Synthesis and characterization of a compact tricyclic resorcinol from (+)- and (-)-3-pinanol.

Resorcinol derivatives are important building blocks in the synthesis of natural products and pharmaceutical compounds including cannabinoids. Here we describe the synthesis and the structural characterization of a key resorcinol which carries a fully restricted bridged bicyclic group. We also report a potential mechanism for the acid catalyzed condensation of (+)- or (-)-3-pinanol with 2,6-dimethoxyphenol.

Tandem ring-opening/closing reactions of N-Ts aziridines and aryl propargyl alcohols promoted by t-BuOK.

t-BuOK was found to be an effective promoting reagent for tandem ring-opening/closing reactions of various N-Ts aziridines and aryl propargyl alcohols to afford dihydroxazine derivatives in moderate to good yields. A plausible reaction mechanism has been proposed.

3D-QSAR studies of arylpyrazole antagonists of cannabinoid receptor subtypes CB1 and CB2. A combined NMR and CoMFA approach.

The present work focuses on the study of the three-dimensional (3D) structural requirements for selective antagonist activity of arylpyrazole compounds at the cannabinoid CB1 and CB2 receptors. Initially, a combined high-resolution two-dimensional (2D) NMR and computer modeling approach was carried out to study the solution structure of the key pyrazole derivative N-(piperidin-1-yl)-5-phenyl-1-(n-pentyl)-4-methyl-1H-pyrazole-3-carboxamide (AM263). By using the NMR-determined molecular conformers as templates, the 3D quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR) studies were performed with the comparative molecular field analysis (CoMFA) approach on a set of arylpyrazole cannabinoid receptor antagonists.

Two new iridoid glycosides from the Tibetan folk medicine Swertia franchetiana.

Two new iridoid glycosides designated as senburiside III (2) and senburiside IV (3), together with one known iridoid glycoside senburiside I (1) and three known secoiridoid glucosides swertiamarin (4), gentiopicroside (5) and sweroside (6), were isolated from the whole plant of Swertia franchetiana. The structures of the two new compounds were elucidated by spectroscopic methods.

Preferred conformations of endogenous cannabinoid ligand anandamide.

Anandamide (arachidonyl-ethanolamide, AEA) is an important endogenous cannabinoid ligand isolated from porcine brain. AEA has a flexible molecular structure with a series of four non-conjugated double bonds, a hydrophobic alkyl chain, and a carboxyamide head group. It is known that AEA binds to cannabinoid receptor and induces cannabimimetic activity.

Synthesis and highly enantioselective hydrogenation of exocyclic enamides: (Z)-3-arylidene-4-acetyl-3,4-dihydro-2H- 1,4-benzoxazines.

Highly enantioselective hydrogenation of exocyclic enamides, (Z)-3-arylidene-4-acyl-3,4-dihydro-2H-benzoxazines, was achieved in up to 98.6% ee by using Rh/(R,R)-Me-Duphos complex as the catalytic system. The absolute configuration of the product was assigned as R by chemical interrelations.

Xanthone glycosides from Swertia franchetiana.

A new xanthone glycoside (1) has been isolated from Swertia franchetiana together with five known xanthone glycosides. Their structures were elucidated as 7-O-[beta-D-xylopyranosyl-(1-->2)-beta-D-xylopyranosyl]-1,7,8-trihydroxy-3-methoxyxanthone (1), 7-O-[alpha-L-rhamnopyranosyl-(1-->2)-beta-D-xylopyranosyl]-1,7,8-trihydroxy-3-methoxyxanthone (2), 8-O-beta-D-glucopyranosyl-1,3,5,8-tetrahydroxyxanthone (3), 1-O-beta-D-glucopyranosyl-1-hydroxy-3,7,8-trimethoxyxanthone (4), 1-O-[beta-D-xylopyranosyl-(1-->6)-beta-D-glucopyranosyl]-1-hydroxy-2,3,5-trimethoxyxanthone (5) and 1-O-[beta-D-xylopyranosyl-(1-->6)-beta-D-glucopyranosyl]-1-hydroxy-3,5-dimethoxyxanthone (6) on the basis of spectroscopic evidence.

Highly enantioselective iridium-catalyzed hydrogenation of heteroaromatic compounds, quinolines.

The highly enantioselective hydrogenation of quinoline derivatives is developed using [Ir(COD)Cl]2/(R)-MeO-Biphep/I2 system, and this methodology has been applied to the asymmetric synthesis of three naturally occurring alkaloids angustureine, galipinine, and cuspareine. This method provided an efficient access to a variety of optically active tetrahydroquinolines with up to 96% ee.