SYNTHESIS OF A 1,2,3-TRIAZOLE-CONTAINING MACROCYCLE BASED ON THE "CLICK CHEMISTRY" REACTION AND ANALYSIS OF ITS PLANAR CHIRALITY USING NMR AND DFT CALCULATIONS

Macrocycles represent previously unexplored promising drug candidates, that can be useful for treating protein-protein interactions. Atropoisomerism is an inherent feature of the natural macrocyclic peptides that is significant for their activity and selectivity, and, therefore, should be introduced into newly synthesized macrocycles. Synthesis of the libraries of artificial macrocycles faces many challenges due to their structure and size. Herein we report on the preparation of a 16-membered macrocycle containing 1,2,3-triazole ring, spiro-piperidine, and phenyl moieties, as well as a chiral carbon atom. Our approach to the macrocycle was inspired by the "build/couple/pair" (B/C/P) strategy, a part of diversity-oriented synthesis methodology. We have employed readily accessible starting materials and robust synthetic procedures which allowed us to obtain the target macrocycle in a high yield. Standard methods of amide bond formation were used for the coupling of macrocycle building blocks. Click chemistry azide-alkyne cycloaddition was exploited at the final ring closure step. The assignment of signals in 1H and 13C NMR spectra of the macrocycle was performed using a series of 2D NMR techniques. The macrocycle displayed planar chirality, which, in a combination with a stereocenter with the known configuration, was sufficient to propose possible structures of diastereomers. The diastereomers could differ by the relative position of triazole ring. Their racemization could occur through a "rope skipping" motion involving the cyclic chain crossing the plane of 1,2,3-triazole ring. The supposed structures of diastereomers were corroborated by means of a various NMR spectroscopy techniques and DFT calculations. Analysis of the amide NH chemical shift temperature coefficients coupled with the data on optimized geometries obtained by DFT convincingly demonstrated that the intramolecular hydrogen bonds play a major role in stabilization of the diastereomer structures. According to the variable temperature NMR experiment, the interconversion of two diastereomers did not occur even at heating up to 70 °C.