Palladium(0)-Catalyzed Carbonylative One-Pot Synthesis of N-Acylguanidines

Exploring the antileishmanial activity of N1,N2-disubstituted-benzoylguanidines: synthesis and molecular modeling studies

In this report, we describe the synthesis and evaluation of nine N¹,N²-disubstituted-benzoylguanidines against promastigotes and amastigotes forms of Leishmania amazonensis. The derivatives 2g and 2i showed low IC₅₀ values against promastigote form (90.8 ± 0.05 µM and 68.4 ± 0.03 µM, respectively), low cytotoxicity profile (CC₅₀ 396 ± 0.02 µM and 857.9 ± 0.06 µM) for peritoneal macrophages cells and SI of 5.5 and 12.5, respectively. Investigations about the mechanism of action of 2g and 2i showed that both compounds cause mitochondrial depolarization, increase in ROS levels, and generation of autophagic vacuoles on free promastigotes forms. These compounds were also capable of reducing the number of infected macrophages with amastigotes forms (59.5% ± 0.08% and 98.1% ± 0.46%) and the number of amastigotes/macrophages (79.80% ± 0.05% and 96.0% ± 0.16%), through increasing induction of microbicide molecule NO. Additionally, ADMET-Tox in silico predictions showed drug-like features and free of toxicological risks. The molecular docking studies with arginase and gp63 showed that relevant intermolecular interactions could explain the experimental results. Therefore, these results reinforce that benzoylguanidines could be a starting scaffold for the search for new antileishmanial drugs.Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma.

An Expedient Approach to Pyrazolo[3,4-b]pyridine-3-carboxamides via Palladium-Catalyzed Aminocarbonylation

Pyrazolo[3,4-b]pyridine is a privileged scaffold found in many small drug molecules that possess a wide range of pharmacological properties. Efforts to further develop and exploit synthetic methodologies that permit the functionalization of this heterocyclic moiety warrant investigation. To this end, a series of novel 1,3-disubstituted pyrazolo[3,4-b]pyridine-3-carboxamide derivatives have been prepared by introducing the 3-carboxamide moiety using palladium-catalyzed aminocarbonylation methodology and employing CO gas generated ex situ using a two-chamber reactor (COware®). The functional group tolerance of this optimized aminocarbonylation protocol is highlighted through the synthesis of a range of diversely substituted C-3 carbox­amide pyrazolo[3,4-b]pyridines in excellent yields of up to 99%.

Tandem Synthesis of 2-Carboxybenzofurans via Sequential Cu-Catalyzed C-O Coupling and Mo(CO)6-Mediated Carbonylation Reactions

A modular tandem synthesis of 2-carboxybenzofurans from 2-gem-dibromovinylphenols has been established based on a sequence of Cu-catalyzed intramolecular C-O coupling and Mo(CO)₆-mediated intermolecular carbonylation reactions. This protocol allowed one-step access to a broad variety of functionalized benzofuran-2-carboxylic acids, esters, and amides in good to excellent yields under Pd- and CO gas-free conditions.

Isocyanide Reactions Toward the Synthesis of 3-(Oxazol-5-yl)Quinoline-2-Carboxamides and 5-(2-Tosylquinolin-3-yl)Oxazole

A palladium-catalyzed three-component reaction between 5-(2-chloroquinolin-3-yl) oxazoles, isocyanides, and water to yield 3-(oxazol-5-yl)quinoline-2-carboxamides is described. Interestingly, sulfonylation occurred when the same reaction was performed with toluenesulfonylmethyl isocyanide (TosMIC) as an isocyanide source. The reaction with 5-(2-chloroquinolin-3-yl)oxazoles and TosMIC in the presence of Cs2CO3 in DMSO afforded 5-(2-Tosylquinolin-3-yl)oxazoles. In basic media, TosMIC probably decomposed to generate Ts- species, which were replaced with Cl-. Tandem oxazole formation with subsequent sulfonylation of 2-chloroquinoline-3-carbaldehydes to form directly 5-(2-tosylquinolin-3-yl)oxazoles was also investigated.