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The cryptophycins are a family of macrocyclic depsipeptide natural products that display exceptionally potent antiproliferative activity against drug-resistant cancers. Unique challenges facing the synthesis and derivatization of this complex group of molecules motivated us to investigate a chemoenzymatic synthesis designed to access new analogs for biological evaluation. The cryptophycin thioesterase (CrpTE) and the cryptophycin epoxidase (CrpE) are a versatile set of enzymes that catalyze macrocyclization and epoxidation of over 20 natural cryptophycin metabolites. Thus, we envisioned a drug development strategy involving their use as standalone biocatalysts for production of unnatural derivatives. Herein, we developed a scalable synthesis of 12 new unit A-B-C-D linear chain elongation intermediates containing heterocyclic aromatic groups as alternatives to the native unit A benzyl group. N-Acetyl cysteamine activated forms of each intermediate were assessed for conversion to macrocyclic products using wild type CrpTE, which demonstrated the exceptional flexibility of this enzyme. Semipreparative scale reactions were conducted for isolation and structural characterization of new cryptophycins. Each was then evaluated as a substrate for CrpE P450 and its ability to generate the epoxidized products from these substrates that possess altered electronics at the unit A styrenyl double bond position. Finally, biological evaluation of the new cryptophycins revealed a des-β-epoxy analog with low picomolar potency, previously limited to cryptophycins bearing epoxide functionality.

The cryptophycins are a family of cyclic depsipeptides with four retrosynthetic units A to D which correspond to the respective amino acids and hydroxy acids. A new synthetic route to unit A allows the selective generation of all four stereogenic centres

Cryptophycin-38 (2), -326 (3), and -327 (4) are three new trace constituents of the terrestrial cyanobacterium Nostoc sp. GSV 224. Cryptophycin-38 is a stereoisomer of cryptophycin-1 (1) and to date is the only naturally occurring analogue that possesses

Matrix presented A brief stereospecific synthesis of cryptophycin 1 is described in which (R)-mandelic acid serves as the sole source of asymmetry for unit A. The key step is a hetero-Diels-Alder cycloaddition.

A convergent synthesis of cryptophycins has been developed in which (5S,6R)-5-hydroxy-6-methyl-8-phenylocta-2(E),7(E)-dienoic acid (A) is coupled with an amino acid segment (B). Two stereo-selective routes to A are described, the first employing allylatio

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A highly convergent synthesis of cryptophycins in their enantiomerically-pure forms was achieved. Our strategy consists of the synthesis of the two units 3 and 4 and linking them together to form the macrocyclic ring. The upper unit 3 was prepared from 10 in four steps, and the lower unit 4 was prepared from 20 in three steps. Enantioselective biocatalytic methodology was used to prepare the requisite chiral building blocks, (R)-11 and (R)-19. The stereochemical versatility of this synthetic approach is demonstrated by the synthesis of cryptophycin A and the four diastereomers of cryptophycin C.

Using a modified isolation procedure devoid of methanol, 18 new cyclic cryptophycins have been isolated from Nostoc sp. GSV 224 as minor constituents in addition to cryptophycins-1 (A), -2 (B), -3 (C), and -4 (D). Acyclic cryptophycins are not found, indicating that the previously reported cryptophycins-5 (E methyl ester), -6 (F methyl ester), and -7 (G) are artifacts produced as a consequence of using methanol in the isolation scheme. Seventeen of the new cyclic analogs differ in structure in either one of the two hydroxy acid units, viz. unit A [(5S,6S,7R,8R)-7,8-epoxy-5-hydroxy-6-methyl-8-phenyl-2(E)-octenoic acid for cryptophycin-1 or (5S,6S)-5-hydroxy-6-methyl-8-phenyl-2(E),7(E)-octadienoic acid for cryptophycin-3] and unit D [(2S)-2-hydroxy-4-methylvaleric acid], or one of the two amino acid units, viz. unit B [(2R)-2-amino-3-(3-chloro-4-methoxyphenyl)propionic acid] and unit C [(2R)3-amino-2-methylpropionic acid], found in the cyclic ABCD peptolide. In unit A of cryptophycins-26, -28, -30, and -40, the methyl group on C-6 is missing or the Δ2-double bond is hydrated. In unit B of cryptophycins -16, -17, -23, -31, -43, and -45, the aromatic ring is phenolic and/or possesses two or zero chlorines. In unit C of cryptophycins 21 and -29, the methyl group on C-2 is missing. In unit D of cryptophycins -18, -19, -49, -50, and -54, a different alkyl group (propyl, isopropyl, or sec-butyl) is attached to C-2. Only one of the new analogs, cryptophycin-24, differs in structure for two units by lacking chlorine in unit B and the methyl group in unit C. Revised structures are presented for cryptophycins-5, -6, and -7 and are correlated with cryptophycin-3, the relative stereochemistry of which has been further rigorously established by X-ray crystallography. NOE studies show that the preferred conformations of most cryptophycins in solution differ from the conformation of cryptophycin-3 in the crystal state. Although cryptophycin-1 is relatively stable at pH 7, both in ionic and nonionic media, the ester bond linking units C and D is fairly labile to solvolysis and mild base hydrolysis. Structure-activity relationship studies indicate that the intact macrolide ring, the epoxide group, the chloro and O-methyl groups in unit B, and the methyl group in unit C are needed for the in vivo activity of cryptophycin-1.