Published papers

© 2018 The Japan Institute of Heterocyclic Chemistry – A new approach to oroxylin A, a monomethylated trihydroxyflavone, is described. The starting material was baicalin, a representative naturally abundant flavonoid glucuronide. First, conditions for the cleavage of the glycosidic bond were established, using a mixture of water and conc. sulfuric acid (5:2) at 121 °C for 40 min. The hydrolysis was performed in a high-pressure steam sterilizer so that the temperature and reaction time were precisely controlled. Subsequent acetylation of the crude material furnished baicalein 6,7-diacetate on a preparative scale and in a reproducible manner. Next, the C-7 position was protected site-selectively with a methoxymethyl (MOM) group, taking advantage of an unexpected sequential migration of the two acetyl groups among the C-5, C-6, and C-7 positions under basic conditions. The removal of the two remaining acetyl groups followed by site-selective methylation of the C-6 position furnished 5-hydroxy-6-methoxy-7-methoxymethoxyflavone (oroxylin A C-7 MOM ether). Finally, by the deprotection of the MOM ether, oroxylin A was obtained in 6 total steps and 62% overall yield from baicalin.

© 2018 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim Hydrazine-embedded unsubstituted butterfly-shaped biphenothiazine and its sulfoxides were synthesized by dimerization of 1,9-dibromophenothiazine, which was prepared by realizing selective debromination at the 3,7-positions of 1,3,7,9-tetrabromophenothiazine. cis/trans-Biphenothiazine sulfoxide was selectively prepared by changing the oxidation temperature to control the inversion rate of the butterfly shape of the intermediate. Their butterfly-shapes, conformations, photophysical properties (UV-vis absorption, fluorescence), and redox properties were elucidated by X-ray analysis, DFT calculations, spectral and electrochemical measurements. Fluorescent hydrazine-embedded biphenothiazine sulfoxides and bicarbazoles were applied to cell imaging of HeLa cells. The bicarbazoles exhibited high fluorescence signals in the cells with low toxicity.

© 2018 Elsevier B.V. Hydroxytyrosol (HT) is a polyphenol contained in olives and exhibits antioxidant activity. We herein investigated the effects of HT and its derivatives, hydroxytyrosol acetate (HT-A) and hydroxytyrosol butyrate (HT-B), on the protection of neuronal cells against apoptosis induced by the Parkinson's disease-related neurotoxin 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA). The pretreatment of SH-SY5Y cells with HT-B, but not HT or HT-A significantly reduced the 6-OHDA-induced generation of reactive oxygen species, activation of caspase-3, and subsequent cell death. HT-B also induced the protein expression of the transcription factor, NF-E2-related factor-2 (Nrf2) and its transcriptional activation, resulting in the up-regulated expression of heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1), which conferred neuroprotection against 6-OHDA-induced oxidative damage. Furthermore, three cysteine residues, Cys151, Cys273, and Cys288 in Kelch-like ECH-associated protein 1 (Keap1) were necessary for the HT-B-induced activation of Nrf2. Collectively, the present results demonstrated that HT-B, harboring higher fat solubility than HT and HT-A, effectively elicited adaptive responses to oxidative stress by activating the Nrf2/HO-1 axis in neuronal cells.

© 2017 Elsevier Ltd Commercially available “Chiralscreen® OH” starter kit containing five types of carbonyl reductases (E001, E007, E031, E039, and E078) was used for the reduction of several aromatic and aliphatic ketones to obtain enantiomerically enriched drug precursors and an insect pheromone. Almost stereochemically pure secondary alcohols, used in the synthesis of drugs such as (R)-rasagiline mesylate, (S)-rivastigmine, (R)-chlorphenesin carbamate, and (R)-mexiletine, and the insect pheromone (4S,5R)-sitophilure, were conveniently obtained. The enzymes worked well with ketones containing at least one non-bulky substituent at the carbonyl group. The diverse stereochemical preference of the above five carbonyl reductases was clarified.

© 2018 Japan Antibiotics Research Association All rights reserved. Englerin A, a guaiane sesquiterpene isolated from Phyllanthus engleri, showed highly potent and selective growth inhibitory activities against renal cancer cell lines. We synthesized the key tricyclic intermediate from commercially available 2,2-dimethyl-1,3-dioxan-5-one via regio- and diastereoselective [4+3] cycloaddition between the formyl enol silyl ether and the disubstituted furan, in 4.8% total yield over 10 steps.

© 2019 The Japan Institute of Heterocyclic Chemistry. Lipase-catalyzed site-selective deacetylation of 2,5-dimethylnaphthalene-l,4-diol diacetate was examined. With Candida antarctica lipase B, the suppressing effect of a methyl substituent at the peri-position of the a-naphthyl ester over that at the ortho-position was significant. This site-selectivity was in contrast to that of chemical hydrolysis reported to date. From the resulting monoacetate, mansonone F, a physiologically active heterocyclic orthoquinone, was synthesized in 38% yield in as few as three steps.

© 2019 The Japan Institute of Heterocyclic Chemistry. Candida antarctica lipase B-catalyzed deacetylation proceeded with high site-selectivity on the C-4′ acetyl group in apigenin triacetate to give apigenin 5,7-diacetate. Methylation of the liberated hydroxy group with the combination of trimethyloxonium tetrafluoroborate (Meerwein reagent) and 1,8-bis(dimethylamino)naphthalene (proton sponge) in CH2Cl2 proceeded in a quantitative manner to give the product methylated at the C-4′ hydroxy group (acacetin 5,7-diacetate). Even with the same precursor, a different methylation product at the C-7 hydroxy group (genkwanin 4′,5-diacetate) was obtained in 86% yield by applying iodomethane and Cs2CO3 in dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO). The methylated products were deprotected to form acacetin and genkwanin. We inferred that the latter unexpected methylation was ascribable to the intermolecular migration of an acetyl group from C-7 to C-4′. DFT calculations indicated that the C-7 phenoxide ion was 12.6 kJ/mol more stable than the initially formed C-4′ phenoxide ion.

© 2019 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim 3′,4′,7-Trimethoxyflavone (TMF) has been reported to show a potent reversal effect on drug resistance mediated by breast cancer resistance protein (BCRP)/ATP-binding cassette subfamily G member 2 (ABCG2). In this study, we designed and synthesized five derivatives with either a hydroxy group or a fluorine atom at C-5 and several kinds of capping moiety at the C-7 hydroxy group, on the same 3′,4′-dimethoxy-substituted flavone skeleton. We subsequently evaluated the efficacies of these compounds against BCRP-expressing human leukaemia K562/BCRP cells. Reversal of drug resistance was expressed as the concentration of compound causing a twofold reduction in drug sensitivity (RI 50 ). Of the synthesized compounds, the reversal effect of 5-hydroxy-3′,4′,7-trimethoxyflavone (HTMF, RI 50 7.2 nm) towards 7-ethyl-10-hydroxycamptothecin (SN-38) was stronger than that of TMF (RI 50 18 nm). Fluoro-substituted 5-fluoro-3′,4′,7-trimethoxyflavone (FTMF, RI 50 25 nm) and monoglycosylated 7-(β-glucosyloxy)-5-hydroxy-3′,4′-dimethoxyflavone (GOHDMF, 91 nm) also exhibited reversal effects, whereas the di- and triglycoside derivatives did not. TMF, HTMF and FTMF at 0.01–10 μm upregulated the K562/BCRP cellular accumulation of Hoechst 33342 nuclear staining dye. In addition, western blotting revealed that treatment of K562/BCRP cells with 0.1 μm TMF, HTMF or FTMT suppressed the expression of BCRP. HTMF showed the strongest inhibition of BCRP-mediated efflux and suppression of BCRP expression of the three effective synthesized flavones.

© 2018 Japan society for Bioscience, Biotechnology, and Agrochemistry. Fisetin and 2′,4′,6′-trihydroxydihyrochalcone 4′-O-β-neohesperidoside were synthesized from commercially available quercetin and naringin in five steps. The key steps are site-selective deacetylation and subsequent deoxygenation. The target molecules were obtained in 37% and 23% yields from the starting materials, respectively.

This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry. A stepwise dehydrogenative cross-coupling method was developed for the formation of sterically hindered Csp3-Csp3 bonds. Intramolecular dehydrogenative O-alkylation of a β-ketoester by 2,3-dichloro-5,6-dicyano-p-benzoquinone to form an oxolane followed by Lewis acid-catalyzed [1,3]-rearrangement furnished the sesquiterpene arylmethylcyclopentane skeleton. The formal syntheses of herbertane-type β-herbertenol, cuparane-type enokipodins A and B were also achieved.

Tissue engineering and cell transplantation therapy have become promising therapies for intractable diseases. These approaches require cell separation technology without cell modification. Accordingly, in this study, we developed a novel cell separation method using a thermoresponsive block copolymer brush with an affinity peptide. A block copolymer brush with bottom poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate [HEMA]-co-propargyl acrylate) and top poly(N-isopropylacrylamide-co-HEMA) segments was prepared through two steps of atom transfer radical polymerization. Then, cell affinity peptides were conjugated to the bottom segment of the copolymer brush through a click reaction. Using cRGD as a cell-Affinity peptide, enhancement of cell adhesion with rapid adhesion on the copolymer brush was observed at 37 °C, whereas the copolymer brush without cRGD did not exhibit cell adhesion. Temperature-modulated cell adhesion and detachment were performed with a relatively long upper segment because the affinity between peptides and cells was modulated by the swelling and shrinking of the upper thermoresponsive segment. Selective endothelial cell adhesion was performed at 37 °C using GGGREDV as an affinity peptide. Smooth muscle cells and fibroblasts did not adhere to the copolymer brush. Adhered human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) were successfully recovered by reducing the temperature to 20 °C. Based on the properties of the copolymer brush, HUVECs could be purified using a mixture of cells simply by changing the temperature. These results demonstrated that the prepared copolymer brush with cell affinity peptides could be a useful cell separation tool because the cells could be separated with specificity and without cell modification using a simple procedure.

Dearomative heterocyclic [4+2] cycloaddition between the N-(2,4-dinitrophenyl)pyridinium ion of nicotinamide and an enol ether was analyzed by Density Functional Theory (DFT) calculations. The calculation revealed that the reaction undergoes stepwise bond formation rather than occurring in a concerted manner. The experimental products were found to be both kinetically and thermodynamically favored. The calculated transition states and intermediate suggested that the high diastereoselectivity is derived from the electrostatic interaction between the 2-nitro group of the pyridinium ion and the hydrogen of the enol ether.

© 2018 Japan Society for Bioscience, Biotechnology, and Agrochemistry. Fatty acid monoesters of hydroxytyrosol [2-(3,4-dihydroxyphenyl)ethanol] were synthesized in two steps from tyrosol (4-hydroxyphenylethanol) by successive Candida antarctica lipase B-catalyzed chemoselective acylation on the primary aliphatic hydroxy group over phenolic hydroxy group in tyrosol, and 2-iodoxybenzoic acid (IBX)-mediated hydroxylation adjacent to the remaining free phenolic hydroxy group. Examination of their suppression effects on nitric oxide production stimulated by lipopolysaccharides in RAW264.7 cells showed that hydroxytyrosol butyrate exhibited the highest inhibition (IC 50 7.0 μM) among the tested compounds.

© 2018 The Chemical Society of Japan. [3]Cyclo-1,8-carbazolylene was found to undergo oxidative rearrangement by oxidation with 2,3-dichloro-5,6-dicyano-pbenzoquinone, giving a 9a-substituted carbazol-1-one derivative. This is the first example of a dearomative oxidative rearrangement of a carbazole or aniline derivative. The geometrical and electronic structures were elucidated by X-ray analysis, UV-vis absorption spectroscopy, and DFT calculations.

© 2017 Elsevier B.V. We examined ten strains of cultured whole-cell yeasts for the asymmetric reduction of commercially available ethyl 2-oxocyclohexanecarboxylate, and found that the (1S,2S)-stereoisomer of ethyl 2-hydroxycyclohexanecarboxylate was the major stereoisomer produced by Williopsis californica JCM 3600. The ethyl group of the ester was then substituted with a benzyl group with low volatility and increased hydrophobicity to facilitate the isolation of the expected product. Incubation with W. californica furnished benzyl (1S,2S)-2-hydroxycyclohexanecarboxylate (>99.9% ee) in 51.0% yield together with its (1R,2S)-isomer (>99.9% ee) in 35.4% yield. Upon treatment of the same substrate bearing the benzyl ester with a screening kit of purified overexpressed carbonyl reductases (Daicel Chiralscreen® OH), two enzymes (E031, E078) furnished the (1R,2S)-isomer as the major product. With another enzyme (E007), the (1S,2R)-isomer was obtained, but its ee was very low (25.6%). The highly enantiomerically enriched (1S,2S)-isomer obtained by W. californica was transformed to the (1S,2R)-isomer (>99.9% ee), whose availability until now has been low, in 43.3% yield over two steps involving tosylation and subsequent inversive attack with tetrabutylammonium nitrite.

Copyright © Spandidos Publications 2017. All rights reserved. Cataracts are a major cause of blindness worldwide. As anti-cataract pharmaceutical therapies require long-term treatment, identifying anti-cataract compounds that are ubiquitous in the human diet, have no adverse effects and are affordable, is of paramount importance. The present study focused on hesperetin and its derived compounds, hesperetin stearic acid ester (Hes-S) and hesperetin oleic acid ester (Hes-O), in order to investigate their therapeutic potential to treat cataracts in a selenite animal model. Thirteen-day-old Sprague Dawley rats were divided into 12 groups. Animals in groups 1 and 7 were subcutaneously injected with vehicle, those in groups 2 and 8 were administered hesperetin, those in groups 3 and 9 received stearic acid, those in groups 4 and 10 were injected with oleic acid, those in groups 5 and 11 were administered Hes-S, and those in groups 6 and 12 received Hes-O (10 nmol/kg body weight on days 0, 1 and 2). Animals in groups 7 to 12 were treated with sodium selenite (20 µmol/kg body weight given 4 h following the test compound treatment on day 0) to induce cataract. On day 6, rats had less severe central opacities and lower stage cataracts than rats in the selenite treatment-only control groups. The levels of glutathione (GSH) and ascorbic acid (AsA) in lenses with selenite-induced cataracts declined to one-third of that of controls, and the reduction in GSH and AsA levels was rescued following hesperetin, Hes-S or Hes-O treatment, with concentrations remaining to 70-80% of that of controls. However, there were no changes in the plasma levels of GSH and AsA following treatments. Administration of either hesperetin or hesperetin-derived compounds prevented the reduction of chaperone activity in the lens, and rats treated with Hes-S or Hes-O treatment had significantly greater chaperone activity than hesperetin-treated rats. Collectively, these results suggested that hesperetin and hesperetin-derived compounds may be novel drug compounds that have the potential to prevent or delay the onset of cataracts.

Hot water extraction of D-arabinofuranosylvitexin from the raw leaves of commercially available Basella alba “Tsurumurasaki” and subsequent acidic hydrolysis was improved to be a procedure using a high-pressure steam sterilizer to afford vitexin. The amount was estimated to be 14.1 mg from 1 g of dry weight of the raw leaves, whose recovery was calculated to be 95% based on the estimated content of D-arabinofuranosylvitexin in B. alba raw leaves. The product was dehydratively cyclized between hydroxy groups on the carbohydrate and flavone skeletons under modified Mitsunobu reaction conditions in N,N-dimethylformamide to give chafuroside B, which is known to be a bioactive Oolong tea polyphenol. Through these transformations, 10.2 mg of chafuroside B could be semisynthesized from 1 g of dry weight of the raw leaves, and the efficiency was improved compared to that from the extraction from Oolong tea (3.4 μg from 1 g of dry weight).

Catathelasmols C, D, and E, which had been isolated from Catathelasma imperiale as inhibitors for 11-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenases, were comprehensively semisynthesized from commercially available D-glutamic acid. The key synthetic intermediate, (R)-pentane-1,2,5-triol, was site-selectively acetylated by treatment with vinyl acetate and Candida antarctica lipase B (Novozym 435) in tetrahydrofuran (THF) at 25°C to furnish 1,5-diacetate (catathelasmol E, quantitative). The acetylation occurred site-selectively on the primary alcohols at the C-1 and C-5 positions over the secondary alcohol at the C-2 position. Dichromic acid oxidation provided 2-oxopentane-1,5-diyl diacetate (catathelasmol C, 78%). Burkholderia cepacia lipase-catalyzed transesterification with methanol in THF at–5°C proceeded preferentially on the acetate at C-1 located adjacent to the C-2 carbonyl group over the other terminal acetate at the C-5 position. 5-Hydroxy-4-oxopentyl acetate (catathelasmol D) was obtained in 53% yield.