Spectroscopic, morphological, and mechanistic investigation of the solvent-promoted aggregation of porphyrins modified in meso-positions by glucosylated steroids.

Solvent-driven aggregation of a series of porphyrin derivatives was studied by UV/Vis and circular dichroism spectroscopy. The porphyrins are characterised by the presence in the meso positions of steroidal moieties further conjugated with glucosyl groups. The presence of these groups makes the investigated macrocycles amphiphilic and soluble in aqueous solvent, namely, dimethyl acetamide/water. Aggregation of the macrocycles is triggered by a change in bulk solvent composition leading to formation of large architectures that express supramolecular chirality, steered by the presence of the stereogenic centres on the periphery of the macrocycles. The aggregation behaviour and chiroptical features of the aggregates are strongly dependent on the number of moieties decorating the periphery of the porphyrin framework. In particular, experimental evidence indicates that the structure of the steroid linker dictates the overall chirality of the supramolecular architectures. Moreover, the porphyrin concentration strongly affects the aggregation mechanism and the CD intensities of the spectra. Notably, AFM investigations reveal strong differences in aggregate morphology that are dependent on the nature of the appended functional groups, and closely in line with the changes in aggregation mechanism. The suprastructures formed at lower concentration show a network of long fibrous structures spanning over tens of micrometres, whereas the aggregates formed at higher concentration have smaller rod-shaped structures that can be recognised as the result of coalescence of smaller globular structures. The fully steroid substituted derivative forms globular structures over the whole concentration range explored. Finally, a rationale for the aggregation phenomena was given by semiempirical calculations at the PM6 level.

Triterpenoid pyrazines and benzopyrazines with cytotoxic activity.

Twelve lupane, 18alpha-oleanane, and des-E-lupane derivatives (1a-5b) were either extracted from natural sources or synthesized from betulinic acid (1a) and betulin (2). Compounds 1b, 1c, 3b, 3c, 4b, 4c, 5a, and 5b were then used as starting materials for further synthesis of a series of pyrazines and benzopyrazines (6a-18); 20 of them are new (6a-6e, 7a-7d, and 10a-18). Activity of pyrazine 6a against the T-lymphoblastic leukemia cell line CEM encouraged us to synthesize several new esters (6b-6d) to study structure-activity relationships with respect to substitution of the carboxyl group at position 28. The synthesized compounds were tested for cytotoxicity against a variety of cancer cell lines of different histogenetic origin, and the results were compared with cytotoxicity of the known starting compounds. Significant cytotoxic activity against A 549, K 562, and multidrug-resistant K 562-tax cell lines was found in pyrazines 6a, 6d, and 6e.

Simple preparation of 3I-O-substituted beta-cyclodextrin derivatives using cinnamyl bromide.

[reaction: see text] A new method for preparation of 3(I)-O-substituted beta-cyclodextrin derivatives was developed. Cinnamyl bromide reacts with beta-cyclodextrin to form predominantly the 3(I)-O-cinnamyl derivative (30% isolated yield, >90% regioselectivity). After protection of the remaining cyclodextrin hydroxyls by acetylation, the cinnamyl group can be easily transformed to many other groups (exemplified by transformation to 3(I)-O-carboxymethyl derivative). Substitution pattern in singly modified CDs was unambiguously determined by a combination of 2D NMR techniques.

Influence of esterification and modification of A-ring in a group of lupane acids on their cytotoxicity.

The aim of this work was to find an optimal ester group for preparation of lupane derivatives connecting high cytotoxicity with good chemical and pharmacological properties. Activities of methyl-, pivaloyloxymethyl- (Pom-), and acetoxymethyl- (Acm-) esters were compared with the activity of free acids. Although the methyl- and Pom-esters were generally less active than free acids, some Acm-esters had cytotoxicity similar to or even better than the starting compounds. Cytotoxic activity was measured in five cancer cell lines.

Cocyclotrimerization of 6-alkynylpurines with alpha,omega-diynes as a novel approach to biologically active 6-arylpurines.

Transition metal complex catalyzed cocyclotrimerization of 6-alkynylpurines 1 with various diynes enables the preparation of a plethora of substituted 6-arylpurines 3 in good yields. The most general catalyst for the reaction is a user-friendly system based on a nickel-phosphine complex and reductant (NiBr(2)(dppe)/Zn) in MeCN. The reaction conditions are compatible with various protective groups on the purine moiety (Bn, THP). As far as other potential catalysts were concerned, only CoBr(PPh(3))(3) showed reasonable activity in cocyclotrimerization of alkynylpurines with dipropargyl ether. A comparison of catalytic with stoichiometric approaches and the ligand effect in the catalyst is also given. Cytostatic activity screening of title 6-arylpurines was performed and several moderately active compounds were found.

2,8'-disubstituted-1,1'-binaphthyls: a new pattern in chiral ligands.

The title binaphthyls 19 and 26, which are the positional isomers of 2-methoxy-2'-(diphenylphosphino)-1,1'-binaphthyl (MOP, 19) and 2-amino-2'-hydroxy-1,1'-binaphthyl (NOBIN, 26), have been synthesized by Suzuki coupling as the key step (10 + 15-->18), followed by functional group transformations, involving C-P and C-N bond formation (18-->19 and 18-->23). Racemic intermediate 22 was resolved by co-crystallization with N-benzylcinchonidinium chloride and the absolute configuration determined by X-ray crystallography. These novel binaphthyls are configurationally stable and, as such, potentially usable as chiral ligands in asymmetric reactions. Michael addition of the glycine-derived enolate 40 to methyl acrylate, carried out in the presence of (R)-(-)-27 as the chiral phase-transfer catalyst, afforded L-glutamic acid (S)-(+)-43 of 92% ee (after hydrolysis of the primary product).