Synthetic chemistry is the technology underlying modern drug development. The successful mapping of the human genome was the first step towards identifying new receptors and pathways to treat chronic diseases. The path from bimolecular targets to realizing improvements in human health usually requires the synthesis of small molecule agonists, antagonists, or inhibitors. In this proposal we will develop a potentially powerful method to synthesize small nitrogen and oxygen spiro rings. New synthetic methods such as this one are an enabling technology for improving human health. The reductive cleavage of nitrile is a rarely used method for generating alkyllithium reagents. In many six-membered rings this reaction is completely stereoselective, and the resulting alkyllithium will couple with electrophiles with retention of configuration. We propose to use this reductive lithiation reaction, in combination with facile alkylations adjacent to nitrile groups, to develop a general and stereoselective synthesis of spiro rings. This method will be developed to prepare the spiro-tetrahydropyran rings. These reductive cyclization reactions will be used in a general synthesis of contrathermodynamic spiroacetals, structures commonly found in complex natural products. The third area of development is in the synthesis of spiropiperidines, where modification of the substrate will allow either configuration of the spiropiperidine to be prepared selectively. The synthetic targets for this proposal are segments of natural products and natural products themselves. Segments of altohyrtin (spongistatin) and azaspiracid will be prepared using the approach to contrathermodynamic spiroacetals. Histrionicotoxin and pinnaic acid will be prepared using the spiropiperidine method. These compounds are of interest to synthetic and medicinal chemists, and have the types of rigid, polycyclic and polar structures found to show high bioactivity in many assays.
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