Design and synthesis of 2-quinolones as antioxidants and antimicrobials: a rational approach

Isolation of quinic acid from dropped Citrus reticulata Blanco fruits: its derivatization, antibacterial potential, docking studies, and ADMET profiling

Citrus reticulata dropped fruits are generally discarded as waste, causing environmental pollution and losses to farmers. In the present study, column chromatography has been used to isolate quinic acid (1,3,4,5-tetrahydroxycyclohexane-1-carboxylic acid) from the ethyl acetate fraction of a methanol extract of citrus fruits dropped in April. Quinic acid is a ubiquitous plant metabolite found in various plants and microorganisms. It is an important precursor in the biosynthesis of aromatic natural compounds. It was further derivatized into 3,4-o-isopropylidenequinic acid 1,5-lactone (QA1), 1,3,4,5-tetraacetoxycyclohexylaceticanhydride (QA2), and cyclohexane-1,2,3,5-tetraone (QA3). These compounds were further tested for their antibacterial potential against the foodborne pathogens Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus spp., Yersinia enterocolitica, and Escherichia coli. QA1 exhibited maximum antibacterial potential (minimum inhibitory concentration; 80-120 μg/mL). QA1 revealed synergistic behavior with streptomycin against all the tested bacterial strains having a fractional inhibitory concentration index ranging from 0.29 to 0.37. It also caused a significant increase in cell constituent release in all the tested bacteria compared to the control, along with prominent biofilm reduction. The results obtained were further checked with computational studies that revealed the best docking score of QA1 (-6.30 kcal/mol, -5.8 kcal/mol, and -4.70 kcal/mol) against β-lactamase, DNA gyrase, and transpeptidase, respectively. The absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion, and toxicity (ADMET) analysis revealed that the drug-like properties of QA1 had an ideal toxicity profile, making it a suitable candidate for the development of antimicrobial drugs.

Quinolone Derivatives as Anticancer Agents: Importance in Medicinal Chemistry

Quinolone is a heterocyclic compound containing carbonyl at the C-2 or C-4 positions with nitrogen at the C-1 position. The scaffold was first identified for its antibacterial properties, and the derivatives were known to possess many pharmacological activities, including anticancer. In this review, the quinolin-2(H)-one and quinolin-4(H)-one derivatives were identified to inhibit several various proteins and enzymes involved in cancer cell growth, such as topoisomerase, microtubules, protein kinases, phosphoinositide 3-kinases (PI3K) and histone deacetylase (HDAC). Hybrids of quinolone with curcumin or chalcone, 2-phenylpyrroloquinolin-4-one and 4-quinolone derivatives have demonstrated strong potency against cancer cell lines. Additionally, quinolones have been explored as inhibitors of protein kinases, including EGFR and VEGFR. Therefore, this review aims to consolidate the medicinal chemistry of quinolone derivatives in the pipeline and discuss their similarities in terms of their pharmacokinetic profiles and potential target sites to provide an understanding of the structural requirements of anticancer quinolones.

Melatonin and Vitamins as Protectors against the Reproductive Toxicity of Bisphenols: Which Is the Most Effective? A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Bisphenols such as bisphenol A (BPA), S (BPS), C (BPC), F (BPF), AF (BPAF), tetrabromobisphenol, nonylphenol, and octylphenol are plasticizers used worldwide to manufacture daily-use articles. Exposure to these compounds is related to many pathologies of public health importance, such as infertility. Using a protector compound against the reproductive toxicological effects of bisphenols is of scientific interest. Melatonin and vitamins have been tested, but the results are not conclusive. To this end, this systematic review and meta-analysis compared the response of reproductive variables to melatonin and vitamin administration as protectors against damage caused by bisphenols. We search for controlled studies of male rats exposed to bisphenols to induce alterations in reproduction, with at least one intervention group receiving melatonin or vitamins (B, C, or E). Also, molecular docking simulations were performed between the androgen (AR) and estrogen receptors (ER), melatonin, and vitamins. About 1234 records were initially found; finally, 13 studies were qualified for review and meta-analysis. Melatonin plus bisphenol improves sperm concentration and viability of sperm and increases testosterone serum levels compared with control groups; however, groups receiving vitamins plus bisphenols had lower sperm concentration, total testis weight, and testosterone serum levels than the control. In the docking analysis, vitamin E had the highest negative MolDock score, representing the best binding affinity with AR and ER, compared with other vitamins and melatonin in the docking. Our findings suggest that vitamins could act as an endocrine disruptor, and melatonin is most effective in protecting against the toxic effects of bisphenols.

Design and Synthesis of 2-(4-Bromophenyl)Quinoline-4-Carbohydrazide Derivatives via Molecular Hybridization as Novel Microbial DNA-Gyrase Inhibitors

Microbial DNA gyrase is regarded as an outstanding microbial target. Hence, 15 new quinoline derivatives (5-14) were designed and synthesized. The antimicrobial activity of the afforded compounds was pursued via in vitro approaches. The investigated compounds displayed eligible MIC values, particularly against G-positive Staphylococcus aureus species. Consequently, an S. aureus DNA gyrase supercoiling assay was performed, using ciprofloxacin as a reference control. Obviously, compounds 6b and 10 unveiled IC₅₀ values of 33.64 and 8.45 μM, respectively. Alongside, ciprofloxacin exhibited an IC₅₀ value of 3.80 μM. Furthermore, a significant docking binding score was encountered by compound 6b (-7.73 kcal/mol), surpassing ciprofloxacin (-7.29 kcal/mol). Additionally, both compounds 6b and 10 revealed high GIT absorption without passing the blood brain barrier. Finally, the conducted structure-activity relationship study assured the usefulness of the hydrazine moiety as a molecular hybrid for activity either in cyclic or opened form.

O-prenylated carbostyrils as a novel class of 15-lipoxygenase inhibitors: Synthesis, characterization, and inhibitory assessment

Catalyzed peroxidation of unsaturated lipid in animals and plants intimately is linked to the activity of 15-Lipoxygenase enzymes. Lipoxygenases (LOXs) are well known to play an important role in many acute and chronic syndromes such as inflammation, asthma, cancer, and allergy. In this study, a series of mono prenyloxycarbostyrils were synthesized and evaluated as potential inhibitors of soybean 15-Lipoxygenase (SLO) and their inhibitory potencies were compared to mono prenyloxycoumarins which had been reported in the previous works. The synthetic compounds inhibit lipoxygenase enzyme by competitive mechanism like the prenyloxy coumarins. The results showed that position and length of the prenyl moiety play the important role in lipoxygenase inhibitory activity. Among all of the synthetic compounds (coumarin and carbostyril derivatives), 5-farnesyloxycoumarin and 8-farnesyloxycarbostyril demonstrated the best inhibitory activity by IC50  values of 1.1 µM and 0.53 µM, respectively.

Synthesis and Mechanistic Insights of the Formation of 3-Hydroxyquinolin-2-ones including Viridicatin from 2-Chloro-N,3-diaryloxirane-2-carboxamides under Acid-Catalyzed Rearrangements

N-Benzyl-2-chloro-N,3-diaryloxirane-2-carboxamides, easily obtained from aromatic aldehydes and anilides of dichloroacetic acid under Darzens condensation conditions, proved to be excellent starting compounds for the synthesis of 3-hydroxyindolin-2-ones, cyclohepto[b]pyrrole-2,3-diones, and 1-azaspiro[4.5]deca-3,6,9-triene-2-ones via the C(sp²)-C(sp²) bond formation in the first case and C(sp²)-C(sp³) bond formation in the second and third cases. Under optimized reaction conditions, 3-hydroxyindolin-2-ones are obtained in a one-pot process, which involves the treatment of N-benzyl-2-chloro-N,3-diaryloxirane-2-carboxamides with CF₃CO₂H or AcOH/H₂SO₄. In the case of intramolecular cyclization, the detailed reaction channels depend strongly on the substituents present in the anilide component and in the aromatic ring of the aldehyde component of N-benzyl-2-chloro-N,3-diaryloxirane-2-carboxamides, as well as the temperature and duration of the reaction. A combined experimental and DFT mechanistic study of the formation of 1-benzyl-3-hydroxy-4-arylquinolin-2(1H)-ones showed that there are three competing reaction channels: (a) ring-closure via the ipso site, (b) ring-closure via the 1,2-Cl shift, and (c) ring-closure via the ortho site. Such mechanistic insights enabled an effective one-pot gram-scale synthesis of viridicatin from benzaldehyde and 2,2-dichloro-N-(4-methoxybenzyl)-N-phenylacetamide.

Design, synthesis and docking studies of novel thiazole derivatives incorporating pyridine moiety and assessment as antimicrobial agents

A novel series of substituted 4,6-dimethyl-2-oxo-1-(thiazol-2-ylamino)-1,2-dihydropyridine-3-carbonitrile derivatives 6, 9, 13, 15, and 17 was synthesized in a good to excellent yield from the reaction of 1-(3-cyano-4,6-dimethyl-2-oxopyridin-1(2H)-yl)thiourea with 2-oxo-N'-arylpropanehydrazonoyl chloride, chloroacetone, α-bromoketones, ethyl chloroacetate, and 2,3-dichloroquinoxaline, respectively. The potential DNA gyrase inhibitory activity was examined using in silico molecular docking simulation. The novel thiazoles exhibit dock score values between - 6.4 and - 9.2 kcal/mol and they were screened for their antimicrobial activities. Compound 13a shown good antibacterial activities with MIC ranged from 93.7-46.9 μg/mL, in addition, it shown good antifungal activities with MIC ranged from 7.8 and 5.8 μg/mL.

Novel Amino Acid Derivatives of Quinolines as Potential Antibacterial and Fluorophore Agents

A new series of amino acid derivatives of quinolines was synthesized through the hydrolysis of amino acid methyl esters of quinoline carboxamides with alkali hydroxide. The compounds were purified on silica gel by column chromatography and further characterized by TLC, NMR and ESI-TOF mass spectrometry. All compounds were screened for in vitro antimicrobial activity against different bacterial strains using the microdilution method. Most of the synthesized amino acid-quinolines show more potent or equipotent inhibitory action against the tested bacteria than their correspond esters. In addition, many of them exhibit fluorescent properties and could possibly be utilized as fluorophores. Molecular docking and simulation studies of the compounds at putative bacterial target enzymes suggest that the antimicrobial potency of these synthesized analogues could be due to enzyme inhibition via their favorable binding at the fluoroquinolone binding site at the GyrA subunit of DNA gyrase and/or the ParC subunit of topoisomerase-IV.

Deciphering molecular mechanism underlying hypolipidemic activity of echinocystic Acid

Our previous study showed that a triterpene mixture, consisting of echinocystic acid (EA) and oleanolic acid (OA) at a ratio of 4 : 1, dose-dependently ameliorated the hyperlipidemia and atherosclerosis in rabbits fed with high fat/high cholesterol diets. This study was aimed at exploring the mechanisms underlying antihyperlipidemic effect of EA. Molecular docking simulation of EA was performed using Molegro Virtual Docker (version: 4.3.0) to investigate the potential targets related to lipid metabolism. Based on the molecular docking information, isotope labeling method or spectrophotometry was applied to examine the effect of EA on the activity of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase, acyl-CoA:cholesterol acyltransferase (ACAT), and diacylglycerol acyltransferase (DGAT) in rat liver microsomes. Our results revealed a strong affinity of EA towards ACAT and DGAT in molecular docking analysis, while low binding affinity existed between EA and HMG-CoA reductase as well as between EA and cholesteryl ester transfer protein. Consistent with the results of molecular docking, in vitro enzyme activity assays showed that EA inhibited ACAT and DGAT, with IC₅₀ values of 103 and 139 μM, respectively, and exhibited no significant effect on HMG-CoA reductase activity. The present findings suggest that EA may exert hypolipidemic effect by inhibiting the activity of ACAT and DGAT.

Synthesis, characterization and antimicrobial studies of some new trifluoromethyl quinoline-3-carbohydrazide and 1,3,4-oxadiazoles

7-(Trifluoromethyl)-4-hydroxy substituted quinolinecarbazide derivatives (6a–eand7a–g) andN-alkyl-3-(5-phenyl-1,3,4-oxadiazol-2-yl)-7-(trifluoromethyl) quinolin-4-amine (9a–f) were synthesized, characterized and screened for their antimicrobial activity.

Characterization of markers of botanical origin and other compounds extracted from unifloral honeys

The possibility of tracing the botanical and geographical origin of products such as honey has become more important because of market globalization. As a consequence, numerous analytical methods have been applied to the determination of honey authenticity. The scope of the present work is to chromatographically purify and characterize 23 compounds from organic extracts of unifloral (chestnut, linden, orange, acacia, eucalyptus, honeydew) and polyfloral honeys. Of these compounds, 17 were identified as specific markers and were used for botanical discrimination in a previous study based on multivariate statistical analysis of proton nuclear magnetic resonance ((1)H NMR) data. Together with the botanical markers, 6 other substances were isolated and characterized using NMR and mass spectrometry. These phytochemicals belong to several classes, that is, terpenes, organic acids, flavonoids, and others. For the first time, a diacylglyceryl ether and 5 other compounds present in different types of honey were identified and characterized.

Synthesis, characterization, and antimicrobial evaluation of carbostyril derivatives of 1H-pyrazole

A new series of 12 derivatives of 4-pyrazolyl-N-arylquinoline-2,5-dione (4a-l) were synthesized by one pot base catalyzed cyclocondensation reaction of 1-aryl-5-chloro-3-methyl-1H-pyrazole-4-carbaldehyde (1a-c), Meldrum's acid (2) and 3-arylamino-5,5-disubstitutedcyclohex-2-enone (3a-d). All the compounds were characterized by elemental analysis, FT-IR, (1)H NMR and (13)C NMR spectral data and were screened, against six bacterial pathogens, namely Bacillus subtilis, Clostridium tetani, Streptococcus pneumoniae, Salmonella typhi, Vibrio cholerae, Escherichia coli and antifungal activity, against two fungal pathogens Aspergillus fumigatus and Candida albicans, using broth microdilution MIC (minimum inhibitory concentration) method. Some of the compounds were found to be equipotent or more potent than commercial drugs, against most of the employed strains, as evident from the screening data.

1-{6-Chloro-2-[(2-chloro-8-methyl-3-quinol-yl)meth-oxy]-4-phenyl-quinolin-3-yl}ethanone

In the title mol­ecule, C₂₈H₂₀Cl₂N₂O₂, the dihedral angle between the 2-chloro­quinoline and 6-chloro­quinoline rings is 7.55 (6)°. The dihedral angle between the phenyl ring and its attached quinoline ring is 62.59 (4)°. In the crystal, aromatic π–π stacking inter­actions [centroid–centroid distances = 3.771 (3) and 3.612 (3) Å] help to establish the packing.

1-{6-Chloro-2-[(2-chloro-6-methyl-quinolin-3-yl)meth-oxy]-4-phenyl-quinolin-3-yl}ethanone

In the title compound, C(28)H(20)Cl(2)N(2)O(2), the 2-chloro-quinoline and 6-chloro-quinoline ring systems are twisted slightly, making a dihedral angle of 4.05 (3)°. The dihedral angle between the 2-quinoline ring system and the phenyl ring attached to it is 74.43 (5)°. In the crystal structure, a pair of inter-molecular C-H⋯O hydrogen bonds connect the mol-ecules, forming centrosymmetric dimers with R(2) (2)(16) motifs. The dimers are further consolidated by a C-H⋯π inter-action and a π-π stacking inter-action with a centroid-centroid distance of 3.6562 (10) Å.

1-{6-Chloro-2-[(2-chloro-3-quinol-yl)meth-oxy]-4-phenyl-3-quinol-yl}ethan-1-one

In the title compound, C₂₇H₁₈Cl₂N₂O₂, the 2-chloro­quinoline and 6-chloro­quinoline rings are almost planar, with maximum deviations from their mean planes of 0.072 (1) and 0.044 (1) Å, respectively, for the Cl atoms. The inter­planar angle between these rings is 14.36 (5)°. The inter­planar angle between the 6-chloro­quinoline and phenyl rings is 66.00 (8)°. In the crystal, mol­ecules are inter­linked by weak C—H⋯O, C—H⋯π and π–π stacking [centroid–centroid distances = 3.7453 (10) and 3.7557 (9) Å] inter­actions.