New potent and selective A1 adenosine receptor agonists

“Thiol-free synthesized” and sustainable thiolating synthons for nickel-catalyzed reductive assembly of sulfides with high efficiency

Unsymmetrical sulfides are widely found in the pharmaceutical industry, organic synthesis, and materials science.

Medicinal Chemistry and Therapeutic Potential of Agonists, Antagonists and Allosteric Modulators of A1 Adenosine Receptor: Current Status and Perspectives

Adenosine is a purine nucleoside, responsible for the regulation of a wide range of physiological and pathophysiological conditions by binding with four G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs), namely A1, A2A, A2B and A3 adenosine receptors (ARs). In particular, A1 AR is ubiquitously present, mediating a variety of physiological processes throughout the body, thus represents a promising drug target for the management of various pathological conditions. Agonists of A1 AR are found to be useful for the treatment of atrial arrhythmia, angina, type-2 diabetes, glaucoma, neuropathic pain, epilepsy, depression and Huntington's disease, whereas antagonists are being investigated for the treatment of diuresis, congestive heart failure, asthma, COPD, anxiety and dementia. However, treatment with full A1 AR agonists has been associated with numerous challenges like cardiovascular side effects, off-target activation as well as desensitization of A1 AR leading to tachyphylaxis. In this regard, partial agonists of A1 AR have been found to be beneficial in enhancing insulin sensitivity and subsequently reducing blood glucose level, while avoiding severe CVS side effects and tachyphylaxis. Allosteric enhancer of A1 AR is found to be potent for the treatment of neuropathic pain, culminating the side effects related to off-target tissue activation of A1 AR. This review provides an overview of the medicinal chemistry and therapeutic potential of various agonists/partial agonists, antagonists and allosteric modulators of A1 AR, with a particular emphasis on their current status and future perspectives in clinical settings.

Ultrasound promoted rapid and green synthesis of thiiranes from epoxides in water catalyzed by chitosan-silica sulfate nano hybrid (CSSNH) as a green, novel and highly proficient heterogeneous nano catalyst

The synthesis and characterization of chitosan-silica sulfate nano hybrid (CSSNH) as a novel, green and highly efficient heterogeneous nano catalyst is described. The catalytic activity of this new biopolymeric nano catalyst was investigated in the ultrasonic assisted green synthesis of structurally diverse thiiranes from epoxides using thiourea in water at room temperature. CSSNH was characterized using some different microscopic and spectroscopic techniques such as scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), N₂ adsorption isotherm, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The green nature, cheapness, efficiency, ease of preparation, handling and reusability of this new catalyst makes this catalyst to be useful for green industrial processes.

Catalytic Enantioselective Conversion of Epoxides to Thiiranes

A highly efficient and enantioselective Brønsted acid catalyzed conversion of epoxides to thiiranes has been developed. The reaction proceeds in a kinetic resolution, furnishing both epoxide and thiirane in high yields and enantiomeric purity. Heterodimer formation between the catalyst and sulfur donor affords an effective way to prevent catalyst decomposition and enables catalyst loadings as low as 0.01 mol %.

N-Difluoromethylthiophthalimide: A Shelf-Stable, Electrophilic Reagent for Difluoromethylthiolation

A new, electrophilic difluoromethylthiolating reagent N-difluoromethylthiophthalimide 3 was developed. Reagent 3 can be readily synthesized in four steps from easily available starting materials phthalimide and TMSCF2H. N-difluoromethylthiophthalimide 3 is a powerful electrophilic difluoromethylthiolating reagent that allows the difluoromethylthiolation of a wide range of nucleophiles including aryl/vinyl boronic acids, alkynes, amines, thiols, β-ketoesters, and oxindoles and electron-rich heteroarenes such as indole, pyrrole, 1H-pyrrolo[2,3-b]pyridine, imidazo[1,2-a]pyridine, aminothiazole, isoxazole, and pyrazole under mild conditions.

Synthesis of thiiranes by rhodium-catalyzed sulfur addition reaction to reactive alkenes

A rhodium complex derived from RhH(PPh₃)₄, dppe, and 4-ethynyltoluene catalyzes the addition reaction of sulfur to norbornenes giving the corresponding thiiranes under acetone reflux conditions. The rhodium complex effectively transfers a sulfur atom to the double bond from sulfur, and exo-adducts are obtained.

Chemical biology of glycosylphosphatidylinositol anchors

Glycosylphosphatidylinositols (GPIs) are complex glycolipids that are covalently linked to the C-terminus of proteins as a posttranslational modification. They anchor the attached protein to the cell membrane and are essential for normal functioning of eukaryotic cells. GPI-anchored proteins are structurally and functionally diverse. Many GPIs have been structurally characterized but comprehension of their biological functions, beyond the simple physical anchoring, remains largely speculative. Work on functional elucidation at a molecular level is still limited. This Review focuses on the roles of GPI unraveled by using synthetic molecules and summarizes the structural diversity of GPIs, as well as their biological and chemical syntheses.

Microwave-Assisted Direct Amination: Rapid Access to Multi-Functionalized N6-Substituted Adenosines

Analogues of adenosine have a range of interesting biological activities and potential therapeutic applications. A method for the efficient preparation of highly functionalized N6-substituted adenosines has been developed from the corresponding tert-butyldimethylsilyl-protected inosine. The key step in this procedure is a microwave-assisted amination reaction between an appropriately substituted inosine and an amine in the presence of PyBroP. High yields of desired N6-substituted adenosines were achieved with hindered amines and the reaction was also found to accommodate a range of substituents on the inosine precursor.

Geometry, topology, and atom-weights assembly descriptors to predicting A1 adenosine receptors agonists

The GEometry, Topology, and Atom-Weights AssemblY (GETAWAY) approach has been applied to the study of the A1 adenosine receptors agonist effect of 32 adenosine analogues: N6-arylcarbamoyl, 2-arylalkynyl-N6-arylcarbamoyl, and N6-carboxamido derivatives. A model, able to describe more than 77% of the variance in the experimental activity, was developed with the use of the above mentioned approach. Five different approaches (Topological, Galvez Topological Charges indexes, Randic Molecular Profiles, Geometrical, and WHIM descriptors) failed to give satisfactory models (R2=0.70) for this property with the same number of variables in the equation. Although statistically significant models were derived containing descriptors other than GETAWAY, the best fitted out model was still found with these descriptors.