Synthesis and characterization of a small analogue of the anticancer natural product leinamycin

摘要

Leinamycin (>1) is a Streptomyces-derived natural product that displays nanomolar IC50 values against human cancer cell lines. In the work described here, we report the synthesis and characterization of a small leinamycin analogue >19 that closely resembles the “upper-right quadrant” of the natural product, consisting of an alicyclic 1,2-dithiolan-3-one 1-oxide heterocycle connected to an alkene by a two-carbon linker. The results indicate that this small analogue contains the core set of functional groups required to enable thiol-triggered generation of both redox active polysulfides and an episulfonium ion intermediate via the complex reaction cascade first seen in the natural product leinamycin. The small leinamycin analogue >19 caused thiol-triggered oxidative DNA strand cleavage in a manner similar to the natural product, but did not alkyate duplex DNA effectively. This highlights the central role of the 18-membered macrocycle of leinamycin in driving efficient DNA alkylation by the natural product.