Transformations of enaminones. A simple one-pot synthesis of imidazolone derivatives

Copper-Catalyzed Cross-Coupling Between (E)-1,2-Diiodoethene and Carbazates: Entry to β-Functionalized N-Alkenylcarbazates

Aims:

This work aims to widen the scope of methodologies to prepare functionalized N-alkenylcarbazates.

Background:

Alkenylcarbazates are generally prepared via Aza-Baylis-Hillman reactions, nucleophilic attack on ketones or a tandem carbometallation/amidation reaction of alkynes.

Objective:

The objective of this work is to develop a method to prepare functionalized Nalkenylcarbazates that alleviates the problem encountered in the above methods (use of electron deficient alkenes, use of stoiechiometric amounts of metal, access to symmetrical dicarbazates only).

Methods:

Use of copper-catalyzed cross-coupling between vinylic diiodide and carbazates to prepare functionalized N-alkenylcarbazates.

Results:

Various β-iodovinylcarbazates were synthesized with up to good yields. The highest yields were obtained using dicarbazates. Functionalization of β-iodovinylcarbazate demonstrated that the vinyl iodide moiety of these molecules can be substituted by a variety of functional groups via transition metal-catalyzed coupling reactions.

Conclusion:

Copper-catalyzed cross-coupling reaction is efficient to prepare functionalized N-alkenylcarbazates.

Distinct Mechanisms of Cytotoxicity in Novel Nitrogenous Heterocycles: Future Directions for a New Anti-Cancer Agent

Electron-rich, nitrogenous heteroaromatic compounds interact more with biological/cellular components than their non-nitrogenous counterparts. The strong intermolecular interactions with proteins, enzymes, and receptors confer significant biological and therapeutic properties to the imidazole derivatives, giving rise to a well-known and extensively used range of therapeutic drugs used for infections, inflammation, and cancer, to name a few. The current study investigates the anti-cancer properties of fourteen previously synthesized nitrogenous heterocycles, derivatives of imidazole and oxazolone, on a panel of cancer cell lines and, in addition, predicts the molecular interactions, pharmacokinetic and safety profiles of these compounds. Method: The MTT and CellTiter-Glo® assays were used to screen the imidazole and oxazolone derivatives on six cancer cell lines: HL60, MDA-MB-321, KAIMRC1, KMIRC2, MCF-10A, and HCT8. Subsequently, in vitro tubulin staining and imaging were performed, and the level of apoptosis was measured using the Promega ApoTox-Glo® triplex assay. Furthermore, several computational tools were utilized to investigate the pharmacokinetics and safety profile, including PASS Online, SEA Search, the QikProp tool, SwissADME, ProTox-II, and an in silico molecular docking study on tubulin to identify the critical molecular interactions. Results: In vitro analysis identified compounds 8 and 9 to possess the most significant potent cytotoxic activity on the HL60 and MDA-MB-231 cell lines, supported by PASS Online anti-cancer predictions with pa scores of 0.413 and 0.434, respectively. In addition, compound 9 induced caspase 3/7 dependent-apoptosis and interfered with tubulin polymerization in the MDA-MB-231 cell line, consistent with in silico docking results, identifying binding similarity to the native ligand colchicine. All the derivatives, including compounds 8 and 9, had acceptable pharmacokinetics; however, the safety profile was suboptimal for all the tested derivates except compound 4. Conclusion: The imidazole derivative compound 9 is a promising anti-cancer agent that switches on caspase-dependent apoptotic cell death and modulates microtubule function. Therefore, it could be a lead compound for further drug optimization and development.

PCl3-mediated synthesis of green/cyan fluorescent protein chromophores using amino acids

An efficient synthesis of green and cyan fluorescent protein chromophores from l-tyrosine and l-tryptophan using PCl₃ has been successfully developed.

Diversity-oriented heterocyclic synthesis using divergent reactivity of N-substituted iso(thio)cyanates

Reactions involving N-substituted isocyanates and isothiocyanates are compared: divergent reactivity is observed in cascade reactions.

Electrosynthesis of enaminones directly from methyl ketones and amines with nitromethane as a carbon source

An efficient and mechanistically different method for the electrosynthesis of enaminone directly from methyl ketones, amines and nitromethane was developed.