3,3'-[(1RS,3SR)-2-oxocyclohexane-1,3-diyl]bis[(3RS,3'SR)-3-hydroxyindolin-2-one] dihydrate: organic layers of R2(2)(8), R2(2)(16) and R6(6)(40) rings linked by tetrameric water aggregates

Synthesis of N-substituted 3-(2-aryl-2-oxoethyl)-3-hydroxyindolin-2-ones and their conversion to N-substituted (E)-3-(2-aryl-2-oxoethylidene)indolin-2-ones: synthetic sequence, spectroscopic characterization and structures of four 3-hydroxy compounds and five oxoethylidene products

An operationally simple and time-efficient approach has been developed for the synthesis of racemic N-substituted 3-(2-aryl-2-oxoethyl)-3-hydroxyindolin-2-ones by a piperidine-catalysed aldol reaction between aryl methyl ketones and N-alkylisatins. These aldol products were used successfully as strategic intermediates for the preparation of N-substituted (E)-3-(2-hetaryl-2-oxoethylidene)indolin-2-ones by a stereoselective dehydration reaction under acidic conditions. The products have all been fully characterized by 1H and 13C NMR spectroscopy, by mass spectrometry and, for a representative selection, by crystal structure analysis. In each of (RS)-1-benzyl-3-hydroxy-3-[2-(4-methoxyphenyl)-2-oxoethyl]indolin-2-one, C24H21NO4, (Ic), and (RS)-1-benzyl-3-{2-[4-(dimethylamino)phenyl]-2-oxoethyl}-3-hydroxyindolin-2-one, C25H24N2O3, (Id), inversion-related pairs of molecules are linked by O-H...O hydrogen bonds to form R22(10) rings, which are further linked into chains of rings by a combination of C-H...O and C-H...π(arene) hydrogen bonds in (Ic) and by C-H...π(arene) hydrogen bonds in (Id). The molecules of (RS)-1-benzyl-3-hydroxy-3-[2-oxo-2-(pyridin-4-yl)ethyl]indolin-2-one, C22H18N2O3, (Ie), are linked into a three-dimensional framework structure by a combination of O-H...N, C-H...O and C-H...π(arene) hydrogen bonds. (RS)-3-[2-(Benzo[d][1,3]dioxol-5-yl)-2-oxoethyl]-1-benzyl-3-hydroxyindolin-2-one, C24H19NO5, (If), crystallizes with Z' = 2 in the space group P-1 and the molecules are linked into complex sheets by a combination of O-H...O, C-H...O and C-H...π(arene) hydrogen bonds. In each of (E)-1-benzyl-3-[2-(4-fluorophenyl)-2-oxoethylidene]indolin-2-one, C23H16FNO2, (IIa), and (E)-1-benzyl-3-[2-oxo-2-(thiophen-2-yl)ethylidene]indolin-2-one, C21H15NO2S, (IIg), the molecules are linked into simple chains by a single C-H...O hydrogen bond, while those of (E)-1-benzyl-3-[2-oxo-2-(pyridin-4-yl)ethylidene]indolin-2-one, C22H16N2O2, (IIe), are linked by three C-H...O hydrogen bonds to form sheets which are further linked into a three-dimensional structure by C-H...π(arene) hydrogen bonds. There are no hydrogen bonds in the structures of either (E)-1-benzyl-3-[2-(4-methoxyphenyl)-2-oxoethylidene]indolin-2-one, C24H19NO3, (IIc), or (E)-1-benzyl-5-chloro-3-[2-(4-chlorophenyl)-2-oxoethylidene]indolin-2-one, C23H15Cl2NO2, (IIh), but the molecules of (IIh) are linked into chains of π-stacked dimers by a combination of C-Cl...π(arene) and aromatic π-π stacking interactions.

Theoretical and experimental study of polycyclic aromatic compounds as β-tubulin inhibitors

In this work, through a docking analysis of compounds from the ZINC chemical library on human β-tubulin using high performance computer cluster, we report new polycyclic aromatic compounds that bind with high energy on the colchicine binding site of β-tubulin, suggesting three new key amino acids. However, molecular dynamic analysis showed low stability in the interaction between ligand and receptor. Results were confirmed experimentally in in vitro and in vivo models that suggest that molecular dynamics simulation is the best option to find new potential β-tubulin inhibitors. Graphical abstract Bennett's acceptance ratio (BAR) method.