Biomedical subjects

Martin D Burke

Publications and source records attributed to Martin D Burke.

5 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2004

A synthesis strategy yielding skeletally diverse small molecules combinatorially.

The efficient synthesis of small molecules having many molecular skeletons is an unsolved problem in diversity-oriented synthesis (DOS). We describe the development and application of a synthesis strategy that uses common reaction conditions to transform a collection of similar substrates into a collection of products having distinct molecular skeletons. The substrates have different appendages that pre-encode skeletal information, called sigma-elements. This approach is analogous to the natural process of protein folding in which different primary sequences of amino acids are transformed into macromolecules having distinct three-dimensional structures under common folding conditions. Like sigma-elements, the amino acid sequences pre-encode structural information. An advantage of using folding processes to generate skeletal diversity in DOS is that skeletal information can be pre-encoded into substrates in a combinatorial fashion, similar to the way protein structural information is pre-encoded combinatorially in polypeptide sequences, thus making it possible to generate skeletal diversity in an efficient manner. This efficiency was realized in the context of a fully encoded, split-pool synthesis of approximately 1260 compounds potentially representing all possible combinations of building block, stereochemical, and skeletal diversity elements.

Chemistry, Organic↗

PubMed2004

A planning strategy for diversity-oriented synthesis.

In contrast to target-oriented synthesis (TOS) and medicinal or combinatorial chemistry, which aim to access precise or dense regions of chemistry space, diversity-oriented synthesis (DOS) populates chemical space broadly with small-molecules having diverse structures. The goals of DOS include the development of pathways leading to the efficient (three- to five-step) synthesis of collections of small molecules having skeletal and stereochemical diversity with defined coordinates in chemical space. Ideally, these pathways also yield compounds having the potential to attach appendages site- and stereoselectively to a variety of attachment sites during a post-screening, maturation stage. The diverse skeletons and stereochemistries ensure that the appendages can be positioned in multiple orientations about the surface of the molecules. TOS as well as medicinal and combinatorial chemistries have been advanced by the development of retrosynthetic analysis. Although the distinct goals of DOS do not permit the application of retrosynthetic concepts and thinking, these foundations are being built on, by using parallel logic, to develop a complementary procedure known as forward-synthetic analysis. This analysis facilitates synthetic planning, communication, and teaching in this evolving discipline.

Journal Article↗

PubMed2003

Generating diverse skeletons of small molecules combinatorially.

Lack of efficient access to collections of synthetic compounds that have skeletal diversity is a key bottleneck in the small-molecule discovery process. We report a synthesis strategy that involves transforming substrates with different appendages that pre-encode skeletal information, named sigma elements, into products that have different skeletons with the use of common reaction conditions. With this approach, split-pool synthesis can be used to pre-encode skeletal diversity combinatorially and thereby generate such small molecules very efficiently. A split-pool synthesis of more than 1000 compounds produced overlapping, combinatorial matrices of molecular skeletons and appended building blocks in both enantiomeric and diastereomeric forms.

Acetylation↗

PubMed2003

Chemoenzymatic route to macrocyclic hybrid peptide/polyketide-like molecules.

Hybrid peptide-polyketides are a class of medically and biologically important natural products characterized by stereochemical and functional diversity. In their biosynthesis, hybrids are often macrocyclized to achieve rigid structures that populate bioactive conformations. We herein present a chemoenzymatic strategy to access the stereochemical and functional diversity found in macrocyclic hybrid natural products in a manner amenable to efficient library synthesis. Our method makes use of small building blocks in the form of Fmoc-protected epsilon-amino acids containing embedded polyketide functionality. The building block approach allows for combinatorial synthesis of linear molecules that can be activated as soluble thioesters or tethered to a solid-phase resin. We demonstrate that these linear molecules are substrates for macrocyclization by a tolerant catalyst, TycC TE, derived from a nonribosomal peptide synthetase. The method should allow for access to diverse structures with hybrid peptide-polyketide character that can be screened for improved or novel activities.

Amides↗

PubMed2002

Teaching target-oriented and diversity-oriented organic synthesis at Harvard University.

Diversity-oriented synthesis presents many formidable challenges to the practitioners of synthetic organic chemistry. Those challenges include the effective teaching of this new and evolving discipline to ensure that students are well positioned to begin exploring its full potential. Fortunately, the teaching of synthetic organic chemistry has a rich history in the context of target-oriented synthesis, and this precedent can serve as a strong foundation for meeting the challenges of teaching diversity-oriented synthesis.

Alkylation↗