Synthesis of Cyclosporine and Analogues: Structural Requirements for Immunosuppressive Activity

Abstract Cyclosporine is a new immunosuppressive drug which was first marketed in 1983 under the trade name Sandimmune®. This compound, an innovation in selective immune modulation, was isolated from a fungal culture and characterized as a cyclic undecapeptide containing a novel amino acid together with several N ‐methylated amino acids. The new amino acid (4R)‐4‐( E )‐2‐butenyl‐4, N ‐dimethyl‐ L ‐threonine (MeBmt) was the only unknown amino acid of cyclosporine and there had previously been no means for its isolation. For this reason and because it seemed possible that MeBmt could play a significant role in determining the pharmacological activity of cyclosporine, its synthesis in enantiomerically pure form was undertaken. The next step was the development of a total synthesis of cycloporine, which appeared attractive, not only for its intrinsic worth, but also as an important tool for investigating the relationships between structure and immunosuppressive activity. Essential for the immunosuppression are the amino acids MeBmt, Abu, Sar, and MeVal in the positions 1, 2, 3 and 11, but probably also still larger parts of the molecule. Such information could be valuable for finding new chemical leads or drugs with a new activity profile.