Eremophilane sesquiterpenes from capsidiol

A series of eremophilane sesquiterpene alcohols and hydrocarbons was prepared from the phytoalexin capsidiol (1) for mechanistic studies with epiaristolochene synthase and epiaristolochene dihydroxylase. Among them, 3-deoxycapsidiol (10) was obtained through selective derivatization and reductive cleavage of the equatorial 3alpha hydroxyl group. Two novel isomers of aristolochene and eremophilene were accessed from the 1- and 3-deoxycapsidiol isomers. 4-Epieremophilene (17) was obtained by conjugate reduction of epiaristolochen-1-one tosylhydrazone with catecholborane followed by sulfinate elimination and diimide rearrangement. Epimerization of epiaristolochen-3-one (27a) at the C4 methyl followed by reductions led to the previously unknown aristolochene isomer, eremophila-9(10),11(12)-diene (30). Optical rotations and characteristic H-1 NMR data for the related eremophilenols and dienes are collected in Tables 1 and 2. Finally, bioassays were used to assess the antifungal potencies of capsidiol and its synthetic derivatives. The minimum inhibitory concentration for capsidiol (3-10 ng) was at least 1 order of magnitude lower than that of any of the derivatives and considerably lower than those previously reported for ketoconazole, nystatin, and propiconazole.