The alkylpiperidine alkaloids are a class of natural products isolated from marine sponges possessing diverse biological activity, including tumor cell cytotoxicity, antimalarial, antitubercular, and antibacterial properties. One such member of this class of natural products is arenosclerin, which has preliminarily been reported as possessing antibacterial activity against several antibiotic-resistant clinical isolates and potent cytotoxicity against several tumor cell lines. While arenosclerin and related family members have preliminarily been associated with clinically-relevant biological activity, further evaluation has been limited given that these natural products can only be isolated in small quantities. Providing an efficient synthetic route to access arenosclerin and related alkaloids would enable further biological study. The tetracyclic structure of arenosclerin consists of a bis-piperdine core appended to two 17-member peripheral macrocycles. This study proposes an efficient total synthesis of arenosclerin, which could also be used to synthesize related members of the alkylpiperidine family.
In Aim 1, development of a cycloaddition-fragmentation strategy is described, which would allow access to bis- piperidinyl ring systems present in several biologically active natural products, including arenosclerin.
In Aim 2, a total synthesis of arenosclerin is proposed whereby a cycloaddition-fragmentation strategy would afford the target bis-piperidine core, which could then be further elaborated to arenosclerin using a flexible late-stage cross-coupling strategy to close the two remaining macrocycles.
In Aim 3, this proposed study details preliminary evaluation of the effect of arenosclerin and its synthetic precursors on the growth inhibition of both sensitive and drug-resistant pathogens.
These aims together will provide an efficient route to access arenosclerin, preliminary data toward investigating one facet of arenosclerin's unique biological activity, and allow for future access and evaluation of related alkylpiperidine alkaloids.

Public Health Relevance

The alkylpiperidine alkaloids are a family of structurally diverse natural products, which have preliminarily demonstrated a wide range of biological activity, including potent tumor cell cytotoxicity against various cancer cell lines and antibacterial activity against antibiotic-resistant clinical isolates. The proposed study details an efficient synthetic route which provides access to arenosclerin and several related members of the alkylpiperidine family via a cycloaddition-fragmentation strategy. The proposed synthesis of arenosclerin will enable further evaluation of its unique biological activity.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS)
Type
Predoctoral Individual National Research Service Award (F31)
Project #
5F31GM134570-02
Application #
9966709
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (ZRG1)
Program Officer
Brown, Anissa F
Project Start
2019-07-01
Project End
2022-06-30
Budget Start
2020-07-01
Budget End
2021-06-30
Support Year
2
Fiscal Year
2020
Total Cost
Indirect Cost
Name
Vanderbilt University Medical Center
Department
Chemistry
Type
Graduate Schools
DUNS #
965717143
City
Nashville
State
TN
Country
United States
Zip Code
37203