Enantioselective Synthesis of Homoisoflavanones by Asymmetric Transfer Hydrogenation and Their Biological Evaluation for Antiangiogenic Activity

J Org Chem. 2019 Aug 16;84(16):9995-10011. doi: 10.1021/acs.joc.9b01134. Epub 2019 Aug 5.

Abstract

Neovascular eye diseases are a major cause of blindness. Excessive angiogenesis is a feature of several conditions, including wet age-related macular degeneration, proliferative diabetic retinopathy, and retinopathy of prematurity. Development of novel antiangiogenic small molecules for the treatment of neovascular eye disease is essential to provide new therapeutic leads for these diseases. We have previously reported the therapeutic potential of anti-angiogenic homoisoflavanone derivatives with efficacy in retinal and choroidal neovascularization models, although these are racemic compounds due to the C3-stereogenic center in the molecules. This work presents asymmetric synthesis and structural determination of anti-angiogenic homoisoflavanones and pharmacological characterization of the stereoisomers. We describe an enantioselective synthesis of homoisoflavanones by virtue of ruthenium-catalyzed asymmetric transfer hydrogenation accompanying dynamic kinetic resolution, providing a basis for the further development of these compounds into novel experimental therapeutics for neovascular eye diseases.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Angiogenesis Inhibitors / chemical synthesis
  • Angiogenesis Inhibitors / chemistry
  • Angiogenesis Inhibitors / pharmacology*
  • Cell Proliferation / drug effects
  • Endothelial Cells / drug effects*
  • Endothelial Cells / metabolism
  • Humans
  • Hydrogenation
  • Isoflavones / chemical synthesis
  • Isoflavones / chemistry
  • Isoflavones / pharmacology*
  • Molecular Structure
  • Neovascularization, Physiologic / drug effects*
  • Stereoisomerism

Substances

  • Angiogenesis Inhibitors
  • Isoflavones