Determination of agmatine using isotope dilution UPLC-tandem mass spectrometry: application to the characterization of the arginine decarboxylase pathway in Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

A method has been developed for the direct determination of agmatine in bacterial culture supernatants using isotope dilution ultra performance liquid chromatography (UPLC)-tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS). Agmatine determination in bacterial supernatants is comprised of spiking culture or isolate supernatants with a fixed concentration of uniformly labeled (13)C5,(15)N4-agmatine (synthesized by decarboxylation of uniformly labeled (13)C6,(15)N4-arginine using arginine decarboxylase from Pseudomonas aeruginosa) as an internal standard, followed by derivatization with 4-fluoro-7-nitro-2,1,3-benzoxadiazole (NBDF) to improve the reversed-phase chromatographic retention characteristics of agmatine, as well as the selectivity and sensitivity of UPLC-MS/MS detection of this amine in complex biologically derived mixtures. Intrasample precisions for measurement of agmatine in culture supernatants average 4.1% (relative standard deviation). Calibration curves are linear over the range 5 nM to 10 µM, and the detection limit is estimated at 1.5 nM. To demonstrate the utility of the method, agmatine levels in supernatants of overnight cultures of wild-type (UCBPP-PA14), as well as arginine decarboxylase and agmatine deiminase mutant strains of P. aeruginosa strain UCBPP-PA14 were measured. This method verified that the mutant strains are lacking the specific metabolic capabilities to produce and metabolize agmatine. In addition, measurement of agmatine in supernatants of a panel of clinical isolates from patients with cystic fibrosis revealed that three of the P. aeruginosa isolates hyper-secreted agmatine into the supernatant, hypothesized to be a result of a mutation in the aguA gene. Because agmatine has potential inflammatory activities in the lung, this phenotype may be a virulence factor for P. aeruginosa in the lung environment of cystic fibrosis patients.

Asymmetric transformations of achiral 2,5-cyclohexadienones.

Cyclohexadienones are versatile platforms for performing asymmetric synthesis as evidenced by the numerous natural product syntheses that exploit their diverse reactivity profile. However, there are few general methods available for the direct asymmetric synthesis of chiral cyclohexadienones. To circumvent this problem, several researchers have developed catalytic asymmetric methods that employ readily available achiral 2,5-cyclohexadienones as substrates. Many of these reactions are desymmetrizations in which one of the enantiotopic alkenes of an achiral dienone is transformed. Others involve selective reaction at one alkene of an unsymmetrically substituted, achiral dienone. This review will cover advances in this area over the last 20 years and the application of these strategies in complex molecule synthesis.

Ligand and substrate effects during Pd-catalyzed cyclizations of alkyne-tethered cyclohexadienones.

The effects of ligand and substrate choice on the Pd-catalyzed cyclization of alkyne-tethered cyclohexadienones were examined. In the presence of a chiral ligand, the enantioselectivity of the desymmetrization is remarkably sensitive to structural changes in both the ligand and the substrate. Additionally, the regioselectivity of the reaction (5- vs. 6-membered ring formation) is dependent on the proximity of heteroatoms to the alkyne.

Regioselective and stereoselective cyclizations of cyclohexadienones tethered to active methylene groups.

The cyclization of 2,5-cyclohexadienones tethered to activated methylene groups was studied. The substitution around the cyclohexadienone ring serves to regioselectively direct these cyclizations based primarily on electronic effects. In the case of brominated substrates, these reactions proceed to give highly unusual electron-deficient tricyclic cyclopropanes. By using a Cinchona alkaloid-based phase-transfer catalyst, prochiral cyclohexadienones can be desymmetrized with moderate stereoselectivity.