological evaluation and structural and metabolic studies.

The dynamic kinetic resolution of azlactones with thiol nucleophiles catalyzed by arylated, deoxygenated cinchona alkaloids.

A significant improvement of the available organocatalytic methods (in terms of product substrate scope and product enantiomeric excess) for the generation of enantioenriched α-amino acid thioesters via the dynamic kinetic resolution of azlactones is reported. C-9 arylated cinchona alkaloid catalysts have been found to be considerably superior to other bifunctional alkaloid catalysts as the promoters of this asymmetric process.

Highly tunable arylated cinchona alkaloids as bifunctional catalysts.

We report the design and evaluation of a library of chiral bifunctional organocatalysts in which the distance between the catalytically active units can be systematically varied.

Dynamic combinatorial development of a neutral synthetic receptor that binds sulfate with nanomolar affinity in aqueous solution.

Using dynamic combinatorial disulfide chemistry we have developed a new generation of neutral synthetic receptors for anions, based on a macrobicyclic peptide structure. These receptors show an exceptional affinity and selectivity for sulfate ions in aqueous solution [log K(a) = 8.67 in 41 mol% (67 volume%) acetonitrile in water]. The high affinity depends on a delicate balance between rigidity and flexibility in the structure of the receptor.

Orthogonal or simultaneous use of disulfide and hydrazone exchange in dynamic covalent chemistry in aqueous solution.

Hydrazone and disulfide exchange have been combined in a single system, but can be addressed independently: by adjusting the pH of the solution from acidic to mildly basic it is possible to switch from exclusively hydrazone exchange to exclusively disulfide exchange, while at intermediate pH both reactions occur simultaneously.

Noncovalent interactions within a synthetic receptor can reinforce guest binding.

Structural and thermodynamic data are presented on the binding properties of anion receptors containing two covalently linked cyclopeptide subunits that bind sulfate and iodide anions with micromolar affinity in aqueous solution. A synchrotron X-ray crystal structure of the sulfate complex of one receptor revealed that the anion is bound between the peptide rings of the biscyclopeptide. Intimate intramolecular contacts between the nonpolar surfaces of the proline rings of the individual receptor moieties in the complex suggest that hydrophobic interactions within the receptor that do not directly involve the guest contribute to complex stability. This finding is supported by a microcalorimetric analysis of the solvent dependence of complex stability, which showed that increasing the water content of the solvent has only a weak influence on the Gibbs energy of binding. Hence, the increasing amount of energy required for desolvating the binding partners in solutions containing more water is almost compensated by the increasingly favorable hydrophobic interactions. Further observations that suggest that guest-induced intra-receptor interactions contribute to guest binding are (i) anion binding of a monomeric cyclopeptide lacking the covalent linkage between the two rings leads to the formation of 2:1 complexes; (ii) in the crystal structure of the 2:1 iodide complex of this monotopic receptor, a similar arrangement of the two cyclopeptide rings has been found as in the sulfate complex of the biscyclopeptide; (iii) complex formation of the monomeric cyclopeptide in aqueous solution is highly cooperative with a large stability constant corresponding to the formation of the 2:1 complexes from relatively instable 1:1 complexes; (iv) the monomeric cyclopeptide forms only 1:1 anion complexes in DMSO where hydrophobic interactions do not take place; and (v) introducing polar hydroxy groups on the proline rings of the monomeric cyclopeptide disrupts cooperativity causing the formation of only 1:1 complexes even in aqueous solution. Taken together these observations demonstrate that, in addition to direct receptor-substrate interactions, noncovalent interactions between the two subunits of such biscyclopeptides contribute significantly to anion complex stability. Reinforcement of molecular recognition through intra-receptor interactions should be an attractive new strategy to boost host-guest affinities.