Design and synthesis of novel pinacolylboronate containing combretastatin 'antimitotic agent' analogues

Tetrahedron Lett. 2009 Jun 24;50(25):3031-3034. doi: 10.1016/j.tetlet.2009.04.003.

Abstract

We developed a procedure to synthesize pinacolyl boronate containing stilbene derivatives and used this procedure to synthesize boron-containing combretastatin analogues. The key step involves the Wittig reaction of the ylide 4-(4,4,5,5-tetramethyl-1,3,2-dioxaboratophenyl)-methyl triphenylphosphonium bromide 11 with 3,4,5-trimethoxy benzaldehyde in the presence of (t)BuONa in DMF, providing 88% yield. We are now in a position to evaluate the biological activity of these derivatives as modulators of TGF-beta signaling pathways.