Chemoproteomic discovery of a covalent allosteric inhibitor of WRN helicase.

WRN helicase is a promising target for treatment of cancers with microsatellite instability (MSI) due to its essential role in resolving deleterious non-canonical DNA structures that accumulate in cells with faulty mismatch repair mechanisms. Currently there are no approved drugs directly targeting human DNA or RNA helicases, in part owing to the challenging nature of developing potent and selective compounds to this class of proteins. Here we describe the chemoproteomics-enabled discovery of a clinical-stage, covalent allosteric inhibitor of WRN, VVD-133214.

A unified approach to ent-atisane diterpenes and related alkaloids: synthesis of (-)-methyl atisenoate, (-)-isoatisine, and the hetidine skeleton.

A unified approach to ent-atisane diterpenes and related atisine and hetidine alkaloids has been developed from ent-kaurane (-)-steviol (1). The conversion of the ent-kaurane skeleton to the ent-atisane skeleton features a Mukaiyama peroxygenation with concomitant cleavage of the C13-C16 bond. Conversion to the atisine skeleton (9) features a C20-selective C-H activation using a Suárez modification of the Hofmann-Löffler-Freytag (HLF) reaction.

Synthesis of ent-kaurane and beyerane diterpenoids by controlled fragmentations of overbred intermediates.

In the first part of a two-phase pursuit of highly oxidized members of the -kaurane and beyerane diterpenoid families, steviol was identified as the ideal cyclase phase terminus. Accordingly, a synthesis of steviol has been developed. This synthesis features a polyene cyclization precursor designed to directly yield oxidation on the axial C methyl group.

Intramolecular condensation via an o-quinone methide: total synthesis of (±)-heliol.

An acid-catalyzed intramolecular [4 + 2] cycloaddition of a non-natural bisabolene is reported. The key cyclocondensation was developed to access cyclic sesquiterpenes from linear phenolic precursors by generating a reactive o-quinone methide intermediate to initiate a cascade reaction. The new method was applied to the first total synthesis of (±)-heliol.

New strategies for natural products containing chroman spiroketals.

Two cycloaddition strategies are described that lead to various chroman spiroketals from assorted exocyclic enol ethers. Unlike conventional thermodynamic ketalization strategies, the stereochemical outcome for this approach is determined by a kinetic cycloaddition reaction. Thus, the stereochemical outcome reflects the olefin geometry of the starting materials along with the orientation of the associated transition state.

Total syntheses of ent-heliespirones A and C.

Stereodivergent total syntheses of ent-heliespirone A and C were both completed in 11 vessels and ∼24% combined overall yield (A + C). These syntheses employed an identical inverse demand Diels-Alder reaction between a surrogate for an extendedly conjugated γ-δ unsaturated ortho-quinone methide and L-lactic-acid-derived exocyclic enol ether. Novel reactions of special note include a diastereoselective reduction of a chroman spiroketal by combination of borontrifluoride etherate and triethyl silane, along with oxidative rupture of a chroman etherial ring into the corresponding p-quinone by argentic oxide (AgO).

Total synthesis and repudiation of the helianane family.

Total syntheses of two structures purported as (+)-heliananes were completed in six pots. Spectral comparisons, between the synthetic and natural compounds, revealed a misassignment of the eight-membered ring in the heliananes. The key step in the syntheses of the proposed structures and the confirmation of their actual structures was a diastereoselective inverse-demand Diels-Alder reaction between an optically active enol ether and an ortho-quinone methide species, which was generated in situ at low temperature by the sequential addition of methylmagnesium bromide and di-tert-butyl dicarbonate to a salicylaldehyde.

An oxidative dearomatization-induced [5 + 2] cascade enabling the syntheses of α-cedrene, α-pipitzol, and sec-cedrenol.

Efficient syntheses of α-cedrene (1), α-pipitzol (2), and sec-cedrenol (3) were carried out using a new method, which was inspired by the proposed biosynthesis of the tricyclic skeleton of cedrol (12). The key transformation begins with the oxidative dearomatization of curcuphenol (5a) followed by an intramolecular [5 + 2] cycloaddition of the respective phenoxonium intermediate across the tethered olefin. The benzylic stereocenter effectively guides the formation of the first two stereocenters during the [5 + 2] reaction.