Lupeol acetate isolated from Chrysophyllum cainito L. fruit as a template for the synthesis of N-alkyl-arylsulfonamide derivatives and their synergistic effects with metronidazole against Trichomonas vaginalis.

Pentacyclic triterpenes are found in a great variety of natural products and constitute an organic template for the development of new derivative compounds with therapeutic applications. In the present work, lupeol acetate isolated from Chrysophyllum cainito L. fruit was used as a template for the synthesis of novel N-alkyl-arylsulfonamide derivatives, and their synergistic effects with metronidazole against strains of Trichomonas vaginalis were tested. A library of 18 derivatives was synthesized. Ten compounds exhibited an IC50 < 100 µM against a metronidazole-sensitive strain of T. vaginalis. Only seven of these compounds (12, 15, 18-22) also showed activity against metronidazole-resistant strains. The compounds 20 (N-cyclohexyl-p-chlorobenzenesulfonamidolupeol acetate) and 22 (N-cyclohexyl-p-nitrobenzenesulfonamidolupeol acetate) exhibited a similar IC50 against both susceptible and resistant T. vaginalis strains and enhanced the efficacy of metronidazole in a partial and total synergistic way, respectively. These data provided evidence of the trichomonicidal effect of N-alkyl-arylsulfonamide derivatives of lupeol acetate, representing highly promising novel antiparasitic agents.

Cytotoxic and antiproliferative activity of thiazole derivatives of Ochraceolide A.

A series of 15 novel 1,3-thiazole amide derivatives of the pentacyclic triterpene Ochraceolide A (1) was synthesized, characterized, and evaluated in vitro against three human cancer cell lines (MCF-7, MDA-MB-231 and SiHa) and a normal cell line (Vero). Synthetic derivatives were obtained by acylation of the 2-aminothiazole triterpene 2, previously reported. Remarkably, the 5-nitrofuramide derivative (2o) showed better cytotoxic and antiproliferative activity than compound 2 and the other derivatives against the three cancer cell lines with CC50 and IC50 values of 1.6-12.7 µM. Furthermore, butyramide derivative (2c) was approximately 25 times more selective than 2, as well as 3.4 times more selective than Docetaxel, against SiHa cells in the cytotoxic assay, while the phenyl amide derivatives were inactive against the three cancer cell lines.

Boron-Nitrogen Double Tweezers Comprising Arylboronic Esters and Diamines: Self-Assembly in Solution and Adaptability as Hosts for Aromatic Guests in the Solid State.

The thermodynamic stability of 1 : 1 and 2 : 1 boron-nitrogen (B←N) adducts formed between aromatic boronic esters with mono- and diamines was studied in solution by NMR and UV-vis spectroscopy with association energies (ΔG°) ranging from -11 to -28 kJ mol-1 . The effect of different substituents in the boronic ester, the nature of the diamine linker, and the effect of the solvent was explored. Stable 2 : 1 B←N adducts with diamines such as 1,3-diaminopropane were produced in solutions of hydrogen-bonding acceptor solvents (acetonitrile and ethyl acetate), which can be isolated in the solid state as crystalline solvates, whereas the use of noncoordinating solvents such as 1,2-dichloroethane afforded mainly 1 : 1 B←N adducts. In suitable combinations, aromatic bis-pyridyl diamines produced stable 2 : 1 B←N adducts that were isolated either as solvent-free solids, solvates, or cocrystals. In these crystalline forms, double-tweezer hosts were observed with an exceptional syn/anti conformational guest-adaptability driven by simultaneous donor-acceptor and C-H⋅⋅⋅π interactions in the tweezer cavities, resembling preorganized covalent tweezer hosts. Interestingly, cocrystals with electron-rich guests such as tetrathiafulvalene and pyrene showed non-centrosymmetric crystal lattices with infinite π-stacked donor-acceptor columns.

Crystal structure and Hirshfeld surface analysis of N-(5-iodo-4-phenyl-thia-zol-2-yl)acetamide.

Two crystallographically independent mol-ecules (A and B) are present in the asymmetric unit of the title compound, C11H9IN2OS, which differ mainly in the dihedral angle between the phenyl and thia-zole rings [38.94 (16) and 32.12 (15)°, respectively]. In the crystal, the mol-ecules form ⋯A⋯B⋯A⋯B⋯ chains along the [001] and [010] directions through moderate N-H⋯O hydrogen bonds and C-H⋯π inter-actions, respectively. The overall three-dimensional network is formed by I⋯I and I⋯S inter-actions. Hirshfeld surface analysis indicates that the most important contributions to the crystal packing are from H⋯C/C⋯H (26.2%), H⋯H (20.9%), H⋯I/I⋯H (19.4%) and H⋯O/O⋯H (6.8%) inter-actions.

Crystal structure of ochraceolide A isolated from Elaeodendron trichotomum (Turcz.) Lundell.

The title compound, C30H44O3 [systematic name: 6aR,6 bR,8aS,9aR,12aR,14bR)-4,4,6a,6;b,8a,14b-hexa-methyl-12-methyl-eneicosa-hydro-3H-phenanthro[1',2':6,7]indeno-[2,1-b]furan-3,11(2H)-dione], is a triterpene lactone, which was isolated from di-chloro-methane extract of Elaeodendron trichotomum (Turcz.) Lundell (celastraceae) stem bark. The compound has a lupane skeleton and consists of four fused six-membered rings and two five-membered rings. In the crystal, mol-ecules are linked by weak C-H⋯O hydrogen bonds into a three-dimensional network. The configuration of ochraceolide A was proposed based on analogue compounds which belong to the lupane type.