Design, Synthesis, and Evaluation of the Anticancer Properties of Novel Quinone Bearing Carbamyl β-Lactam Hybrids

Novel (±)-trans-β-lactam ureas: Synthesis, in silico and in vitro biological profiling

A diastereomeric mixture of racemic 3-phthalimido-b-lactam 2a/2b was synthesized by the Staudinger reaction of carboxylic acid activated with 2-chloro-1-methylpyridinium iodide and imine 1. The amino group at the C3 position of the b-lactam ring was used for further structural upgrade. trans-b-lactam ureas 4a-t were prepared by the condensation reaction of the amino group of b-lactam ring with various aromatic and aliphatic isocyanates. Antimicrobial activity of compounds 4a-t was evaluated in vitro and neither antibacterial nor antifungal activity were observed. Several of the newly synthesized trans-b-lactam ureas 4a-c, 4f, 4h, 4n, 4o, 4p, and 4s were evaluated for in vitro antiproliferative activity against liver hepatocellular carcinoma (HepG2), ovarian carcinoma (A2780), breast adenocarcinoma (MCF7) and untransformed human fibroblasts (HFF1). The b-lactam urea 4o showed the most potent antiproliferative activity against the ovarian carcinoma (A2780) cell line. Compounds 4o and 4p exhibited strong cytotoxic effects against human non-tumor cell line HFF1. The b-lactam ureas 4a-t were estimated to be soluble and membrane permeable, moderately lipophilic molecules (logP 4.6) with a predisposition to be CYP3A4 and P-glycoprotein substrates. The tools PASS and SwissTargetPrediction could not predict biological targets for compounds 4a-t with high probability, pointing to the novelty of their structure. Considering low toxicity risk, molecules 4a and 4f can be selected as the most promising candidates for further structure modifications.

Nitrogen Containing Heterocycles as Anticancer Agents: A Medicinal Chemistry Perspective

Cancer is one of the major healthcare challenges across the globe. Several anticancer drugs are available on the market but they either lack specificity or have poor safety, severe side effects, and suffer from resistance. So, there is a dire need to develop safer and target-specific anticancer drugs. More than 85% of all physiologically active pharmaceuticals are heterocycles or contain at least one heteroatom. Nitrogen heterocycles constituting the most common heterocyclic framework. In this study, we have compiled the FDA approved heterocyclic drugs with nitrogen atoms and their pharmacological properties. Moreover, we have reported nitrogen containing heterocycles, including pyrimidine, quinolone, carbazole, pyridine, imidazole, benzimidazole, triazole, β-lactam, indole, pyrazole, quinazoline, quinoxaline, isatin, pyrrolo-benzodiazepines, and pyrido[2,3-d]pyrimidines, which are used in the treatment of different types of cancer, concurrently covering the biochemical mechanisms of action and cellular targets.

Ni-Catalyzed asymmetric reduction of α-keto-β-lactams via DKR enabled by proton shuttling

Chiral α-hydroxy-β-lactams are key fragments of many bioactive compounds and antibiotics, and the development of efficient synthetic methods for these compounds is of great value. The highly enantioselective dynamic kinetic resolution (DKR) of α-keto-β-lactams was realized via a novel proton shuttling strategy. A wide range of α-keto-β-lactams were reduced efficiently and enantioselectively by Ni-catalyzed asymmetric hydrogenation, providing the corresponding α-hydroxy-β-lactam derivatives with high yields and enantioselectivities (up to 92% yield, up to 94% ee). Deuterium-labelling experiments indicate that phenylphosphinic acid plays a pivotal role in the DKR of α-keto-β-lactams by promoting the enolization process. The synthetic potential of this protocol was demonstrated by its application in the synthesis of a key intermediate of Taxol and (+)-epi-Cytoxazone.

Recent Advances in β-lactam Derivatives as Potential Anticancer Agents

Cancer, accounts for around 10 million deaths annually, is the second leading cause of death globally. The continuous emergency of drug-resistant cancers and the low specificity of anticancer agents are the main challenges in the control and eradication of cancers, so it is imperative to develop novel anticancer agents. Immense efforts have been made in developing new lead compounds and novel chemotherapeutic strategies for the treatment of various forms of cancers in recent years. β-Lactam derivatives constitute versatile and attractive scaffolds for the drug discovery since these kinds of compounds possess a variety of pharmacological properties, and some of them exhibited promising potency against both drug-sensitive and drug-resistant cancer cell lines. Thus, β-lactam moiety is a useful template for the development of novel anticancer agents. This review will provide an overview of β-lactam derivatives with the potential therapeutic application for the treatment of cancers covering articles published between 2000 and 2020. The mechanisms of action, the critical aspects of design and structureactivity relationships are also discussed.