Part I. Application of 2-Hydroxymethylacrylic Acid, a Product of Baylis-Hillman Reaction, for the Synthesis of Novel N-backbone-to-Side-Chain Cyclic Peptide Analogs: Strategies and Side Reactions Part II. Synthesis and Biological Activities of Chimeric Bioactive Peptides Featuring Amino Acids Coupled to 4-Anilino-N-Phenethyl-Piperidine

Abstract

During my research career in Prof. V.J.Hruby's laboratory I worked on two different projects. The first project, which was initiated by the author, was planned to serve the need of our laboratory for a novel method of peptide cyclization. This method was planned to use recent advances in Pd0-catalyzed asymmetric synthesis combined with the structural richness offered by the Baylis-Hillman chemistry which could open new ways to diverse areas of drug design, molecular immunology and chemotherapy. This approach would provide cyclic peptides featuring N-alkylated amino acids that would confer high resistance to degradation by proteases. Because of numerous synthetic problems imposed, this strategy was not of considerable current use in peptide synthesis, especially on solid supports. However, despite a substantial amount of effort invested, this method faced serious drawbacks such as multistep synthesis and side reactions when applied to solid supports. Moreover, recent introduction of microwave technology which has helped to solve a great number of problems has led to a renaissance in the classical lactam and thioester bond cyclizations which overshadowed our quest for a novel methodology. The second project was focused on application of 4-anilidopiperidines for the synthesis of chimeric bioactive peptides. It was an effort towards the development of novel analgesics with reduced toxicity and enhanced potency. This project linked small molecule and multimeric ligand designs that were ongoing in our laboratory at the time. Major accomplishments in this project were made possible by successful resolution of several research challenges. I was able to find a straightforward, convenient and economical approach for the synthesis of novel analogues on a solid support. These developments led to novel compounds which showed substantial increases in their binding affinity relative to corresponding opioid analogues. To illustrate, compounds PET25, 26, 27, 29, 30, 31, and 32 showed high bioactivity and sub-nanomolar binding affinity to opioid receptors. Most of the peptides generated in the second project are still being investigated for their biological activities by our colleagues at the Department of Pharmacology, but the results to date indicate that some highly potent novel compounds have been made.