Molecular structures and antiproliferative activity of side-chain saturated and homologated analogs of 2-chloro-3-(n-alkylamino)-1,4-napthoquinone

An overview on the antibacterial properties of juglone, naphthazarin, plumbagin and lawsone derivatives and their metal complexes

Bacterial resistance development represents a serious threat to human health across the globe and has become a very serious clinical problem for many classes of antibiotics. Hence, there is a constant and urgent need for the discovery and development of new effective antibacterial agents to stem the emergence of resistant bacteria. 1,4-naphthoquinones are an important class of natural products and have been known for decades as a privileged scaffold in medicinal chemistry regarding their many biological properties. The significant biological properties of specific 1,4-naphthoquinones hydroxyderivatives have drawn the attention of researchers in order to find new derivatives with an optimized activity, mainly as antibacterial agents. Based on juglone, naphthazarin, plumbagin and lawsone moieties, structural optimization was realized with the purpose of improving the antibacterial activity. Thereupon, relevant antibacterial activities have been observed on different panels of bacterial strains including resistant ones. In this review, we highlight the interest of developing new 1,4-naphthoquinones hydroxyderivatives and some metal complexes as promising antibacterial agents alternatives. Here, we thoroughly report for the first time both the antibacterial activity and the chemical synthesis of four different 1,4-naphthoquinones (juglone, naphthazarin, plumbagin and lawsone) from 2002 to 2022 with an emphasis on the structure-activity relationship, when applicable.

Novel 2-Amino-1,4-Naphthoquinone Derivatives Induce A549 Cell Death through Autophagy

A series of 1,4-naphthoquinone derivatives containing were synthesized as anti-cancer agents and the crystal structure of compound 5a was confirmed by X-ray diffraction. In addition, the inhibitory activities against four cancer cell lines (HepG2, A549, K562, and PC-3) were tested, respectively, and compound 5i showed significant cytotoxicity on the A549 cell line with the IC₅₀ of 6.15 μM. Surprisingly, in the following preliminary biological experiments, we found that compound 5i induced autophagy by promoting the recycling of EGFR and signal transduction in the A549 cell, resulting in the activation of the EGFR signal pathway. The potential binding pattern between compound 5i and EGFR tyrosine kinase (PDB ID: 1M17) was also identified by molecular docking. Our research paves the way for further studies and the development of novel and powerful anti-cancer drugs.

Discovery of Anilino-1,4-naphthoquinones as Potent EGFR Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitors: Synthesis, Biological Evaluation, and Comprehensive Molecular Modeling

Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) has been recognized as one of the attractive targets for anticancer drug development. Herein, a set of anilino-1,4-naphthoquinone derivatives (3-18) was synthesized and investigated for their anticancer and EGFR inhibitory potentials. Among all tested compounds, three derivatives (3, 8, and 10) were selected for studying EGFR inhibitory activity (in vitro and in silico) due to their most potent cytotoxic activities against six tested cancer cell lines (i.e., HuCCA-1, HepG2, A549, MOLT-3, MDA-MB-231, and T47D; IC50 values = 1.75-27.91 μM), high selectivity index (>20), and good predicted drug-like properties. The experimental results showed that these three promising compounds are potent EGFR inhibitors with nanomolar IC50 values (3.96-18.64 nM). Interestingly, the most potent compound 3 bearing 4-methyl substituent on the phenyl ring displayed 4-fold higher potency than the known EGFR inhibitor, erlotinib. Molecular docking, molecular dynamics simulation, and MM/GBSA-based free energy calculation revealed that van der Waals force played a major role in the accommodations of compound 3 within the ATP-binding pocket of EGFR. Additionally, the 4-CH3 moiety of the compound was noted to be a key chemical feature contributing to the highly potent EGFR inhibitory activity via its formations of alkyl interactions with A743, K745, M766, and L788 residues as well as additional interactions with M766 and T790.

Effect of substituents and chain length in amino-1,4-naphthoquinones on glutathione-S-transferase inhibition: molecular docking and electrochemical perspectives: a structure–activity study

The highlights of structure–activity relationship in GST inhibition.

Crystal structure of 2-chloro-3-(isopentylamino)naphthalene-1,4-dione, C 15 H 16 ClNO 2

C15H16ClNO2, triclinic, P 1 ‾ $‾{1}$ (no. 2), a = 7.4339(12) Å, b = 8.2564(14) Å, c = 12.184(2) Å, α = 108.804(6)∘, β = 93.672(5)∘, γ = 94.373(6)∘, V = 702.8(2) Å3, Z = 2, R gt(F) = 0.0650, wR ref(F 2) = 0.1974, T = 273 K.

Potential insecticidal activity of aminonaphthoquinone Mannich bases derived from lawsone and their copper (II) complex derivatives

The fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda, is a polyphagous pest that causes important damage in different regions of America and mainly affects corn crops in both tropical and subtropical areas. Currently, control relies on both transgenic plants and/or chemical pesticides. In this work, we describe insecticidal activity against the fall armyworm from a series of Mannich bases (1-10), derived from 2-hydroxy-1,4-naphthoquinone (lawsone), substituted benzaldehydes, and two primary amines, and their Cu²⁺ complexes (11-20). The [Cu(L)₂] complexes were more effective in larval mortality compared to the free Mannich bases. Among the tested compounds, complex 11 showed the highest toxicity, with 70.00% larval mortality.

1H and 13C NMR chemical shifts of 2-n-alkylamino-naphthalene-1,4-diones

¹H as well as ¹³C chemical shifts of 32 compounds of C (3) substituted 2-(n-alkylamino)-3R-naphthalene-1,4-dione (where n-alkyl: methyl, to octyl, R = H, Cl, Br, and CH₃) are investigated through ¹H, ¹³C, DEPT, gDQCOSY, and gHSQCAD NMR experiments and M06-2X/6-311++G (d,p) density functional theory are discussed. Single crystal X-ray structure of Br-3, as well as 18 different derivatives of naphthalene-1,4-diones, are revealed for its inter and intra-molecular hydrogen bonding interactions.

Novel 2-amino-1,4-naphthoquinone hybrids: Design, synthesis, cytotoxicity evaluation and in silico studies

In the present work, a novel series of 2-amino-1,4-naphthoquinones bearing oxyphenyl moiety (5a-5m) were designed and synthesized via a two-step route and evaluated for their in vitro cytotoxic activity against three different cancer cell lines (MCF-7, HL-60 and U937) and normal human cell line (HEK-293) by MTT assay. Compounds 5b (4-nitro-benzyl-) and 5k (4-bromo-benzyl-) were identified to possess the highest cytotoxic activity against MCF-7 cancerous cells (IC₅₀ values of 27.76 and 27.86 μM, respectively). At the same time, none of the compounds exert significant toxicity against HEK-293 normal human kidney cells. Cell cycle analysis showed that the selected derivatives increased the population of MCF-7 cells in the S phase at 25 and 50 μM concentrations. Annexin V-FITC/PI staining assay also confirmed that compounds 5b and 5k induced apoptosis in the cell death pathway. Molecular docking and molecular dynamics studies were also performed to evaluate the probable interactions between the hybrids and human ATP binding domain of topo IIα protein. Our findings may provide new insight for further development of novel naphthoquinone-containing compounds.

Synthesis and biological activity of imidazole based 1,4-naphthoquinones

Design and development of drugs in multi-drug resistant (MDR) infections have been of growing interest. The syntheses, structural studies, antibacterial and antifungal activities of imidazole-based 1,4-naphthoquinones are studied in this investigation.

Synthesis and antiproliferative evaluation of some 1,4-naphthoquinone derivatives against human cervical cancer cells

In the course of biological properties of quinone derivatives, the N(H)-, S- and S,S-substituted-1,4-naphthoquinones were synthesized by reactions of 2,3-dichloro-1,4-naphthoquinone with different amines (2-morpholinoaniline, tert-butyl 4-aminobenzoate, 4-tert-butylbenzylamine, N-(3-aminopropyl)-2-pipecoline, 2-amino-5,6-dimethylbenzothiazole, N,N'-diphenyl-p-phenylenediamine) and thiolat (sodium 2-methyl-2-propanethiolate). All new products were characterized by MS-ESI, UV-Vis, FT-IR, 1H NMR, 13C NMR. The antiproliferative activities of these compounds on human cervical cancer (HeLa) cells were evaluated by MTT (3-[4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide) assay. Although all derivatives inhibited cell growth, the most active compound was 2-(tert-butylthio)-3-chloronaphthalene-1,4-dione 5 (IC50=10.16 μM) against the HeLa cells.

Naphthoquinone based chemosensors for transition metal ions: experiment and theory

Naphthoquinone based chemosensors are studied for metal ion binding in methanol–water–triethylamine solvent mixtures. pH effect, M : L stoichiometry and competitive binding of metal ions is studied.

Understanding cancer and the anticancer activities of naphthoquinones – a review

Naphthoquinone moieties are present in drugs such as doxorubicin which are used clinically to treat solid cancers.

Benzo[α]phenoxazines and benzo[α]phenothiazine from vitamin K3: synthesis, molecular structures, DFT studies and cytotoxic activity

Novel benzo[α]phenoxazines and benzo[α]phenothiazine from vitamin K3 are cytotoxic against HeLa, MCF-7 cell lines and potential topoisomerase II inhibitors.

Identification of unusual C–Cl⋯π contacts in 2-(alkylamino)-3-chloro-1,4-naphthoquinones: effect of N-substituents on crystal packing, fluorescence, redox and anti-microbial properties

XRD study demonstrates the opening of unusual C–Cl⋯π synthon in 2-(alkylamino)-3-chloro-1,4-naphthoquinone. Notably, compound holding N-pyridylmethyl exhibits enhanced activity against S. aureus and proved to be more potent than ciprofloxacin.

Regioselective synthesis of a vitamin K3 based dihydrobenzophenazine derivative: its novel crystal structure and DFT studies

A novel regioselective synthesis of vitamin K3 based dihydrobenzophenazine is reported.