Leung Leo, Tomassi Cyrille, Van Beneden Katrien, Decruy Tine, Elewaut Dirk, Elliott Tim, Al-Shamkhani Aymen, Ottensmeier Christian, Van Calenbergh Serge, Werner Joern, Williams Tony, Linclau Bruno
School of Chemistry, University of Southampton, Highfield, Southampton SO17 1BJ, UK.
Org Lett. 2008 Oct 16;10(20):4433-6. doi: 10.1021/ol801663m. Epub 2008 Sep 18.
The synthesis of 4-deoxy-4,4-difluoro-KRN7000 starting from phytosphingosine is described. Key steps include a regioselective benzylation of azidophytosphingosine and a deoxofluor-mediated fluorination of the corresponding 4-ketone. This fluorination failed completely when the adjacent 3-OH was protected as benzyl ether but proceeded well when a benzoyl group was used. The biological evaluation reveals a bias toward Th1 cytokine induction upon Natural Killer T cell activation.