Expanding control of the tumor cell cycle with a CDK2/4/6 inhibitor.

The CDK4/6 inhibitor, palbociclib (PAL), significantly improves progression-free survival in HR/HER2 breast cancer when combined with anti-hormonals. We sought to discover PAL resistance mechanisms in preclinical models and through analysis of clinical transcriptome specimens, which coalesced on induction of MYC oncogene and Cyclin E/CDK2 activity. We propose that targeting the G kinases CDK2, CDK4, and CDK6 with a small-molecule overcomes resistance to CDK4/6 inhibition.

Discovery of PF-06873600, a CDK2/4/6 Inhibitor for the Treatment of Cancer.

Control of the cell cycle through selective pharmacological inhibition of CDK4/6 has proven beneficial in the treatment of breast cancer. Extending this level of control to additional cell cycle CDK isoforms represents an opportunity to expand to additional tumor types and potentially provide benefits to patients that develop tumors resistant to selective CDK4/6 inhibitors. However, broad-spectrum CDK inhibitors have a long history of failure due to safety concerns.

Dissecting the molecular determinants of clinical PARP1 inhibitor selectivity for tankyrase1.

Poly-ADP-ribosyltransferases play a critical role in DNA repair and cell death, and poly(ADP-ribosyl) polymerase 1 (PARP1) is a particularly important therapeutic target for the treatment of breast cancer because of its synthetic lethal relationship with breast cancer susceptibility proteins 1 and 2. Numerous PARP1 inhibitors have been developed, and their efficacy in cancer treatment is attributed to both the inhibition of enzymatic activity and their ability to trap PARP1 on to the damaged DNA, which is cytotoxic. Of the clinical PARP inhibitors, talazoparib is the most effective at trapping PARP1 on damaged DNA.

Proteome-wide Map of Targets of T790M-EGFR-Directed Covalent Inhibitors.

Patients with non-small cell lung cancers that have kinase-activating epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutations are highly responsive to first- and second-generation EGFR inhibitors. However, these patients often relapse due to a secondary, drug-resistant mutation in EGFR whereby the gatekeeper threonine is converted to methionine (T790M). Several third-generation EGFR inhibitors have been developed that irreversibly inactivate T790M-EGFR while sparing wild-type EGFR, thus reducing epithelium-based toxicities.

Discovery of N-((3R,4R)-4-Fluoro-1-(6-((3-methoxy-1-methyl-1H-pyrazol-4-yl)amino)-9-methyl-9H-purin-2-yl)pyrrolidine-3-yl)acrylamide (PF-06747775) through Structure-Based Drug Design: A High Affinity Irreversible Inhibitor Targeting Oncogenic EGFR Mutants with Selectivity over Wild-Type EGFR.

Mutant epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) is a major driver of non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Marketed first generation inhibitors, such as erlotinib, effect a transient beneficial response in EGFR mutant NSCLC patients before resistance mechanisms render these inhibitors ineffective. Secondary oncogenic EGFR mutations account for approximately 50% of relapses, the most common being the gatekeeper T790M substitution that renders existing therapies ineffective.

Enantioselective Synthesis of Caprolactam and Enone Precursors to the Heterocyclic DEFG Ring System of Zoanthenol.

The enantioselective synthesis of both caprolactam and enone synthons for the DEFG ring system of zoanthenol are described. The evolution of this synthetic approach proceeds first through a synthesis using the chiral pool as a starting point. Challenges in protecting group strategy led to the modification of this approach beginning with (±)-glycidol.

Palladium-Catalyzed Enantioselective Decarboxylative Allylic Alkylation of Cyclopentanones.

The first general method for the enantioselective construction of all-carbon quaternary centers on cyclopentanones by enantioselective palladium-catalyzed decarboxylative allylic alkylation is described. Employing the electronically modified (S)-(p-CF3)3-t-BuPHOX ligand, α-quaternary cyclopentanones were isolated in yields up to >99% with ee's up to 94%. Additionally, in order to facilitate large-scale application of this method, a low catalyst loading protocol was employed, using as little as 0.

Formal total syntheses of classic natural product target molecules via palladium-catalyzed enantioselective alkylation.

Pd-catalyzed enantioselective alkylation in conjunction with further synthetic elaboration enables the formal total syntheses of a number of "classic" natural product target molecules. This publication highlights recent methods for setting quaternary and tetrasubstituted tertiary carbon stereocenters to address the synthetic hurdles encountered over many decades across multiple compound classes spanning carbohydrate derivatives, terpenes, and alkaloids. These enantioselective methods will impact both academic and industrial settings, where the synthesis of stereogenic quaternary carbons is a continuing challenge.

Enantioselective synthesis of α-secondary and α-tertiary piperazin-2-ones and piperazines by catalytic asymmetric allylic alkylation.

The asymmetric palladium-catalyzed decarboxylative allylic alkylation of differentially N-protected piperazin-2-ones allows the synthesis of a variety of highly enantioenriched tertiary piperazine-2-ones. Deprotection and reduction affords the corresponding tertiary piperazines, which can be employed for the synthesis of medicinally important analogues. The introduction of these chiral tertiary piperazines resulted in imatinib analogues which exhibited comparable antiproliferative activity to that of their corresponding imatinib counterparts.

Development of (trimethylsilyl)ethyl ester protected enolates and applications in palladium-catalyzed enantioselective allylic alkylation: intermolecular cross-coupling of functionalized electrophiles.

The development of (trimethylsilyl)ethyl ester protected enolates is reported. The application of this class of compounds in palladium-catalyzed asymmetric allylic alkylation is explored, yielding a variety of α-quaternary six- and seven-membered ketones and lactams. Independent coupling partner synthesis engenders enhanced allyl substrate scope relative to traditional β-ketoester substrates; highly functionalized α-quaternary ketones generated by the union of (trimethylsilyl)ethyl β-ketoesters and sensitive allylic alkylation coupling partners serve to demonstrate the utility of this method for complex fragment coupling.

Angiotensin II receptor type 1--a novel target for preventing neonatal meningitis in mice by Escherichia coli K1.

The increasing incidence of Escherichia coli K1 meningitis due to escalating antibiotic resistance warrants alternate treatment options to prevent this deadly disease. We screened a library of small molecules from the National Institutes of Health clinical collection and identified telmisartan, an angiotensin II receptor type 1 (AT1R) blocker, as a potent inhibitor of E. coli invasion into human brain microvascular endothelial cells (HBMECs).

Expanding insight into asymmetric palladium-catalyzed allylic alkylation of N-heterocyclic molecules and cyclic ketones.

Eeny, meeny, miny ...

The reaction mechanism of the enantioselective Tsuji allylation: inner-sphere and outer-sphere pathways, internal rearrangements, and asymmetric C-C bond formation.

We use first principles quantum mechanics (density functional theory) to report a detailed reaction mechanism of the asymmetric Tsuji allylation involving prochiral nucleophiles and nonprochiral allyl fragments, which is consistent with experimental findings. The observed enantioselectivity is best explained with an inner-sphere mechanism involving the formation of a 5-coordinate Pd species that undergoes a ligand rearrangement, which is selective with regard to the prochiral faces of the intermediate enolate. Subsequent reductive elimination generates the product and a Pd(0) complex.

Enantioselective construction of quaternary N-heterocycles by palladium-catalysed decarboxylative allylic alkylation of lactams.

The enantioselective synthesis of nitrogen-containing heterocycles (N-heterocycles) represents a substantial chemical research effort and resonates across numerous disciplines, including the total synthesis of natural products and medicinal chemistry. In this Article, we describe the highly enantioselective palladium-catalysed decarboxylative allylic alkylation of readily available lactams to form 3,3-disubstituted pyrrolidinones, piperidinones, caprolactams and structurally related lactams. Given the prevalence of quaternary N-heterocycles in biologically active alkaloids and pharmaceutical agents, we envisage that our method will provide a synthetic entry into the de novo asymmetric synthesis of such structures.

Enantioselective decarboxylative alkylation reactions: catalyst development, substrate scope, and mechanistic studies.

α-Quaternary ketones are accessed through novel enantioselective alkylations of allyl and propargyl electrophiles by unstabilized prochiral enolate nucleophiles in the presence of palladium complexes with various phosphinooxazoline (PHOX) ligands. Excellent yields and high enantiomeric excesses are obtained from three classes of enolate precursor: enol carbonates, enol silanes, and racemic β-ketoesters. Each of these substrate classes functions with nearly identical efficiency in terms of yield and enantioselectivity.

Unusual allylpalladium carboxylate complexes: identification of the resting state of catalytic enantioselective decarboxylative allylic alkylation reactions of ketones.

Enantioselective Pd-catalyzed decarboxylative alkylation of ketone enolates proceeds via η-σ-allyl Pd-carboxylate complexes by slow loss of CO.

Simple enantioselective approach to synthetic limonoids.

An enantioselective and short approach to the synthesis of limonoids has been applied successfully to the simplest limonoid, 2. The carbon atoms of the tetracyclic framework were assembled in a single operation from the acylsilane 3 and the acetylenic sulfone 4 to form the chiral epoxide 5. Successive cationic and free-radical cyclizations starting with 5 generated the tetracyclic intermediates 9a, which was transformed into limonoid 2 by a sequence consisting of (1) oxidative cleavage of the exocyclic double bond, (2) stereoselective alpha-methylation, (3) furyl attachment, and (4) introduction of a 16-keto function.

The biology and chemistry of the zoanthamine alkaloids.

Marine natural products have long played an important role in natural products chemistry and drug discovery. Mirroring the rich variety and complicated interactions of the marine environment, the substances isolated from sea creatures tend to be incredibly diverse in both molecular structure and biological activity. The natural products isolated from the polyps of marine zoanthids are no exception.

A facile and modular synthesis of phosphinooxazoline ligands.

The copper(I) iodide catalyzed phosphine/aryl halide coupling procedure of Buchwald et al. provides modular, robust, and scaleable access to phosphinooxazoline (PHOX) ligands. The advantages of this method are highlighted by the convenient synthesis of PHOX ligands with varied steric and electronic properties, which would be challenging to synthesize by other protocols.

Catalytic enantioselective decarboxylative protonation.

We report a highly enantioselective, general catalytic system for the facile synthesis of tertiary stereocenters by protonation adjacent to cyclic ketones. The method relies on catalytic decarboxylative protonation of readily accessible racemic quaternary beta-ketoesters. A range of substituted cycloalkanone compounds can be accessed through this process with high levels of enantioselectivity.

The enantioselective Tsuji allylation.

The first catalytic enantioselective examples of the Tsuji allylation using enol carbonates and enol silanes are described. The products possess a quaternary stereogenic center and are useful building blocks for synthetic chemistry.

Functional analysis of the lipoglycodepsipeptide antibiotic ramoplanin.

The peptide antibiotic ramoplanin is highly effective against several drug-resistant gram-positive bacteria, including vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium (VRE) and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), two important opportunistic human pathogens. Ramoplanin inhibits bacterial peptidoglycan (PG) biosynthesis by binding to Lipid intermediates I and II at a location different than the N-acyl-D-Ala-D-Ala dipeptide site targeted by vancomycin. Lipid I/II capture physically occludes these substrates from proper utilization by the late-stage PG biosynthesis enzymes MurG and the transglycosylases.