Determination and characterization of new benzimidazoles with activity against Trypanosoma cruzi by UV spectroscopy and HPLC

Imidazoles and Oxazoles from Lapachones and Phenanthrene-9,10-dione: A Journey through their Synthesis, Biological Studies, and Optical Applications

Diverse structural frameworks are found in natural compounds and are well known for their chemical and biological properties; such compounds include the imidazoles and oxazoles. Researchers worldwide are continually working on the development of methods for synthesizing new molecules bearing these basic moiety and evaluating their properties and applications. To expand the knowledge related to azoles, this review summarizes important examples of imidazole and oxazole derivatives from 1,2-dicarbonyl compounds, such as lapachones and phenanthrene-9,10-diones, not only regarding their synthesis and biological applications but also their photophysical properties and uses. The data concerning the latter are particularly scarce in the literature, which leads to underestimation of the potential applications that can be envisaged for these compounds.

The role of imidazole and benzimidazole heterocycles in Chagas disease: A review

The haemoflagellate protozoan Trypanosoma cruzi (T. cruzi) is the causative agent of Chagas disease (CD), a potentially life-threatening disease. Little by little, remarkable progress has been achieved against CD, although it is still not enough. In the absence of effective chemotherapy, many research groups, organizations and pharmaceutical companies have focused their efforts on the search for compounds that could become viable drugs against CD. Within the wide variety of reported derivatives, this review summarizes and provides a global vision of the situation of those compounds that include broadly studied heterocycles in their structures due to their applications in medicinal chemistry: imidazole and benzimidazole rings. Therefore, the intention of this work is to present a compilation, as much as possible, of all the reported information, regarding these imidazole and benzimidazole derivatives against T. cruzi, as a starting point for future researchers in this field.

Synthesis and biological evaluation of 2-methyl-1H-benzimidazole-5-carbohydrazides derivatives as modifiers of redox homeostasis of Trypanosoma cruzi

Twelve novel benzimidazole derivatives were synthesized and their in vitro activities against epimastigotes of Trypanosoma cruzi were evaluated. Two derivatives (6 and 7), which have 4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenyl moiety in their structures, proved to be the most active in inhibiting the parasite growth. Compound 6 showed a trypanocidal activity higher than benznidazole (IC₅₀=5µM and 7.5µM, respectively) and less than nifurtimox (IC₅₀=3.6µM). In addition, the ability of 6 and 7 to modify the redox homeostasis in T cruzi epimastigote was studied; cysteine and glutathione increased in parasites exposed to both compounds, whereas trypanothione only increased with 7 treatment. These results suggest that the decrease in viability of T. cruzi may be attributed to the change in cellular redox balance caused by compound 6 or 7. Furthermore, compounds 6 and 7 showed CC₅₀ values of 160.64 and 160.66µM when tested in mouse macrophage cell line J774 and selectivity indexes (macrophage/parasite) of 32 and 20.1, respectively.

Structure-retention behaviour of biologically active fused 1,2,4-triazinones--correlation with in silico molecular properties

The chromatographic behaviour and significant lipophilicity/hydrophobicity indices (log k(w), S, φ(0)) are presented for 21 biologically active fused 1,2,4-triazinones based on the linear relationship: log k = log k(w)-Sφ established for the retention on LC-18 HPLC column, using as mobile phases mixtures of three organic modifiers with water. The effect of these mobile phase modifiers on the chromatographic behaviour of solutes was established and the organic modifier of choice is suggested. The complex correlation of slopes versus intercepts obtained for acetonitrile, contrary to linear ones obtained for methanol and dioxane are disclosed. The observed difference in retention mechanism for acetonitrile compared to methanol and dioxane is explained by intermolecular interactions encoded in lipophilicity. Linear correlations with statistically significant levels between log kw values determined from three different chromatographic systems were obtained. The relationships between log k(w) constants (derived from the linear model for methanol-water mobile phases) and predicted log P and log S values by the use of various computational methods were investigated and these were established with high correlation coefficients. The predicted log P values plotted against φ(0 (MeOH)) indices showed the best fit. Principal component analysis was used to compare various lipophilicity parameters of the solutes and their in silico biological descriptors relevant to optimal pharmacokinetics profile. The similarities and dissimilarities between all the variables and molecular structures of solutes are presented. Statistically significant correlations were found between the chromatographic lipophilicity indices and the calculated pharmacokinetic descriptors: fraction unbound in brain (f(u, brain)), oral bioavailability (%F), permeability and intestinal absorption in jejunum (Caco-2), skin permeation (log K(p)) and blood/brain concentration (log BB).

Evaluation of the membrane permeability (PAMPA and skin) of benzimidazoles with potential cannabinoid activity and their relation with the Biopharmaceutics Classification System (BCS)

The permeability of five benzimidazole derivates with potential cannabinoid activity was determined in two models of membranes, parallel artificial membrane permeability assay (PAMPA) and skin, in order to study the relationship of the physicochemical properties of the molecules and characteristics of the membranes with the permeability defined by the Biopharmaceutics Classification System. It was established that the PAMPA intestinal absorption method is a good predictor for classifying these molecules as very permeable, independent of their thermodynamic solubility, if and only if these have a Log P(oct) value <3.0. In contrast, transdermal permeability is conditioned on the solubility of the molecule so that it can only serve as a model for classifying the permeability of molecules that possess high solubility (class I: high solubility, high permeability; class III: high solubility, low permeability).