Onchidin B (
4) is a cyclic depsipeptideisolated from the pulmonate mollusc
Onchidium sp. Itsstructurewas determined by extensive 2D-NMR, FABMS, tandem FAB MS/MS, selectivehydrolysis, and synthesis. It containsfour
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-amino acids [two units of
N-methyl valine (MeVal),two units of proline (Pro)], four
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-hydroxy acids [two2-hydroxyisovaleric acids (Hiv), two 2-hydroxy-3-methylpentanoic acidmoieties (Hmp)] and two units of the new
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-hydroxy acid: 3-hydroxy-2-methyloct-7-ynoic acid (Hymo)].Selective hydrolysis and direct comparison by chiralGC-MS with authentic samples of the
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-amino and
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-hydroxy acidsallowed us the assignment of the entire absolutestereochemistry of onchidin B. In this way, the
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-hydroxy acidswere found to be (
S)-Hiv and(
S,
S)-Hmp, and the
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-amino acids (
R)-proline, (
S)-proline, and(
R)-MeVal. In order to establish the absoluteconfiguration of the new
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-hydroxy acid, Hymo, its four possible stereoisomers werestereoselectively synthesized using chiral
N-propionyloxazolidinones and hex-5-ynal as starting material. Comparison byHPLC-MS of the synthetic samples with thenatural Hymo (all derivatized as esters of(-)-(
R)-
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-methoxy-
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-(9-anthryl)acetic acid),affirmed its absolutestereochemistry as (2
R,3
R). Thus, onchidin B(
4) is cyclo[(
R)-MeVal-(
R,
R)-Hymo-(
S)-Pro-(
S,
S)-Hmp-(
S)-Hiv-(
R)-MeVal-(
R,
R)-Hymo-(
R)-Pro-(
S,
S)-Hmp-(
S)-Hiv].It is formed by a head-to-tail linkage of two halves, eachonebuilt by five units and identical sequence. The lack of symmetryof onchidin B is thus due to the presence of one(
S)-Pro unit in one half and one (
R)-Pro unit inthe other. The structural similarity between onchidin B(
4) andonchidin (
2), both isolated from the same organism, andbetween the
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-hydroxy acid Hymo (
5) and the
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-aminoacid Amo (
3) found in onchidin is noticed.