Total Synthesis of Rutaecarpine and Analogues by Tandem Azido Reductive Cyclization Assisted by Microwave Irradiation

Evaluation of Anticancer and Anti-Mitotic Properties of Quinazoline and Quinazolino-Benzothiadiazine Derivatives

BACKGROUND

Cancer is one of the major health and social-economic problems despite considerable progress in its early diagnosis and treatment. Owing to the emergence and increase of multidrug resistance to various conventional drugs, and the continuing importance of health-care expenditure, many researchers have focused on developing novel and effective anticancer compounds.

OBJECTIVE

Chemical repositories provide a good platform to evaluate and exploit known chemical entities for the identification of other biological activities. In the present study, we have selected an in-house library of synthesized compounds based on two different pharmacophoric scaffolds to evaluate their cytotoxic potency on various cancer cell lines and mechanisms of action.

METHODS

A series of in-house synthesized quinazoline and quinazolino-benzothiadiazine derivatives were investigated for their anticancer efficacy against a panel of five cancer (DU145, MCF7, HepG2, SKOV3 and MDA-MB-231) and one normal (MRC5) cell lines. Furthermore, the active compound of the study was investigated to elucidate the mechanism of cytotoxicity by performing series of experiments such as cell cycle analysis, inhibition of tubulin polymerization, alteration of mitochondrial membrane potential, determination of endocytic pathway for drug uptake pathway and combination drug treatment.

RESULTS

Among all the tested compounds, fifteen of them exhibited promising growth-inhibitory effect (0.15- 5.0μM) and induced cell cycle arrest in the G2/M phase. In addition, the selected compounds inhibited the microtubule assembly; altered mitochondrial membrane potential and enhanced the levels of caspase-9 in MCF-7 cells. Furthermore, the active compound with a combination of drugs showed a synergistic effect at lower concentrations, and the drug uptake was mediated through clathrin-mediated endocytic pathway.

CONCLUSION

Our results indicated that quinazoline and quinazolino-benzothiadiazine conjugates could serve as potential leads in the development of new anticancer agents.

Microwave-Assisted Synthesis of Quinazolines and Quinazolinones: An Overview

Microwave irradiation (MWI), as a unique, effective, sustainable, more economic, and greener source of energy compared to conventional heating, is applied in different organic transformations to result in the rapid formation of desired compounds due to thermal/kinetic effects. In this review, we try to underscore the applications of microwave irradiation (MWI) in the synthesis of quinazoline and quinazolinone derivatives that have been achieved and reported on in the last two decades.

TBAI/TBHP-catalyzed [3 + 2]cycloaddition/oxidation/aromatization cascade and online ESI-MS mechanistic studies: synthesis of pyrrolo[2,1-a]isoquinolines and indolizino[8,7-b]indoles

A facile [3 + 2]cycloaddition/oxidation/aromatization cascade reaction for the synthesis of pyrrolo[2,1-a]isoquinolines and indolizino[8,7-b]indoles has been developed by employing tert-butyl hydroperoxide (TBHP) and tetrabutylammonium iodide (TBAI).

Progress in Studies on Rutaecarpine. II.--Synthesis and Structure-Biological Activity Relationships

Rutaecarpine is a pentacyclic indolopyridoquinazolinone alkaloid found in Evodia rutaecarpa and other related herbs. It has a variety of intriguing biological properties, which continue to attract the academic and industrial interest. Studies on rutaecarpine have included isolation from new natural sources, development of new synthetic methods for its total synthesis, the discovery of new biological activities, metabolism, toxicology, and establishment of analytical methods for determining rutaecarpine content. The present review focuses on the synthesis, biological activities, and structure-activity relationships of rutaecarpine derivatives, with respect to their antiplatelet, vasodilatory, cytotoxic, and anticholinesterase activities.

An efficient one-pot decarboxylative aromatization of tetrahydro-β-carbolines by using N-chlorosuccinimide: total synthesis of norharmane, harmane and eudistomins

A mild one-pot synthesis of β-carbolines from their tetrahydro-β-carboline acids has been developed via decorboxylative aromatization using N-chlorosuccinimide (NCS).

Multicomponent assembly strategies for the synthesis of diverse tetrahydroisoquinoline scaffolds

Several novel multicomponent assembly processes have been developed for the rapid and efficient assembly of various heterocyclic scaffolds bearing a tetrahydroisoquinoline core, each of which allows for facile derivatization to access a diverse array of compounds. This work led to the serendipitous discovery of a new method for the synthesis of a fused quinazolone ring system, which was applied to a one-step total synthesis of the quinazolinocarboline alkaloid rutaecarpine.