Descrevemos neste trabalho, os resultados de um estudo que teve como objetivo a síntese de esqueletos de carbono altamente funcionalizados de alcalóides de plantas da família das Amaryllidaceae. A partir de adutos de Morita-Baylis-Hillman, descrevemos a síntese total do núcleo diidroisoquinolin-5(6H)-ona funcionalizado, que é a parte inferior da estrutura de vários alcalóides dessa classe. Essa substância pode ser um intermediário útil e valioso para a síntese total dos alcalóides isolados de plantas da família Amaryllidaceae.We disclose herein our results concerning a study aiming at the synthesis of the highly substituted carbon skeleton of alkaloids isolated from plants of the Amaryllidaceae family. The total synthesis of the functionalized dihydroisoquinolin-5(6H)-one core, which is the bottom part of the structure of alkaloids isolated from this botanic family, is described, using MoritaBaylis-Hillman adducts as substrate. This compound should be a useful and valuable intermediate for the total synthesis of alkaloids isolated from Amaryllidaceae.
Keywords: Morita-Baylis-Hillman adducts, Amaryllidaceae, dihydroisoquinolinones
IntroductionPlants from the Amaryllidaceae family are spread all over the world and due to its pharmacological relevance some representatives of this botanic family are known by humans since antiquity. 1 Among the chemical constituents present in these plants, the alkaloids are the most important and, normally, they are responsible for the biological activities exhibited. As a matter of fact, the biological importance of the plants from this family led to an intense phytochemical research activity, which culminated with the isolation and chemical characterization of several structurally different classes of alkaloids. 2 Galanthamine (1), 3 pancratistatin (2), 4 narciclasine (3), 5 hippadine (4), 6 anhydrolycorinone (5), 6,7 and plicamine (6) 8 are examples that clearly show the structurally rich diversity of these alkaloids (Figure 1). Besides structural complexity, these alkaloids exhibit different biological activities. Galantamine (1), for example, is a specific, competitive and reversible acetyl cholinesterase inhibitor, being used in the clinical treatment of Alzheimer disease. 3 Pancratistatin (2), narciclasine (3), hippadine (4) and anhydrolycorinone (5) exhibit antiproliferative activity. 9,10 The highly sophisticated substitution pattern of the carbon skeleton of these alkaloids, associated with their relevant biological and pharmacological significance, induced the interest of synthetic organic chemists in establishing strategies aiming at their total syntheses, in both racemic and asymmetric versions. The results of these efforts can be easily measured by the countless reports available in the literature describing successful syntheses of several types of alkaloids isolated from Amaryllidaceae. 11 Particularly, the alkaloids which are structurally related to pantacristatin (2) were synthesized successfully by using the strategy of joining the two suitably substituted fragm...