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The first acid-promoted reaction system to form azaheterocycles from N-carbamate-protected amino alcohols is described. The reaction involves the activation of the hydroxyl group via the use of orthoesters. Despite the reduced nucleophilicity of carbamate nitrogen, this reaction system provides several types of pyrrolidines and piperidines in good to high yields. Using this protocol, prolinol derivatives can also be synthesized from carbamate-protected amino diols with regioand stereoselectivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Metal-free transformations of organotrifluoroborates are advantageous since they avoid the use of frequently expensive and sensitive transition metals. Lewis acid-catalyzed reactions involving potassium trifluoroborate salts have emerged as an alternative to metal-catalyzed protocols. However, the drawbacks to these methods are that they rely on the generation of unstable boron dihalide species, thereby resulting in low functional group tolerance. Recently, we discovered that in the presence of a Brønsted acid, trifluoroborate salts react rapidly with in situ generated oxocarbenium ions. Here, we report Brønsted acid-catalyzed direct substitution of 2-ethoxytetrahydrofuran using potassium trifluoroborate salts. The reaction occurs when tetrafluoroboric acid is used as a catalyst to afford functionalized furans in moderate to excellent yields. A variety of alkenyl- and alkynyltrifluoroborate salts readily participate in this transformation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A general route to several styryl-lactone frameworks is presented. Starting from a known enol ether, stereoselective epoxidation and methanolysis yields a series of three distinct hydroxyacetals, each further functionalized by etherification with an allylic vinylsilane fragment. A highly efficient Lewis acid-promoted intramolecular annulation at the tethered oxocarbenium allows direct entry to cis -fused bicyclic ether cores. Further manipulation delivers a variety of additional styryl-lactone motifs and analogs; for example, simple allylic oxidation yields 3-deoxyisoaltholactone, in just five steps overall. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: A mimic of the putative transition-state intermediate has been synthesized and found to be a very slow-onset inhibitor of yeast orotate phosphoribosyltransferase. The mechanism of inhibition may involve a rate-determining isomerization of the enzyme to a form receptive to the inhibitor, which then remains tightly bound. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

General acid catalysis is a powerful and widely used strategy in enzymatic nucleophilic displacement reactions. However, in the nucleoside hydrolase of the parasite Trypanosoma vivax, crystallographic and mutagenesis studies failed to identify a general acid. The only groups in the vicinity of the leaving group that contribute to catalysis are (i) the indole side chain of Trp260, and (ii) the 5′-group of the substrate's ribose moiety. The x-ray structure of the slow Asp10Ala mutant of nucleoside hydrolase with the substrate inosine bound in the active site displays a face-to-face aromatic stacking interaction between Trp260 and the purine base of the substrate, as well as a peculiar C4′-endo ribose pucker that allows the 5′-OH group to accept an intramolecular hydrogen bond from the C8 of the purine. The first interaction (aromatic stacking) has been shown to raise the pKa of the leaving purine. Here, we present a DFT study showing that the 5′-OH group of ribose fulfills a similar role, rather than stabilizing the oxocarbenium-like transition state. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem, 2006 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: For BiBr3 initiated tandem cyclization–additions of very reactive silyl ketene acetal nucleophiles with δ-silyloxy aldehydes to afford 2,6-disubstituted THP products, diastereoselectivities range from 5–6:1 (trans-/cis-). The selectivity for axial attack on the intermediate oxocarbenium ion is inversely proportional to π-nucleophilicity. We have utilized this chemistry to convert a common starting material to both cis- and trans-diastereomers of an acid first isolated from the secretions of Viverra civetta. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The novel styryl lactone analog (±)-3-deoxyisoaltholactone was synthesized in 5 steps from dihydrofuran. An intramolecular vinylsilane–oxocarbenium condensation thus afforded the central cis -fused bicyclic ether array in near quantitative yield as a single stereoisomer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]