Discovery of a Cryptic Nitro Intermediate in the Biosynthesis of the 3-(-2'-Aminocyclopropyl)alanine Moiety of Belactosin A.

Belactosin A, a β-lactone proteasome inhibitor, contains a unique 3-(-2'-aminocyclopropyl)alanine moiety. We recently identified the biosynthetic gene cluster of the belactosin series from sp. UCK14.

Synthetic Applications of Sulfonium Salts.

This minireview aims to cover the developments over the past two decades in the chemistry of sulfonium salts. Specifically, insight is provided into the synthetic strategies available for the preparation of these compounds, the different reactivity patterns that are expected depending on their structural features or the reaction conditions applied, and the diversity of organic scaffolds that can thereby be synthesized. Additionally, the pros and cons derived from the use of sulfonium salts are presented and critically compared, when possible, in relation to reagents not based on sulfur but depicting similar reactivity.

(2R,1'S,2'R)- and (2S,1'S,2'R)-3-[2-Mono(di,tri)fluoromethylcyclopropyl]alanines and their incorporation into hormaomycin analogues.

Efficient and scalable syntheses of enantiomerically pure (2R,1'S,2'R)- and (2S,1'S,2'R)-3-[2-mono(di,tri)fluoromethylcyclopropyl]alanines 9a-c, as well as allo-D-threonine (4) and (2S,3R)-β-methylphenylalanine (3), using the Belokon' approach with (S)- and (R)-2-[(N-benzylprolyl)amino]benzophenone [(S)- and (R)-10] as reusable chiral auxiliaries have been developed. Three new fluoromethyl analogues of the naturally occurring octadepsipeptide hormaomycin (1) with (fluoromethylcyclopropyl)alanine moieties have been synthesized and subjected to preliminary tests of their antibiotic activity.

C-H nitrogenation and oxygenation by ruthenium catalysis.

Remarkable recent progress has been accomplished in direct C-H functionalizations for the formation of C-N and C-O bonds through the use of readily accessible ruthenium catalysts. Particularly, ruthenium(II) complexes allowed for challenging direct C(sp(2))-H hydroxylation of arenes. These catalysts set the stage for step-economical C-H functionalization with electron-rich as well as electron-deficient (hetero)arenes and, therefore, provided versatile access to diversely decorated phenols.

Carboxylate assistance for catalyzed hydroarylations of methylenecyclopropanes.

Carboxylate assistance enabled efficient and chemoselective ruthenium(II)-catalyzed hydroarylations and hydroalkenylations of highly strained methylenecyclopropanes via C-H bond activation occurring with ring conservation of the cyclopropane moieties.

Ruthenium-catalyzed C-H/O-H and C-H/N-H bond functionalizations: oxidative annulations of cyclopropyl-substituted alkynes.

The chemical behavior of cyclopropyl-substituted alkynes has been probed using the reaction conditions of ruthenium-catalyzed oxidative C-H/O-H and C-H/N-H bond functionalizations. The oxidative annulations proceeded with complete conservation of all cyclopropane fragments and allowed for the one-step preparation of synthetically useful cyclopropyl-substituted isocoumarins and isoquinolones with high regioselectivities and chemical yields. The connectivities of the key heterocyclic products were unambiguously established by X-ray diffraction analysis.

Ruthenium-catalyzed hydroarylation of methylenecyclopropanes through C-H bond cleavage: scope and mechanism.

Intermolecular hydroarylation reactions of highly strained methylenecyclopropanes 2-phenylmethylenecyclopropane (1), 2,2-diphenylmethylenecyclopropane (2), methylenespiropentane (3), bicyclopropylidene (4), (dicyclopropylmethylene)cyclopropane (5), and benzhydrylidenecyclopropane (6) through C-H bond functionalization of 2-phenylpyridine (7 a) and other arenes with directing groups were studied. The reaction was very sensitive to the substitution on the methylenecyclopropanes. Although these transformations involved (cyclopropylcarbinyl)-metal intermediates, substrates 1 and 4 furnished anti-Markovnikov hydroarylation products with complete conservation of all cyclopropane rings in 11-93 % yield, whereas starting materials 3 and 5 were inert toward hydroarylation.

Scalable synthesis of (1-cyclopropyl)cyclopropylamine hydrochloride.

1-Cyclopropylcyclopropanecarboxylic acid (2), which is accessible on a large scale (900 mmol) from 1-bromo-1-cyclopropylcyclopropane (1) in 64% yield (89% on a 12.4 mmol scale), has been subjected to a Curtius degradation employing the Weinstock protocol to furnish the N-Boc-protected (1-cyclopropyl)cyclopropylamine 3 (76%). Deprotection of 3 with hydrogen chloride in diethyl ether gave the (1-cyclopropyl)cyclopropylamine hydrochloride (4·HCl) in 87% yield.

Ruthenium-catalyzed hydroarylations of methylenecyclopropanes: mild C-H bond functionalizations with conservation of cyclopropane rings.

Ring conservation was observed in the first catalytic intermolecular hydroarylation of methylenecyclopropanes via C-H bond functionalization, a remarkable reactivity mode for a transformation proceeding through (cyclopropylcarbinyl)metal intermediates.

Chiral macrocyclic aliphatic oligoimines derived from trans-1,2-diaminocyclohexane.

Aliphatic dialdehydes of rigid structures having a cyclohexane, a bicyclo[2.2.2]octane or a [7]triangulane skeleton, have been condensed with enantiomerically pure trans-1,2-diaminocyclohexane to give [3+3] or [2+2] macrocyclization products.

1,4-dimethylenespiropentane: a unique model system for studying Fermi resonance in Raman optical activity.

The C(2)-symmetric title compound, a small, rigid hydrocarbon molecule with two distinct, strongly interacting vibrational chromophores, represents a unique model system for testing computational approaches to Raman optical activity (ROA) beyond the isolated molecule and the harmonic approximation. We show that the experimental Raman and ROA spectra are marked by the presence of strong Fermi resonances, and that the shape and relative size of the bands which we attribute to such resonances strongly depend on the solvent environment of the molecule. On the other hand, the dominant computed ROA couplet, arising from the C=C stretching vibrations, is absent in the spectra measured in the condensed phase.

Stereoselective preparation of six diastereomeric quatercyclopropanes from bicyclopropylidene and some derivatives.

Diastereomeric meso- and d,l-bis(bicyclopropylidenyl) (5) were obtained upon oxidation with oxygen of a higher-order cuprate generated from lithiobicyclopropylidene (4) in 50 and 31 % yield, respectively. Their perdeuterated analogues meso-[D(14)]- and d,l-[D(14)]-5 were obtained along the same route from perdeuterated bicyclopropylidene [D(8)]-3 (synthesized in six steps in 7.4 % overall yield from [D(8)]-THF) in 20.

Syntheses and structures of sterically congested linear and branched cobalta[n]triangulanes.

Treatment of {eta(5):eta(1)[2-(di-tert-butylphosphanyl-P)ethyl]cyclopentadienyl}cobalt(I) chloride (5) with methylenecyclopropane (3) or bicyclopropylidene (4), as well as with their spirocyclopropanated analogues methylenespiropentane (7), cyclopropylidenespiropentane (10), or 7,7'-bi(dispiro[2.0.2.

Syntheses and properties of enantiomerically pure higher (n > or = 7) [n-2]triangulanedimethanols and sigma-[n]helicenes.

(P)-(+)-Hexaspiro[2.0.0.

Synthesis of enantiopure indolizinones by cascade ring enlargements of 4'-chlorospiro[cyclopropane-1,5'-isoxazolidines].

2-Chloro-2-cyclopropylideneacetates (1-Me and 1-Et) and their spiropentane analogues 2 cycloadd enantiopure five-membered cyclic nitrones to give the corresponding adducts (quantitatively, four examples), which undergo cascade ring enlargements to yield indolizinone derivatives (53-70%, four examples). The ring enlargement process is triggered by the abstraction of a bridgehead proton induced by a base and can be suppressed by the presence of a bulky substituent nearby, such as a (triisopropylsilyl)oxy group.

Radical cations from dicyclopropylidenemethane and its octamethyl derivative.

The radical cations of dicyclopropylidenemethane (2) and its octamethyl derivative (2-Me8) are prone to rearrangements into those of (2-methylallylidene)cyclopropane (2a) and its octamethyl derivative (2a-Me8), respectively, by opening one three-membered ring. In contrast to the radical cations of bicyclopropylidene (1) and its octamethyl derivative (1-Me8), 2*+ and 2-Me8*+ are stable to opening of the second ring, because in this case the resulting species would be a non-Kekulé hydrocarbon with a quartet ground state. Similarly to 1, octamethyl substitution in 2 promotes the tendency to rearrangement.

Linear and branched phospha[n]triangulanes.

Novel, highly stable, linear and branched mono- and diphospha[n]triangulanes were synthesized in high yields by the CuCl-catalyzed phosphinidene addition to spirocyclopropanated methylenecyclopropanes and bicyclopropylidenes. The effect of spirofusion on the electronic properties of these esthetically attractive phosphacycles is apparent from X-ray single crystal structure analyses, which reveals a tightening of the phosphirane ring on additional spirocyclopropanation, and from the NMR features that show deshielded chemical shifts for the ring-phosphorus and -carbon atoms. Steric factors play a role in the addition reaction when the substrate alkene carries a second sphere of spirocyclopropane rings and causes the formation of 2-phosphabicyclo[3.

Preparation and reactivity of [D3d]-octahedrane: the most stable (CH)12 hydrocarbon.

The synthesis of the (CH)12 hydrocarbon [D(3d)]-octahedrane (heptacyclo[6.4.0.

Bullvalene trisepoxide and its stereospecific rearrangement to 2,8,12-trioxahexacyclo[8.3.0.0(3,9)0(4,6)0(5,13)0(7,11)]tridecane: two new C3-symmetrical oligocycles with propeller chirality.

Epoxidation of bullvalene (1) with a neutralized solution of Oxone gave racemic trisepoxide rac-6 in 93 % isolated yield. Its structure was examined by X-ray crystallography. The two enantiomers of 6 were separated by preparative HPLC and exhibited specific rotations of [alpha](25)(D)= +160, [alpha](25)(365)= +567 (c=0.

Intramolecular Pauson-Khand reactions of methylenecyclopropane and bicyclopropylidene derivatives as an approach to spiro(cyclopropanebicyclo[n.3.0]alkenones).

The trimethylsilyl-protected enynes 9a-c and 14a,b with alkynyl substituents on the three-membered ring or on the double bond of a methylenecyclopropane or a bicyclopropylidene moiety were prepared in two steps from the alcohols 6a-c and 12a,b, respectively, by conversion to the iodides and their coupling with lithium (trimethylsilyl)acetylide (8) in 38-73% overall yields. The bicyclopropylidene derivative 9d was synthesized in 49% yield directly from bicyclopropylidene (3) by lithiation followed by coupling with (5-iodopent-1-ynyl)trimethylsilane (11). Enynes 9b-d were protiodesilylated by treatment with K2CO3 in methanol to give the corresponding unprotected enynes 10b-d in 53, 74 and 94% yield, respectively.

Final elucidation of the absolute configuration of the signal metabolite hormaomycin.

The complete absolute configuration of hormaomycin 1 a has been established by HPLC and HPLC/MS experiments with appropriately derivatized 4-propylprolines, (2S,4S)-6 and (2R,4R)-6, as well as 4-(Z)-propenylprolines, cis-5 and trans-5, and also feeding experiments with enantiomerically pure samples of the deuterium-labeled 3-(2'-nitrocyclopropyl)alanine, (2S)-3,3-[D2]15 and (2S)-2,2'-[D2]15, and 4-(Z)-propenylproline 2',4-[D2]-(2S,4R)-5. The latter five amino acids were prepared for the first time and allowed one to unequivocally assign the hitherto unknown absolute configurations of the last four stereocenters in hormaomycin 1 a. As a bonus, some new information about the biosynthesis of this molecule has also been gathered.