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Eight members of a recently identified family of tetrahydrofuran-diols (THFDs), originating from epoxyeicosatrienoic acids (EETs), were prepared stereospecifically from D-(+)-glucose. The THFDs potently induced relaxation of pre-contracted bovine arteries.

5,6-Epoxyeicosatrienoic acid (5,6-EET) is a cytochrome P450 epoxygenase metabolite of arachidonic acid that causes vasorelaxation. However, investigations of its role in biological systems have been limited by its chemical instability. We developed a stable agonist of 5,6-EET, 5-(pentadeca-3(Z),6(Z),9(Z)-trienyloxy)pentanoic acid (PTPA), in which the 5,6-epoxide was replaced with a 5-ether. PTPA obviates chemical and enzymatic hydrolysis. In bovine coronary artery rings precontracted with U46619, PTPA (1 nmol/L to 10 μmol/L) induced concentration-dependent relaxations, with maximal relaxation of 86±5% and EC 50 of 1 μmol/L. The relaxations were inhibited by the cyclooxygenase inhibitor indomethacin (10 μmol/L; max relaxation 43±9%); the ATP-sensitive K + channel inhibitor glybenclamide (10 μmol/L; max relaxation 49±6%); and the large conductance calcium-activated K + channel inhibitor iberiotoxin (100 nmol/L; max relaxation 38±6%) and abolished by the combination of iberiotoxin with indomethacin or glybenclamide or increasing extracellular K + to 20 mmol/L. Whole-cell outward K + current was increased nearly 6-fold by PTPA (10 μmol/L), which was also blocked by iberiotoxin. Additionally, we synthesized 5-(pentadeca-6(Z),9(Z)-dienyloxy)pentanoic acid and 5-(pentadeca-3(Z),9(Z)-dienyloxy)pentanoic acid (PDPA), PTPA analogs that lack the 8,9 or 11,12 double bonds of arachidonic acid and therefore are not substrates for cyclooxygenase. The PDPAs caused concentration-dependent relaxations (max relaxations 46±13% and 52±7%, respectively; EC 50 1μmol/L), which were not altered by glybenclamide but blocked by iberiotoxin. These studies suggested that PTPA induces relaxation through 2 mechanisms: (1) cyclooxygenase-dependent metabolism to 5-ether–containing prostaglandins that activate ATP-sensitive K + channels and (2) activation of smooth muscle large conductance calcium-activated K + channels. PDPAs only activate large conductance calcium-activated K + channels.

Cytochrome P450 158A2 (CYP158A2) is encoded within a three-gene operon (sco1206-sco1208) in the prototypic soil bacterium Streptomyces coelicolor A3(2). This operon is widely conserved among streptomycetes. CYP158A2 has been suggested to produce polymers of flaviolin, a pigment that may protect microbes from UV radiation, in combination with the adjacent rppA gene, which encodes the type III polyketide synthase, 1,3,6,8-tetrahydroxynaphthalene synthase. Following cloning, expression, and purification of this cytochrome P450, we have shown that it can produce dimer and trimer products from the substrate flaviolin and that the structures of two of the dimeric products were established using mass spectrometry and multiple NMR methods. A comparison of the x-ray structures of ligand-free (1.75 angstroms) and flaviolin-bound (1.62 angstroms) forms of CYP158A2 demonstrates a major conformational change upon ligand binding that closes the entry into the active site, partly due to repositioning of the F and G helices. Particularly interesting is the presence of two molecules of flaviolin in the closed active site. The flaviolin molecules form a quasi-planar three-molecule stack including the heme of CYP158A2, suggesting that oxidative C-C coupling of these phenolic molecules leads to the production of flaviolin dimers.

Treatment of cyclic tert-trihalomethylcarbinols with CrCl(2) in THF/HMPA in the presence of aryl or aliphatic aldehydes initiates a cascade sequence of one carbon ring expansion-olefination affording conjugated exocyclic ketones. Acyclic tert-trihalomethylcarbinols undergo a comparable cascade of one carbon homologation-olefination.

12( S ),20-DiHETE, prepared by a combination of Evans–Crimmins asymmetric alkylation, Sonogashira alkynylation, and Suzuki–Miyaura cross-coupling, significantly sensitizes phenylephrine-induced vasoconstriction of rat renal interlobar arteries.

The title marine eicosanoids were prepared using a novel, stereoselective bis-annulation to create the characteristic cyclopropane-δ-lactone motif.

The title marine eicosanoids were prepared using a novel, stereoselective bis-annulation to create the characteristic cyclopropane-δ-lactone motif.

An asymmetric synthesis of 16-HETE, an endogenous inhibitor of neutrophil activity, was achieved in six steps from R-(-)-glycidyl benzyl ether in 28% overall yield.