Stereospecific Cross-Coupling Reactions Provide Conformationally-Biased Arylalkanes with Anti-Leukemia Activity.

A focused small library of carbamates and alcohols was prepared employing stereospecific Kumada-ring opening reactions of tetrahydropyrans. The core framework of the library members is acyclic and incorporates 1,3-substituents, to provide a conformational bias in avoiding syn-pentane interactions. A new compound with micromolar activity against MOLT-4, CCRF-CEM, and HL-60(TB) leukemia cell lines was identified from this series.