Total syntheses of the C-glucosidic ellagitannins (-)-punicacortein A, (-)-epipunicacortein A and (+)-castalin were accomplished for the first time, and those of the glucopyranosic ellagitannins (+)-tellimagrandin I and (+)-pedunculagin were revisited. The atroposelective construction of their characteristic hexahydroxydiphenoyl (HHDP) and nonahydroxyterphenoyl (NHTP) units relied on the use of different cupric-amine complexes under different reaction conditions to mediate the intramolecular dehydrogenative coupling of galloyl groups at different positions of glucose cores. In particular, the monodentate n-butylamine and the bidentate (-)-sparteine were found to be complementary in their capacity to promote the regio- and atroposelective coupling of galloyl groups on a C-glucopyranosic core into 2,3-O-(S)- and/or 4,6-O-(S)-HHDP units.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDiabetes mellitus is a metabolic disease characterized by hyperglycemia, which can be counteracted by the inhibition of α-glucosidase (α-Glu) and α-amylase (α-Amy), enzymes responsible for the hydrolysis of carbohydrates. In recent decades, many natural compounds and their bioinspired analogues have been studied as α-Glu and α-Amy inhibitors. However, no studies have been devoted to the evaluation of α-Glu and α-Amy inhibition by the neolignan obovatol (1).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe ellagitannins vescalagin and vescalin, known as actin-dependent inhibitors of osteoclastic bone resorption, were mounted onto chemical probes to explore their interactions with bone cell proteins by means of affinity-based chemoproteomics and bioinformatics. The chemical reactivity of the pyrogallol units of these polyphenols toward oxidation into electrophilic -quinones was exploited using NaIO to promote the covalent capture of target proteins, notably those expressed at lower abundance and those interacting with polyphenols at low-to-moderate levels of affinity. Different assays revealed the multitarget nature of both ellagitannins, with 100-370 statistically significant proteins captured by their corresponding probes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe New Chemistry, as practised by its early proponents in late eighteenth-century France, is often associated with quantification and a move away from sensorial perceptions. In this paper, I argue that the sensory, far from being discarded by the practitioners of the New Chemistry, thrived in one of their major productions: the Viewing the New Chemistry through its relation to the sensory highlights the diversity of chemical applications and offers a new way of examining the connection of chemistry to state and industrial actors. Chemists utilised a precise vocabulary which allowed them to productively interact on the subject of the senses.
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