Structural essentials for β-N-acetylhexosaminidase inhibition by amides of prolines, pipecolic and azetidine carboxylic acids.

This paper explores the computer modelling aided design and synthesis of β-N-acetylhexosaminidase inhibitors along with their applicability to human disease treatment through biological evaluation in both an enzymatic and cellular setting. We investigated the importance of individual stereocenters, variations in structure-activity relationships along with factors influencing cell penetration. To achieve these goals we modified nitrogen heterocycles in terms of ring size, side chains present and ring nitrogen derivatization.

Synthesis of the enantiomers of XYLNAc and LYXNAc: comparison of β-N-acetylhexosaminidase inhibition by the 8 stereoisomers of 2-N-acetylamino-1,2,4-trideoxy-1,4-iminopentitols.

The enantiomers of XYLNAc (2-N-acetylamino-1,2,4-trideoxy-1,4-iminoxylitol) are prepared from the enantiomers of glucuronolactone; the synthesis of the enantiomers of LYXNAc (2-N-acetylamino-1,2,4-trideoxy-1,4-iminolyxitol) from an L-arabinono-δ-lactone and a D-ribono-δ-lactone is reported. A comparison is made of the inhibition of β-N-acetylhexosaminidases (HexNAcases) and α-N-acetylgalactosaminidase (α-GalNAcase) by 8 stereoisomeric 2-N-acetylamino-1,2,4-trideoxy-1,4-iminopentitols; their N-benzyl derivatives are better inhibitors than the parent compounds. Both XYLNAc and LABNAc are potent inhibitors against HexNAcases.

Nine of 16 stereoisomeric polyhydroxylated proline amides are potent β-N-acetylhexosaminidase inhibitors.

All 16 stereoisomeric N-methyl 5-(hydroxymethyl)-3,4-dihydroxyproline amides have been synthesized from lactones accessible from the enantiomers of glucuronolactone. Nine stereoisomers, including all eight with a (3R)-hydroxyl configuration, are low to submicromolar inhibitors of β-N-acetylhexosaminidases. A structural correlation between the proline amides is found with the ADMDP-acetamide analogues bearing an acetamidomethylpyrrolidine motif.

Short and sweet: (D)-glucose to (L)-glucose and (L)-glucuronic acid.

The scarcity and expense of access to L-sugars and other rare sugars have prevented the exploitation of their biological potential; for example D-psicose, only recently available, has been recognized as an important new food. Here we give the definitive and cheap synthesis of 99.4% pure L-glucose from D-glucose which requires purification of neither intermediates nor final product other than extraction into and removal of solvents; a simple crystallization will raise the purity to >99.

An approach to 8 stereoisomers of homonojirimycin from (D)-glucose via kinetic & thermodynamic azido-γ-lactones.

Crystal structures were obtained for the two C2 epimeric azido-γ-lactones 2-azido-2-deoxy-3,5:6,7-di-O-isopropylidene-d-glycero-d-ido-heptono-1,4-lactone and 2-azido-2-deoxy-3,5:6,7-di-O-isopropylidene-d-glycero-d-gulo-heptono-1,4-lactone prepared from kinetic and thermodynamic azide displacements of a triflate derived from d-glucoheptonolactone. Azido-γ-lactones are very useful intermediates in the synthesis of iminosugars and polyhydroxylated amino acids. In this study two epimeric azido-heptitols allow biotechnological transformations via Izumoring techniques to 8 of the 16 possible homonojirimycin analogues, 5 of which were isolated pure because of the lack of stereoselectivity of the final reductive amination.

3-Hydroxyazetidine carboxylic acids: non-proteinogenic amino acids for medicinal chemists.

The formation from D-glucose of both enantiomers of 2,4-dideoxy-2,4-iminoribonic acid is the first chemical synthesis of unprotected 3-hydroxyazetidine carboxylic acids. The long-term stability of 3-hydroxyazetidine amides is established at acidic and neutral pH and implies their value as non-proteinogenic amino acid components of peptides, providing medicinal chemists with a new class of peptide isosteres. The structure of N,3-O-dibenzyl-2,4-dideoxy-2,4-imino-D-ribonic acid was established by X-ray crystallographic analysis.

Synthesis from D-altrose of (5R,6R,7R,8S)-5,7-dihydroxy-8-hydroxymethylconidine and 2,4-dideoxy-2,4-imino-D-glucitol, azetidine analogues of swainsonine and 1,4-dideoxy-1,4-imino-D-mannitol.

Ring closure of a 3,5-di-O-triflate derived from D-altrose with benzylamine allowed the formation of both monocyclic and bicyclic azetidine analogues of swainsonine.

Scalable syntheses of both enantiomers of DNJNAc and DGJNAc from glucuronolactone: the effect of N-alkylation on hexosaminidase inhibition.

The efficient scalable syntheses of 2-acetamido-1,2-dideoxy-D-galacto-nojirimycin (DGJNAc) and 2-acetamido-1,2-dideoxy-D-gluco-nojirimycin (DNJNAc) from D-glucuronolactone, as well as of their enantiomers from L-glucuronolactone, are reported. The evaluation of both enantiomers of DNJNAc and DGJNAc, along with their N-alkyl derivatives, as glycosidase inhibitors showed that DGJNAc and its N-alkyl derivatives were all inhibitors of α-GalNAcase but that none of the epimeric DNJNAc derivatives inhibited this enzyme. In contrast, both DGJNAc and DNJNAc, as well as their alkyl derivatives, were potent inhibitors of β-GlcNAcases and β-GalNAcases.

2-Acetamido-N-benzyl-1,4-imino-1,2,4-tride-oxy-l-xylitol (N-benzyl-l-XYLNAc).

X-ray crystallography defines the relative configuration at the three-stereogenic centres in the title compound N-benzyl-l-XYLNAc, C(14)H(20)N(2)O(3). The five-membered pyrrolidine ring adopts an envelope conformation with the N atom lying out of the plane of the other four atoms. In the crystal structure, inter-molecular O-H⋯O, N-H⋯O and O-H⋯N hydrogen bonds link the mol-ecules into chains along [100].