ACS Medicinal Chemistry Letters
Letter
(6) Ahmad, A.; Khan, A.; Manzoor, N. Reversal of efflux mediated
antifungal resistance underlies synergistic activity of two monoterpenes
with fluconazole. Eur. J. Pharm. Sci. 2013, 48, 80−86.
(7) Klepser, M. E. Candida resistance and its clinical relevance.
Pharmacotherapy 2006, 26, 68S−75S.
active against Candida isolates reported as resistant to
amphotericin B (Table 3).27
In conclusion, novel macrocyclic amidinoureas 11a−c, 18a−
b, and 25a−b were synthesized and biologically assayed as
antifungal agents. Derivatives 11 and 18 were obtained through
an innovative convergent synthetic pathway whose key step was
represented by a RCM macrocyclization. All the new
macrocycles showed potent antifungal activity against different
wild-type Candida species and fluconazole- or Amphotericin B-
resistant Candida strains. In particular, 25a−b and 11b resulted
in the most interesting potential antifungal agents. Macrocyclic
amidinoureas proved to be excellent non-azole lead compounds
able to act both on classic as well as resistant fungal infections.
Because of their innovative structure, it is reasonable to
hypothesize for macrocyclic amidinoureas a mechanism of
action different from that of classical azole and polyenic drugs.
Further studies to disclose the mechanism of action are
currently in progress in our laboratories.
(8) Casalinuovo, I. A.; Di Francesco, P.; Garaci, E. Fluconazole
resistance in Candida albicans: a review of mechanisms. Eur. Rev. Med.
Pharmacol. Sci. 2004, 8, 69−77.
(9) Castagnolo, D.; Schenone, S.; Botta, M. Guanylated diamines,
triamines, and polyamines: chemistry and biological properties. Chem.
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(10) Dreassi, E.; Zizzari, A. T.; D’Arezzo, S.; Visca, P.; Botta, M.
Analysis of guazatine mixture by LC and LC−MS and antimycotic
activity determination of principal components. J. Pharm. Biomed. Anal.
2007, 43, 1499−1506.
(11) Raffi, F.; Corelli, F.; Botta, M. Efficient synthesis of
iminoctadine, a potent antifungal agent and polyamine oxidase
inhibitor (PAO). Synthesis 2007, 19, 3013−3016.
(12) Castagnolo, D.; Raffi, F.; Giorgi, G.; Botta, M. Macrocyclization
of di-Boc-guanidino-alkylamines related to guazatine components:
discovery and synthesis of innovative macrocyclic amidinoureas. Eur. J.
Org. Chem. 2009, 3, 334−337.
(13) Castagnolo, D. New Strategies in Chemical Synthesis and
Catalysis; Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA: Berlin, Germany,
2012; pp 97−126.
(14) Botta, M.; Raffi, F.; Visca, P. Linear and cyclic guanidine
derivatives as antifungal agents and their method of preparation. US
patent WO2009113033A2, 2009.
ASSOCIATED CONTENT
* Supporting Information
■
S
Synthetic methods and characterization of compounds. This
material is available free of charge via the Internet at http://
AUTHOR INFORMATION
Corresponding Author
■
(15) Manetti, F.; Castagnolo, D.; Raffi, F.; Zizzari, A. T.; Rajamaki, S.;
D’Arezzo, S.; Visca, P.; Cona, A.; Fracasso, M. E.; Doria, D.; Posteraro,
B.; Sanguinetti, M.; Fadda, G.; Botta, M. Synthesis of new linear
guanidines and macrocyclic amidinourea derivatives endowed with
high antifungal activity against Candida spp. and Aspergillus spp. J. Med.
Chem. 2009, 52, 7376−7379.
Notes
The authors declare no competing financial interest.
(16) Furstner, A.; Langemann, K. Conformationally unbiased
macrocyclization reactions by ring closing metathesis. J. Org. Chem.
1996, 61, 3942−3943.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
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(17) Han, S.-Y.; Chang, S. Handbook of Metathesis; Wiley-VCH
Verlag GmbH: Berlin, Germany, 2003; pp 5−127.
Bakker Medical S.r.l. and University of Siena are gratefully
acknowledged for economical support and technical assistance.
Dr. A. Vivi is acknowledged for NMR technical assistance.
(18) Furstner, A.; Davies, P. W. Alkyne metathesis. Chem. Commun.
2005, 42, 2307−2320.
(19) Gradillas, A.; Perez-Castells, J. Macrocyclization by ring-closing
metathesis in the total synthesis of natural products: reaction
conditions and limitations. Angew. Chem., Int. Ed. 2006, 45, 6086−
6101.
(20) Kulkarni, A. A.; Diver, S. T. Ring synthesis by stereoselective,
methylene-free enyne cross metathesis. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2004, 126,
8110−8111.
(21) The 13-membered macrocycle 8a was obtained in toluene (10
mM solution) at 80 °C. When the RCM was performed at lower
temperature (DCM, 40 °C) compound 8a was not formed and diene
7a was entirely recovered. Macrocycles 8b and 8c were obtained in
DCM (2 mM solution) at 40 °C
ABBREVIATIONS
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D C M , d i c h l o r o m e t h a n e ; E D C , 1 - e t h y l - 3 - ( 3 -
dimethylaminopropyl)carbodiimide; HOBt, hydroxybenzotria-
zole; DIPEA, N,N-diisopropylethylamine; DIBAL-H, diisobu-
tylaluminium hydride; TMS, trimethylsilyl chloride; DMAP, 4-
dimethylaminopyridine; TFA, trifluoroacetic acid; DCC,
dicyclohexylcarbodiimide; Cbz, benzyl carbamate; Boc, tert-
butoxy carbamate; MIC, minimum inhibitory concentration;
MDR, multidrug resistance; CDR, Candida drug resistance;
RCM, ring closing metathesis; gen, generation
(22) Lal, B.; Gangopadhyay, A. K. A practical synthesis of free and
protected guanidino acids from amino acids. Tetrahedron Lett. 1996,
37, 2483−2486.
(23) Attempts to reduce the amide using BH3·SMe2, BH3−THF, or
NaBH4/TiCl4 led to the cleavage of Boc protecting groups.
(24) Peman, J.; Canton, E.; Espinel-Ingroff, A. Antifungal drug
resistance mechanisms. Expert Rev. Anti-Infect. Ther. 2009, 7, 453−460.
(25) Sanglard, D.; Odds, F. C. Resistance of Candida species to
antifungal agents: molecular mechanisms and clinical consequences.
Lancet Infect. Dis. 2002, 2, 73−85.
(26) Perea, S.; Lopez-Ribot, J. L.; Kirkpatrick, W. R.; McAtee, R. K.;
Santillan, R. A.; Martinez, M.; Calabrese, D.; Sanglard, D.; Patterson,
T. F. Prevalence of molecular mechanisms of resistance to azole
antifungal agents in Candida albicans strains displaying high-level
fluconazole resistance isolated from human immunodeficiency virus-
infected patients. Antimicrob. Agents Chemother. 2001, 45, 2676−2684.
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dx.doi.org/10.1021/ml400187w | ACS Med. Chem. Lett. XXXX, XXX, XXX−XXX