A series of N-acyl O-amino derivatives of seco-CBI-indole 2 are reported and examined as prototypical members of a unique class of reductively activated (cleaved) prodrugs of the duocarmycin and CC-1065 family of antitumor agents. These prodrugs were designed to be potentially preferentially activated in hypoxic tumor environments, which carry an intrinsically higher concentration of "reducing" nucleophiles (e.g., thiols) capable of activating such derivatives by nucleophilic cleavage of a weak N-O bond. A remarkable range of stabilities and a resulting direct correlation with in vitro/in vivo biological potencies was observed for these prodrugs even enlisting subtle variations in the electronic and steric environment around the weak N-O bond. An in vivo evaluation of several of the prodrugs demonstrates that some approach the potency and exceed the efficacy of the free drug itself (CBI-indole 2 ), suggesting the prodrugs may offer an additional advantage related to a controlled or targeted release.

A short, asymmetric synthesis of the 1,2,9,9a-tetrahydrocyclopropa[c]benzo[e]indol-4-one (CBI) analogue of the CC-1065 and duocarmycin DNA alkylation subunits is described. Treatment of iodo-epoxide 5, prepared by late-stage alkylation of 4 with (S)-glycidal-3-nosylate, with EtMgBr at room temperature directly provides the optically pure alcohol 6 in 87% yield (99% ee) derived from selective metal–halogen exchange and subsequent regioselective intramolecular 6-endo-tet cyclization. The use of MeMgBr or i-PrMgBr also provides the product in high yields (82–87%), but requires larger amounts of the Grignard reagent to effect metal–halogen exchange and cyclization. Direct transannular spirocyclization of 7 following O-debenzylation of 6 provides N-Boc-CBI. This approach represents the most efficient (9-steps, 31% overall) and effective (99% ee) route to the optically pure CBI alkylation subunit yet described.

Divergent total syntheses of (+)-spegazzinine (1) and (−)-aspidospermine (2) and their extensions to the synthesis of C19-epi-aspidospermine and C3-epi-spegazzinine are detailed, confirming the relative stereochemistry and establishing the absolute configuration of (+)-spegazzinine. A powerful intramolecular [4 + 2]/[3 + 2] cycloaddition cascade of a 1,3,4-oxadiazole provided the pentacyclic skeleton and all the requisite stereochemistry of the natural products in a single reaction that forms three rings, four C–C bonds, and five stereocenters.

Two systematic series of increasingly hydrophilic derivatives of duocarmycin SA are described that feature the incorporation of ethylene glycol units (n = 1–5) into the methoxy substituents of the trimethoxyindole subunit. These derivatives exhibit progressively increasing water solubility, along with progressive decreases in cell growth inhibitory activity and DNA alkylation efficiency with the incremental ethylene glycol unit incorporations. A linear relationship between cLogP and –logIC50 for cell growth inhibition and –logAE (AE = cell free DNA alkylation efficiency) is observed where cLogP values span the productive range of 2.5–0.49 and –logIC50 values span the range of 11.2–6.4, representing IC50 values covering a 105 range (0.008 to 370 nM). The results quantify a fundamental role the compound hydrophobic character plays in the expression of the biological activity of members in this class, driving the intrinsically reversible DNA alkylation reaction, and define the stunning magnitude of its effect.

Imidazole (Im) and Pyrrole (Py)-containing polyamides that can form stacked dimers can be programmed to target specific sequences in the minor groove of DNA and control gene expression. Even though various designs of polyamides have been thoroughly investigated for DNA sequence recognition, the use of H-pin polyamides (covalently cross-linked polyamides) has not received as much attention. Therefore, experiments were designed to systematically investigate the DNA recognition properties of two symmetrical H-pin polyamides composed of PyImPyIm (5) or f-ImPyIm (3e, f = formamido) tethered with an ethylene glycol linker. These compounds were created to recognize the cognate 5′-ACGCGT-3′ through an overlapped and staggered binding motif, respectively. Results from DNaseI footprinting, thermal denaturation, circular dichroism, surface plasmon resonance and isothermal titration microcalorimetry studies demonstrated that both H-pin polyamides bound with higher affinity than their respective monomers. The binding affinity of formamido-containing H-pin 3e was more than a hundred times greater than that for the tetraamide H-pin 5, demonstrating the importance of having a formamido group and the staggered motif in enhancing affinity. However, compared to H-pin 3e, tetraamide H-pin 5 demonstrated superior binding preference for the cognate sequence over its non-cognates, ACCGGT and AAATTT. Data from SPR experiments yielded binding constants of 1.6 × 108 M−1 and 2.0 × 1010 M−1 for PyImPyIm H-pin 5 and f-ImPyIm H-pin 3e, respectively. Both H-pins bound with significantly higher affinity (ca. 100-fold) than their corresponding unlinked PyImPyIm 4 and f-ImPyIm 2 counterparts. ITC analyses revealed modest enthalpies of reactions at 298 K (ΔH of −3.3 and −1.0 kcal mol−1 for 5 and 3e, respectively), indicating these were entropic-driven interactions. The heat capacities (ΔCp) were determined to be −116 and −499 cal mol−1 K−1, respectively. These results are in general agreement with ΔCp values determined from changes in the solvent accessible surface areas using complexes of the H-pins bound to (5′-CCACGCGTGG)2. According to the models, the H-pins fit snugly in the minor groove and the linker comfortably holds both polyamide portions in place, with the oxygen atoms pointing into the solvent. In summary, the H-pin polyamide provides an important molecular design motif for the discovery of future generations of programmable small molecules capable of binding to target DNA sequences with high affinity and selectivity.