Design and synthesis of new spirooxindole candidates and their selenium nanoparticles as potential dual Topo I/II inhibitors, DNA intercalators, and apoptotic inducers

A new wave of dual Topo I/II inhibitors was designed and synthesised via the hybridisation of spirooxindoles and pyrimidines. In situ selenium nanoparticles (SeNPs) for some derivatives were synthesised. The targets and the SeNP derivatives were examined for their cytotoxicity towards five cancer cell lines. The inhibitory potencies of the best members against Topo I and Topo II were also assayed besides their DNA intercalation abilities. Compound 7d NPs exhibited the best inhibition against Topo I and Topo II enzymes with IC50 of 0.042 and 1.172 μM, respectively. The ability of compound 7d NPs to arrest the cell cycle and induce apoptosis was investigated. It arrested the cell cycle in the A549 cell at the S phase and prompted apoptosis by 41.02% vs. 23.81% in the control. In silico studies were then performed to study the possible binding interactions between the designed members and the target proteins.

The Solubility Studies and the Complexation Mechanism Investigations of Biologically Active Spiro[cyclopropane-1,3'-oxindoles] with β-Cyclodextrins

In this work, we first improved the aqueous solubility of biologically active spiro[cyclopropane-1,3′-oxindoles] (SCOs) via their complexation with different β-cyclodextrins (β-CDs) and proposed a possible mechanism of the complex formation. β-CDs significantly increased the water solubility of SCOs (up to fourfold). Moreover, the nature of the substituents in the β-CDs influenced the solubility of the guest molecule (MβCD > SBEβCD > HPβCD). Complexation preferably occurred via the inclusion of aromatic moieties of SCOs into the hydrophobic cavity of β-CDs by the numerous van der Waals contacts and formed stable supramolecular systems. The phase solubility technique and optical microscopy were used to determine the dissociation constants of the complexes (Kc~102 M−1) and reveal a significant decrease in the size of the formed crystals. FTIR-ATR microscopy, PXRD, and 1H-1H ROESY NMR measurements, as well as molecular modeling studies, were carried out to elucidate the host−guest interaction mechanism of the complexation. Additionally, in vitro experiments were carried out and revealed enhancements in the antibacterial activity of SCOs due to their complexation with β-CDs.

Lanthanoid-containing polyoxometalate nanocatalysts in the synthesis of bioactive isatin-based compounds

Lanthanoid-containing polyoxometalates (Ln-POMs) have been developed as effective and robust catalysts due to their Lewis acid–base active sites including the oxygen-enriched surfaces of POM and the unique 4f. electron configuration of Ln. As an extension of our interest in Ln-POMs, a series of as-synthesized nanocatalysts K₁₅[Ln(BW₁₁O₃₉)₂] (Ln-B₂W₂₂, Ln = La, Ce, Nd, Sm, Gd, and Er) synthesized and fully characterized using different techniques. The Ln³⁺ ion with a big ionic radius was chosen as the Lewis acid center which is sandwiched by two mono-lacunary Keggin [BW₁₁O₃₉]⁹⁻ units to form Ln-containing sandwiched type cluster. Consequently, the catalytic activity of nanocatalysts with different Ln was examined in the synthesis of bioactive isatin derivatives and compared under the same optimized reaction conditions in terms of yields of obtained products, indicating the superiority of the nano-Gd-B₂W₂₂ in the aforementioned simple one-pot reaction. The effects of different dosages of nanocatalyst, type of solvent, reaction time, and reaction temperature in this catalytic system were investigated and the best results were obtained in the presence of 10 mol% of nano-Gd-B₂W₂₂ in water for 12 min at the reflux condition.

Recent Progresses in the Multicomponent Synthesis of Dihydropyridines by Applying Sustainable Catalysts Under Green Conditions

The synthesis of dihydropyridines, valuable molecules with diverse therapeutic properties, using eco-friendly heterogeneous catalysts as a green alternative received significant consideration. By selecting appropriate precursors, these compounds can be readily modified to induce the desired properties in the target product. This review focused on synthesising diverse dihydropyridine derivatives in single-pot reactions using magnetic, silica, and zirconium-based heterogeneous catalytic systems. The monograph describes preparation techniques for various catalyst materials in detail. It covers facile and benign magnetic, silica, zirconium-based, and ionic liquid catalysts, exhibiting significant efficacy and consistently facilitating excellent yields in short reaction times and in a cost-effective way. Most of the designated protocols employ Hantzsch reactions involving substituted aldehydes, active methylene compounds, and ammonium acetate. These reactions presumably follow Knoevenagel condensation followed by Michael addition and intra-molecular cyclisation. The multicomponent one-pot protocols using green catalysts and solvents have admirably increased the product selectivity and yields while minimising the reaction time. These sustainable catalyst materials retain their viability for several cycles reducing the expenditure are eco-friendly.

Preparation of Fe3O4-Ag Nanocomposites with Silver Petals for SERS Application

The formation of silver nanopetal-Fe3O4 poly-nanocrystals assemblies and the use of the resulting hetero-nanostructures as active substrates for Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS) application are here reported. In practice, about 180 nm sized polyol-made Fe3O4 spheres, constituted by 10 nm sized crystals, were functionalized by (3-aminopropyl)triethoxysilane (APTES) to become positively charged, which can then electrostatically interact with negatively charged silver seeds. Silver petals were formed by seed-mediated growth in presence of Ag+ cations and self-assembly, using L-ascorbic acid (L-AA) and polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP) as mid-reducing and stabilizing agents, respectively. The resulting plasmonic structure provides a rough surface with plenty of hot spots able to locally enhance significantly any applied electrical field. Additionally, they exhibited a high enough saturation magnetization with Ms = 9.7 emu g-1 to be reversibly collected by an external magnetic field, which shortened the detection time. The plasmonic property makes the engineered Fe3O4-Ag architectures particularly valuable for magnetically assisted ultra-sensitive SERS sensing. This was unambiguously established through the successful detection, in water, of traces, (down to 10-10 M) of Rhodamine 6G (R6G), at room temperature.

High-efficient reduction of methylene blue and 4-nitrophenol by silver nanoparticles embedded in magnetic graphene oxide

In this study, a ternary magnetically separable nanocomposite of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) embedded in magnetic graphene oxide (Ag/Fe₃O₄@GO) was designed and synthesized. Beta-cyclodextrin was used as a green reducing and capping agent for decorating of AgNPs on Fe₃O₄@GO. The fabricated material was characterized using X-ray diffractometry, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, vibrating sample magnetometry, and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. The catalytic properties of the prepared Ag/Fe₃O₄@GO for the reduction of 4-nitrophenol (4-NP) and methylene blue (MB) dye with sodium borohydride were investigated in detail. The morphological and structural studies revealed that Fe₃O₄ and AgNPs with a mean size of 12 nm were uniformly distributed on the GO sheet at high densities. The catalytic tests showed that Ag/Fe₃O₄@GO exhibited an ultrafast catalytic reduction of 4-NP and MB with a reduction rate constant of 0.304 min^-1 and 0.448 min^-1, respectively. Moreover, the catalyst demonstrated excellent stability and reusability, as evidenced by the more than 97% removal efficiency maintained after five reuse cycles. The Ag/Fe₃O₄@GO catalyst could be easily recovered by the magnetic separation due to the superparamagnetic nature of Fe₃O₄ with high saturated magnetization (45.7 emu/g). Besides, the formation of networking between the formed AgNPs and β-CD through hydrogen bonding prevented the agglomeration of AgNPs, ensuring their high catalytic ability. The leaching study showed that the dissolution of Fe and Ag from Ag/Fe₃O₄@GO was negligible, indicating the environmental friendliness of the synthesized catalyst. Finally, the high catalytic performance, excellent stability, and recoverability of Ag/Fe₃O₄@GO make it a potential candidate for the reduction of organic pollutants in wastewater.

Transition metal-catalyzed synthesis of spirooxindoles

Spirooxindole is a principal bioactive agent and is observed in several natural products including alkaloids. They are broadly studied in the pharmaceutical field and have a significant role in the evolution of drugs such as anti-viral, anti-cancer, anti-microbial etc. In organic chemistry, an indispensable role is presented by transition metal catalysts. An effective synthetic perspective to spirooxindoles is the use of transition metals as the catalyst. This review discusses the synthesis of spirooxindoles catalyzed by transition metals and covers literature up to 2020.