Design and synthesis of novel benzimidazole derivatives as inhibitors of hepatitis B virus

A series of novel benzimidazole derivatives were synthesized and evaluated for their anti-hepatitis B virus (HBV) activity and cytotoxicity in the HepG2.2.15 cell line. The preliminary SAR was discussed. Compound 12a, with IC50<0.41 microM and SI>81.2, was the most promising compound and selected as the benchmark compound for further optimization.

A Microcapillary System for Simultaneous, Parallel Microwave-Assisted Synthesis

A continuous flow, microwave-assisted, parallel-capillary microreactor has been developed. Libraries of drug candidates were prepared on the milligram scale with this reactor by injecting plugs of reagents from separate syringes into common reaction capillaries, thereby producing discrete compounds in excellent yield and purity. Microwave irradiation provides the necessary energy that existing room-temperature microreactor technology lacks for higher activation barrier transformations, producing the required amounts of desired compounds in minutes or less.

A Microreactor for Microwave-Assisted Capillary (Continuous Flow) Organic Synthesis

A capillary-based flow system has been developed for conducting microscale organic synthesis with the aid of microwave irradiation. The capillary internal diameter investigated ranged from 200 to 1200 mum, while the flow rate was varied between 2 and 40 muL/min, which corresponds to the sample being irradiated approximately 4 min. Other parameters investigated include reaction concentration and power setting of the microwave. Excellent conversion was observed in a variety of cross coupling and ring-closing metathesis (RCM) reactions employing metal catalysts and in nucleophilic aromatic substitution and Wittig reactions that do not employ metals. Reactions that have solids in them do not seem to pose a significant concern for the method, such as blocked channels. It was shown that capillaries coated internally with thin films of Pd metal show tremendous rate accelerations and that the thin films themselves are capable of catalyzing Suzuki-Miyaura reactions with no exogenous catalyst added. Importantly, it has been demonstrated that reagents in separate syringes can be coinjected into the capillary, mix, and react with none of the laminar flow problems that plague microreactor (lab on a chip) technology. This paves the way to use microwave-assisted, flow capillary synthesis as a powerful and efficient means to replace "one-at-a-time" microwave synthesis to provide libraries of compounds in a scale suitable for biological screening purposes.

Quantitation of branched-chain alpha-keto acids as their N-methylquinoxalone derivatives: comparison of O- and N-alkylation versus -silylation

Quantitative estimation of isotopic enrichment and concentrations of keto analogs of branched-chain amino acids in biological fluid has been used for the study of protein metabolism in animal and human studies. At present, O-trimethylsilyl-quinoxalinol derivative is used widely in the quantification of branched-chain alpha-keto acids. In the present study, N-methyl-quinoxalone derivative was developed and its use in quantification in human studies verified. O-phenylenediamine and alpha-keto acid react in acidic media to yield phenolic and amide tautomers. O-trimethylsilyl-quinoxalinol derivative of the phenolic tautomer is used at present for quantification by chemical ionization/selected ion monitoring. We have prepared N-methyl-quinoxalone derivative using N,N-dimethyl formamide dimethyl acetal. This derivative is characterized by a major amide form and a minor phenolic form. The mass spectrum has a characteristic fragment, which facilitates easy identification and quantitation by electron impact/selected ion monitoring. Because m/z 174 was observed as the base peak for alpha-ketoisocaproate, alpha-keto-beta-methylvalerate and alpha-ketoisovalerate, "single ion monitoring' could be performed for the quantification of isotopic enrichment as well as plasma concentration of these three branched-chain alpha-keto acids. Isotopic enrichment from 0.25 to 7.5 at% excess could be measured easily, with an average coefficient of variation of less than 8%. Plasma concentrations as low as 10 microM l-1 in a 200-microliters aliquot could be measured. Methyl migration was an interesting feature of the mass spectrometric fragmentation pattern of the alpha-keto acids. The mechanism of methyl migration is proposed and discussed. This paper also describes some of the studies involved in the formation of isomeric O- and N-alkyl, -quinoxaline and -quinoxalone using a number of N,N-dimethyl formamide dialkyl acetals.