Nickel-Catalyzed Reductive Alkyne Hydrocyanation Enabled by Malononitrile and a Formaldehyde Additive.

The development of a nickel-catalyzed reductive alkyne hydrocyanation is described using 2-methyl-2-phenylmalononitrile (MPMN), a C-bound electrophilic transnitrilation reagent. Reproducibility issues led to the detection of oxidized hemiaminal impurities within N,N-dimethylacetamide. These impurities release formaldehyde in situ, which was ultimately identified as a critical reaction additive. A range of diaryl and aryl-alkyl alkynes underwent hydrocyanation. Mechanistic experiments revealed that formaldehyde and MPMN undergo a Ni-catalyzed reductive coupling of two π-components, leading to the controlled release of glycolonitrile as the active cyanating agent.

Incorporation of histone deacetylase inhibitory activity into the core of tamoxifen - A new hybrid design paradigm.

Hybrid antiestrogen/histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors were designed by appending zinc binding groups to the 4-hydroxystilbene core of 4-hydroxytamoxifen. The resulting hybrids were fully bifunctional, and displayed high nanomolar to low micromolar IC50 values against both the estrogen receptor α (ERα) and HDACs in vitro and in cell-based assays. The hybrids were antiproliferative against ER+ MCF-7 breast cancer cells, with hybrid 28b possessing an improved activity profile compared to either 4-hydroxytamoxifen or SAHA. Hybrid 28b displayed gene expression patterns that reflected both ERα and HDAC inhibition.