Phenanthrylalkanoic acids. I: Syntheses and biological activities of 1-phenanthryl derivatives

Regioselectively Nucleus and/or Side-Chain Fluorinated 2-(Phenanthryl)propionic Acids by an Effective Combination of Radical and Organometallic Chemistry

Regioselectively nucleus and/or side-chain fluorinated 2-(phenanthr-1-yl)- and 2-(phenanthr-2-yl)propionic acids 1-5 were prepared using phenanthren-1(2H)-ones 6a-c as key intermediates. Thus, ethyl 2-(fluorophenanthryl)propionates 11 were obtained in good yields by Reformatsky reaction of 6a-c with ethyl 2-bromopropionate followed by dehydratation and DDQ-promoted aromatization of the resulting beta-hydroxyesters. Side-chain alkyl 2-hydroxy-2-(phenanthr-1-yl)propionates 14 were obtained by bromine/lithium permutation of dihydrophenanthryl bromides 12a-c with butyllithium followed by quenching of the lithiated intermediates with methyl pyruvate or ethyl 3,3,3-trifluoropyruvate and subsequent DDQ-promoted aromatization. The alkyl 2-hydroxy-2-(phenanthr-1-yl)propionates 25 were prepared by reacting 8-bromo-1,3-difluorophenanthrene 24 with butyllithium for 10 seconds at -110 degrees C and subsequent addition of the suitable pyruvate to the lithiated intermediates. Alkyl 2-hydroxy-2-(phenanthr-2-yl)propionates 26 and 29 were suitably obtained by site-selective metalation of 1,3-difluorophenanthrene 28 and the bromophenanthrene 24, respectively, with LDA followed by quenching of the metalated intermediates with the suitable alkyl pyruvate. Fluorination of the above alpha-hydroxypropionates with DAST, followed by the alkaline hydrolysis, allowed the expected 2-(phenanthryl)propionic acids 1-5 to be obtained in satisfactory overall yields.

High-performance liquid chromatographic determination of aliphatic thiols with aroylacrylic acids as fluorogenic precolumn derivatization reagents

The use of the methyl ester of 4-(6-methoxynaphthalen-2-yl)-4-oxo-2-butenoic acid as a fluorogenic labelling reagent for the high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) of biologically important thiols (glutathione, cysteine, acetylcysteine, homocysteine, cysteamine, sodium 2-mercaptoethanesulphonate and thiola) was investigated. The compound reacts selectively and rapidly (10 min at ambient temperature and pH 7.5) with the thiols to give fluorescent adducts that can be separated by reversed-phase HPLC and detected fluorimetrically (lambda em = 450 nm; lambda em = 310 nm). Applications to the determination of L-cysteine and mesna in pharmaceutical formulations are described.

Phenanthrylalkanoic acids, III: Syntheses and biological activities of 4-phenanthryl derivatives

Reformatsky reactions between 2,3-dihydro-4(1H)-phenanthrenone (5) and ethyl alpha-bromoacetate or propanoate yield several unsaturated esters which, upon aromatization followed by saponification, lead to the 4-phenanthrylacetic (1) and 2-(4-phenanthryl)propanoic (2) acids. The analgesic and anti-inflammatory properties of 1 and 2 were measured and compared with those of Fenbufen.