Pyrimido[4,5-b]quinoline-2-thiol/ol: microwave-induced one-pot synthesis, DNA binding and cleavage studies

Hantzsch-Like Synthesis, DNA Photocleavage, DNA/BSA Binding, and Molecular Docking Studies of Bis(sulfanediyl)bis(tetrahydro-5-deazaflavin) Analogs Linked to Naphthalene Core

The cyclocondensation reaction of aldehydes with dimedone and bis(6-aminopyrimidin-4-one) in acetic acid led to the formation of the corresponding bis(pyrimido[4,5-b]quinoline-4,6-diones) which are known as bis(sulfanediyl)bis(tetrahydro-5-deazaflavin) analogs in a single step. Also, bis(pyrimido[4,5-b]quinoline-4,6-diones) which are linked to naphthyl core via phenoxymethyl linkage is prepared. The interactions of the synthesized compounds with DNA and bovine serum albumin (BSA) were studied. Gel electrophoresis assay was used to show the capability of the compounds to photocleave the supercoiled pBR322 plasmid DNA in UV-A (365 nm). Besides, the most photocleavable compound, bis(tetrahydropyrimido[4,5-b]quinoline-4,6-dione) linked to pyridin-3-yl at position-5 exhibits good binding affinities toward CT-DNA and BSA as supported by UV/VIS spectral studies. In addition to the experimental findings, a molecular docking simulation was performed to collect detailed binding data for this compound to both biomolecules.

Microwave-assisted multicomponent synthesis of antiproliferative 2,4-dimethoxy-tetrahydropyrimido[4,5-b]quinolin-6(7H)-ones†

In this study, we demonstrate a simple, highly efficient, rapid and convenient series of 2,4-dimethoxy-tetrahydropyrimido[4,5-b]quinolin-6(7H)-ones 4a–v. Microwave irradiation facilitates the one-pot multicomponent reaction of different aromatic aldehydes, 6-amino-2,4-dimethoxypyrimidine and dimedone using glacial acetic acid. Metal-free multicomponent synthesis, shorter reaction time, higher product yield, easy product purification without column chromatography and outstanding green credential parameters are the key features of this protocol. We analysed 4a–v against six human tumour cell lines for antiproliferative activity. 4h, 4o, 4q and 4v show good antiproliferative activity with a good in silico ADMET profile. Furthermore, 4h, 4o, 4q and 4v also show drug-likeness properties by obeying drug-like filters.

Herein, we demonstrate a simple, rapid and green synthesis of 2,4-dimethoxy-THPQs under microwave irradiation and their antiproliferative activity, in silico ADMET and drug-likeness studies were carried out.

Macrocyclic complexes: synthesis, characterization, antitumor and DNA binding studies

The present paper deals with the synthesis of novel macrocyclic complexes of the type [MLX]X, where [(M = Co(II) (1), and Ni(II) (2) X = (Cl₂)]. The complexes are synthesized by the reaction of ligand(L)diquinolineno[1,3,7,9]tetraazacyclododecine-7,15-ethane(14H,16H)-benzene with the corresponding metal salts. The synthesized complexes are thoroughly characterized by elemental analysis, FT-IR, ¹H-NMR, Mass and electronic spectra. The complexes (1) and (2) were evaluated for in vitro cytotoxicity against human breast adenocarcinoma cell (MCF-7). MTT cytotoxicity studies shows both the complexes are most effective. The binding properties of these complexes with calf thymus-DNA were studied by absorption, emission spectra, viscosity measurements, and thermal denaturation studies. On binding to CT-DNA, the absorption spectrum undergoes bathochromic and hypochromic shifts. The absorption spectral results indicate that the intrinsic binding constant (K_b) are 4.8 × 10⁵ M^-1 for (1) and 3.9 × 10⁵ M^-1 for (2) respectively, suggesting that complex (1) binds more strongly to CT-DNA than complex (2). The viscosity measurement results revealed the viscosity of sonicated rod like DNA fragments increased when the complex was added to the solution of CT-DNA. The synthesized ligand and its metal complexes are screened for antibacterial and antifungal activities.

Recent advances in small organic molecules as DNA intercalating agents: synthesis, activity, and modeling

The interaction of small molecules with DNA plays an essential role in many biological processes. As DNA is often the target for majority of anticancer and antibiotic drugs, study about the interaction of drug and DNA has a key role in pharmacology. Moreover, understanding the interactions of small molecules with DNA is of prime significance in the rational design of more powerful and selective anticancer agents. Two of the most important and promising targets in cancer chemotherapy include DNA alkylating agents and DNA intercalators. For these last the DNA recognition is a critical step in their anti-tumor action and the intercalation is not only one kind of the interactions in DNA recognition but also a pivotal step of several clinically used anti-tumor drugs such as anthracyclines, acridines and anthraquinones. To push clinical cancer therapy, the discovery of new DNA intercalators has been considered a practical approach and a number of intercalators have been recently reported. The intercalative binding properties of such molecules can also be harnessed as diagnostic probes for DNA structure in addition to DNA-directed therapeutics. Moreover, the problem of intercalation site formation in the undistorted B-DNA of different length and sequence is matter of tremendous importance in molecular modeling studies and, nowadays, three models of DNA intercalation targets have been proposed that account for the binding features of intercalators. Finally, despite DNA being an important target for several drugs, most of the docking programs are validated only for proteins and their ligands. Therefore, a default protocol to identify DNA binding modes which uses a modified canonical DNA as receptor is needed.