Imidazolidin-4-ones via (3+2) cycloadditions of aza-oxyallyl cations onto (E)-Narylideneanilines.

In the course of our studies on the chemistry of oxyallyl species we uncovered a new (3+2) cycloaddition of aza-oxyallyl systems, generated in situ from N-benzyloxy-2-chloroamides in the presence of NEt3, onto N-arylimines yielding imidazolidin-4-ones in moderate to good yields. The cycloadditions are regioselective. Computational modelling using DFT at the M062×/6-311+G** level is in support the observed regioselectivities. Although the path to the trans imidazolin-4-one is favored, the cis product is preferred by almost 8 kcal/mol and could be formed by base-catalyzed epimerization. All products were isolated by chromatography and characterized by means of their FTIR, NMR and HRMS data.

Synthesis of Oleanolic Acid Analogues and Their Cytotoxic Effects on 3T3 Cell Line.

BACKGROUND: Oleanolic acid (OA) is a known natural compound with many important biological activities. Thirteen oleanolic acid derivatives linked at C-3 and C-28 were synthesized and their structures were confirmed by 1H- and 13C NMR and mass spectral analyses. Among them, compounds 4, 6, 8-10, 12, 13 were synthesized for the first time. They were evaluated for their cytotoxic activity. They showed proliferative effect at low concentrations while cytotoxic effect was observed at high concentrations in a dose dependent manner. METHODS: We have first synthesized compounds 1 and 2 from the reaction of methyl iodide and OA. Compound 1 was reduced with LiAlH4 to give compound 3, and compound 2 gave compound 9 with MOMBr as a new compound. The compound 10 was then obtained from the reduction of compound 9 with LiAlH4 as a new oleanolic acid derivative. A diol derivative 11 was synthesized from OA and LiAlH4 at the room temperature. Compound 4 was obtained from the reaction of compound 3 with CBr4 as a new analogue of OA, and the reduction of compound 4 afforded compound 5 as a known product. In addition, we synthesized compounds 6-8 from compound 3 using MsCl, MeI and p-nitrobenzoyl chloride, respectively, in good yields. Compounds 6 and 8 are new analogues of OA. The new compounds 12 and 13 were also synthesized starting from OA using with MOMBr and TBDMSiCl as the reagents. The all synthesized compounds were purified by using column chromatography and/or crystallization. RESULTS: In the present study, thirteen OA derivatives linked at C-28 and (or) C-3 were synthesized and evaluated for their cytotoxic activity on 3T3 cell lines which are the standard fibroblast cell lines, derived from Swiss albino mouse embryo tissue. 3T3 cell viability was observed at low concentrations of the tested triterpenoids while they displayed anti-proliferative effect at higher concentrations. CONCLUSION: Oleanolic acid 28-methyl ester (2) showed fairly different behavior from all the other compounds tested and found to be the least cytotoxic compound. However, at 200 µM concentration, it exhibited the same cytotoxicity with compounds 3, 9 and 10 around 58-59%. Among the tested 13 compounds, 7 exhibited the most drastic decline for the viability from 12,5 µM to 25 µM concentration. Compound 6 displayed the most cytotoxic effect, almost in all concentrations, particularly at 6.25 and 25 µM concentrations while the highest cytotoxic effect at 50 µM was observed for compound 11 among all the tested triterpenoids. As a result, all the tested OA derivatives showed proliferative effect at 1,56 µM although no proliferative effect was observed for OA. Moreover, OA exhibited higher cytotoxic effect than its derivatives, particularly at higher concentrations (50, 100, 200 µM) with an exception for compound 11. Because, the latter showed highest proliferative effect at lowest concentration, and highest anti-proliferative effect at highest concentration which surpassed all the OA derivatives.

Synthesis of Novel UV Absorbers Bisindolylmethanes and Investigation of Their Applications on Cotton-Based Textile Materials.

Nowadays modified textiles, especially UV-protective, antibacterial and antimicrobial ones, have become the focus of great interest. In this study, several new UV absorbers, bis(indolyl)methane derivatives, were synthesized and grafted onto polyvinyl alcohol polymer (PVA). Their application properties on cotton-based textile materials were determined; the UV protection factor values of the modified fabrics were measured (UPF); and the antibacterial features of the fabrics were tested.

Aryl- and heteroaryl substituted tandospirones as possible antidepressant drugs.

Nowadays, heterocyclic compounds which have a nitrogen atom on the structure, such as pharmacological products, pesticides and antimicrobials can be demonstrated by biologically-active groups that serve the pharmaceutical industry and they are still important in this field. Various cyclization reactions form the basis of the literature on the syntheses of heterocyclic compounds. NArylpiperazines are a class of heterocyclic compounds that play an important role in organic synthesis and are generally found as fragments in receptor ligands and natural products. They have been used extensively as reactive species for building chemical diversity. Arylpiperazines are also found in many pharmacologically-active molecules. Our research group has published numerous papers over the last two years on the synthesis of potentially bioactive tandospirone analogues which have a piperazine group by reductive Heck reactions. We also reported some important isoxazoline derivatives by 1,3-dipolar cycloadditions. Our work continued with potentially pharmacologically-active tandospirone analogues which have an exo-ring in the tricyclic system with an oxygen bridge and containing a 3-(trifluoromethyl)phenyl and 2,3-dichlorophenyl group on the aromatic ring.

Effect of allylic groups on S(N)2 reactivity.

The activating effects of the benzyl and allyl groups on S(N)2 reactivity are well-known. 6-Chloromethyl-6-methylfulvene, also a primary, allylic halide, reacts 30 times faster with KI/acetone than does benzyl chloride at room temperature. The latter result, as well as new experimental observations, suggests that the fulvenyl group is a particularly activating allylic group in S(N)2 reactions. Computational work on identity S(N)2 reactions, e.g., chloride(-) displacing chloride(-) and ammonia displacing ammonia, shows that negatively charged S(N)2 transition states (tss) are activated by allylic groups according to the Galabov-Allen-Wu electrostatic model but with the fulvenyl group especially effective at helping to delocalize negative charge due to some cyclopentadienide character in the transition state (ts). In contrast, the triafulvenyl group is deactivating. However, the positively charged S(N)2 transition states of the ammonia reactions are dramatically stabilized by the triafulvenyl group, which directly conjugates with a reaction center having S(N)1 character in the ts. Experiments and calculations on the acidities of a variety of allylic alcohols and carboxylic acids support the special nature of the fulvenyl group in stabilizing nearby negative charge and highlight the ability of fulvene species to dramatically alter the energetics of processes even in the absence of direct conjugation.

Reductive Heck reactions and [3+2] cycloadditions of unsaturated N,N'-bistricyclic imides.

The C-C coupling of N,N'-bis(5-norbornene-2,3-dicarboximide) (3) and N,N'-bis(7-oxa-5-norbornene-2,3-dicarboximide) (6) with aryl and heteroaryl iodides gave under reductive Heck conditions the C-aryl(hetaryl), substituted N,N'-bistricyclic imides 7a-f and 8a,b. The fused spiro-1,3-indandionolylpyrrolidine compounds, 9, 10 and 11 were also obtained from ninhydrine, sarcosine and 3 or 6 via [3+2]cycloaddition.

1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reactions of N-methyl-substituted tricyclic imides.

The [3+2] cycloadditions of N-methyl derivatives of unsaturated imides with various nitrile oxides to yield new bridged isoxazoline derivatives with potential biological activity is described.

The hydroarylation reaction--scope and limitations.

The synthetic potential of stereoselective, palladium-catalyzed hydro(het)arylation reactions of bi-, tri- and tetracyclic (hetero)alkenes in the presence of phospines and arsines as highly efficient ligands was studied. The mechanism of this reductive Heck reaction becomes more complex in the case of benzonorbornenes. Hydroarylation of diazabicyclo-[2.2.1]heptenes provides a stereoselective access to aryldiaminocyclopentanes. Electron-deficient arylpalladium complexes shift the reaction towards the product of a formal 1,2-hydrazidoarylation reaction of 1,3-cyclopentadiene by a stereoselective C-N cleavage. Due to steric reasons, rigid bicyclo[2.2.2]octenes react slower in hydroarylation reactions than the corresponding bicyclo[2.2.1]heptenes. The more flexible bicyclo[4.2.2]decene system already tends to undergo domino-Heck reactions, even under reductive conditions. When a tetracyclic cis-allylcyclopropane is carbopalladated in the presence of formates, the neighboring cyclopropane ring is attacked in the first reported example of a pi,sigma domino-Heck reaction.

Reductive Heck reactions of N-methyl-substituted tricyclic imides.

The palladium-catalyzed hydroarylation of N-methyl-substituted tricyclic imides was studied in order to find a new stereoselective access to a series of new exo-aryl(hetaryl)-substituted tricyclic N-methylimides.

Supramolecular structure of racemic 5-hydroxy-4-(4-methoxyphenyl)-10-oxa-4-azatricyclo[5.2.1.0(2,6)]dec-8-en-3-one.

The structure of the title compound, C(15)H(15)NO(4), comprises a racemic mixture of chiral molecules containing five stereogenic centres. The cyclohexane ring tends towards a boat conformation and the two tetrahydrofuran rings adopt envelope conformations. Molecules are linked into sheets parallel to (100) by a combination of O-H...O, C-H...O and C-H...pi hydrogen bonds, leading to a two-dimensional supramolecular structure.

Synthesis of new pyrazolothiazole derivatives from 4-thiazolidinones.

The synthesis of new 2,3,5,6-aryl substituted tetrahydro-2H-pyrazolo[3,4-d]- thiazoles 4a-j as potential biologically active compounds by the cyclocondensation of phenyl hydrazine with new 5-arylidene derivatives 2a-j of 2,3-disubstituted-1,3- thiazolidin-4-ones 1a-e is reported.

Epibatidine alkaloid chemistry: 5. Domino-Heck reactions of azabicyclic and tricyclic systems.

Palladium-catalyzed hydroarylations and additional domino reactions of aza-bicyclic and tricyclic norbornene derivatives were investigated and a series of new epibatidine analogues were synthesized.

Unusual endoperoxide isomerizations: a convenient entry into 2-vinyl-2-cyclopentenones from saturated fulvene endoperoxides.

An unusual peroxide base promoted isomerization was uncovered. Saturated endoperoxides derived from fulvenes give rise to 2-vinyl-2-cyclopentenones upon treatment with DBU in CH(2)Cl(2) in a one-pot reaction. This methodology was applied to a convenient synthesis of dihydrojasmone. Moreover, functional groups placed on the side chain at C-6 participate in the base catalyzed isomerizations via conjugate attack at the enone moiety to give 2-cyclopentenones carrying oxygen heterocycles at C2.

Palladium-catalyzed, stereoselective rearrangement of a tetracyclic allyl cyclopropane under arylation.

The first example of a pi,sigma domino-Heck reaction under concomitant rearrangement of the tetracyclic allylcyclopropane endo,exo-bishomobarrelene (5) is reported; the stereoselective reaction proceeds via an intramolecular insertion of a primarily-formed carbopalladation intermediate into a strained cyclopropane C-C sigma-bond, giving 9.