The design and synthesis of transition-state mimics reflects the growing need both to understand enzymatic catalysis and to influence strategies for therapeutic intervention. Iminosugars are among the most potent inhibitors of glycosidases. Here, the binding of 1-deoxynojirimycin and (+)-isofagomine to the "family GH-1" beta-glucosidase of Thermotoga maritima is investigated by kinetic analysis, isothermal titration calorimetry, and X-ray crystallography. The binding of both of these iminosugar inhibitors is driven by a large and favorable enthalpy. The greater inhibitory power of isofagomine, relative to 1-deoxynojirimycin, however, resides in its significantly more favorable entropy; indeed the differing thermodynamic signatures of these inhibitors are further highlighted by the markedly different heat capacity values for binding. The pH dependence of catalysis and of inhibition suggests that the inhibitory species are protonated inhibitors bound to enzymes whose acid/base and nucleophile are ionized, while calorimetry indicates that one proton is released from the enzyme upon binding at the pH optimum of catalysis (pH 5.8). Given that these results contradict earlier proposals that the binding of racemic isofagomine to sweet almond beta-glucosidase was entropically driven (Bülow, A. et al. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2000, 122, 8567-8568), we reinvestigated the binding of 1-deoxynojirimycin and isofagomine to the sweet almond enzyme. Calorimetry confirms that the binding of isofagomine to sweet almond beta-glucosidases is, as observed for the T. maritima enzyme, driven by a large favorable enthalpy. The crystallographic structures of the native T. maritima beta-glucosidase, and its complexes with isofagomine and 1-deoxynojirimycin, all at approximately 2.1 A resolution, reveal that additional ordering of bound solvent may present an entropic penalty to 1-deoxynojirimycin binding that does not penalize isofagomine.

The treatment of benzyl 2,3-O-isopropylidene-β-L-xylopyranoside with N-hydroxyphthalimide under Mitsunobu conditions, followed by protecting-group interchange, gave benzyl 4-O-[(tert-butoxycarbonyl)amino]-2,3- O-isopropylidene-α-D-arabinoside. Mild acid hydrolysis and catalytic hydrogenolysis afforded 4-O-[(tert-butoxycarbonyl)amino]-D-arabinose that, upon heating in water, gave the dihydrooxazine [(4R,5S,6R)-5,6-dihydro-4,5-dihydroxy-6-hydroxymethyl-4H-1,2-oxazine] as a crystalline solid. A single-crystal structure determination of this solid showed it to exist in the 5H6 conformation. Reduction of the dihydrooxazine gave the tetrahydrooxazine [(4R,5S,6R)-4,5-dihydroxy-6-hydroxymethyl-3,4,5,6-tetrahydro-2H-1,2-oxazine]. The dihydrooxazine was an effective inhibitor of two β-glucosidases (Ki = 27 and 35 µM). Benzyl 2,3-O-isopropylidene-β-L-xylopyranoside, via the derived imidazylate, was converted into a nitrile that, upon reduction and protecting-group manipulations, gave benzyl 4-C-aminomethyl-4-deoxy-α-D-arabinoside. Treatment of this amine with hydrogen and palladium-on-carbon gave isofagomine.Key words: dihydrooxazine, tetrahydrooxazine, isofagomine, iminosugars, glycosidase inhibitors.

The treatment of tetra-O-benzyl-D-glucono-1,5-lactone with various alkenylmagnesium halides gave the intermediate lactols which, upon reduction (Et3SiH/BF3) and protecting group manipulation, yielded alkenyl tetra-O-acetyl-β-D-C-glucopyranosides in good yield. These β-D-C-glucosides were precursors of the epoxyalkyl β-D-C-glucopyranosides, themselves putative inhibitors of b-glucan hydrolases. Similar additions of Grignard reagents to per-benzylated cellobionolactone were not as successful in yielding epoxyalkyl β-C-cellobiosides. The addition of Grignard reagents to 1,2-anhydro-3,4,6-tri-O-benzyl-α-D- glucose offers a viable alternative route to the prop-2-enyl β-D-C-glucoside, but not to the but-3-enyl and pent-4-enyl counterparts. Likewise, the addition of Grignard reagents to a 1,2-anhydro cellobiose gave disappointing results. Preliminary results are reported for a novel approach to alkenyl β-D-C-glucosides by the alkylation of nitromethyl β-D-C-glucosides.

Isofagomine and a carbohydrate-like tetrahydrooxazine, as their N-benzyloxycarbonyl derivatives, have been subjected to a glycosynthase in the presence of α-D-glucopyranosyl fluoride as a glucosyl donor. In each case, after protecting group removal, a mixture of 1,4-β-linked di-, tri-, and tetra-'saccharides' was obtained. These novel oligosaccharide derivatives were tested as inhibitors of the endo-glycanase Cex from Cellulomonasfimi. Affinities increased progressively as additional D-glucosyl residues were incorporated, which is consistent with the known substrate specificity of this enzyme.