1332
Biol. Pharm. Bull.
Vol. 40, No. 8 (2017)
Chemical Synthesis of 5-(3,4-Dihydroxyphenyl)levu-
increases to 100% B from 3 to 15min and held at 100% B for
3min, then eluted with 90% A and 10% B from 18 to 18.5min,
and finally equilibrated with 90% A and 10% B for 3.5min.
Finally, 0.02mmol (5.5mg) of 5-(3,4-dihydroxyphenyl)-
levulinic acid was obtained and its structure was confirmed
linic Acid (EC-M7) EC-M4 (0.49mmol, 102.7mg) and
N,N-diisopropylethylamine (1.96mmol, 510µL, Tokyo Chemi-
cal Ind. Co., Ltd. Tokyo, Japan) were dissolved in 2.0mL of
acetone. To the solution was added chloromethyl methyl ether
(1.00mmol, 158µL, Kanto Chemical Co., Inc., Tokyo, Japan)
1H, 400MHz: Bruker)
by NMR (Ultrashield 400 plus system:
and this was agitated for more than 48h at room temperature. analysis. 1H-NMR (methanol-d4) δ: 6.73 (1H, d, J=8.0Hz),
After the adjustment to pH 4.0 with 5% citric acid solution, 6.66 (1H, d, J=1.9Hz), 6.55 (1H, dd, J=8.0, 1.8Hz), 3.61 (2H,
the reaction solution was added to 3mL of distilled water and s), 2.76 (2H, t, J=6.3Hz), 2.50 (2H, t, J=6.5 Hz).
was extracted 3 times with 5mL of chloroform. The chloro-
Chemical Synthesis of 5-(3,4,5-Trihydroxyphenyl)valeric
form layer was washed with 5mL of distilled water and 5mL Acid (EGC-M9) Five milliliters of dichloromethane was
of the saturated NaCl solution, and was evaporated to dryness added to 3,4,5-tribenzyloxybenzylalcohol (2.23mmol, 950.5mg,
to obtain 5-(3,4-O-dimethoxymethylphenyl)-γ-valerolactone. Tokyo Chemical Ind. Co., Ltd.) and Dess–Martin Periodinane
The compound was dissolved in 1mL of methanol and 0.1mL (3.30mmol, 1.4g, Sigma-Aldrich Co., LCC) and the mixture
of 3M KOH solution was added. The reaction mixture was was stirred for 3h at room temperature. The mixture was
stirred for 1h at room temperature. To the mixture was added to 5mL of 5% sodium thiosulfate solution and was agi-
added 1M sodium formate buffer (pH 3.0) to adjust pH to tated for 30min at room temperature. Next, the mixture was
4.0. After the addition of 3mL of distilled water, the solution extracted with 20mL of ethyl acetate and the ethyl acetate
was extracted 3 times with 4mL of ethyl acetate. Triethyl- layer was washed with distilled water, the saturated NaHCO3
amine (0.1mL) was added to the ethyl acetate layer and the solution, and saturated NaCl solution. After that, the organic
solution was evaporated to dryness. 4-Hydroxy-5-(3,4-O- layer was dried with sodium sulfate and was filtered. The
dimethoxymethylphenyl)valeric acid trimethylamine salt was resulting filtrate was evaporated to dryness and the crude resi-
obtained. The valeric acid trimethylamine salt was dissolved due containing 3,4,5-tribenzyloxybenzaldehyde (1.24g) was
in 3mL of dichloromethane and then pyridine (1.83mmol, obtained. [3-(Ethoxycarbonyl)propyl]-triphenylphosphonium
145 µL) and Dess–Martin periodinane (0.92mmol, 400.0mg, Bromide (4.38mmol, 2.0g, Wako Pure Chemical Industries,
Sigma-Aldrich Co., LCC, Tokyo, Japan) was added. The reac- Ltd., Osaka, Japan) was added to 20mL of anhydrous tetra-
tion mixture was stirred for 4h at room temperature. To the hydrofuran and the mixture was stirred for 20min on ice.
reaction mixture was added 3mL of 5% sodium thiosulfate Tetrahydrofuran containing sodium bis(trimethylsilyl)amide
solution and this was agitated for 30min at room temperature. (5.83mmol, 3.07mL, Tokyo Chemical Ind. Co., Ltd.) was
After the adjustment to pH 3.0 by adding 5% citric acid solu- then added to the mixture and agitated for 1h on ice. To the
tion, the resulting solution was extracted 3 times with 10mL resulting solution was added 8mL of tetrahydrofuran contain-
of dichloromethane. The dichloromethane layer was washed ing 3,4,5-tribenzyloxybenzaldehyde (1.24g synthesized above)
with 10mL of 5% sodium thiosulfate solution and 10mL of and this was stirred for 48h at room temperature. After add-
saturated NaCl solution. The organic layer was dehydrated by ing 30mL of saturated ammonium chloride, the mixture was
sodium sulfate. After filtration, the solution was evaporated to extracted with 50mL of diethyl ether. The organic layer was
dryness. The residue was dissolved in 10mL of acetonitrile/ washed with distilled water, saturated NaHCO3 solution, and
distilled water/formic acid (5/95/0.1, v/v/v) and was subjected saturated NaCl solution and was dehydrated with sodium
to a preparative HPLC. The preparative HPLC was performed sulfate. After removal of sodium sulfate by filtration, the fil-
using CAPCELL PAK MG column (150mm×20mm i.d., trate was evaporated to dryness and the residue was added
5µm, Shiseido Co., Ltd., Tokyo, Japan) in a Preparative HPLC to the mixed solution (hexane/diethyl ether, 150/50, v/v) and
system PLC791 (GL Sciences Inc., Tokyo, Japan). The column kept overnight at 4°C. After removal of insoluble materi-
was eluted with mobile phase A (acetonitrile/distilled water/ als, the filtrate was evaporated. The residue was dissolved in
formic acid, 5/95/0.1, v/v/v) and mobile phase B (acetonitrile/ 1mL of the mobile phase (hexane/ethyl acetate (80/20, v/v))
distilled water/formic acid, 80/20/0.1, v/v/v) at a flow rate of and applied to a silica-gel chromatography for purification.
9.5mL/min at 40°C. Initially, the column was eluted with Silica-gel 60N (Kanto Chemical Co., Inc., Tokyo, Japan) in
60% A and 40% B for 3min, followed by linear increases to a column (20 i.d.×150mm) was washed with 100mL of the
100% B from 3 to 13min and held at 100% B for 3min, and mobile phase and then the sample was applied to the column.
then eluted with 60% A and 40% B from 16 to 16.5min, and The fractions were analyzed by the TLC plate developed with
finally equilibrated with 60% A and 40% B for 3.5min. The hexane/ethyl acetate (80/20, v/v) as mobile phase and detected
elution pattern was monitored by measuring the absorbance at with UV light at 302nm. The fractions containing ethyl-(Z)-
280nm. The 5-(3,4-O-dimethoxymethylphenyl)levulinic acid 5-(3,4,5-tribenzyloxyphenyl)-4-pentenoate were collected and
fraction was collected, concentrated to dryness and finally concentrated, and finally 1.91mmol (942.0mg) of the com-
the purified levulinic acid was obtained (0.06mmol, 19.1mg). pound was obtained. The pentenoate was dissolved in 4mL of
The compound was dissolved in a mixture of dichlorometh- methanol–tetrahydrofuran mixture. To the solution was added
M KOH and this was stirred for 5h at room tempera-
ane (1.5mL), distilled water (0.5mL) and trifluoroacetic acid 2mL of 3
ture. Then, the reaction mixture was adjusted to pH 4.0 with
2M HCl and extracted with 20mL of ethyl acetate. The ethyl
acetate layer was washed with distilled water and saturated
NaCl solution and was dehydrated with sodium sulfate. After
filtration, the filtrate was evaporated to dryness and 755.8mg
of the residue including (Z)-5-(3,4,5-tribenzyloxyphenyl)-
(1.0mL) and the solution was stirred for 1h at room tempera-
ture. The mixture was evaporated to dryness and the residue
was dissolved in 1mL of acetonitrile/distilled water/formic
acid (5/95/0.1, v/v/v) and then was purified by the same pre-
parative HPLC as above, except that the column was initially
eluted with 90% A and 10% B for 3min, followed by linear