No abstract

The advent of cycloaddition reactions in the synthesis of heterocycles and their ever burgeoning applications in the fields of material chemistry, catalysis and drugs have been a profound scientific development. In particular, isocyanide based cycloaddition reactions have been harbingers of an exciting new chapter in the realms of organic synthesis. The emergence of numerous synthetic protocols utilizing formal cycloaddition of isocyanides with conjugated heterodienes has unleashed countless opportunities to design and synthesize diverse heterocyclic scaffolds. To date, there has not been any exclusive review on a formal [4+1] cycloaddition involving isocyanides. The present review highlights the journey of formal [4+1] cycloaddition reactions of isocyanides with diverse electrophilic substrates viz. oxadienes, azadienes, thioacyl imines, alkylidene amides, alkylidene hydrazines, α,β-unsaturated nitro compounds, α-thioxothioamides, nitroso alkenes, acyl imines, vinyl ketenes, vinyl isocyanates, etc. to afford functionalized pyrroles, imidazoles, furans, oxazoles, pyrazoles, etc.

Dysregulation of microRNA (miRNA) expression has been linked to many human diseases; however, because of the challenges associated with RNA-targeted drug discovery, additional approaches are needed for probing miRNA biology. The emerging regulatory role of miRNA-binding proteins in miRNA maturation presents such an alternative strategy. Exploiting our laboratory’s click chemistry-based high-throughput screening (HTS) technology, catalytic enzyme-linked click chemistry assay or cat-ELCCA, we have designed a modular method by which to discover new chemical tools for manipulating pre-miRNA–miRNA–binding protein interactions. Using the pre-let-7d–Lin28 interaction as proof-of-concept, the results presented demonstrate how HTS using cat-ELCCA can enable the discovery of small molecules targeting RNA–protein interactions.

A simple, efficient, and environmentally benign method has been developed for the synthesis of a-amino phosphonates through a one-pot reaction of aldehydes with amines and diethyl phosphite in the presence of bismuth nitrate pentahydrate as a catalyst. Some of the major advantages of this protocol are: good yields, the involvement of a less-expensive and non-toxic catalyst, mild and solvent-free reaction conditions and also tolerance towards other functional groups present in the substrates. Eighteen examples are described, highlighting the substrate scope of the reaction.

This report describes a copper-mediated radiocyanation of aryl halides that is applicable to complex molecules. This transformation tolerates an exceptionally wide range of functional groups, including unprotected amino acids. As such, it enables the site-specific introduction of [11C]­CN into peptides at an iodophenylalanine residue. The use of a diamine-ligated copper­(I) mediator is crucial for achieving high radiochemical yield under relatively mild conditions, thus limiting racemization and competing side reactions of other amino acid side chains. The reaction has been scaled and automated to deliver radiolabeled peptides, including analogues of adrenocorticotropic hormone 1–27 (ACTH) and nociceptin (NOP). For instance, this Cu-mediated radiocyanation was leveraged to prepare >40 mCi of [11C]­cyano-NOP to evaluate biodistribution in a primate using positron emission tomography. This investigation provides preliminary evidence that nociceptin crosses the blood–brain barrier and shows uptake across all brain regions (SUV > 1 at 60 min post injection), consistent with the known distribution of NOP receptors in the rhesus brain.