Synthesis and Evaluation of Haloacetyl, α-Bromoacryloyl and Nitrooxyacetyl Benzo[b]furan and Benzo[b]thiophene Derivatives as Potent Antiproliferative Agents Against Leukemia L1210 and K562 Cells

Novel iodoacetamido benzoheterocyclic derivatives with potent antileukemic activity are inhibitors of STAT5 phosphorylation

Signal Transducer and Activator of Transcription 5 (STAT5) protein, a component of the STAT family of signaling proteins, is considered to be an attractive therapeutic target because of its involvement in the progression of acute myeloid leukemia. In an effort to discover potent molecules able to inhibit the phosphorylation-activation of STAT5, twenty-two compounds were synthesized and evaluated on the basis of our knowledge of the activity of 2-(3',4',5'-trimethoxybenzoyl)-3-iodoacetamido-6-methoxy benzo[b]furan derivative 1 as a potent STAT5 inhibitor. Most of these molecules, structurally related to compound 1, were characterized by the presence of a common 3',4',5'-trimethoxybenzoyl moiety at the 2-position of different benzoheterocycles such as benzo[b]furan, benzo[b]thiophene, indole and N-methylindole. Effects on biological activity of the iodoacetamido group and of different moieties (methyl and methoxy) at the C-3 to C-7 positions were examined. In the series of benzo[b]furan derivatives, moving the iodoacetylamino group from the C-4 to the C-5 or C-6 positions did not significantly affect antiproliferative activity. Compounds 4, 15, 20 and 23 blocked STAT5 signals and induced apoptosis of K562 BCR-ABL positive cells. For compound 23, the trimethoxybenzoyl moiety at the 2-position of the benzo[b]furan core was not essential for potent inhibition of STAT5 activation.

Synthesis of 2,5-asymmetrically substituted 3,4-diaminothieno[2,3-b]thiophenes by domino reaction

A convenient one pot synthesis of 2,5-asymmetrically substituted thieno[2,3-b]thiophenes is developed. The method is based on consecutive domino reactions (SN2 reaction → Thorpe-Ziegler reaction) using malononitrile and carbon disulfide as starting materials with the generation of potassium 2,2-dicyanoethene-1,1-bis(thiolate) in a solution. The high yield of the target thienothiophenes was achieved using the Ziegler dilution effect.

Antitumor activity of novel pyridine, thiophene and thiazole derivatives

2-Cyano-N'-[1-(2,5-dimethoxyphenyl)]ethylideneacetohydrazide 1 was obtained via reaction of cyanoacetic acid hydrazide with 2,5-dimethoxyacetophenone. A number of novel pyridines 2a-j, 3, 4, thiophenes 5-9 and thiazoles 10-12 were prepared by using the hydrazide-hydrazone derivative 1 as a starting material. The structure of the newly synthesized compounds was characterized by elemental analyses, IR, (1)H-NMR, (13)C-NMR and mass spectral data. All the target compounds were subjected to in vitro antitumor activity against Ehrlich ascites carcinoma (EAC) cells. Compounds 2j and 6 showed a higher activity with IC(50) values (54.54, 61.57 μM), 8 when compared with a reference drug IC(50) value (68.99 μM), while compound 5 is nearly as active as doxorubicin (CAS 23214-92-8).