A biomimetic approach to dihydrobenzofuran synthesis.

A method for an acid-catalyzed construction of dihydrobenzofuran heterocycles (14) from 2-(2'-hydroxyethyl)quinone precursors 10 is presented. The putative oxonium ion intermediate 17 formed by an intramolecular hydroxyl cyclization followed by dehydration is reduced in situ by an added dihydroquinone source. Good to excellent yields of cyclized products are realized in all cases except for highly electron deficient systems, and these suffer reduction prior to oxonium ion formation. All products are monomeric and derived from a two-electron transfer except for 10 g, which affords the dimeric dihydrobenzofuran. The amount of cyclization or reduction product is governed by the HOMO/LUMO gap between the quinone substrate and the dihydroquinone additive, and the product distribution can be adjusted by modifying the electronic properties of the added reducing agent.

Synthesis and evaluation of dinitroanilines for treatment of cryptosporidiosis.

The efficacy of a series of dinitroaniline herbicide derivatives for the treatment of Cryptosporidium parvum infections has been studied. The lead compounds oryzalin (compound 1) and trifluralin (compound 2) have low water solubility (<3 ppm) which was alleged to be a major contributor to their poor pharmacokinetic availability. Derivatives of compounds 1 and 2 were synthesized. In these derivatives the functionality at the C-1 amine position or the C-4 position was substituted with groups with various hydrophilicities to determine if a direct relation existed between water solubility and overall activity. The chlorinated precursors of these derivatives were also examined and were found to be less active in the C. parvum assays, a result in direct contrast to earlier work with Leishmania. Enhanced water solubility alone did not overcome the drug availability problem; however, several candidates with similar activities but with toxicities lower than those of the lead compounds were produced.