Enzymatic Fluorination of Biotin and Tetrazine Conjugates for Pretargeting Approaches to Positron Emission Tomography Imaging.

The use of radiolabelled antibodies and antibody-derived recombinant constructs has shown promise for both imaging and therapeutic use. In this context, the biotin-avidin/streptavidin pairing, along with the inverse-electron-demand Diels-Alder (iEDDA) reaction, have found application in pretargeting approaches for positron emission tomography (PET). This study reports the fluorinase-mediated transhalogenation [5'-chloro-5'-deoxyadenosine (ClDA) substrates to 5'-fluoro-5'-deoxyadenosine (FDA) products] of two antibody pretargeting tools, a FDA-PEG-tetrazine and a [ F]FDA-PEG-biotin, and each is assessed either for its compatibility towards iEDDA ligation to trans-cyclooctene or for its affinity to avidin.

Incorporation of [H]-(1R,2R)- and [H]-(1S,2R)-glycerols into the antibiotic nucleocidin in Streptomyces calvus.

Deuterium incorporations from [H]-(1R,2R) and [H]-(1S,2R) glycerols into the fluorine containing antibiotic nucleocidin, in Streptomyces calvus indicate that one deuterium atom is incorporated at the C-5' site of nucleocidin from each of these isotopomers of glycerol. Two deuteriums become incorporated at C-5' of nucleocidin after a feeding experiment with [H]-glycerol. These observations indicate that there is no obligate oxidation of the pro-R hydroxymethyl group of glycerol as it progresses through the pentose phosphate pathway and becomes incorporated into the fluorinated antibiotic.

A New Class of Fluorinated A Adenosine Receptor Agonist with Application to Last-Step Enzymatic [ F]Fluorination for PET Imaging.

The A adenosine receptor belongs to a family of G-coupled protein receptors that have been subjected to extensive investigation over the last few decades. Due to their prominent role in the biological functions of the heart, lungs, CNS and brain, they have become a target for the treatment of illnesses ranging from cancer immunotherapy to Parkinson's disease. The imaging of such receptors by using positron emission tomography (PET) has also been of interest, potentially providing a valuable tool for analysing and diagnosing various myocardial and neurodegenerative disorders, as well as offering support to drug discovery trials.

Fluorometabolite biosynthesis: isotopically labelled glycerol incorporations into the antibiotic nucleocidin in Streptomyces calvus.

Deuterium and carbon-13 labelled glycerols have been fed to Streptomyces calvus fermentations and isotope incorporation into the fluorine containing antibiotic nucleocidin have been evaluated by F-NMR. A single deuterium atom was incorporated from [H]- and (R)-[H]-glycerol into C-5' of the antibiotic, suggesting that an oxidation occurs at this carbon after ribose ring assembly from glycerol (pentose phosphate pathway), during nucleocidin biosynthesis.

Last-Step Enzymatic [(18) F]-Fluorination of Cysteine-Tethered RGD Peptides Using Modified Barbas Linkers.

We report a last-step fluorinase-catalyzed [(18) F]-fluorination of a cysteine-containing RGD peptide. The peptide was attached through sulfur to a modified and more hydrophilic variant of the recently disclosed Barbas linker which was itself linked to a chloroadenosine moiety via a PEGylated chain. The fluorinase was able to use this construct as a substrate for a transhalogenation reaction to generate [(18) F]-radiolabeled RGD peptides, which retained high affinity to cancer-cell relevant αv β3 integrins.

Polar alicyclic rings: synthesis and structure of all cis-1,2,3,4-tetrafluorocyclopentane.

The all-cis isomer of 1,2,3,4-tetrafluorocyclopentane is prepared and characterised by NMR and X-ray crystallography and the experimental structure compared with theory. The structure has a similarly high polarity to all-cis tetrafluorocyclohexanes despite the increased conformational flexibility of a cyclopentane.

Development and characterization of glutamyl-protected N-hydroxyguanidines as reno-active nitric oxide donor drugs with therapeutic potential in acute renal failure.

Acute renal failure (ARF) has high mortality and no effective treatment. Nitric oxide (NO) delivery represents a credible means of preventing the damaging effects of vasoconstriction, central to ARF, but design of drugs with the necessary renoselectivity is challenging. Here, we developed N-hydroxyguanidine NO donor drugs that were protected against spontaneous NO release by linkage to glutamyl adducts that could be cleaved by γ-glutamyl transpeptidase (γ-GT), found predominantly in renal tissue.

Novel amino acids: synthesis of furoxan and sydnonimine containing amino acids and peptides as potential nitric oxide releasing motifs.

The incorporation of furoxan and sydnonimine ring systems into amino acid side chains is demonstrated with the preparation of four novel amino acids which carry these nitric oxide-releasing motifs. N-((4-Nitrophenoxy)carbonyl)-3-phenylsydnonimine 9 and bis(phenylsulfonyl)furoxan 10 are the key intermediates for introducing the heterocycle side chains onto appropriate amine and alcohol functionalities respectively. Furoxan 5 and 7 both displayed NO release based on determination of nitrite production.

Fluorinated 5- and 7-membered carbacycle motifs by reaction of difluorocarbene with acetylene ethers.

The reaction of acetylene ethers with difluorocarbene (CF(2)), generated from the Ruppert-Prakash reagent, unexpectedly gave rise to co-produced fluorinated bicyclic [2.1.1]-hex-2-ene and cyclohepta-1,4-diene ring products.

A new class of NO-donor pro-drugs triggered by γ-glutamyl transpeptidase with potential for reno-selective vasodilatation.

This communication describes the synthesis of a new class of N-hydroxyguanidine (NHG) pro-drugs which release nitric oxide (NO), triggered by the action of γ-glutamyl transpeptidase (γ-GT), and have potential for the treatment of acute renal injury/failure (ARI/ARF).

Allosteric agonists of the calcium receptor (CaR): fluorine and SF5 analogues of cinacalcet.

Three selectively fluorinated cinacalcet analogues are prepared and their activity as calcium-sensing receptor (CaR) agonists is assessed. Individual (2R,1'R)-2 and (2S,1'R)-3 fluorocinacalcet diastereoisomers were prepared using the MacMillan asymmetric fluorination reaction. Assays with the recombinant human CaR revealed that both diastereoisomers have a similar potency to each other although slightly lower (75-80%) than that of cinacalcet 1.

Fluorocyclohexanes: synthesis and structure of all-syn-1,2,4,5-tetrafluorocyclohexane.

The all-syn isomer of 1,2,4,5-tetrafluorocyclohexane is prepared and characterised by NMR and X-ray crystallography. It emerges to be a particularly polar cyclohexane analogue with differentially polarised faces.

Insights into fluorometabolite biosynthesis in Streptomyces cattleya DSM46488 through genome sequence and knockout mutants.

Streptomyces cattleya DSM 46488 is unusual in its ability to biosynthesise fluorine containing natural products, where it can produce fluoroacetate and 4-fluorothreonine. The individual enzymes involved in fluorometabolite biosynthesis have already been demonstrated in in vitro investigations. Candidate genes for the individual biosynthetic steps were located from recent genome sequences.

A gram scale synthesis of a multi-13C-labelled anthocyanin, [6,8,10,3',5'-13C5]cyanidin-3-glucoside, for use in oral tracer studies in humans.

The major dietary anthocyanin, cyanidin-3-glucoside, was prepared on a 4 g scale from three units of diethyl [2-(13)C]malonate and one unit of [1,3-(13)C(2)]acetone, such that five isotope locations were distributed throughout the molecule to provide a penta-(13)C(5)-labelled anthocyanin, [6,8,10,3',5'-(13)C(5)]cyanidin-3-glucoside chloride, for use in human stable-isotope tracer studies.

Single enantiomer synthesis of α-(trifluoromethyl)-β-lactam.

The first synthesis of α-(trifluoromethyl)-β-lactam ((S)-1) is reported. The route starts from α-(trifluoromethyl)acrylic acid (2). Conjugate addition of α-(p-methoxyphenyl)ethylamine ((S)-3b), generated an addition adduct 4b which was cyclised to β-lactam 5b.

Synthesis and structure of all-syn-1,2,3,4-tetrafluorocyclohexane.

Preparation of the all-syn isomer of 1,2,3,4-tetrafluorocyclohexane is reported; X-ray structural studies shows a conformation with two of the C-F bonds oriented 1,3-diaxial to each other and (19)F-NMR reveals a through space diaxial (4)J(FF) coupling constant of 29 Hz.

Synthesis and stereochemical assignment of (+)-chamuvarinin.

A stereocontrolled total synthesis of (+)-chamuvarinin, isolated from the root extract of Uvaria Chamae, utilizes a convergent modular strategy to construct the adjacently linked C15-C28 ether array, followed by a late-stage Julia-Kocienski olefination to append the butenolide motif. This constitutes the first total synthesis of (+)-chamuvarinin, defining the relative and absolute configuration of this unique annonaceous acetogenin.

Development of inositol-based antagonists for the D-myo-inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate receptor.

The syntheses of four D-myo-inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (InsP(3)) derivatives, incorporating phosphate bioisosteres at the 5-position, are reported. The methyl phosphate ester and sulfate derivatives retain InsP(3) receptor (InsP(3)R) agonist activity; the compounds that possess a methylphosphonate or a carboxymethyl moiety are InsP(3)R antagonists.

Fluorinase mediated chemoenzymatic synthesis of [(18)F]-fluoroacetate.

A novel preparation of sodium [(18)F]-fluoroacetate is described where 5'-[(18)F]-fluoro-5'-deoxyadenosine is generated by a fluorinase catalysed reaction of S-adenosyl-l-methionine (SAM) with no carrier added [(18)F]-fluoride and then oxidation to [(18)F]-fluoroacetate by a Kuhn-Roth oxidative degradation.

Fluorosugars: synthesis of the 2,3,4-trideoxy-2,3,4-trifluoro hexose analogues of D-glucose and D-altrose and assessment of their erythrocyte transmembrane transport.

The 2,3,4-trideoxy-2,3,4-trifluoro hexose analogues of d-glucose and d-altrose were prepared and characterised and these novel sugar analogues were explored by 2D-(19)F-EXSY NMR for their potential to cross erythrocyte (red blood cell) membranes, by comparison with the well known capacity of erythrocytes to transport d-glucose.

Prins fluorination cyclisations: Preparation of 4-fluoro-pyran and -piperidine heterocycles.

The Prins reaction was investigated using BF₃.OEt₂ as a Lewis acid. It has been recently demonstrated, that if BF₃.

An enzymatic route to 5-deoxy-5-[18F]fluoro-D-ribose, a [18F]-fluorinated sugar for PET imaging.

An efficient two-step, one-pot, biotransformation involving the fluorinase enzyme is described for the synthesis of 5-deoxy-5-[(18)F]fluororibose, a novel [(18)F]-fluorinated sugar suitable for positron emission tomography (PET) applications.

The synthesis of highly functionalised pyridines using Ghosez-type reactions of dihydropyrazoles.

The aza-Diels-Alder reaction of αβ-unsaturated hydrazones is a general methodology that has been applied both to the synthesis of natural products and in the development of multicomponent reactions. Trends have emerged as to the effect of substituents on the efficiency of this reaction with substituents at the C2 and C4-positions of the aza-diene in general suppressing the reaction. Here we report that 4,5-dihydropyrazoles can function as substrates in this process despite the presence of substituents at both of these positions.

Synthesis of phosphonate and phostone analogues of ribose-1-phosphates.

The synthesis of phosphonate analogues of ribose-1-phosphate and 5-fluoro-5-deoxyribose-1-phosphate is described. Preparations of both the alpha- and beta-phosphonate anomers are reported for the ribose and 5-fluoro-5-deoxyribose series and a synthesis of the corresponding cyclic phostones of each alpha-ribose is also reported. These compounds have been prepared as tools to probe the details of fluorometabolism in S.