Synthesis and conformational studies of peptidomimetics containing furanoid sugar amino acids and a sugar diacid

Abstract

Furanoid sugar amino acids (1) were synthesized and used as dipeptide isosteres to induce interesting turn structures in small linear peptides. They belong to a new variety of designed hybrid structures that carry both amino and carboxyl groups on rigid furanose sugar rings. Four such molecules, 6-amino-2,5-anhydro-6-deoxy-d-gluconic acid (3, Gaa) and its mannonic (4, Maa), idonic (5, Iaa), and a 3,4-dideoxyidonic (6, ddIaa) congeners were synthesized. The synthesis followed a novel reaction path in which an intramolecular 5-exo SN2 opening of the hexose-derived terminal aziridine ring in 2 by the γ-benzyloxy oxygen with concomitant debenzylation occurred during pyridinium dichromate oxidation of the primary δ-hydroxyl group to carboxyl function, leading to the formation of furanoid sugar amino acid frameworks in a single step. Incorporation of these furanoid sugar amino acids into Leu-enkephalin replacing its Gly-Gly portion gave analogues 8−11. Detailed structural analysis of these molecules by circular...