Vanoxonin, a new inhibitor of thymidylate synthetase. II. Structure determination and total synthesis.

Acid hydrolysis of vanoxonin yielded one mol each of 2,3-dihydroxybenzoic acid, L-threonine, L-N omega-hydroxyornithine. Presence of acetyl group in vanoxonin was suggested by the 1H NMR. Periodate oxidation of vanoxonin liberated one mol of acetic acid suggesting that the acetyl group bound to the omega-nitrogen of N omega-hydroxyornithine. The sequence of three components was determined to be L-N-(2,3-dihydroxybenzoyl)threonyl-L-(N omega-acetyl-N omega-hydroxy)ornithine by mass spectrometric analysis. This structure was confirmed by the total synthesis of vanoxonin.