Ciguatoxins, the principal causative toxins of ciguatera seafood poisoning, are large ladder-like polycyclic ethers with the 13 ether rings ranging from five- to nine-membered. In this paper, we describe the total synthesis of the two most toxic members of the ciguatoxin family, ciguatoxin 1 and 51-hydroxyCTX3C 2, based on a unified synthetic strategy. The key features in our syntheses were (i) direct construction of the O,S-acetal from the corresponding left and right wing fragments (3, 4, 14); (ii) stereo- and chemoselective radical reaction of the alpha-oxyradical with pentafluorophenyl acrylate to achieve cyclization of the seven-membered G-ring; (iii) ring-closing metathesis reaction to build the nine-membered F-ring; and (iv) an efficient protective group strategy using the oxidatively removable 2-naphthylmethyl groups.

Accumulation of Aβ peptides is a hallmark of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and is considered a causal factor in the pathogenesis of AD. β-Secretase (BACE1) is a key enzyme responsible for producing Aβ peptides, and thus agents that inhibit BACE1 should be beneficial for disease-modifying treatment of AD. Here we describe the discovery and optimization of novel oxazine-based BACE1 inhibitors by lowering amidine basicity with the incorporation of a double bond to improve brain penetration. Starting from a 1,3-dihydrooxazine lead 6 identified by a hit-to-lead SAR following HTS, we adopted a p K lowering strategy to reduce the P-gp efflux and the high hERG potential leading to the discovery of 15 that produced significant Aβ reduction with long duration in pharmacodynamic models and exhibited wide safety margins in cardiovascular safety models. This compound improved the brain-to-plasma ratio relative to 6 by reducing P-gp recognition, which was demonstrated by a P-gp knockout mouse model.

Approval of avibactam by the FDA has led to the recognition of 1,6-diazabicyclo[3.2.1]­octane (DBO) derivatives as attractive compounds for β-lactamase inhibition. We achieved a concise and collective synthesis of 2-thio-substituted DBO derivatives. The synthesis involves diastereoselective photo-induced Barton decarboxylative thiolation, which can be applied to large-scale synthesis. The DBO analogues exhibited strong inhibitory activities against serine β-lactamases and acceptable solution stabilities for clinical development.