Current Organic Synthesis - Volume 1, Issue 1, 2004

The explosive growth in the field of organic synthesis in the last few decades has emphasised the need and importance of a journal which present the frontiers developments in the form of comprehensive review articles written by men of eminence. “Current Organic Synthesis” aims to meet these needs. Current Organic Synthesis will publish in-depth reviews on all areas of synthetic organic chemistry, i.e. asymmetric synthesis, organometallic chemistry, novel synthetic approaches to complex organic molecules, carbohydrates, polymers, protein chemistry, DNA chemistry, supramolecular chemistry, molecular recognition and new synthetic methods in organic chemistry. The frontiers reviews will provide the current state of knowledge in these fields. In the subsequent years hot topic issues will also be included which will be written by chosen experts who are internationally known for their eminent research contributions. Current Organic Synthesis should prove to be of great interest to synthetic chemists in academia and industry who wish to keep abreast with recent developments in key fields of organic synthesis. To ensure timely publication, full advantage will be taken of internet technology for both the submission and review of manuscripts. There will be four issues of this journal published in 2004. The publication frequency of the journal will increase gradually in the years to come. An internationally eminent editorial board including such eminent authorities as R.A. Aitken, J. Bergman, E.R. Biehl, T.R. Burke, L. Castedo, Y. Chapleur, J.P. Clayden, J.M. Cook, H.M.L. Davies, T.J. Donohoe, C.J. Easton, El S.H. El Ashry, F. Fulop, P.J. Garratt, C.L. Gibson, G.W. Gribble, P.J. Guiry, L.M. Harwood, P. Helquist, A.H. Hoveyda, P.F. Hudrlik, C. Hulme, R.F.W. Jackson, G. Jenner, Z. Kelman, G. Kirsch, W. Kitching, D.W. Knight, P. Kocovsky, V.V. Kouznetsov, A. Krief, T. Kunieda, K.K. Laali, D.S. Lawrence, J. Lebreton, S.V. Ley, R.J. Linhardt, D.G. Lynn, J.Y. Mérour, J. Micklefield, S. Mobashery, M.G. Moloney, C.J. Moody, K. Mori, J.A. Murphy, P.E. Nielsen, T. Okuda, F.L. Ortiz, A. Padwa, R.K. Pandey, L.A. Paquette, D. Pears, F.C. Pigge, P. Potier, B.V.L. Potter, S.G. Pyne, S.M. Roberts, E. Roeder, T.K. Sawyer, R.R. Schmidt, A.I. Scott, P.H. Seeberger, M. Sekine, G. Sello, M.A. Sierra, T.J. Simpson, K. Smith, K. Soai, A.C. Spivey, T. Sugai, J.B. Sweeney, J.S. Thorson, P. Vogel, P.G. Wang, J.D. White, Z.J. Witczak and Y. Yamamoto will undoubtedly guide me in the editorial responsibilities and ensure the very highest standards. The opinions expressed by six Nobel Laureates can be reviewed at www.bentham.org / nobel which reflect the excellent reputation that Bentham Science Publishers enjoy. I keenly look forward to the wide acceptance of this new journal by the community of organic chemists.

A concise synthetic route has been developed for the preparation of the naturally occurring isocoumarin cytogenin and NM-3, an analogue with anti-angiogenic activity. The route is general and also provided C(3) side chain modified analogues. Key aspects of the synthesis include orthogonal protection of the two aromatic alkoxy groups, benzylic lithiation and carboxylation, use of the resulting carboxylic acid in a DCC-promoted acylation of Meldrum's acid, and facile ester enolate alkylations for introduction of side chains for convenient generation of a new set of NM-3 analogues.

Various aspects of pheromone synthesis are reviewed by analyzing examples published between 1990 and early 2003. Syntheses executed with new methodologies such as organoborane reactions, organotransition metal chemistry including olefin metathesis, asymmetric epoxidation, asymmetric dihydroxylation, other asymmetric chemical processes, and stereoselective biocatalysis are selected to illustrate the usefulness of new reactions in pheromone synthesis.

Sialic acids (or ulosonic acids) are a family of acidic ketoses (including neuraminic acid, KDN and KDO) that are found at the non-reducing terminus of many glycoconjugates. These saccharide residues are recognized ligands of protein lectins and are removed in the first step in glycoconjugate catabolism. Moreover, sialic acid containing carbohydrates, such as glycolipid gangliosides (i.e. GM3), glycopeptides (i.e. Tn) and polysaccharides (i.e. polysialic acid or colominic acid) play important biological roles. Thus, they represent important targets in natural product synthesis. This review examines the application of sialic acids as donors in glycosylation reactions. The synthesis of protected sialic acid donors and challenges associated with their use in the synthesis of heteronuclear and carbon glycosides are discussed.

Over the last years, palladium-catalyzed coupling reactions have been extensively studied and the names of Heck, Stille, Suzuki and Sonogashira are well known for their contribution to this chemistry. Extension of the coupling reactions allowing introduction of heteroatoms have followed and the Buchwald-Hartwig reaction is now a concept for this chemistry. Another achievement in this field is the possibility offered by the methodology to acceed to heterocyclic compounds either through a direct construction of the heterocyclic ring or by a two-step procedure (coupling followed by an heteroannulation). We are in the following paper going to review these ways of preparing heteroaromatic compounds either as single ring system or condensed to other aromatic rings.

N-Methylwelwitindolinone C isothiocyanate (welwistatin), isolated from the blue-green alga Hapalosiphon welwitschii, is a potent MDR inhibitor. This review deals with synthetic efforts aimed at welwistatin itself or its fragments, together with work concerning the bicyclo[4.3.1]decane and cyclohepta[cd]indole systems, which are related to the CD and ABC fragments of the natural product.

This review focuses on the different approaches to construct the 2,6-dialkyl- 1,2,5,6-tetrahydropyridine skeleton and their applications in total synthesis of alkaloids.