Nitrophenyl-Group-Containing Heterocycles. I. Synthesis, Characterization, Crystal Structure, Anticancer Activity, and Antioxidant Properties of Some New 5,6,7,8-Tetrahydroisoquinolines Bearing 3(4)-Nitrophenyl Group

Regioselective cyclocondensation of 2,4-diacetyl-5-hydroxy-5-methyl-3-(3-nitrophenyl/4-nitrophenyl)cyclohexanones 1a,b with cyanothioacetamide afforded the corresponding 7-acetyl-4-cyano-1,6-dimethyl-6-hydroxy-8-(3- and -4-nitrophenyl)-5,6,7,8-tetrahydrosoquinoline-3(2H)-thiones 2a,b. Reaction of compounds 2a,b with ethyl iodide, 2-chloroacetamide (4a), or its N-aryl derivatives 4b-e in the presence of sodium acetate trihydrate gave 3-ethylthio-5,6,7,8-tetrahydroisoquinoline 3 and (5,6,7,8-tetrahydroisoquinolin-3-ylthio)acetamides 5a-i, respectively. Cyclization of compounds 5b-d,f,g into their isomeric 1-amino-6,7,8,9-tetrahydrothieno[2,3-c]isoquinoline-2-carboxamides 6b-d,f,g was achieved by heating in ethanol containing a catalytic amount of sodium carbonate. Structures of all synthesized compounds were characterized on the basis of their elemental analyses and spectroscopic data. The crystal structure of 5,6,7,8-tetrahydroisoquinoline 5d was determined by X-ray diffraction analysis. In addition, the biological evaluation of some synthesized compounds as anticancer agents was performed, and only six compounds showed moderate to strong activity against PACA2 (pancreatic cancer cell line) and A549 (lung carcinoma cell line). Moreover, the antioxidant properties of most synthesized compounds were examined. The results revealed high antioxidant activity for the most tested compounds.

Synthesis and Characterization of Novel Functionally Substituted Planar Pyrimidothienoisoquinolines and Nonplanar (3aR, 4S, 9aS)-pyrazolo[3,4-g]isoquinolines

7-Acetyl-8-aryl-4-cyano-1,6-dimethyl-6-hydroxy-5,6,7,8-tetrahydroisoquinolin-3(2H)-thiones 2a,b are prepared and dehydrated to give 7-acetyl-8-aryl-4-cyano-1,6-dimethyl-6-hydroxy-7,8-dihydrodroisoquinolin-3(2H)-thiones 6a,b via a novel method by heating with acetyl chloride in acetic acid. The reaction of both compounds 2a,b and 6a,b with N-aryl-2-chloroacetamides 7a-c under two different conditions gave the same corresponding products, 7-acetyl-8-aryl-3-(N-aryl)carbamoylmethylsulfanyl-4-cyano-1,6-dimethyl-7,8-dihydroisoquinolines 8a-e, in high yields. On treatment of compounds 8a,b,e in methanol with a slightly excess molar amount of sodium methoxide, they underwent intramolecular Thorpe-Ziegler cyclization followed by spontaneous aromatization, providing the planar 7-acetyl-1-amino-6-aryl-2-(N-aryl)carbamoyl-5,8-dimethyl-8,9-dihydrothieno[2,3-c] isoquinolines 9a,b,e in good yield. Cyclocondensation reactions of 6a,b with phenyl hydrazine, thiosemicarbazide, or hydrazine hydrate led to the formation of nonplanar (3aR, 4S, 9aS)-pyrazolo[3,4-g]isoquinolines 11a, 11b, and 13, respectively. The reaction of compound 13 with 2-chloromethylquinazolin-4(3H)-one in the presence of anhydrous sodium acetate gave the expected thienopyrazoloisoquinolone 14. Heating the latter compound (14) with triethyl orthoformate in glacial acetic acid afforded the fused heptacyclic compound 15. All of the synthesized compounds were characterized based on their full spectral analyses such as IR, ¹H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), and mass spectrometry (MS). Moreover, the crystal structure of compound 6a was elucidated by X-ray diffraction analysis.

Crystallographic and spectroscopic characterization of 2-[(7-acetyl-4-cyano-6-hy-droxy-1,6-dimethyl-8-phenyl-5,6,7,8-tetra-hydro-isoquinolin-3-yl)sulfan-yl]-N-phenyl-acetamide

In the title mol-ecule, C28H27N3O3S, the heterocyclic portion of the tetra-hydro-iso-quinoline unit is planar and an intra-molecular N-H⋯N hydrogen bond and a C-H⋯π(ring) inter-action help to determine the overall conformation. In the crystal, a layer structure with the layers parallel to (10) is generated by O-H⋯O and C-H⋯O hydrogen bonds.