Chemoenzymatic synthesis of (2S,3S,4S)-form, the physiologically active stereoisomer of dehydroxymethylepoxyquinomicin (DHMEQ), a potent inhibitor on NF-κB

A new route for (2S,3S,4S)-form, the physiologically active stereoisomer of dehydroxymethylepoxyquinomicin (DHMEQ), a potent NF-κB inhibitor, was established by chemoenzymatic approach. Elaboration on the asymmetric epoxidation of a p-benzoquinone monoketal with benzylcinchonidinium tert-butylhydroperoxide yielded an epoxyenone, in 79.8% ee and 57% yield in reproducible manner. By way of the transformation of this key intermediate to enantiomerically pure (2S,3S,4S)-DHMEQ, the contaminating undesired enantiomer could be effectively removed by applying Burkholderia cepacia lipase-catalyzed hydrolysis of diacylated precursor. The above integrated combination of chemical asymmetric synthesis and enzyme-catalyzed kinetic resolution enabled us to prepare active DHMEQ in a large-scale.