Oxirane is a three-membered ring compound consisting of one oxygen atom and two carbon atoms. Oxirane is present in natural products such as cryptocin, which has anticancer properties, and azidomycin, trienone, and epoxidomycin, which have shown activity against drug-resistant leukemias and AIDS-related lymphomas. Other oxirane containing bioactive molecules have anti-inflammatory, immunosuppressive, and antitumor activities. Oxiranes are a strained ring susceptible to various nucleophilic, ring-opening or rearrangement reactions, so they are considered to be one of the most important intermediates in organic synthesis.
Tetrahydropyran is an organic compound consisting of a saturated six-membered ring containing five carbon atoms and one oxygen atom. Tetrahydropyrans are common structural motifs in natural products and synthetic therapeutic molecules. In nature, these six-membered oxygen heterocycles are usually assembled by intramolecular reactions, including oxygen Michael addition or ring opening of epoxy alcohols. In fact, polyether natural products have been particularly extensively studied for their fascinating structures and important biological properties; these are often formed through endoselective epoxy open cascades.
When the ends of the chains are joined together into a ring, cyclic compounds result; such substances often are referred to as carbocyclic or alicyclic compounds. Substitution of one or more of the ring carbon atoms in the molecules of a carbocyclic compound with a heteroatom gives a heterocyclic compound.