Room-Temperature Amination of Chloroheteroarenes in Water by a Recyclable Copper(II)-Phosphaadamantanium Sulfonate System

Buchwald-Hartwig amination of chloroheteroarenes has been a challenging synthetic process, with very few protocols promoting this important transformation at ambient temperature. The current report discusses about an efficient copper-based catalytic system (Cu/PTABS) for the amination of chloroheteroarenes at ambient temperature in water as the sole reaction solvent, a combination that is first to be reported. A wide variety of chloroheteroarenes could be coupled efficiently with primary and secondary amines as well as selected amino acid esters under mild reaction conditions. Catalytic efficiency of the developed protocol also promotes late-stage functionalization of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) such as antibiotics (floxacins) and anticancer drugs. The catalytic system also performs efficiently at a very low concentration of 0.0001 mol % (TON = 980,000) and can be recycled 12 times without any appreciable loss in activity. Theoretical calculations reveal that the π-acceptor ability of the ligand PTABS is the main reason for the appreciably high reactivity of the catalytic system. Preliminary characterization of the catalytic species in the reaction was carried out using UV-VIS and ESR spectroscopy, providing evidence for the Cu(II) oxidation state.

Nitroimidazoles. V. Synthesis and anti-HIV evaluation of new 5-substituted piperazinyl-4-nitroimidazole derivatives

A series of 2-alkylthio-1-[4-(1-benzyl-2-ethyl-4-nitro-1H- -imidazol-5-yl)-piperazin-1-yl]ethanones (3-9) and alkyl-[4-(1-benzyl-2-ethyl-4-nitro-1H-imidazol-5-yl)-piperazin-1-yl)ketones (11-20) as well as the indole analogue 22 were synthesized from 4-nitro-5-piperazinyl imidazole derivative 1, with the aim to develop newly non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTIs). The newly synthesized compounds were assayed against HIV-1 and HIV-2 in MT-4 cells. Compound 4 showed inhibition of HIV-1 (EC50 0.45 microg mL-1) and HIV-2 (0.50 microg mL-1), while 11 showed inhibition of HIV-1 (EC50 2.48 microg mL-1, SI = 4).

Nitroimidazoles, Part 2

A series of 5-alkylamino and 5-alkylsulfanyl derivatives of 1-aryl-2-alkyl-4-nitro-1H-imidazoles 12-21, 31, and 34 were synthesized by a simple method with the aim to develop novel HIV non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTIs). All the new compounds were tested against HIV-1 and HIV-2 in MT-4 cells. Compound 21, with an arylsulfanyl group at C(5) of the 4-nitro-1H-imidazole backbone showed an EC(50) value of 0.22 microg/ml against HIV-1 with a therapeutic index of 13. This means that compound 21 was cytotoxic to MT-4 cells at a CC(50) value of 2.57 microg/ml; also compounds 8, 22-25, 28, and 29 were cytotoxic to MT-4 cells within the 0.4-4 microg/ml concentration range. Compounds 8, and 12-21 were evaluated, as a rule, but found inactive at non-toxic concentrations against hepatitis C virus, herpes simplex type 1 and 2, cytomegalovirus (CMV), varicella-zoster virus (VZV), vaccinia virus, and vesicular stomatitis virus, and a number of other viruses. Yet, the therapeutic index of compounds 17 and 21 for CMV and VZV approached the tenfold cut-off point. Compounds 8 and 21 exhibited some cytostatic activity against leukemia and melanoma cell lines.