On the chemistry and high field nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy of rapamycin

Abstract

Base catalysed hydrolysis of rapamycin (C 51 H 79 NO 13 ) affords six neutral compounds identified by chemical and spectroscopic means as 2a, 3b, 3d, 5, 2,4-dimethylphenol, and L(−)-piperidine-2-carboxylic acid 6, and whose generation has been plausibly rationalized. These findings as well as detailed analyses of 13 C nmr and 1 H nmr spectra provide independent corroboration of the X-ray derived rapamycin crystal structure 1. Structurally homogeneous in the solid state, rapamycin is found to occur in solutions as a mixture of two conformational isomers (approximately 4:1). Through nearly complete assignment of the high field 1 H (400 MHz) and 13 C (100.6 MHz) nmr spectra, the isomerism is shown to be associated with trans–cis rotation of an amidic bond within the 31-membered macrolide ring. The predominant form corresponds to the conformer portrayed by X-ray analysis.