Total Synthesis of Strempeliopidine and Non-Natural Stereoisomers through a Convergent Petasis Borono-Mannich Reaction

Strempeliopidine is a member of the monoterpenoid bisindole alkaloid family, a class of natural products that have been shown to elicit an array of biological responses including modulating protein-protein interactions in human cancer cells. Our synthesis of strempeliopidine leverages palladium-catalyzed decarboxylative asymmetric allylic alkylations to install the requisite all-carbon quaternary centers found in each of the two monomeric natural products, aspidospermidine and eburnamine. Initial studies employing Suzuki-Miyaura cross-coupling followed by diastereoselective hydrogenation provided evidence for a structural reassignment of the natural product. Our final synthetic sequence employs a diastereoselective Petasis borono-Mannich reaction to couple eburnamine to a trifluoroborate aspidospermidine derivative. These convergent approaches enabled the synthesis of eight diastereomers of this heterodimer and offer support for the reassignment of the absolute configuration of strempeliopidine.

Automated summary

Strempeliopidine, a member of the monoterpenoid bisindole alkaloid family, can modulate protein-protein interactions in human cancer cells. Our synthesis involved the installation of all-carbon quaternary centers using palladium-catalyzed decarboxylative asymmetric allylic alkylations. The final synthetic sequence used diastereoselective Petasis borono-Mannich reaction to connect eburnamine to a trifluoroborate aspidospermidine derivative. These convergent approaches supported the reassignment of the absolute configuration of strempeliopidine.