I. A1,3-Strain Enabled Retention of Chirality During Bis-Cyclization of β-Ketoamides: Asymmetric Synthesis and Bioactivity of Salinosporamide A and Derivatives II. Optimization of an Organic Syntheses: Asymmetric Nucleophile-Catalyzed Aldol- Lactonization of Aldehyde Acids

Abstract

The potential of human 20S proteasome inhibitors continues to be of interest for anticancer chemotherapy and the recent FDA approval of bortezomib (Velcade) validates the proteasome as a target for cancer chemotherapy. Salinosporamide A, a marine unique bicycle [3.2.0] Beta-lactone-containing natural product, is not only a potent nanomolar inhibitor of the human proteasome but also active against bortezomibresistant multiple myeloma cells. The racemic and asymmetric syntheses of salinosporamide A and derivatives were targeted. In this dissertation, we successfully accomplished the shortest route to date with only a 9-step total synthesis of (–)-salinosporamide A. The conciseness of this strategy arises from the key bis-cyclization of a Beta-keto tertiary amide, amenable to gram scale, constructs both the Gamma-lactam and the fused-Beta-lactone in one operation with high enantiopurity, which was enabled by A^1,3-strain. Several derivatives were synthesized and their inhibition activity toward chymotripsin-like, caspase-like, and trypsin-like of the human 20S proteasome was evaluated. This dissertation also included a successfully optimized Organic Syntheses procedure for asymmetric synthesis of (1S,5R)-6-oxaspiro[bicyclo[3.2.0]heptane-3,2'- [1,3]dioxolan]-7-one via the nucleophile-catalyzed aldol-lactonization.