Natural diarylfluorene derivatives: isolation, total synthesis, and phosphodiesterase-4 inhibition

作者:Zhang, Jun-Sheng; Liu, Xin; Weng, Jiang; Guo, Yan-Qiong; Li, Qing-Jiang; Ahmed, Abrar; Tang, Gui-Hua; Yin, Sheng*
来源:Organic Chemistry Frontiers, 2017, 4(2): 170-177.
DOI:10.1039/c6qo00623j

摘要

In our previous study, selaginpulvilins A-D (1-4) featuring an unprecedented 9,9-diphenyl-1-(phenylethynyl)- 9H-fluorene skeleton were identified as potent phosphodiesterase-4 (PDE4) inhibitors from Selaginella pulvinata. In the current work, a large-scale reinvestigation of the same plant led to the isolation of six additional new analogues, selaginpulvilins E-J (5-10), among which 5 features a rare 6(4-hydroxyphenyl)-2H-pyran-2-one unit. Compounds 5-10 exhibited remarkable inhibitory activities against PDE4 with IC50 values in the range of 0.22-1.38 mu M. The first total synthesis of selaginpulvilins A-F (1-6) was developed in 7-11 steps involving a Friedel-Crafts reaction as the key reaction, which provides a feasible access to this scaffold.