Cyclic voltammetry of phenazines and quinoxalines including mono- and di-N-oxides. Relation to structure and antimicrobial activity

Quinoxaline Moiety: A Potential Scaffold against Mycobacterium tuberculosis

Background. The past decades have seen numerous efforts to develop new antitubercular agents. Currently, the available regimens are lengthy, only partially effective, and associated with high rates of adverse events. The challenge is therefore to develop new agents with faster and more efficient action. The versatile quinoxaline ring possesses a broad spectrum of pharmacological activities, ensuring considerable attention to it in the field of medicinal chemistry. Objectives. In continuation of our program on the pharmacological activity of quinoxaline derivatives, this review focuses on potential antimycobacterial activity of recent quinoxaline derivatives and discusses their structure-activity relationship for designing new analogs with improved activity. Methods. The review compiles recent studies published between January 2011 and April 2021. Results. The final total of 23 studies were examined. Conclusions. Data from studies of quinoxaline and quinoxaline 1,4-di-N-oxide derivatives highlight that specific derivatives show encouraging perspectives in the treatment of Mycobacterium tuberculosis and the recent growing interest for these scaffolds. These interesting results warrant further investigation, which may allow identification of novel antitubercular candidates based on this scaffold.

Reduction Potential Predictions for Some 3-Aryl-Quinoxaline-2-Carbonitrile 1,4-Di-N-Oxide Derivatives with Known Anti-Tumor Properties

The ability for DFT: B3LYP calculations using the 6-31g and lanl2dz basis sets to predict the electrochemical properties of twenty (20) 3-aryl-quinoxaline-2-carbonitrile 1,4-di-N-oxide derivatives with varying degrees of cytotoxic activity in dimethylformamide (DMF) was investigated. There was a strong correlation for the first reduction and moderate-to-low correlation of the second reduction of the diazine ring between the computational and the experimental data, with the exception of the derivative containing the nitro functionality. The four (4) nitro group derivatives are clear outliers in the overall data sets and the derivative E4 is ill-behaved. The remaining three (3) derivatives containing the nitro groups had a strong correlation between the computational and experimental data; however, the computational data falls substantially outside of the expected range.

Voltammetric Study of Some 3-Aryl-quinoxaline-2-carbonitrile 1,4-di-N-oxide Derivatives with Anti-Tumor Activities

The electrochemical properties of twenty 3-aryl-quinoxaline-2-carbonitrile 1,4-di-N-oxide derivatives with varying degrees of cytotoxic activity were investigated in dimethylformamide (DMF) using cyclic voltammetry and first derivative cyclic voltammetry. With one exception, the first reduction of these compounds was found to be reversible or quasireversible and is attributed to reduction of the N-oxide moiety to form a radical anion. The second reduction of the diazine ring was found to be irreversible. Compounds containing a nitro group on the 3-phenyl ring also exhibited a reduction process that may be attributed to that group. There was good correlation between molecular structure and reduction potential, with reduction being facilitated by an enhanced net positive charge at the electroactive site created by electron withdrawing substituents. Additionally, the reduction potential was calculated using two common basis sets, 6-31g and lanl2dz, for five of the test molecules. There was a strong correlation between the computational data and the experimental data, with the exception of the derivative containing the nitro functionality. No relationship between the experimentally measured reduction potentials and reported cytotoxic activities was evident upon comparison of the data.

Radical Chemistry and Cytotoxicity of Bioreductive 3-Substituted Quinoxaline Di-N-Oxides

The radical chemistry and cytotoxicity of a series of quinoxaline di-N-oxide (QDO) compounds has been investigated to explore the mechanism of action of this class of bioreductive drugs. A series of water-soluble 3-trifluoromethyl (4-10), 3-phenyl (11-19), and 3-methyl (20-21) substituted QDO compounds were designed to span a range of electron affinities consistent with bioreduction. The stoichiometry of loss of QDOs by steady-state radiolysis of anaerobic aqueous formate buffer indicated that one-electron reduction of QDOs generates radicals able to initiate chain reactions by oxidation of formate. The 3-trifluoromethyl analogues exhibited long chain reactions consistent with the release of the HO(•), as identified in EPR spin trapping experiments. Several carbon-centered radical intermediates, produced by anaerobic incubation of the QDO compounds with N-terminal truncated cytochrome P450 reductase (POR), were characterized using N-tert-butyl-α-phenylnitrone (PBN) and 5-(diethoxyphosphoryl)-5-methyl-1-pyrroline-N-oxide (DEPMPO) spin traps and were observed by EPR. Experimental data were well simulated for the production of strongly oxidizing radicals, capable of H atom abstraction from methyl groups. The kinetics of formation and decay of the radicals produced following one-electron reduction of the parent compounds, both in oxic and anoxic solutions, were determined using pulse radiolysis. Back oxidation of the initially formed radical anions by molecular oxygen did not compete effectively with the breakdown of the radical anions to form oxidizing radicals. The QDO compounds displayed low hypoxic selectivity when tested against oxic and hypoxic cancer cell lines in vitro. The results from this study form a kinetic description and explanation of the low hypoxia-selective cytotoxicity of QDOs against cancer cells compared to the related benzotriazine 1,4-dioxide (BTO) class of compounds.

Design and synthesis of novel quinoxaline derivatives as potential candidates for treatment of multidrug-resistant and latent tuberculosis

Twenty-four quinoxaline derivatives were evaluated for their antimycobacterial activity using BacTiter-Glo microbial cell viability assay. Five compounds showed MIC values <3.1 μM and IC50 values<1.5 μM in primary screening and therefore, they were moved on for further evaluation. Compounds 21 and 18 stand out, showing MIC values of 1.6 μM and IC50 values of 0.5 and 1.0 μM, respectively. Both compounds were the most potent against three evaluated drug-resistant strains. Moreover, they exhibited intracellular activity in infected macrophages, considering log-reduction and cellular viability. In addition, compounds 16 and 21 were potent against non-replicating Mycobacterium tuberculosis and compound 21 was bactericidal. Therefore, quinoxaline derivatives could be considered for making further advances in the future development of antimycobacterial agents.

Design and synthesis of novel quinoxaline derivatives as potential candidates for treatment of multidrug-resistant and latent tuberculosis

Twenty-four quinoxaline derivatives were evaluated for their antimycobacterial activity using BacTiter-Glo microbial cell viability assay. Five compounds showed MIC values <3.1 μM and IC50 values<1.5 μM in primary screening and therefore, they were moved on for further evaluation. Compounds 21 and 18 stand out, showing MIC values of 1.6 μM and IC50 values of 0.5 and 1.0 μM, respectively. Both compounds were the most potent against three evaluated drug-resistant strains. Moreover, they exhibited intracellular activity in infected macrophages, considering log-reduction and cellular viability. In addition, compounds 16 and 21 were potent against non-replicating Mycobacterium tuberculosis and compound 21 was bactericidal. Therefore, quinoxaline derivatives could be considered for making further advances in the future development of antimycobacterial agents.

Protein electron transfer (mechanism and reproductive toxicity): iminium, hydrogen bonding, homoconjugation, amino acid side chains (redox and charged), and cell signaling

This contribution presents novel biochemical perspectives of protein electron transfer (ET) with focus on the iminium nature of the peptide link, along with relationships to reproductive toxicity. The favorable influence of hydrogen bonding on protein ET has been widely documented. Hydrogen bonding of the zwitterionic peptide enhances iminium character. A wide array of such bonding agents is available in vivo, with many reports on the peptide link itself. ET proceeds along the backbone, due in part, to homoconjugation. Redox amino acids (AAs), mainly tyrosine (Tyr), tryptophan (Typ), histidine (His), cysteine (Cys), disulfide, and methionine (Met), are involved in the competing processes for radical formation: direct hydrogen atom abstraction versus electron and proton loss. It appears that the radical or radical cation generated during the redox process is capable of interacting with n-electrons of the backbone. Beneficial effects of cationic AAs impact the conduction process. A relationship apparently exists involving cell signaling, protein conduction, and radicals or electrons. In addition, the link between protein ET and reproductive toxicity is examined. A key element is the role of reactive oxygen species (ROS) generated by protein ET. There is extensive evidence for involvement of ROS in generation of birth defects. The radical species arise in protein mainly by ET transformations by enzymes, as illustrated in the case of alcoholism.

Phenazine compounds in fluorescent Pseudomonas spp. biosynthesis and regulation

The phenazines include upward of 50 pigmented, heterocyclic nitrogen-containing secondary metabolites synthesized by some strains of fluorescent Pseudomonas spp. and a few other bacterial genera. The antibiotic properties of these compounds have been known for over 150 years, but advances within the past two decades have provided significant new insights into the genetics, biochemistry, and regulation of phenazine synthesis, as well as the mode of action and functional roles of these compounds in the environment. This new knowledge reveals conservation of biosynthetic enzymes across genera but raises questions about conserved biosynthetic mechanisms, and sets the stage for improving the performance of phenazine producers used as biological control agents for soilborne plant pathogens.

Enzyme-Activated, Hypoxia-Selective DNA Damage by 3-Amino-2-quinoxalinecarbonitrile 1,4-Di-N-oxide

The compound 3-amino-2-quinoxalinecarbonitrile 1,4-dioxide (4) displays potent hypoxia-selective cytotoxicity in cell culture. This compound is structurally similar to the known hypoxia-selective DNA-damaging agent tirapazamine (1, TPZ), but the ability of 4 to cause DNA damage under low-oxygen conditions has not previously been characterized. The results presented here provide the first evidence that 4 causes reductively activated DNA damage under hypoxic conditions. The findings indicate that one-electron reduction of 4 by NADPH:cytochrome P450 reductase yields an oxygen-sensitive intermediate (5). This activated intermediate is rapidly destroyed by reaction with O2 under aerobic conditions, but goes forward to cause DNA damage under low-oxygen conditions. Analysis of the DNA damage indicates that reductive activation of 4 leads to production of a highly reactive, freely diffusible oxidizing radical that causes sequence-independent cleavage of the deoxyribose backbone and oxidative damage to the heterocyclic bases in duplex DNA. On the basis of the experiments reported here, the chemical nature of the DNA damage caused by redox-activated 4 is analogous to that reported previously for TPZ.

Formation of iodinin by a strain of Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans grown on elemental sulfur

The presence of the pigment iodinin, an Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans culture metabolite, was demonstrated after growth of bacteria on elemental sulfur. The structure of iodinin was confirmed by X-ray structure analysis; its physiological role is discussed.

Comparative Electrochemical Study of Some Phenothiazines with Carbon Paste, Solid Carbon Paste and Glass-Like Carbon Electrodes

In order to obtain modified electrodes with phenothiazines and to develop electrochemical methods for their determination in pharmaceutical formulations, promazine maleate, promethazine maleate and levomepromazine, were studied by linear sweep voltammetry using different types of working electrodes: carbon paste, solid carbon paste and glass-like carbon electrodes. A comparative electrochemical study of the above mentioned pheno- thiazines was performed in aqueous-alcoholic solutions, investigating the influence of pH, ionic strength and concentration on the current-potential curves. Linear sweep voltammetry in potential range from -0.1 to +1.3 V revealed that the oxidation potential and the current, strongly depend on the type of electrode and pH, the best results being obtained in acid buffer (pH 1.0). The current intensity depending linearly on the concentration in the range of 2.5·10-5-5·10-4 M promazine maleate, 2.5·10-5-2.5·10-4 M promethazine maleate and 6.2·10-5-1.2·10-3 M levomepromazine permits the development of electroanalytical methods to determine these phenothiazines in pharmaceuticals. The electrochemical determination yielded results comparable with spectrophotometric methods. Linear sweep voltammetry of carbon paste electrodes modified by incorporation of phenothiazines opens the possibility to use them as mediators in the design of some enzyme selective electrodes.

Phagomimetic action of antimicrobial agents

A wide variety of extracted and synthesised drug molecules have electron transfer capabilities which allow them to generate reactive oxygen species (ROS). In particular, many antibiotics that kill or inhibit bacteria, yeasts and cancer cells readily transfer electrons to oxygen making superoxide and hydrogen peroxide in the process. When suitable redox active forms of iron are available, Fenton chemistry occurs generating the highly damaging hydroxyl radical. This type of chemistry is very similar to that which evolved within phagocytic cells as part of their microbial killing armoury. Many antibiotics, when used in model systems, have well defined pharmacological actions against key cellular functions, but their clinical usefulness is also often demonstrable at concentrations in vivo well below their in vitro minimum inhibitory concentrations. These observations have led us to propose that a common mechanism exists whereby phagocytic cells and antibiotics exploit the use of ROS for microbial killing.

Minimum essential structural requirements for lactam antibiotic action

A mechanism of action encompassing mono- and bicyclic beta-lactams has been proposed previously, which stresses the importance of formation of an electron transfer (ET) entity (conjugated iminium) as a requirement for antibiotic activity, in association with enzyme inactivation. Additional evidence in support of this contention is now provided. Reduction potentials for several cephalosporins and pyrazolidinones, all of which contain an oximino functionality in the side chain, were observed in the range of -0.6 to -0.7 V. Comparison is made with related compounds lacking imine. Agents containing side chain hydrazone, oxamazins (mono beta-lactams), and lactivicin are discussed based on the ET approach.

Reduction potentials of anthelmintic drugs: possible relationship to activity

Electrochemical data were acquired for several categories of anthelmintic agents, namely, iminium-type ions, metal derivatives and chelators, quinones and iminoquinones, and nitroheterocycles. Reductions usually were in the favorable range of +0.2 to -0.7 V versus normal hydrogen electrode. The drug effect is believed to result in part from either the catalytic production of oxidative stress or disruption of helminth electron transport systems. Relevant literature results are discussed.

Electrochemistry of cyclic alpha-imino carboxylates and their metal complexes: correlation with physiological activity

Cyclic voltammetry data were obtained for delta 1-pyrroline-2-carboxylate, delta 3-thiazoline-4-carboxylate, delta 2-thiazoline-2-carboxylate and their complexes with Cu(II), Fe(III), and Fe(II). The free ligands were reduced at about -0.35 V and were oxidized in the range of 0.42-0.52 V. Complexing the imine carboxylates with metal ions produces reduction and oxidation in the ranges of 0.05-0.37 V and 0.52-0.74 V, respectively. Prior reports show that these ligands take part in various biological functions. We propose that electron transfer may be involved in some aspects of the physiological activity. The captodative effect can be applied.

Mode of action of antiprotozoan agents. Electron transfer and oxy radicals

Cyclic voltammetry data were obtained for most of the main classes of antiprotozoan agents, specifically, nitroheterocycles, quinones, metal complexes and derivatives, iminium-type ions, and azo compounds. The reductions were generally reversible in the range of -0.3 to -0.9 V. Catalytic production of oxidative pressure from redox cycling involving oxygen is believed to be an important mode of action by the medicinal agents. Literature data contribute support.

Cyclic voltammetry of quinolinium salts and related compounds: correlation with structure and anticancer activity

Cyclic voltammetry data were obtained for 12 salts of quinolines, one pyridine, and one open-chain imine which possess varying degrees of anticancer activity. The structural features include sidechain bis(2-methylthio)vinyl, 2-methylthio-2-aminovinyl, dithioacetic acid, 2-quinolylvinyl, 2-styrylvinyl, and guanidine sulfide functionalities. Reduction potentials ranged from -0.43 to -1.08 V. The electrochemical results are correlated with structure. A possible mechanism of anticancer action is addressed.

An integrated concept of amebicidal action: electron transfer and oxy radicals

Cyclic voltammetry data were obtained for most of the main categories of antiamebic agents, specifically, quinones, heterocyclic nitro compounds, metal derivatives and chelators, and iminium-type ions. The reductions (our data and literature values) were for the most part reversible, with potentials usually in the favorable range of +0.10 to -0.56 V. The drug effect is believed to result generally from the catalytic production of oxidative stress usually arising from the formation of superoxide via electron transfer. In addition, relevant literature data are provided.

Mechanism of antibacterial action: electron transfer and oxy radicals

Most of the main categories of bactericidal agents, namely, aliphatic and heterocyclic nitro compounds, metal derivatives and chelators, quinones, azo dyes, and iminium-type ions, are proposed to exert their action by a unified mechanism. The toxic effect is believed to result generally from the catalytic production of reactive oxygen radicals that usually arise via electron transfer. Cyclic voltammetry was performed on a number of these agents. Reductions were for the most part reversible, with potentials in the favorable range of -0.20 to -0.58 V.