Resumen de Synthesis of N-Methyl-2-trichloroacetylpyrrole-A Key Building Block in Peptides That Bind DNA: Micro-, Semimicro-, and Macro-Scale Organic Lab Experiments

Michael D. Mosher, Erik J. Verner, Bradford J. Oliver, Daniel Hamlin, Nicholas Vietri, Robert B. Palmer, Tyrone V. Arnold, Nicholas R. Natale

• The search for more efficient anticancer and antiviral agents has included the preparation and testing of a wide variety of molecules that bind DNA. Of these, particular attention has been devoted to the synthesis of analogues of DNA minor-groove binders such as netropsin and distamycin. These compounds have been shown to exhibit biological activity through their strong interactions with the DNA minor groove, and a relationship between their structure and biological activity has emerged (1). The repeating pyrrole unit contained in these compounds can be prepared from N-methylpyrrole via a noncatalyzed Friedel-Crafts acylation. The reaction has been adapted for use in the undergraduate organic chemistry laboratory on three different scales: microscale, semimicroscale, and macroscale.