An NMR spectroscopic method to identify and classify thiol-trapping agents: Revival of michael acceptors for drug discovery?

Article abstract of DOI:10.1002/anie.201005959

Speed trap: Cysteamine reacts in DMSO with electrophilic double bonds to afford Michael adducts (see scheme), whereas no trapping reaction takes place in apolar solvents. A simple and quick NMR spectroscopic method to identify Michael acceptors and sort them into reversible and irreversible thiol sinks is validated biologically in a cellular assay sensitive to thiol-trapping agents. DMSO=dimethyl sulfoxide.

Full text of DOI:10.1002/anie.201005959

DOI: 10.1002/anie.201005959
Michael Acceptors
An NMR Spectroscopic Method to Identify and Classify Thiol-
Trapping Agents: Revival of Michael Acceptors for Drug Discovery?**
Cristina Avonto, Orazio Taglialatela-Scafati, Federica Pollastro, Alberto Minassi,
Vincenzo Di Marzo, Luciano De Petrocellis, and Giovanni Appendino*
Although Michael acceptors are traditionally shunned in
modern drug discovery,[1] trapping of thiols by covalent
coupling represents an important mechanism of bioactivity,
and many biologically relevant and druggable pathways are
targeted by thiol-reactive compounds.[2] Research on Michael
acceptors, long confined to the realm of toxicology,[3] was
rekindled by the development of the antioxidant inflamma-
tion modulator (AIM) homo-triterpenoid bardoxolone
methyl (RTA402, 1).[4] This orally bioavailable biological
attempted isolation.[6] No satisfactory mechanistic explana-
tion has so far been proposed for this behavior, thereby
hampering a systematic investigation of this class of agents.[6]
Spurred by these observations, we have developed, and
validated biologically in a thiol-sensitive assay, an expeditious
NMR method to identify Michael acceptors and sort them
into reversible and irreversible thiol sinks.[7] We believe that
our method warrants disclosure because of its mechanistic
implications and its utility for bioorganic studies, as exempli-
fied by the identification of some new chemotypes of transient
receptor potential ankyrin 1 (TRPA1) agonists, and of the
monoterpene umbellulone (2) and the sesquiterpene zerum-
bone (3) as reversible Michael acceptors.
The exomethylene-g-lactone costunolide (4), a known
sink for biological thiols,[8,9] was used as a probe in a series of
exploratory experiments. When 4 was treated with two
mimic of prostaglandin enones was given orphan drug status
by the FDA for the treatment of pancreatic cancer,[5] and is
also in late clinical development for the treatment of diabetes-
associated chronic kidney disease.[5] The hallmark of the
biological profile of 1 is its reversible reaction with thiol
groups.[6] Thus, 1 and related analogues react quickly with
thiols, but the resulting adducts, although spectroscopically
characterizable, revert to the starting compounds upon
[*] Dr. C. Avonto, Dr. F. Pollastro, Prof. A. Minassi, Prof. G. Appendino
Dipartimento di Scienze Chimiche, Alimentari, Farmaceutiche e
Farmacologiche
Universitꢀ del Piemonte Orientale
Via Bovio 6, 28100 Novara (Italy)
Fax:(+39)0321-375621
E-mail: appendino@pharm.unipmn.it
Prof. O. Taglialatela-Scafati
Dipartimento di Chimica delle Sostanze Naturali
Universitꢀ di Napoli Federico II (Italy)
equivalents of the odorless thiol dodecanethiol in deuterated
solvents of various polarity (toluene, chloroform, methanol,
acetonitrile, DMSO), no reaction was observed within a time
frame (24 h) considered suitable for the assay. These results
are in accordance with the general requirement of harsh
conditions and long reaction times for uncatalyzed thia-
Michael additions.[10] On the other hand, treatment with two
equivalents of cysteamine (2-aminoethanethiol), a more
biologically relevant model thiol,[11] in DMSO led to the
instantaneous formation of an approximate 6:1 mixture of the
diastereomeric Michael adducts 5a and 5b (Figure 1). No
Prof. V. Di Marzo
Endocannabinoid Research Group, Institute of Biomolecular
Chemistry, CNR, Pozzuoli (NA) (Italy)
Dr. L. De Petrocellis
Endocannabinoid Research Group, Institute of Cybernetics
“Eduardo Caianiello”, CNR, Pozzuoli (NA) (Italy)
[**] We are grateful to MURST for financial support as well as to Dr.
Daniel Joulain (Robertet) and Dr. Charles Sell (Givaudan) for
generous gifts of piperitone and zerumbone.
Supporting information for this article is available on the WWW
under http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/anie.201005959.
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467

Communications
be highly sensitive to solvent polarity,[16] and DMSO, because
of its polar aprotic nature, might either favor the intermo-
lecular proton-transfer activation mechanism depicted in A
or, alternatively, stabilize the zwitterionic form of cysteamine
B.[17]
The experimental protocol developed for costunolide was
then applied to a range of electrophilic type-2 alkenes
encompassing enones (2, 11–15),[9] dienones (3, 16, 17),[9]
and a,b-unsaturated esters (18, 19a),[9] amides (19b),[9] and
lactones (20, 21).[9] While far from comprehensive and
Figure 1. Reaction of costunolide (4) with cysteamine. A) 1H NMR
spectrum of 4 in [D6]DMSO. B) Spectrum recorded 5 min after the
addition of 2 mol equiv cysteamine. C) Spectrum recorded 5 min after
dilution (1:20) of the reaction mixture with CDCl3. All spectra were
taken at 500 MHz. Note the complete and irreversible disappearance of
the olefin signals at d=6.06 and 5.65 ppm (H-13a and H-13b) upon
addition of cysteamine.
reaction occurred in apolar solvents, while only a sluggish and
incomplete reaction took place in other polar solvents; a
solution of costunolide and cysteamine in CDCl3 failed to
show any evidence of reaction after two weeks at room
temperature.
The related and more functionalized exomethylene-g-
lactones parthenolide (6),[9] anhydroverlotorin (7),[9] and
verlotorin (8)[9] reacted in the same way, thus showing the
potential generality of the reaction. Interestingly, while
addition to the exomethylene ketone group of 7 also took
place, neither the reactive epoxide group of 6 nor the
hydroperoxy group of 8 reacted,[12] and lactone thiolysis was
not observed with the related sesterterpene lactone genepo-
lide (9).[9] These observations suggest a selectivity for Michael
addition versus other reaction modes in substrates containing
multiple electrophilic sites. The stability toward cysteamine of
the reactive epoxide ring of 6 provides support for the view
that epoxides are generally stable toward thiol opening under
biological conditions,[13] as confirmed by the stability of
dihydrovaltrate (10),[9] an exceedingly reactive epoxide,[14] in
the conditions of the assay.
Under these conditions, no reaction occurred with
N-acetylcysteamine, which suggests that simultaneous activa-
tion of the thiol group and the carbonyl oxygen through
intermolecular proton transfer, as depicted in A, might
underlie the mechanism of the rate acceleration observed
with cysteamine. Alternatively, the reaction might involve the
zwitterionic form of cysteamine (B), the ammonium group of
which can activate the carbonyl oxygen by proton transfer
and, at the same time, position the activated thiolate in
proximity to the electrophilic b-carbon atom. The mechanism
depicted in A is reminiscent of the catalytic triad of cysteine
hydrolases,[13] and is similar to the one evoked to explain the
promoting effect of a-hydroxy groups in thia-Michael addi-
tions to enones.[15] In general, Michael additions are known to
basically reflecting ongoing research lines in our laboratories,
this selection encompasses all major types of electrophilic
alkenes encountered in natural products. The enones
(R)-carvone (11)[9] and lumisantonin (12)[9] gave the expected
Michael adducts and the bis-enone curcumin (15) its corre-
sponding bis-adduct, while, in accordance with the detrimen-
tal steric and electron effects of b disubstitution for conjugate
additions,[18] both (+ )-piperitone (13)[9] and (+ )-verbenone
(14) gave a negative thiol-trapping test. However, the related
enone umbellulone (2) gave in a diastereoselective way the
adduct 22, which confirmed the surprising reactivity of this
compound in conjugate additions previously observed with
malonates,[19] as well as the reliability of our thiol-trapping
assay.
The cross-conjugated dienones prednisone (16) and
a-santonin (17) were unreactive, thus showing that cross-
conjugation can quench Michael acceptor behavior, a surpris-
ing observation since cross-conjugation is known to increase
the thiol affinity of prostaglandin dienones[20] and their
chlorinated marine analogues punaglandins.[21] The medium-
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sized dienone zerumbone (3)[9] behaved as a “doubled enone”
rather than a cross-conjugated dienone, and gave a bis-
adduct, presumably because the noncoplanarity of the two
strained double bonds prevents cross-conjugation.[22] Ethyl
acrylate (18) gave a positive assay, but the b-phenyl acrylates
phenethylcaffeate (19a, CAPE)[9] from propolis and trans-
caffeoyltyramine (19b)[9] gave no reaction, as did the enoyl
lactone swertiamarin (20). The coumarin umbelliferone (21)
gave a sluggish reaction that required long reaction times (ca.
24 h) or a large excess (8 equiv) of cysteamine to go to
completion.[23] While ambiguous in terms of biological
implications, the data on umbelliferone nevertheless support
an organocatalyzed mechanism for the rapid addition of
cysteamine to conjugated carbonyl compounds. Because of
the constrained s-trans conformation of the unsaturated
system, a concerted proton-transfer process as in A would,
in fact, be impossible for coumarins.
(45.2 Æ 3.4) mm for 4, 6, 7, and 8, respectively), with
11,13-dihydrocostunolide and 11,13-dihydroparthenolide[29]
being inactive. Given the potent anti-inflammatory activity
of parthenolide,[30] it is surprising that TRPA1 activation/
desensitization has so far been overlooked as a possible
mechanistic rationale, in addition to the inhibition of tran-
scription factors like NF-kB,[30] for this action. As predicted by
the NMR spectroscopic assay, the cross-conjugated dienone
santonin was inactive, while its lumi-derivative (12) gave a
positive
TRPA1-activating
response
(EC50 = (36.6 Æ
0.02) mm), as did zerumbone (3; EC50 = (14.8 Æ 4.5) mm),
while umbelliferone (21), despite its slow kinetics of thiol
addition, was a good activator of TRPA1 (EC50 = (6.0 Æ
0.8) mm). The potent activity of curcumin (EC50 = (3.0 Æ
0.5) mm) adds TRPA1 to the almost 100 biological end
points[31] addressed by this dietary diarylheptanoid.[32]
Reversible thia-Michael adducts decompose during
workup, and attempts to isolate them from the reaction
medium fail.[7,20] With the exception of enals, all compounds
that gave Michael adducts in [D6]DMSO were unreactive
with cysteamine in deuterochloroform. Therefore, dilution
with this solvent could be used as a test for reversibility since,
in the presence of an equilibrium, the change of polarity
would reverse the reaction, with reappearance of the olefin
resonance(s) lost during the addition reaction in DMSO.
Adduct stability is a critical determinant for the biological
profile of thiol-trapping agents, with rapid reversibility being
associated with low toxicity.[33] Therefore, the availability of a
rapid method to identify these compounds could be of
interest. In the event, an aliquot (25 mL) of the [D6]DMSO
solution of the in-situ-generated Michael adducts was diluted
Under the conditions of the assay, aldehydes gave thiazo-
line derivatives,[24] and the a,b-unsaturated aldehydes citral
(23) and perillaldehyde (24)[9] gave a mixture of the corre-
sponding 1,4-thiazepines (25 and 26, respectively) and the bis-
adducts 27 and 28.[25] In the conditions of the assay,
1
1:20 with CDCl3, and the H NMR spectrum was recorded.
Within the set of compounds investigated, only the cyste-
amine adducts of umbellulone (2) and zerumbone (3) showed
solvent-induced reversibility. Interestingly, reversal of
Michael addition was only observed for the disubstituted
D9 double bond of zerumbone (see the Supporting Informa-
tion). Remarkably, the Michael adducts of umbellulone and
zerumbone were thermally stable in DMSO, with no degra-
dation being detected upon heating to 508C, a critical
threshold for reversibility with the thiol adduct of bardox-
olone methyl.[7]
The reversibility of the thia-Michael addition of prosta-
glandin dienones has been attributed to cross-conjugation.[20]
While endocyclic cyclohexadienones such as santonin and
prednisone do not behave as Michael acceptors, it is never-
theless interesting that the UV spectrum of umbellulone is
similar to that of cross-conjugated dienones,[34] which suggests
that this compound behaves as the cyclopropylogous version
of a reactive cyclopentadienone (Scheme 1, A’). A very
unusual electronic structure for umbellulone is also suggested
by the dramatic upfield shift (ca. 25 ppm) of the cyclopropane
methylene (C5) upon hydrogenation of the double bond
(d C5 = 38.1 in 2, and 13.7 in its dihydro derivative, see the
Supporting Information). The inactivity of piperitone and
verbenone in the thiol assay shows that the presence of a
cyclopropane ring is critical for the Michael addition. Since a
cyclopropane ring has a strong stabilizing effect on an
adjacent cationic center,[35] it is tempting to speculate that
a,b-unsaturated carboxylic acids were deprotonated, and no
reaction took place. Remarkably, the diterpene pseudolaric
acid B[9] (29) was totally unreactive with cysteamine, despite
the presence of two unsaturated carbonyl groups and one
strained lactone ring.
Having established a quick and straightforward method to
identify Michael acceptors, we validated its extension to
biological systems using the activation of TRPA1, a thiol-
sensitive assay, as an end point.[26] TRPA1 has an intracellular
thiol-rich ankyrin domain, the alkylation of which by Michael
acceptors triggers opening of the channel pore and the
development of an ion current, easily detectable by calcium
imaging.[26] Various classes of thiol traps (sulfinates, isocya-
nates, enals)[27] are known to activate TRPA1,[28] and we
validated the extension of our assay to biological systems with
the exomethylene-g-lactones 4 and 6–8, which gave a clear
activation of TRPA1 in HEK 293 cells transfected with
rTRPA1 (EC50 = (15.75 Æ 0.01), (25.9 Æ 4.9), (63.9 Æ 6.0), and
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Communications
Information). All the original spectra are presented in the Supporting
Information.
Received: September 22, 2010
Published online: December 5, 2010
Keywords: drug discovery · Michael addition · natural products ·
NMR spectroscopy · thiols
.
Scheme 1. Umbellulone (2) as a cyclopropylogous cyclopentadienone
(A’), and the polarizing effect of the cyclopropane ring (B’).
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reactions of certain cross-conjugated compounds, such as
bardoxolone methyl (1), umbellulone (2), zerumbone (3), and
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In conclusion, we have developed a simple and quick
NMR spectroscopic method to identify Michael acceptor sites
in complex multifunctional compounds. The method sorts
them out in reversible and irreversible thiol sinks, and
predicts their potential to modify proteins, as validated by
the identification of several new chemotypes of TRPA1
activators. These include well-known anti-inflammatory
agents, such as curcumin and parthenolide, which had been
overlooked as ligands for this druggable end point of
inflammation.[27,28] The simplicity of the reaction conditions
stands in sharp contrast to the complexity of the cellular
milieu, and it would be pretentious to claim a straightforward
general transfer of the results to biological systems. Never-
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Michael acceptors suggests the possibility of using our rapid
NMR spectroscopic test as a prescreen for more complex
assays like ALARM NMR spectroscopy, which requires a
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libraries or, alternatively, represent interesting opportunities
for drug discovery is an interesting issue of debate, to which
our assay will provide new food for thought.
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Experimental Section
Cysteamine assay with costunolide (4) as example: Costunolide
(22.0 mg, 0.96 mmol) was dissolved in [D6]DMSO (500 mL) in a
standard 5 mm NMR tube (Armar Chemicals), and the spectrum was
recorded (Figure 1A). Cysteamine (14.8 mg, 0.19 mmol, 2 mol equiv)
was then added, and the spectrum was recorded 5 min after the
addition (Figure 1B). An aliquot (25 mL) of the solution was then
transferred into a second NMR tube containing CDCl3 (500 mL) and a
new spectrum was recorded (Figure 1C). A positive assay was
evidenced by the disappearance of a particular olefin system of the
substrate, and the reversibility of the Michael addition by its
reappearance upon dilution 1:20 with CDCl3 (see the Supporting
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[17] A simple general base catalysis from the amino group of
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promote the addition of dodecanethiol to costunolide both in
DMSO and in CDCl3. Deprotonation of thiols is expected to
increase their softness and increase reactivity in Michael
reactions by making EHOMO less negative. This is the reason
why the central and more easily deprotonated cysteynyl group of
enzyme catalytic triads acts as a “receptor” for electrophiles
(R. M. LoPachin, T. Gavin, B. C. Geohagen, S. Das, Toxicol. Sci.
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Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2011, 50, 467 –471

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