Three key reactions, an efficient Ugi four-component coupling, a regiospecific, base-mediated elimination reaction, and an intramolecular nitrone/alkene [3+2] cycloaddition, were used to achieve an effective synthesis of the tricyclic molecular framework of the immunosuppressant FR901483. The outcome of a control experiment supports the idea that an internal deprotonation by an alkoxide ion is the origin of the site selectivity observed in the base-induced elimination of hydroxy mesylate 17.
Keywords
Ugi four-component coupling; elimination reaction; [3+2] cycloadditionScientists from the Fujisawa Pharmaceutical Company isolated the natural product FR901483 (1) from the fermentation broth of the fungus Cladobotryum sp. No. 11231 in the course of a search for new immunosuppressive agents with mechanisms of action different from cyclosporine A and FK-506. 2 The unique and rigid molecular architecture of 1 (Figure 1), which seems to conceal most of the atoms of two molecules of tyrosine, was revealed by an X-ray crystallographic analysis. The phosphate ester is another interesting element of this substance that is essential to its potent immunosuppressive activity in vitro. FR901483 significantly extends graft survival time in the rat skin allograft model and is believed to exert its immunosuppressive function by inhibiting purine nucleotide biosynthesis.The status of 1 as a potential immunosuppressant and its attractive structure stimulated much creative research in the field of chemical synthesis. Five laboratories, including ours, published syntheses of the full structure of this natural product. [3][4][5][6][7] In addition to these achievements, several laboratories described either formal syntheses of FR901483 or novel concepts for constructing its rigid, azatricyclic core structure. 8 In 2000, our laboratory described an enantiospecific, nature-inspired synthesis of this natural product from two simple tyrosine derivatives featuring the following key transformations: a C-N bondforming oxidative dearomatization, an aldol cyclization, and a late-stage Mitsunobu substitution that simultaneously produced the phosphate ester of 1 and the desired © Georg Thieme Verlag Stuttgart · New York Correspondence to: Erik J. Sorensen, ejs@princeton.edu. This paper is dedicated to the pioneering achievements of Professor Yoshito Kishi in the field of organic chemistry on the occasion of his 70 th birthday. -9. 4 While the brevity of this design for synthesis was attractive, we were not entirely satisfied with the yields of these three transformations or with the level of selectivity (both regio-and diastereoselectivity) for the aldol cyclization step. This circumstance engendered a new way of thinking about the problem of gaining a rapid access to the azaspirotricyclic core structure of FR901483. The general features of this alternative synthesis are outlined below in Scheme 1.
NIH Public AccessThe idea that compounds 2-5 would join spontaneously by the Ugi coupling process 9 to give compound 6 was a key aspect of...