https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlepdf/2019/NP/C8NP00092A

Marine natural products.

Pd-catalyzed cross-coupling reactions that form C–N bonds have become useful methods to synthesize anilines and aniline derivatives, an important class of compounds throughout chemical research. A key factor in the widespread adoption of these methods has been the continued development of reliable and versatile catalysts that function under operationally simple, user-friendly conditions. This review provides an overview of Pd-catalyzed N-arylation reactions found in both basic and applied chemical research from 2008 to the present. Selected examples of C–N cross-coupling reactions between nine classes of nitrogen-based coupling partners and (pseudo)aryl halides are described for the synthesis of heterocycles, medicinally relevant compounds, natural products, organic materials, and catalysts.

Applications of Palladium-Catalyzed C–N Cross-Coupling Reactions

Iron Catalysis in Organic Synthesis

Eco-physiological phases of insect diapause.

There is considerable interest in preparing cell-sized giant unilamellar vesicles from natural or nonnatural amphiphiles because a giant vesicle membrane resembles the self-closed lipid matrix of the plasma membrane of all biological cells. Currently, giant vesicles are applied to investigate certain aspects of biomembranes. Examples include lateral lipid heterogeneities, membrane budding and fission, activities of reconstituted membrane proteins, or membrane permeabilization caused by added chemical compounds. One of the challenging applications of giant vesicles include gene expressions inside the vesicles with the ultimate goal of constructing a dynamic artificial cell-like system that is endowed with all those essential features of living cells that distinguish them from the nonliving form of matter. Although this goal still seems to be far away and currently difficult to reach, it is expected that progress in this and other fields of giant vesicle research strongly depend on whether reliable methods for the reproducible preparation of giant vesicles are available. The key concepts of currently known methods for preparing giant unilamellar vesicles are summarized, and advantages and disadvantages of the main methods are compared and critically discussed.

Giant Vesicles: Preparations and Applications

Occurrence, Biogenesis, and Synthesis of Biologically Active Carbazole Alkaloids

Upon starvation or overcrowding, Caenorhabditis elegans interrupts its reproductive cycle and forms a specialised larva called dauer (enduring). This process is regulated by TGF-β and insulin-signalling pathways and is connected with the control of life span through the insulin pathway components DAF-2 and DAF-16. We found that replacing cholesterol with its methylated metabolite lophenol induced worms to form dauer larvae in the presence of food and low population density. Our data indicate that methylated sterols do not actively induce the dauer formation but rather that the reproductive growth requires a cholesterol-derived hormone that cannot be produced from methylated sterols. Using the effect of lophenol on growth, we have partially purified activity, named gamravali, which promotes the reproduction. In addition, the effect of lophenol allowed us to determine the role of sterols during dauer larva formation and longevity. In the absence of gamravali, the nuclear hormone receptor DAF-12 is activated and thereby initiates the dauer formation program. Active DAF-12 triggers in neurons the nuclear import of DAF-16, a forkhead domain transcription factor that contributes to dauer differentiation. This hormonal control of DAF-16 activation is, however, independent of insulin signalling and has no influence on life span.

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Sterol-derived hormone(s) controls entry into diapause in Caenorhabditis elegans by consecutive activation of DAF-12 and DAF-16.

We have developed a highly efficient route to 2-hydroxy-3-methylcarbazole (1) via a palladium-catalyzed construction of the carbazole skeleton. Using 1 as relay compound, different methods for annulations of pyran rings by reaction with terpenoid building blocks have been tested. The Lewis acid promoted reaction of 1 with prenal (21) opened up an efficient route to girinimbine (3) and the corresponding reaction with citral (25) afforded mahanimbine (5). Oxidation of compounds 3 and 5 provided murrayacine (4) and murrayacinine (6). Following the biogenetic proposal, mahanimbine (5) has been exploited for efficient biomimetic syntheses of the cyclized monoterpenoid pyrano[3,2-a]carbazole alkaloids cyclomahanimbine (7), mahanimbidine (8) and bicyclomahanimbine (9). The interconversions of 5, 7, 8 and 9 are described and mechanistic implications are discussed. Structural assignments are unambiguously verified by X-ray crystal structure determinations. Moreover, cyclomahanimbine (7) was transformed into murrayazolinine (10) and exozoline (11).

Efficient Construction of Pyrano[3,2‐a]carbazoles: Application to a Biomimetic Total Synthesis of Cyclized Monoterpenoid Pyrano[3,2‐a]carbazole Alkaloids

Seven naturally occurring pyranocarbazole alkaloids (pyrayafoline A–E, O-methylmurrayamine A and O-methylmahanine) have been obtained by total synthesis using a palladium(II)-catalysed oxidative cyclisation of a diarylamine to an orthogonally diprotected 2,7-dihydroxycarbazole as key step.

/pdf/palladium-ii-catalysed-total-synthesis-of-naturally-28xt6ybokh.pdf

Palladium(II)-catalysed total synthesis of naturally occurring pyrano[3,2-a]carbazole and pyrano[2,3-b]carbazole alkaloids

The DIBAL-H promoted reductive pyran ring opening of dialkylpyrano[3,2-a]carbazoles provides a direct access to a broad range of prenyl- and geranyl-substituted carbazoles. Formation of a pyran ring followed by reductive ring opening represents a new method for the introduction of prenyl and geranyl groups. In the course of the present work, we achieved the first total syntheses of the following eight carbazole alkaloids: clauraila-E, 7-hydroxyheptaphylline, 7-methoxyheptaphylline, mukoenine-B (clausenatine-A), mukoenine-A (girinimbilol), mahanimbinol (mahanimbilol), euchrestine-A, and isomurrayafoline-B.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/chem.201403645

Arndt W. Schmidt

Papers

Occurrence, Biogenesis, and Synthesis of Biologically Active Carbazole Alkaloids

Sterol-derived hormone(s) controls entry into diapause in Caenorhabditis elegans by consecutive activation of DAF-12 and DAF-16.

Efficient Construction of Pyrano[3,2‐a]carbazoles: Application to a Biomimetic Total Synthesis of Cyclized Monoterpenoid Pyrano[3,2‐a]carbazole Alkaloids

Palladium(II)-catalysed total synthesis of naturally occurring pyrano[3,2-a]carbazole and pyrano[2,3-b]carbazole alkaloids

Synthesis of Prenyl‐ and Geranyl‐Substituted Carbazole Alkaloids by DIBAL‐H Promoted Reductive Pyran Ring Opening of Dialkylpyrano[3,2‐a]carbazoles