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We here describe the use of three-component reactions to synthesize tricyclic pyridine ring-fused 2-pyridones. The developed protocols have a wide substrate scope and allow for the installation of diverse chemical functionalities on the tricyclic central fragment. Several of these pyridine-fused rigid polyheterocycles are shown to bind to Aβ and α-synuclein fibrils, which are associated with neurodegenerative diseases.

We report the synthesis of 6-arylthio-substituted-N-alkenyl 2-pyridones by ring opening of bicyclic thiazolino-2-pyridones with arynes. Varied functionalization was used to investigate scope and substituent influences on reactivity. Selected conditions favor thioether ring opening over [4 + 2] cycloaddition and an unusual aryne incorporating ring expansion. Deuterium labeling was used to clarify observed reactivity. Using the knowledge, we produced drug-like molecules with complex substitution patterns and show how thioether ring opening can be used on scaffolds with competing reactivities.

A BF₃×OEt₂ catalyzed intramolecular Povarov reaction was used to synthesize a library of 15 chromenopyridine fused thiazolino-2-pyridone peptidomimetics. The reaction works with a range of O-alkylated salicylaldehydes and amino functionalized thiazolino-2-pyridones, to generate polyheterocycles with diverse substitution. The synthesized compounds were screened for their ability to bind α-synuclein and amyloid β fibrils in vitro. Analogs substituted with a nitro group bind to mature amyloid fibrils, and the activity moreover depends on the positioning of this functional group.

Reaction of thiazolino fused 2-pyridones with alkyl halides in the presence of cesium carbonate opens the thiazoline ring via S-alkylation and generate N-alkenyl functionalized 2-pyridones. In the reaction with propargyl bromide, the thiazoline ring opens and subsequently closes via an intramolecular [2 + 2] cycloaddition between in situ generated allene and the α,β-unsaturated carbonyl moiety. This method enabled the synthesis of a variety of cyclobutane and thiazolino fused 2-pyridones, which were tested for α-synuclein binding activity. Most of the bioactive thiazolino fused 2-pyridones tolerated this transformation and in addition provided an exocyclic alkene as a handle for tuning bioactivity.

Thiazolino fused 2-pyridones undergo thiazoline ring opening by reaction with 2-nitrobenzyl bromide through thi- oether attack, and base promoted fragmentation of the resulting sulfonium ions. Subsequent deprotonation of the benzylic carbon and intramolecular 1,4-addition leads to ring closure, generating dihydrothiazine fused 2-pyridones by net ring expansion of the thiazoline ring. Application of the ring expansion procedure to the pyridine and pyrimidine fused thiazolino 2-pyridones provided compounds with enhanced fibril binding activity.

We herein present the synthesis of diversely functionalized pyrimidine fused thiazolino-2-pyridones via K₂S₂O₈-mediated oxidative coupling of 6-amino-7-(aminomethyl)- thiazolino-2-pyridones with aldehydes. The developed protocol is mild, has wide substrate scope, and does not require transition metal catalyst or base. Some of the synthesized compounds have the ability to inhibit the formation of Amyloid-β fibrils associated with Alzheimer's disease, while others bind to mature Amyloid-β and α-Synuclein fibrils.