Volume 137, Issue 9 e202420671
Forschungsartikel

Visible-Light Photocatalyzed Skeletal Rearrangement Enables the Synthesis of Highly Functionalized Xanthenes with Antitumor Activity

Shi-Lin Lin

Shi-Lin Lin

State Key Laboratory of Bioactive Molecules and Druggability Assessment, Guangdong Basic Research Center of Excellence for Natural Bioactive Molecules and Discovery of Innovative Drugs, Jinan University, Guangzhou, 510632 P. R. China “.

Center for Bioactive Natural Molecules and Innovative Drugs, Guangdong Province Key Laboratory of Pharmacodynamic Constituents of TCM and New Drugs Research, College of Pharmacy, Jinan University, Guangzhou, 510632 P. R. China

These authors contributed equally.

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Fen Zhao

Fen Zhao

State Key Laboratory of Bioactive Molecules and Druggability Assessment, Guangdong Basic Research Center of Excellence for Natural Bioactive Molecules and Discovery of Innovative Drugs, Jinan University, Guangzhou, 510632 P. R. China “.

Center for Bioactive Natural Molecules and Innovative Drugs, Guangdong Province Key Laboratory of Pharmacodynamic Constituents of TCM and New Drugs Research, College of Pharmacy, Jinan University, Guangzhou, 510632 P. R. China

These authors contributed equally.

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Fen Wei

Fen Wei

Center for Bioactive Natural Molecules and Innovative Drugs, Guangdong Province Key Laboratory of Pharmacodynamic Constituents of TCM and New Drugs Research, College of Pharmacy, Jinan University, Guangzhou, 510632 P. R. China

These authors contributed equally.

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Ying-Tong Shi

Ying-Tong Shi

Center for Bioactive Natural Molecules and Innovative Drugs, Guangdong Province Key Laboratory of Pharmacodynamic Constituents of TCM and New Drugs Research, College of Pharmacy, Jinan University, Guangzhou, 510632 P. R. China

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Jing-Kai Wen

Jing-Kai Wen

Center for Bioactive Natural Molecules and Innovative Drugs, Guangdong Province Key Laboratory of Pharmacodynamic Constituents of TCM and New Drugs Research, College of Pharmacy, Jinan University, Guangzhou, 510632 P. R. China

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Chao Yang

Chao Yang

State Key Laboratory of Bioactive Molecules and Druggability Assessment, Guangdong Basic Research Center of Excellence for Natural Bioactive Molecules and Discovery of Innovative Drugs, Jinan University, Guangzhou, 510632 P. R. China “.

Center for Bioactive Natural Molecules and Innovative Drugs, Guangdong Province Key Laboratory of Pharmacodynamic Constituents of TCM and New Drugs Research, College of Pharmacy, Jinan University, Guangzhou, 510632 P. R. China

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Hao-Shuo Zhang

Hao-Shuo Zhang

State Key Laboratory of Bioactive Molecules and Druggability Assessment, Guangdong Basic Research Center of Excellence for Natural Bioactive Molecules and Discovery of Innovative Drugs, Jinan University, Guangzhou, 510632 P. R. China “.

Center for Bioactive Natural Molecules and Innovative Drugs, Guangdong Province Key Laboratory of Pharmacodynamic Constituents of TCM and New Drugs Research, College of Pharmacy, Jinan University, Guangzhou, 510632 P. R. China

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Chuang-Chuang Li

Chuang-Chuang Li

Department of Chemistry, Shenzhen Grubbs Institute, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, 518055 P. R. China

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Chang Liu

Corresponding Author

Chang Liu

Center for Bioactive Natural Molecules and Innovative Drugs, Guangdong Province Key Laboratory of Pharmacodynamic Constituents of TCM and New Drugs Research, College of Pharmacy, Jinan University, Guangzhou, 510632 P. R. China

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Wen-Cai Ye

Corresponding Author

Wen-Cai Ye

State Key Laboratory of Bioactive Molecules and Druggability Assessment, Guangdong Basic Research Center of Excellence for Natural Bioactive Molecules and Discovery of Innovative Drugs, Jinan University, Guangzhou, 510632 P. R. China “.

Center for Bioactive Natural Molecules and Innovative Drugs, Guangdong Province Key Laboratory of Pharmacodynamic Constituents of TCM and New Drugs Research, College of Pharmacy, Jinan University, Guangzhou, 510632 P. R. China

Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Join Laboratory for Pharmacodynamic Constituents of TCM and New Drugs Research, Jinan University, Guangzhou, 510632 P. R. China

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Min-Jing Cheng

Corresponding Author

Min-Jing Cheng

State Key Laboratory of Bioactive Molecules and Druggability Assessment, Guangdong Basic Research Center of Excellence for Natural Bioactive Molecules and Discovery of Innovative Drugs, Jinan University, Guangzhou, 510632 P. R. China “.

Center for Bioactive Natural Molecules and Innovative Drugs, Guangdong Province Key Laboratory of Pharmacodynamic Constituents of TCM and New Drugs Research, College of Pharmacy, Jinan University, Guangzhou, 510632 P. R. China

Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Join Laboratory for Pharmacodynamic Constituents of TCM and New Drugs Research, Jinan University, Guangzhou, 510632 P. R. China

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Lei Wang

Corresponding Author

Lei Wang

State Key Laboratory of Bioactive Molecules and Druggability Assessment, Guangdong Basic Research Center of Excellence for Natural Bioactive Molecules and Discovery of Innovative Drugs, Jinan University, Guangzhou, 510632 P. R. China “.

Center for Bioactive Natural Molecules and Innovative Drugs, Guangdong Province Key Laboratory of Pharmacodynamic Constituents of TCM and New Drugs Research, College of Pharmacy, Jinan University, Guangzhou, 510632 P. R. China

Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Join Laboratory for Pharmacodynamic Constituents of TCM and New Drugs Research, Jinan University, Guangzhou, 510632 P. R. China

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In memory of professor Lixin Dai
First published: 23 December 2024

Abstract

Highly functionalized xanthenes possess an impressive range of bioactivities and daunting synthetic challenge due to their unique ring systems and stereocenters. Here, we report an unprecedented ketyl radicals-induced skeletal rearrangement reaction of spirodihydrobenzofurans, enabled by zero-valent iron as reducing agents via photoredox catalysis, facilitating the facile preparation of various highly functionalized xanthenes. The features of this protocol include high chemo- and regioselectivity, exceptionally mild conditions, a broad substrate scope, scalability to gram-scale quantities, and consistent delivery of good to excellent yields. Mechanistic studies rationalize the function of this zero-valent iron-based reactivity in radical generation. Notably, this reaction was applied to the first asymmetric total synthesis of the complex polycyclic xanthene ent-myrtucomvalones E−F. Moreover, this work led to the discovery of an agent with highly effective antiosteosarcoma activity in vitro and in vivo, potentially paving the way for the development of new xanthene-based candidates for osteosarcoma treatment.

Conflict of Interests

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Data Availability Statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available in the Supporting Information of this article.

The full text of this article hosted at iucr.org is unavailable due to technical difficulties.