The Scripps Research Institute

Subhash C Sinha

Richard A Lerner

Carlos F Barbas, Iii

Christoph Rader

Carlos F Barbas

The present invention provides antibody targeting compounds in which the specificity of the antibody has been reprogrammed by covalently or noncovalently linking a targeting agent to the combining site of an antibody. By this approach, the covalently modified antibody takes on the binding specificity of the targeting agent. The compound may have biological activity provided by the targeting agent or by a separate biological agent. Various uses of the invention compounds are provided.

Antibody targeting compounds

Three monoclonal aldolase antibodies, generated against a &bgr;-diketone hapten by reactive immunization, catalyzed rapid and highly enantioselective retro-aldol reactions providing ent-9a-k by kinetic resolution. Compounds 9a, 9g and 9k were resolved in multi-gram quantities using 0.005-0.0004 mol % antibody catalyst. Enantiomerically pure starting materials, 9a-k, are useful synthons for the construction of epothilones A-E (2-6) and their analogs including 13-alkyl derivatives. Previously, the use of compound 9a as a synthon was reported in the preparation of epothilones A-D, 2-5. To further expand this synthon-based strategy, syntheses of epothilone E, 6, 13-methyl epothilone C, 7, and their trans-isomers have been achieved starting from enantiomerically pure thiazole aldols 9g and 9a, respectively, prepared by large-scale antibody catalyzed resolutions.

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San Diego, CA, United States of America

Subhash C Sinha