Moroidin

Moroidin

Identifiers
3D model (Jmol)	Interactive image
ChemSpider	10356647
PubChem CID	14311394
InChI InChI=1S/C47H66N14O10/c1-21(2)14-31-43(67)59-37(23(5)6)44(68)58-32-17-27-26-10-9-24(36(22(3)4)38(45(69)57-31)60-41(65)29-11-12-34(62)53-29)15-30(26)55-39(27)61-19-25(52-20-61)16-33(46(70)71)54-35(63)18-51-40(64)28(56-42(32)66)8-7-13-50-47(48)49/h9-10,15,19-23,28-29,31-33,36-38,55H,7-8,11-14,16-18H2,1-6H3,(H,51,64)(H,53,62)(H,54,63)(H,56,66)(H,57,69)(H,58,68)(H,59,67)(H,60,65)(H,70,71)(H4,48,49,50)/t28-,29-,31-,32-,33-,36+,37-,38-/m0/s1 Key: UCSHFBQCLZMAJY-QFMFBHDYSA-N
SMILES CC(C)C[C@H]1C(=O)N[C@H](C(=O)N[C@H]2Cc3c4ccc(cc4[nH]c3-n5cc(nc5)C[C@H](NC(=O)CNC(=O)[C@@H](NC2=O)CCCNC(=[NH2+])N)C(=O)[O-])[C@H]([C@@H](C(=O)N1)NC(=O)[C@@H]6CCC(=O)N6)C(C)C)C(C)C
Properties
Chemical formula	C47H66N14O10
Molar mass	987.13 g·mol−1
Except where otherwise noted, data are given for materials in their standard state (at 25 °C [77 °F], 100 kPa).
Infobox references

Moroidin is a biologically active compound found in the plants Dendrocnide moroides and Celosia argentea. It is a peptide composed of eight amino acids, with unusual leucine-tryptophan and tryptophan-histidine cross-links that form its two rings. Moroidin has been shown to be at least one of several bioactive compounds responsible for the painful sting of the Dendrocnide moroides plant. It also has demonstrated anti-mitotic properties, specifically by inhibition of tubulin polymerization. Anti-mitotic activity gives moroidin potential as a chemotherapy, and this property combined with its unusual chemical structure has made it a target for organic synthesis.

Moroidin, a bicyclic octapeptide, has been isolated from Dendrocnide moroides (also called Laportea moroides) and Celosia argentea. The structure of moroidin was confirmed in 2004 by X-ray crystallography. It contains two unusual crosslinks, one between leucine and tryptophan and the other between tryptophan and histidine. These linkages are also present in an analogous family of compounds, the celogentins.

The total synthesis of moroidin has not yet been described. Partial syntheses including the Leu-Trp and Trp-His linkages have been achieved. In their total synthesis of celogentin C, Castle and coworkers first obtained the Leu-Trp cross-link. The formation of this bond involved an intermolecular Knoevenagel condensation followed by radical conjugate addition and nitro reduction. This gave a product mixture of diastereomers, with the major product having the desired configuration.

A second approach by Jia and coworkers employed an asymmetric Michael addition and bromination, a stereoselective reaction that gave a compound with the correct configuration and Leu-Trp linkage.

Chen and coworkers demonstrated another stereoselective approach, which coupled iodotryptophan to 8-aminoquinoline by palladium catalysis to give a single diastereomer with the desired Leu-Trp linkage and configuration.