Synthesis, Characterization, and Anticancer Effect of Trifluoromethylated Aurone Derivatives

A concise update on the synthetic transformation of aurones via asymmetric cycloaddition, annulation, and Michael/Mannich reactions

This review provides a comprehensive overview of the significance of aurone cores in organic chemistry, highlighting their crucial role as synthetic intermediates. With their innate electrophilic reactivity and convenient accessibility, aurone cores play a vital role in catalysing the development of novel methodologies and facilitating the creation of intricate compounds. The objective of this review is to present a current and insightful compilation that summarizes the progress in aurone synthetic transformations, focusing on diverse cycloaddition ([3 + 2], [4 + 2], [4 + 3], [10 + 2]) and annulation reactions.

Some morpholine tethered novel aurones: Design, synthesis, biological, kinetic and molecular docking studies

Enzymes are the biological macromolecules that have emerged as an important drug target as their upregulation/imbalance leads to various pathological conditions, such as inflammation, parasitic infection, Alzheimer's, cancer, and many others. Here, we designed and synthesized some morpholine tethered novel aurones and evaluated them as potential inhibitors for CTSB, α-amylase, lipase and activator for trypsin. All the newly synthesized compounds were fully characterized by various spectroscopic techniques (1H NMR, 13C NMR, HRMS) and the Z-configuration to them was assigned based on single crystal XRD data and 1H NMR chemical shift values. Further, the hybrids were evaluated for their intracellular (cathepsin B) and extracellular (trypsin, lipase, amylase) enzyme inhibition potencies. The in-vitro inhibition screening against cathepsin B revealed that most of the synthesized compounds are good competitive inhibitors (% inhibition = 22.91-75.04), with 6q (% inhibition = 75.04) and 6r (% inhibition = 71.13) as the eminent inhibitors of the series. At the same time, they exhibited weak to moderate inhibition towards amylase (% inhibition = 7.22-22.48) and lipase (% inhibition = 16.29-54.83). A significant trypsin activation (% activation = 107.42-196.47) was observed even at the micromolar concentration of the compounds. Furthermore, the drug-modeling studies showed a good correlation between the in-vitro experimental results and the calculated binding affinity of the screened compounds with all the tested enzymes. These findings are expected to provide a new lead in drug development for different pathological disorders wherever these enzymes are involved.

Antitumor activities of a novel fluorinated small molecule (A1) in CT26 colorectal cancer cells: molecular docking and in vitro studies

Chemotherapeutic treatment of colorectal cancer (CRC) has not been satisfactory until now; therefore, the discovery of more efficient medications is of great significance. Based on available knowledge, the CXCL12/CXCR4 axis plays a significant role in tumorigenesis, and inhibition of CXCR4 chemokine receptor with AMD3100 is one of the most known therapeutic modalities in cancer therapy. Herein, N, N''-thiocarbonylbis(N'-(3,4-dimethylphenyl)-2,2,2-trifluoroacetimidamide) (A1) was synthesized as a potent CXCR4 inhibitor. A1 inhibitory activity was first evaluated employing Molecular Docking simulations in comparison with the most potent CXCR4 inhibitors. Then, the antiproliferative and cytotoxic effect of A1 on CT26 mouse CRC cells was investigated by MTT assay technique and compared with those of the control molecule, AMD3100. The impact of the target compounds IC50 on apoptosis, cell cycle arrest, and CXCR4 expression was determined by flow cytometry technique. Our finding demonstrated that A1 induces a cytotoxic effect on CT26 cells at 60 μg/mL concentration within 72 h and provokes cell apoptosis and G2/M cell cycle arrest in comparison with the untreated cells, while AMD3100 did not show a cytotoxic effect up to 800 μg/mL dose. The obtained results show that A1 (at a concentration of 40 μg/mL) significantly reduced the proliferation of CT26 cells treated with 100 ng/mL of CXCL12 in 72 h. Moreover, treatment with 60 μg/mL of A1 and 100 ng/mL of CXCL12 for 72 h significantly decreased the number of cells expressing the CXCR4 receptor compared to the control group treated with CXCL12. Eventually, the obtained results indicate that A1, as a dual-function fluorinated small molecule, may benefit CRC treatment through inhibition of CXCR4 and exert a cytotoxic effect on tumor cells.Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma.

Anticancer therapeutic potential of benzofuran scaffolds

Benzofuran moiety is the main component of many biologically active natural and synthetic heterocycles. These heterocycles have unique therapeutic potentials and are involved in various clinical drugs. The reported results confirmed the extraordinary inhibitory potency of such benzofurans against a panel of human cancer cell lines compared with a wide array of reference anticancer drugs. Several publications about the anticancer potencies of benzofuran-based heterocycles were encountered. The recent developments of anticancer activities of both natural and synthetic benzofuran scaffolds during 2019-2022 are thoroughly covered. Many of the described benzofurans are promising candidates for development as anticancer agents based on their outstanding inhibitory potency against a panel of human cancer cells compared with reference anticancer drugs. These findings encourage medicinal chemists to explore new areas to improve human health and reduce suffering.

Recent advances on synthesis and biological activities of aurones

Aurones are naturally occurring structural isomerides of flavones that have diverse bioactivities including antiviral, antibacterial, antifungal, anti-inflammatory, antitumor, antimalarial, antioxidant, neuropharmacological activities and so on. They constitute an important class of pharmacologically active scaffolds that exhibit multiple biological activities via diverse mechanisms. This review article provides an update on the recent advances (2013-2020.4) in the synthesis and biological activities of these derivatives. In the cases where sufficient information is available, some important structure-activity relationships (SAR) of their biological activities were presented, and on the strength of our expertise in medicinal chemistry and careful analysis of the recent literature, for the potential of aurones as medicinal drugs is proposed.

Aurone: A biologically attractive scaffold as anticancer agent

Aurones are very simple, promising anticancer lead molecules containing three rings (A, B and C). A very slight structural variation in the aurones elicits diverse affinity and specificity towards different molecular targets. The present review discusses the design, discovery and development of natural and synthetic aurones as small molecule anticancer agents. Detailed structure-activity relationship and intermolecular interactions at different targets are also discussed. Due to their rare occurrence in nature and minimal mention in literature, the anticancer potential of aurones is rather recent but in constant progress.

Discovery of C-shaped aurone human neutrophil elastase inhibitors

Aurones were discovered as sub-micromolar HNE inhibitors. The activity is rationalized by a C-shape conformation that allows tight binding to HNE S1 and S2 pockets.