Novel 2-aryl-4-aryloxyquinoline-based fungistatics for Mucor circinelloides. Biological evaluation of activity, QSAR and docking study.

Zygomycetes are ubiquitous saprophytes in natural environments which transform organic matter. Some zygomycetes of gender Mucor have attracted interest in health sector. Due to its ability as opportunistic microorganisms infecting immuno-compromised people and to the few available pharmacological treatments, the mucormycosis is receiving worldwide attention. Concerning to the pharmacological treatments, some triazole-based compounds such as fluconazole are extensively used. Nevertheless, we focused in the quinolines since they are broadly used models for the design and development of new synthetic antifungal agents. In this study, the fungistatic activity on M. circinelloides of various 2-aryl-4-aryloxyquinoline-based compounds was discovered, and in some cases, it resulted better than reference compound fluconazole. These quinoline derivatives were synthesized via the Csp2-O bond formation using diaryliodonium(III) salts chemistry. A QSAR study was carried out to quantitatively correlate the chemical structure of the tested compounds with their biological activity. Also, a docking study to identify a plausible action target of our more active quinolines was carried out. The results highlighted an increased activity with the fluorine- and nitro-containing derivatives. In light of the few mucormycosis pharmacological treatments, herein we present some non-described molecules with excellent in vitro activities and potential use in the mucormycosis treatment.

Practical, mild and efficient electrophilic bromination of phenols by a new I(iii)-based reagent: the PIDA-AlBr3 system.

A practical electrophilic bromination procedure for phenols and phenol-ethers was developed under efficient and very mild reaction conditions. A broad scope of arenes was investigated, including the benzimidazole and carbazole core as well as analgesics such as naproxen and paracetamol. The new I(iii)-based brominating reagent PhIOAcBr is operationally easy to prepare by mixing PIDA and AlBr3. Our DFT calculations suggest that this is likely the brominating active species, which is prepared in situ or isolated after centrifugation. Its stability at 4 °C after preparation was confirmed over a period of one month and no significant loss of its reactivity was observed. Additionally, the gram-scale bromination of 2-naphthol proceeds with excellent yields. Even for sterically hindered substrates, a moderately good reactivity is observed.