1. Convulsant properties of L-glutamic acid di-tert butyl ester
W J Freed, E H Ghoz, S Crump Neurobehav Toxicol Teratol. 1985 May-Jun;7(3):275-8.
Glutamic acid di-tert butyl ester (GTBE) was found to have a pronounced convulsant effect in mice and rats, producing recurrent clonic convulsions combined with postural and respiratory disturbances in a dosage of 0.5 mmol/kg (148 mg/kg). Tert-butyl ester derivatives of aspartic acid and alanine, and glutamic acid gamma-benzyl ester did not produce seizures. Various other glutamate esters, such as glutamic acid diethyl ester and glutamic acid dimethyl ester, have previously been found to have anticonvulsant effects, and also do not induce seizures. It is suggested that glutamic acid di-tert butyl ester may have specific pharmacological properties which differ from those of other known convulsant drugs.
2. Synthesis of novel multivalent fluorescent inhibitors with high affinity to prostate cancer and their biological evaluation
Young-Do Kwon, Hea-Jong Chung, Sun Joo Lee, Sun-Hwa Lee, Byung-Hoon Jeong, Hee-Kwon Kim Bioorg Med Chem Lett. 2018 Feb 15;28(4):572-576. doi: 10.1016/j.bmcl.2018.01.047. Epub 2018 Jan 31.
Prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) is an important biological target for therapy and diagnosis of prostate cancer. In this study, novel multivalent PSMA inhibitors with glutamate-urea-lysine structures were designed to improve inhibition characteristics. Precursors of the novel inhibitors were prepared from glutamic acid with di-tert-butyl ester. A near-infrared molecular dye, sulfo-Cy5.5, was introduced into the precursors to generate the final PSMA fluorescent inhibitors, compounds 12-14, to visualize prostate cancer. Biological behaviors of the inhibitors were evaluated using in vitro inhibition assays, in vivo fluorescent imaging, and ex vivo biodistribution assays. Ki values from inhibition studies indicated that dimeric inhibitor 13 with a glutamine linker showed approximately 3-fold more inhibitory activity than monomeric inhibitor 12. According to other biological studies using a mouse model of prostate cancer, dimeric inhibitor compounds 13 and 14 had higher tumor accumulation than the monomer. However, glutamine-based dimeric inhibitor 13 showed lower liver uptake than dimeric inhibitor 14, which had a benzene structure. Thus, these studies suggest that glutamine-based dimeric inhibitor 13 can be a promising optical inhibitor of prostate cancer.
3. Enhanced stereoselectivity of a Cu(II) complex chiral auxiliary in the synthesis of Fmoc-L-γ-carboxyglutamic acid
Daniel J Smith, Glenn P A Yap, James A Kelley, Joel P Schneider J Org Chem. 2011 Mar 18;76(6):1513-20. doi: 10.1021/jo101940k. Epub 2011 Feb 3.
L-γ-Carboxyglutamic acid (Gla) is an uncommon amino acid that binds avidly to mineral surfaces and metal ions. Herein, we report the synthesis of N-α-Fmoc-L-γ-carboxyglutamic acid γ,γ'-tert-butyl ester (Fmoc-Gla(O(t)Bu)(2)-OH), a suitably protected analogue for Fmoc-based solid-phase peptide synthesis. The residue was synthesized using a novel chiral Cu(II) complex, whose structure-based design was inspired by the blue copper protein rusticyanin. The five-coordinate complex is formed by Shiff base formation between glycine and the novel ligand (S)-2-(N-(2-methylthio)benzylprolyl)aminobenzophenone in the presence of copper. Michael addition of di-tert-butyl methylenemalonate to the α-carbon of the glycine portion of the complex occurs in a diastereoselective fashion. The resulting (S,S)-complex diastereomer can be easily purified by chromatography. Metal complex decomposition followed by Fmoc protection affords the enantiomerically pure amino acid. With the use of this novel chiral complex, the asymmetric synthesis of Fmoc-Gla(O(t)Bu)(2)-OH was completed in nine steps from thiosalicylic acid in 14.5% overall yield.
