Gold(I)-Catalyzed Enantioselective Intramolecular Hydroamination of Allenes with Ureas.

Enantioselective intramolecular hydroamination of N-allenyl ureas catalyzed by an enantiomerically enriched bis(gold) phosphine complex forms pyrrolidine derivatives in good yield with up to 93% ee.

Intermolecular hydroamination of ethylene and 1-alkenes with cyclic ureas catalyzed by achiral and chiral gold(I) complexes.

Reaction of 1-methyl-imidazolidin-2-one (1) with 1-octene (10 equiv) catalyzed by a 1:1 mixture of (2b)AuCl [2b = 2-di-tert-butylphosphino-1,1'-binaphthyl] and AgSbF(6) in dioxane at 100 degrees C for 24 h led to isolation of 1-methyl-3-(octan-2-yl)imidazolidin-2-one in 96% yield as a single regioisomer. A range of unactivated 1-alkenes and ethylene underwent gold(I)-catalyzed intermolecular hydroamination at or below 100 degrees C in excellent yield with high regioselectivity. Reaction of 1-alkenes with substituted imidazolidin-2-ones catalyzed by chiral bis(gold) phosphine complexes led to enantioselective intermolecular hydroamination with up to 78% ee.

Peptide-cleaving catalyst selective for melanin-concentrating hormone: Oxidative decarboxylation of N-terminal aspartate catalyzed by Co(III)cyclen.

To provide a firm basis for the new paradigm of drug discovery based on catalysts for oxidative cleavage of N-terminal aspartate (Asp) residues of oligopeptides, oligopeptide-cleaving catalysts were searched by using melanin-concentrating hormone (MCH) as the substrate. MCH is a target for designing drugs to reduce obesity. Catalyst candidates containing the Co(III) complex of cyclen as the catalytic center were prepared by multicomponent condensation reactions. From three kinds of chemical libraries containing about 19,000 catalyst candidates, one compound was identified as the MCH-cleaving catalyst. On incubation with the catalyst, the N-terminal Asp residue of MCH was converted to the pyruvate residue by oxidative decarboxylation. Detailed kinetics analysis revealed the catalytic nature of the action of the catalyst. In addition, the kinetics data indicated that MCH can be cleaved with half-lives of 3 h or less with submicromolar catalyst concentrations if the structure of the catalyst is further improved.

Peptide-cleaving catalyst selective for peptide deformylase.

A peptide-cleaving catalyst selective for peptide deformylase (PDF) was obtained from a library containing about 15 000 catalyst candidates. The catalyst cleaved the polypeptide backbone of PDF at Gln(152)-Arg(153). Docking simulations suggested multiple modes of interactions in the complex formed between the catalyst and PDF.