[3+2]-Cycloaddition of α-Diazocarbonyl Compounds with Arenediazonium Salts Catalyzed by Silver Nitrate Delivers 2,5-Disubstituted Tetrazoles

[3+2]-Cycloaddition of arenediazonium salts with diazo compounds (earlier exemplified only for trimethylsilyldiazomethane and 2,2,2-trifluorodiazoethane) has been developed to include a wide range of readily available α-diazocarbonyl compounds. The resulting 2-aryl-5-acyl-2H-tetrazoles are of high value in medicinal chemistry.

Novel electrophilic amides amenable by the Ugi reaction perturb thioredoxin system via thioredoxin reductase 1 (TrxR1) inhibition: Identification of DVD-445 as a new lead compound for anticancer therapy

A series of peptidomimetic compounds incorporating an electrophilic moiety was synthesized using the Ugi reaction. These compounds (termed the Ugi Michael acceptors or UMAs) were designed to target the selenocysteine catalytic residue of thioredoxin reductase 1 (TrxR1), a promising cancer target. The compounds were assessed for their potential to inhibit TrxR1 using human neuroblastoma (SH-SY5Y) cell lysate. Based on this initial screening, six compounds were selected for testing against recombinant rat TrxR1 and in the insulin assay to reveal low-micromolar to submicromolar potency of these inhibitors. The same frontrunner compounds were evaluated for their ability to exert antiproliferative activity and induce cell death and this activity was compared to the UMA effects on the levels of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (RONS). Collectively, the UMA compounds class presented itself as a rich source of leads for TrxR1 inhibitor discovery for anticancer application. Compound 7 (DVD-445) was nominated a lead for further optimization.

Medicinally Relevant Modification of the Isoquinoline-1,3-dione Scaffold via Metal-Free Arylation and Fluorination of Diazo Homophthalimides­ in Brønsted Acids

Protonation of 4-diazoisoquinoline-1,3(2H,4H)-diones in Brønsted acids gives rise to diazonium cations that can be trapped with arenes to give 4-arylisoquinoline-1,3(2H,4H)-diones (homophthalimides). This provides a new, metal-free approach to 4-aryltetrahydroisoquinolines (obtainable from respective homophthalimides by reduction). Similarly, a fluorine atom can be introduced by trapping the diazonium cation with HF. This led to the preparation of the first examples of 4-monofluoro-substituted isoquinoline-1,3-diones (as well as their 4-bromo-4-fluoro and 4-chloro-4-fluoro variants), important carboxylic acid isosteres on their own and precursors of useful 4-fluorotetrahydroisoquinoline building blocks.

A three-component, Zn(OTf)2-mediated entry into trisubstituted 2-aminoimidazoles

A three-component reaction involving in situ generation of propargylureas and subsequent Zn(OTf)₂-mediated cyclocondensation with a primary amine yielded trisubstituted 2-aminoimidazoles. These findings are in contrast to the previously reported base-promoted unimolecular cyclization of propargylureas (leading to 2-imidazolones) and extend the range of Lewis acid-catalyzed azole syntheses based on N-carbonyl propargylamines.

Pyridazinone-substituted benzenesulfonamides display potent inhibition of membrane-bound human carbonic anhydrase IX and promising antiproliferative activity against cancer cell lines

An expanded set of pyridazine-containing benzene sulfonamides was investigated for inhibition of four human carbonic anhydrase isoforms, which revealed a pronounced inhibition trend toward hCA IX, a cancer-related, membrane-bound isoform of the enzyme. Comparison of antiproliferative effects of these compounds against cancer (PANC-1) and normal (ARPE-19) cells at 50 μM concentration narrowed the selection of compounds to the eight which displayed selective growth inhibition toward the cancer cells. More detailed investigation in concentration-dependent mode against normal (ARPE-19) and two cancer cell lines (PANC-1 and SK-MEL-2) identified two lead compounds one of which displayed a notable cytotoxicity toward pancreatic cancer cells while the other targeted the melanoma cells. These findings significantly expand the knowledge base concerning the hCA IX inhibitors whose inhibitory potency against a recombinant enzyme translates into selective anticancer activity under hypoxic conditions which are aimed to model the environment of a growing tumor.

A 'sulfonyl-azide-free' (SAFE) aqueous-phase diazo transfer reaction for parallel and diversity-oriented synthesis

Diazo transfer reactions are notoriously associated with the use of potentially explosive sulfonyl azides. The first 'sulfonyl-azide-free' (SAFE) protocol for producing diazo compounds from their active-methylene precursors via the Regitz diazo transfer reaction was developed and has displayed a remarkable substrate scope. It can be applied to generating arrays of diazo compounds for further evolution via combinatorial chemistry and a range of scaffold-generating transformations.

1,2,4-Oxadiazole/2-Imidazoline Hybrids: Multi-target-directed Compounds for the Treatment of Infectious Diseases and Cancer

Replacement of amide moiety with the 1,2,4-oxadiazole core in the scaffold of recently reported efflux pump inhibitors afforded a novel series of oxadiazole/2-imidazoline hybrids. The latter compounds exhibited promising antibacterial activity on both Gram-positive (Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis) and Gram-negative (Escherichia coli, Pseudomonasfluorescens) strains. Furthermore, selected compounds markedly inhibited the growth of certain drug-resistant bacteria. Additionally, the study revealed the antiproliferative activity of several antibacterial frontrunners against pancreas ductal adenocarcinoma (PANC-1) cell line, as well as their type-selective monoamine oxidase (MAO) inhibitory profile.

Attachment of a 5-nitrofuroyl moiety to spirocyclic piperidines produces non-toxic nitrofurans that are efficacious in vitro against multidrug-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis

A selectively antimycobacterial compound belonging to the nitrofuran class of antimicrobials has been developed via conjugation of the nitrofuran moiety to a series of spirocyclic piperidines through an amide linkage. It proved to have comparable activity against drug-sensitive (H37Rv) strain as well as multidrug-resistant, patient-derived strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. The compound is druglike, showed no appreciable cytotoxicity toward human retinal pigment epithelial cell line ARPE-19 in concentrations up to 100 μM and displayed low toxicity when evaluated in mice.

Design, synthesis, and biological evaluation of novel derivatives of dithiodiglycolic acid prepared via oxidative coupling of thiols

Human thioredoxin reductase 1 (TrxR1) is a selenocysteine-containing enzyme which plays a crucial role in regulating numerous redox signalling pathways within the cell. While its functioning is important in all cells, levels of TrxR1 expression are higher in cancer cells, possibly as an adaptation to much higher levels of reactive oxygen species and the need for more extensive DNA synthesis. This makes TrxR1 an attractive target for cancer therapy development. Inspired by the structure of disulphide compounds which have advanced through various stages of clinical development, we designed a series of dithiodiglycolic acid derivatives. These were prepared from respective thiol synthons using an iodine- or benzotriazolyl chloride-promoted oxidative disulphide bond formation. Inhibition of TrxR present in cell lysates from human neuroblastoma cells (SH-SY5Y) and rat liver cells indicated several compounds with a potential for TrxR inhibition. Some of these compounds were also tested for growth inhibition against two human cancer cell lines and normal human keratinocytes.

Facile Access to Fe(III)-Complexing Cyclic Hydroxamic Acids in a Three-Component Format

Cyclic hydroxamic acids can be viewed as effective binders of soluble iron and can therefore be useful moieties for employing in compounds to treat iron overload disease. Alternatively, they are analogs of bacterial siderophores (iron-scavenging metabolites) and can find utility in designing antibiotic constructs for targeted delivery. An earlier described three-component variant of the Castagnoli—Cushman reaction of homophthalic acid (via in situ cyclodehydration to the respective anhydride) was extended to involve hydroxylamine in lieu of the amine component of the reaction. Using hydroxylamine acetate and O-benzylhydroxylamine was key to the success of this transformation due to greater solubility of the reagents in refluxing toluene (compared to hydrochloride salt). The developed protocol was found suitable for multigram-scale syntheses of N-hydroxy- and N-(benzyloxy)tetrahydroisoquinolonic acids. The cyclic hydroxamic acids synthesized in the newly developed format have been tested and shown to be efficient ligands for Fe³⁺, which makes them suitable candidates for the above-mentioned applications.

Flexible Entry into 3-Arylpent-2-enedioic Acids via Heck–Matsuda Arylation of Dimethyl Glutaconate with Arenediazonium Tosylates

For the preparation of compound libraries of Michael acceptors with tunable reactivity toward nuclophilic selenocysteine residue of thioredoxin reductase, a range of 3-arylglutaconic acids were required. The existing methods at the time had limited scope or involved several steps. A hitherto undescribed protocol for direct palladium(II) acetate-catalyzed arylation of glutaconic acid dimethyl ester at position 3 has been developed with a diverse set of arenediazonium tosylates followed by hydrolysis. This generally good-yielding two-step sequence displayed a propensity to deliver E-configured coupling products while compounds mostly featured in the literature were predominantly Z-configured. The possibility for preparing a library of 4-arylpyridine-2,6(1H,3H)-diones has been exemplified.