ACS Combinatorial Science
RESEARCH ARTICLE
recorded. The compound similarity results shown in Table 2
indicated that all the compounds derived from scaffolds 1, 3, 5,
and 6 have Tc values less than 0.75 and, none of the compounds in
the virtual library have Tc value larger than 0.8, when compared to
the compounds in the MLSMR database; all six scaffolds have a
mean Tc value well below 0.75 (0.63, 0.74, 0.64, 0.73, 0.67, and
0.67 for scaffolds 1-6, respectively). Moreover, the largest Tc
value is 0.71 for compounds derived from scaffold 3, which means
none of these compounds has Tc score more than 0.71 when
compared with any of the MLSMR compounds.
Because synthesis of a compound subset from this virtual
library of 11 748 compounds is the final goal of these calculations,
fifty-three representative compounds were extracted from the
library by cell-based diverse subset selection using the DVS
package of Sybyl 8.0. This subset consisted of nine compounds
from scaffold 1, seven compounds from scaffold 2, thirteen
compounds from scaffold 3, seven compounds from scaffold 4,
five compounds from scaffold 5, and twelve compounds from
scaffold 6. For comparison purposes, this fifty-three compound
subset has been highlighted within the overall virtual library
(Figure 2).
Methodology for the synthesis of six tryptophan-derived
scaffolds has been developed using the Pictet-Spengler, metal-
catalyzed allenic cyclocarbonylation, microwave-assisted allenic
[2 þ 2] cycloaddition, and Ag(I)-catalyzed allenic cycloiso-
merization reactions. The scaffolds were used as the basis for a
virtual library possessing 11 748 compounds that occupies new
regions of chemical space when compared to the MLSMR using
the BCUT metrics and 2-D fingerprint analysis methods. A
subset of fifty-three compounds was selected to represent
chemical space within the entire virtual library with the aid of
the DVS package of Sybyl 8.0, molecular weight filtering, and
manual selection of synthetically feasible building blocks. This
approach to library synthesis should aid in future endeavors to fill
chemical space and expedite the generation of compound
diversity. The synthesis of and biological evaluation of these
fifty-three compounds will be reported in due course.
(3) A scaffold analysis of the 24 million compounds in the Chemical
Abstracts (CAS) database reveals that half of the compounds can be
described by a mere 143 molecular frameworks, see: Lipkus, A. H.; Yuan,
Q.; Lucas, K. A.; Funk, S. A.; Bartelt, W. F., III; Schenck, R. J.; Trippe,
A. J. Structural Diversity of Organic Chemistry. A Scaffold Analysis of the
CAS Registry. J. Org. Chem. 2008, 73, 4443–4451.
(4) When screening libraries of compounds for biological activity,
increasing the occupation of distinct chemical space increases the
likelihood of finding biological activity for a wider range of biological
targets, see: Sauer, W. H. B.; Schwarz, M. K. Molecular Shape Diversity
of Combinatorial Libraries: A Prerequisite for Broad Bioactivity. J. Chem.
Inf. Comput. Sci. 2003, 43, 987–1003.
(5) For recent work demonstrating the rapid preparation of over
eighty distinct scaffolds, see: Morton, D.; Leach, S.; Cordier, C.;
Warriner, S.; Nelson, A. Synthesis of Natural-Product-Like Molecules
with Over Eighty Distinct Scaffolds. Angew. Chem., Int. Ed. 2009, 48,
104–109.
(6) For a recent review of this build/couple/pair strategy, see:
Nielsen, T. E.; Schreiber, S. L. Towards the Optimal Screening Collec-
tion: A Synthesis Strategy. Angew. Chem., Int. Ed. 2008, 47, 48–56.
(7) Brummond, K. M.; Mitasev, B. Allenes and Transition Metals: A
Diverging Approach to Heterocycles. Org. Lett. 2004, 6, 2245–2248.
(8) For an example of a library generated using this diverging DOS
strategy, see: Werner, S.; Iyer, P. S.; Fodor, M. D.; Coleman, C. M.;
Twining, L. A.; Mitasev, B.; Brummond, K. M. Solution-Phase Synthesis
of a Tricyclic Pyrrole-2-Carboxamide Discovery Library Applying a
Stetter-Paal-Knorr Reaction Sequence. J. Comb. Chem. 2006, 8,
368–380.
(9) Carbocyclization approaches using alkene and enyne metathesis
to prepare functionalized heterocycles is common, but less so for other
transition metal catalyzed processes. For a leading references, see: Ben-
Othman, R.; Othman, M.; Coste, S.; Decroix, B. One-Pot Enyne
Metathesis/Diels-Alder Reaction for the Construction of Highly
Functionalized Novel Polycyclic Aza-Compounds. Tetrahedron 2008,
64, 559.
(10) For a recent review of indole-containing natural products:
Kawasaki, T.; Higuchi, K. Simple Indole Alkaloids and Those with
Nonrearranged Monoterpenoid Unit. Nat. Prod. Rep. 2005, 22, 761.
(11) O’Connor, S. E.; Maresh, J. Chemistry and Biology of Mono-
terpene Indole Alkaloid Biosynthesis. Nat. Prod. Rep. 2006, 23, 532.
(12) Rottmann, M.; McNamara, C.; Yeung, B. K. S.; Lee, M. C. S.;
Zou, B.; Russell, B.; Seitz, P.; Plouffe, D. M.; Dharia, N. V.; Tan, J.;
Cohen, S. B.; Spencer, K. R.; Gonzalez-Paez, G. E.; Lakshminarayana,
S. B.; Goh, A.; Suwanarusk, R.; Jegla, T.; Schmitt, E. K.; Beck, H.-P.;
Brun, R.; Nosten, F.; Renia, L.; Dartois, V.; Keller, T. H.; Fidock, D. A.;
Winzeler, E. A.; Diangana, T. T. Spiroindolones, A Potent Compound
Class for the Treatment of Malaria. Science 2010, 329, 1175–1180.
(13) For leading references, see: Brummond, K. M.; Davis, M.;
Huang, C. Rh(I)-Catalyzed Cyclocarbonylation of Allenol Esters to
Prepare Acetoxy 4-Alkylidene Cyclopent-3-en-2-ones. J. Org. Chem.
2009, 74, 8314–8320.
’ ASSOCIATED CONTENT
S
Supporting Information. Experimentals procedures and
b
characterization data are provided for all new compounds,
computational studies supporting the stereochemical assignment
of compound 21b are discussed, and compound selection charts
for the virtual library of fifty-three compounds. This material is
(14) Chen, D.; Brummond, K. M. Microwave-Assisted Intramole-
cular [2 þ 2] Allenic Cycloaddition Reaction for the Rapid Assembly
of Bicyclo[4.2.0]octa-1,6-dienes and Bicyclo[5.2.0]nona-1,7-dienes.
Org. Lett. 2005, 7, 3473–3475. Brummond, K. M.; Tantillo, D. J.
Differentiating Mechanistic Possibilities for the Thermal Intramolecular
[2 þ 2] Cycloaddition of Allene-ynes. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2010, 132,
11952–11966.
(15) Brummond, K. M.; Wan, H.; Kent, J. L. An Intramolecular
Allenic [2 þ 2 þ 1] Cycloaddition. J. Org. Chem. 1998, 63, 6535.
(16) For the design and synthesis of a 3,4-dehydroproline amide
discovery library, see: Werner, S.; Kasi, D.; Brummond, K. M. Design
and Synthesis of a 3,4-Dehydroproline Amide Discovery Library.
J. Comb. Chem. 2007, 9, 677–683 and PubChem SID #’s 8143029-
8143143.
’ AUTHOR INFORMATION
Corresponding Author
*E-mail: kbrummon@pitt.edu. (K.M.B.) or xix15@pitt.edu (X.Q.X).
Funding Sources
We would like to thank the NIGMS P50GM067082 for generous
funding.
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dx.doi.org/10.1021/co100052s |ACS Comb. Sci. 2011, 13, 166–174