Synthesis and Biological Evaluation of 6‑[(1R)‑1-Hydroxyethyl]-2,4a(R),6(S),8a(R)‑tetrahydropyrano-[3,2‑b]‑pyran-2-one and Structural Analogues of the Putative Structure of Diplopyrone

The phytotoxin diplopyrone is considered to be the main phytotoxin in a fungus that is responsible for cork oak decline. A carbohydrate-based synthesis of the enantiomer of the structure proposed for diplopyrone has been developed from a commercially available derivative of d-galactose. Key steps in the synthesis are a highly stereoselective pyranose chain-extension based on methyltitanium, preparation of a vinyl glycoside via Isobe C-alkynylation-rearrangement/reduction, and RCM-based pyranopyran construction. Crystallographic and NMR analysis confirms an earlier report that the structure originally proposed for diplopyrone may require revision. Structural analogues were prepared for biological evaluation, the most promising being a pyranopyran nitrile synthesized from tri-O-acetyl-d-galactal by Ferrier cyanoglycosidation, Wittig chain extension, and lactonization. Biological assays revealed potent antibacterial activity for the nitrile analogue against common bacterial pathogens Edwardsiella ictaluri and Flavobacterium columnare that cause enteric septicemia (ESC) and columnaris disease, respectively, in catfish. The IC50 value of 0.002 against E. ictaluri indicates approximately 100 times greater potency than the antibiotic florfenicol used commercially for this disease. Phytotoxic activity for all three target compounds against duckweed was also observed. The antibiotic and phytotoxic activities of the new pyranopyrans synthesized in this study demonstrate the potential of such compounds as antibiotics and herbicides.