Synthesis, biological evaluation and X-ray analysis of bicalutamide sulfoxide analogues for the potential treatment of prostate cancer.

The androgen receptor (AR) is a pivotal target for the treatment of prostate cancer (PC) even when the disease progresses toward androgen-independent or castration-resistant forms. In this study, a series of sulfoxide derivatives were prepared and their antiproliferative activity evaluated in vitro against four different human prostate cancer cell lines (22Rv1, DU-145, LNCaP and VCap). Bicalutamide and enzalutamide were used as positive controls. Compound 28 displayed significant enhancement in anticancer activity across the four PC cell lines with IC50 = 9.09 - 31.11 µM compared to the positive controls: bicalutamide (IC50 = 45.20 -51.61 µM) and enzalutamide (IC50 = 11.47 - 53.04 µM). Sulfoxide derivatives of bicalutamide were prepared efficiently from the corresponding sulfides using only one equivalent of mCPBA, limiting the reaction time to 15-30 min and maintaining the temperature at 0 °C. Interestingly, three pairs of sulfoxide diastereomers were separated and NMR comparison of their diastereotopic methylene (CH2) group is presented. X-ray diffraction crystal structure analysis provided relative configuration assignment at the chiral sulfur and carbon centres. Molecular modelling study of the four diastereoisomers of compound 28 is described.

Multivariate analysis in the development of bioequivalent tablets containing bicalutamide.

The pharmaceutical industry has to tackle the explosion of high amounts of poorly soluble APIs. This phenomenon leads to numerous sophisticated solutions. These include the use of multifactorial data analysis identifying correlations between the components and dosage form properties, laboratory and production process parameters with respect to the API liberation Example of such API is bicalutamide. Improved liberation is achieved by particle size reduction. Laboratory batches, with different PSD of API, were filled into gelatinous capsules and consequently granulated for tablet compression. Comparative dissolution profiles with Casodex 150 mg (Astra Zeneca) were performed. The component analysis was used for the statistical evaluation of f1 and f2 factors and D(v,0.9) and D[4,3] parameters of PSD to identify optimal PSD values. Suitable PSD limits for API were statistically confirmed in laboratory and in commercial scale with respect to optimized tablet properties. The tablets were bioequivalent with originator (n = 20; 90% CI for ln AUC0-120: 99.8-111.9%; 90% CI for ln cmax: 101.1-112.9%). In conclusion, the micronisation of the API is still an efficient and inexpensive method improving the bioavailability, although there are more complicated and expensive methods available. Statistical multifactorial methods improved the safety and reproducibility of production.

Synthesis and Biological Evaluation of Bicalutamide Analogues for the Potential Treatment of Prostate Cancer.

The androgen receptor (AR) is a pivotal target for the treatment of prostate cancer (PC) even when the disease progresses toward androgen-independent or castration-resistant forms. In this study, a series of 15 bicalutamide analogues (sulfide, deshydroxy, sulfone, and O-acetylated) were prepared and their antiproliferative activity evaluated against four different human prostate cancer cell lines (22Rv1, DU-145, LNCaP, and VCap). Bicalutamide and enzalutamide were used as positive controls. Seven of these compounds displayed remarkable enhancement in anticancer activity across the four PC cell lines. The deshydroxy analogue (16) was the most active compound with IC50 = 6.59-10.86 µM. Molecular modeling offers a plausible explanation of the higher activity of the sulfide analogues compared to their sulfone counterparts.

New one-pot synthesis of anti-tuberculosis compounds inspired on isoniazid.

A library of thirty N-substituted tosyl N'-acryl-hydrazones was prepared with p-toluenesulfonyl hydrazide, methyl propiolate and different aldehydes in a one-pot synthesis via an aza-Michael reaction. The scope of the reaction was studied, including aliphatic, isoprenylic, aromatic and carbocyclic aldehydes. The prepared collection was tested against Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv. Nine analogs of the collection showed Minimum Inhibitory Concentration ≤10 µM, of which the most active members (MIC of 1.25 µM) were exclusively E isomers. In order to validate the mechanism of action of the most active acrylates, we tested their activity on a M. tuberculosis InhA over-expressing strain obtaining MIC that consistently doubled those obtained on the wild type strain. Additionally, the binding mode of those analogs on M. tuberculosis InhA was investigated by docking simulations. The results displayed a hydrogen bond interaction between the sulfonamide and Ile194 and the carbonyl of the methyl ester with Tyr 158 (both critical residues in the interaction with the fatty acyl chain substrate), where the main differences on the binding mode relays on the hydrophobicity of the nitrogen substituent. Additionally, chemoinformatic analysis was performed to evaluate in silico possible cytotoxicity risk and ADME-Tox profile. Based on their simple preparation and interesting antimycobacterial activity profile, the newly prepared aza-acrylates are promising candidates for antitubercular drug development.

A new series of bicalutamide, enzalutamide and enobosarm derivatives carrying pentafluorosulfanyl (SF5) and pentafluoroethyl (C2F5) substituents: Improved antiproliferative agents against prostate cancer.

SAR studies on bicalutamide, enobosarm and enzalutamide analogues, functionalised with polyfluorinated groups, is presented. Among the novel bicalutamide and enobosarm derivatives synthesised, several displayed significantly improved in vitro anticancer activity, with IC50 values in the low micromolar range against four different prostate cancer cell lines (LNCaP, VCaP, DU-145 and 22Rv1), showing up to 48-fold increase in comparison with the parent structures. In particular, SF5 enobosarm analogues were found to be most potent compounds, full AR antagonists and with favourable ADME properties. The most promising compound (48a) was evaluated for its in vivo efficacy in PC xenograft mouse model (22Rv1) with results comparable to the standard-of-care docetaxel.

Ni/Co-Catalyzed Homo-Coupling of Alkyl Tosylates.

A direct reductive homo-coupling of alkyl tosylates has been developed by employing a combination of nickel and nucleophilic cobalt catalysts. A single-electron-transfer-type oxidative addition is a pivotal process in the well-established nickel-catalyzed coupling of alkyl halides. However, the method cannot be applied to the homo-coupling of ubiquitous alkyl tosylates due to the high-lying σ*(C-O) orbital of the tosylates. This paper describes a Ni/Co-catalyzed protocol for the activation of alkyl tosylates on the construction of alkyl dimers under mild conditions.

Discovery of deshydroxy bicalutamide derivatives as androgen receptor antagonists.

Deshydroxy propioanilides were synthesised by Michael addition reaction between substituted thiophenols onto four different phenylacrylamide derivatives to give twenty-three novel deshydroxy bicalutamide derivatives lacking the central hydroxyl group. The antiproliferative activities of these compounds were evaluated against human prostate cancer cell lines and thirteen compounds showed better inhibitory activities (IC50 = 2.67-13.19 µM) compared to bicalutamide (IC50 = 20.44 µM) in LNCaP. Remarkably, novel double branched bicalutamide analogues (27 and 28) were isolated as major by-products and found to have the best activity across three human prostate cancer cell lines (LNCaP, VCaP and PC3). The most active compound 28 shows sub-micromolar activity (IC50 = 0.43 µM in LNCaP), which represents more than 40-fold improvement over the clinical anti-androgen bicalutamide (IC50 = 20.44 µM) and a more than 3 fold improvement over enzalutamide (IC50 = 1.36 µM). Moreover, strong reduction of PSA expression in LNCaP cells upon treatment with compounds 27, 28 and 33 was observed during qPCR analysis, confirming their AR antagonist activity. Molecular modelling studies revealed a novel binding mode of these structurally distinct double branched analogues within the ligand binding domain (LBD) of the androgen receptor.

Breathing new life into West Nile virus therapeutics; discovery and study of zafirlukast as an NS2B-NS3 protease inhibitor.

The West Nile virus (WNV) has spread throughout the world causing neuroinvasive diseases with no treatments available. The viral NS2B-NS3 protease is essential for WNV survival and replication in host cells and is a promising drug target. Through an enzymatic screen of the National Institute of Health clinical compound library, we report the discovery of zafirlukast, an FDA approved treatment for asthma, as an inhibitor for the WNV NS2B-NS3 protease. Zafirlukast was determined to inhibit the protease through a mixed mode mechanism with an IC50 value of 32 µM. A structure activity relationship study of zafirlukast revealed the cyclopentyl carbamate and N-aryl sulfonamide as structural elements crucial for NS2B-NS3 protease inhibition. Replacing the cyclopentyl with a phenyl improved inhibition, resulting in an IC50 of 22 µM. Experimental and computational docking analysis support the inhibition model of zafirlukast and analogs binding at an allosteric site on the NS3 protein, thereby disrupting the NS2B cofactor from binding, resulting in protease inhibition.

11a-N-tosyl-5-carbapterocarpans: Synthesis, antineoplastic evaluation and in silico prediction of ADMETox properties.

11a-N-tosyl-5-carbapterocarpans (5a-c and 6a-c), 9-N-tosyl-4,4a,9,9a-tetrahydro-3H-carbazole (7), 11a-N-tosyl-5-carbapterocarpen (8) analogues of LQB-223 (4a), were synthesized through palladium catalyzed azaarylation of substituted dihydronaphtalenes (14a-c) and cyclohexadiene (15), respectively, with N-tosyl-o-iodoaniline (11). In order to understand the role of the N-tosyl moiety for the pharmacological activity, the azacarbapterocarpen (9) was also synthesized by Fischer indol reaction. The structural requirements at the A and D-rings for the antineoplastic activity toward human leukemias and breast cancer cells were evaluated as well. Substitutions on the A-ring of 4a and analogues alter the effect on different breast cancer subtypes. On the other hand, A-ring is not essential for antileukemic activity since compound 7, which does not contain the A-ring, showed efficacy with high selectivity indices for drug-resistant leukemias. On the other hand, substitutions on the D-ring of 4a for fluorine or iodine did not improve the antileukemic activity. In silico studies concerning Lipinskís rule of five, ADMET properties and drug scores of those compounds were performed, indicating good physicochemical properties for all compounds, in special for compound 7.

Synthesis of 3-Methylidene-1-tosyl-2,3-dihydroquinolin-4(1H)-ones as Potent Cytotoxic Agents.

An efficient synthetic strategy to 3-methylidene-2,3-dihydroquinolin-4(1H)-ones variously substituted in position 2 has been developed. The title compounds were synthesized in the reaction sequence involving reaction of diethyl methylphosphonate with methyl 2-(tosylamino)benzoate, condensation of thus formed diethyl 2-oxo-2-(2-N-tosylphenyl)ethylphosphonate with various aldehydes followed by successful application of the obtained 3-(diethoxyphosphoryl)-1,2-dihydroquinolin-4-ols as Horner-Wadsworth-Emmons reagents for the olefination of formaldehyde. Also, enantioselective approach to the target compounds has been evaluated using 3-dimenthoxyphosphoryl group as a chiral auxiliary. Single X-ray crystal analysis of (2S)-3-(dimenthoxyphosphoryl)-2-phenyl-1-tosyldihydroquinolin-4-ol revealed the presence of strong resonance-assisted hydrogen bond (RAHB). The obtained 3-methylidene-2,3-dihydroquinolin-4(1H)-ones were then tested for their cytotoxic activity against two leukemia cell lines NALM-6 and HL-60 and a breast cancer MCF-7 cell line. All compounds showed very high cytotoxic activity with the IC50 values mostly below 1 µm in all three cancer cell lines. The selected analogs were also tested on human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) and on human mammary gland/breast cells (MCF-10A) to evaluate their influence on normal cells. Since one of the most serious problems in cancer chemotherapy is the development of drug resistance, the mRNA levels and activity of ABCB1 transporter considered to be the most important factor engaged in drug resistance, were evaluated in MCF-7 cells treated with two selected analogs. Both compounds were strong ABCB1 transporter inhibitors that could prevent efflux of anticancer drugs from cancer cells.

One-Pot Synthesis of ß-Hydroxysulfones and Its Application in the Preparation of Anticancer Drug Bicalutamide.

An efficient one-pot multistep strategy has been developed, comprising auto-oxidative difunctionalization of alkenes, oxidation of sulfides, and a further reduction of peroxides for the synthesis of complex ß-hydroxysulfone derivatives from phenthiols and alkenes. This method has several advantageous characteristics, including readily available substrates, low-cost and environmental benign reagents, nontoxic and renewable solvents, and mild reaction conditions. The application of this transformation to the multigram-scale preparation of the anticancer drug bicalutamide is accomplished.

Acyclic 1,4-Stereocontrol via the Allylic Diazene Rearrangement: Development, Applications, and the Essential Role of Kinetic E Stereoselectivity in Tosylhydrazone Formation.

We report full details of a method for 1,3-reductive transposition of α-alkoxy-α,ß-unsaturated hydrazones to provide E-alkenes with high 1,4-stereocontrol between the two respective allylic stereocenters. The process couples a chelation-controlled reduction of the hydrazone with an in situ allylic strain controlled retro-ene reaction of an allyl diazene, i.e., an allylic diazene rearrangement. Such stereotriads are frequently observed motifs in natural products. We observed a fortuitous kinetic preference for the E-hydrazone geometry during the hydrazonation reaction, as only the E-isomers could undergo chelation-controlled reduction.

Tos-Nos-Mos: Synthesis of different aryl sulfonate precursors for the radiosynthesis of the alpha7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor radioligand [(18)F]NS14490.

Radiopharmacological investigations of [(18)F]NS14490 have proven that this radiotracer could be a potential PET radiotracer for imaging of alpha7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor particularly with regard to vulnerable plaques of diseased vessels. For further optimisation of the previously automated one-pot radiosynthesis of [(18)F]NS14490 using a tosylate precursor, precursors with other leaving groups (nosylate and mosylate) were synthesized and compared with the tosylate with respect to their reactivities towards [(18)F]fluoride. The use of these different precursors resulted in comparable labelling yields of [(18)F]NS14490. A novel mosylate precursor was synthesized and evaluated, which has revealed a higher stability during a storage period of five months compared to the corresponding tosylate and nosylate.

Design and synthesis of novel bicalutamide and enzalutamide derivatives as antiproliferative agents for the treatment of prostate cancer.

Prostate cancer (PC) is one of the major causes of male death worldwide and the development of new and more potent anti-PC compounds is a constant requirement. Among the current treatments, (R)-bicalutamide and enzalutamide are non-steroidal androgen receptor antagonist drugs approved also in the case of castration-resistant forms. Both these drugs present a moderate antiproliferative activity and their use is limited due to the development of resistant mutants of their biological target. Insertion of fluorinated and perfluorinated groups in biologically active compounds is a current trend in medicinal chemistry, applied to improve their efficacy and stability profiles. As a means to obtain such effects, different modifications with perfluoro groups were rationally designed on the bicalutamide and enzalutamide structures, leading to the synthesis of a series of new antiproliferative compounds. Several new analogues displayed improved in vitro activity towards four different prostate cancer cell lines, while maintaining full AR antagonism and therefore representing promising leads for further development. Furthermore, a series of molecular modelling studies were performed on the AR antagonist conformation, providing useful insights on potential protein-ligand interactions.

Titania-catalyzed radiofluorination of tosylated precursors in highly aqueous medium.

Nucleophilic radiofluorination is an efficient synthetic route to many positron-emission tomography (PET) probes, but removal of water to activate the cyclotron-produced [(18)F]fluoride has to be performed prior to reaction, which significantly increases overall radiolabeling time and causes radioactivity loss. In this report, we demonstrate the possibility of (18)F-radiofluorination in highly aqueous medium. The method utilizes titania nanoparticles, 1:1 (v/v) acetonitrile-thexyl alcohol solvent mixture, and tetra-n-butylammonium bicarbonate as a phase-transfer agent. Efficient radiolabeling is directly performed with aqueous [(18)F]fluoride without the need for a drying/azeotroping step to significantly reduce radiosynthesis time. High radiochemical purity of the target compound is also achieved. The substrate scope of the synthetic strategy is demonstrated with a range of aromatic, aliphatic, and cycloaliphatic tosylated precursors.

Copper(I)-catalyzed alkylation of polyfluoroarenes through Direct C-H bond functionalization.

The copper(I)-catalyzed alkylation of electron-deficient polyfluoroarenes with N-tosylhydrazones and diazo compounds has been developed. This reaction uses readily available starting materials and is operationally simple, thus representing a practical method for the construction of C(sp(2) )-C(sp(3) ) bonds with polyfluoroarenes through direct C-H bond functionalization. Mechanistically, copper(I) carbene formation and subsequent migratory insertion are proposed as the key steps in the reaction pathway.

Cs2CO3-promoted carboxylation of N-tosylhydrazones with carbon dioxide toward α-arylacrylic acids.

A Cs2CO3-promoted carboxylation of N-tosylhydrazones and CO2 has been developed. The reaction proceeded efficiently at 80 °C under atmospheric CO2, gave the corresponding α-arylacrylic acids in moderate to good yields. This method was featured with (1) the employment of Cs2CO3 rather than (n)BuLi as the base; (2) a reaction temperature of 80 °C rather than -78 °C.

Efficient, scalable and economical preparation of tris(deuterium)- and 13C-labelled N-methyl-N-nitroso-p-toluenesulfonamide (Diazald®) and their conversion to labelled diazomethane.

A method for the preparation of multi-gramme quantities of N-methyl-d3-N-nitroso-p-toluenesulfonamide (Diazald-d3) and N-methyl-(13)C-N-nitroso-p-toluenesulfonamide (Diazald-(13)C) and their conversion to diazomethane-d2 and diazomethane-(13) C, respectively, is presented. This approach uses robust and reliable chemistry, and critically, employs readily commercially available and inexpensive methanol as the label source. Several reactions of labelled diazomethane are also reported, including alkene cyclopropanation, phenol methylation and α-diazoketone formation, as well as deuterium scrambling in the preparation of diazomethane-d2 and subsequent methyl esterification of benzoic acid.

Diastereoselective synthesis of N-(p-tosylsulfonyl)-2-phenylaziridine over a novel magnetically recyclable Cu(II) catalyst accompanied with the N-inversion assessment at DFT.

An experimental and theoretical study has been carried out on diastereoselective aziridation of styrene over a magnetically recyclable copper(II) catalyst: Cu(acac)2/NH2-T/SiO2@Fe3O4NPs. The turnover number (TON) of our heterogeneous catalyst appears considerably higher than that reported for the homogeneous Cu(acac)2. Successive applications of solid Cu(acac)2/NH2-T/SiO2@Fe3O4NPs have a slight effect on its catalytic activity. Between anticipated cis and trans diastereomeric products, formation of only one is suggested by NMR. Even though, the trans-invertomer appears thermodynamically more stable at B3LYP/AUG-cc-pVTZ//B3LYP/6-31+G+G* level, we propose formation of the kinetically more stable cis-invertomer due to π-stacking between the tosyl group and the phenyl of styrene. The possibility of cis-trans conversion is ruled out by the high energy barrier of > 76.9 kcal/mol probed in toluene, CCl4, C7H16, DMSO, CH3CN, and H2O.

Tandem one-pot palladium-catalyzed coupling of hydrazones, haloindoles, and amines: synthesis of amino-N-vinylindoles and their effect on human colon carcinoma cells.

The synthesis of amino-substituted N-vinylazoles was achieved by a new palladium-assisted tandem catalytic reaction involving N-tosylhydrazones, halo-substituted azoles, and amines. Accordingly, two Csp(2)-N bonds were formed through two mechanistically distinct reactions using a single Pd(II)/Pd(0) catalyst system in a one-pot fashion. This work paves the way for the design of biological relevant compounds in an amino-substituted N-vinylindole series. Among several polyoxygenated derivatives evaluated, compounds 5e and 5u were found to exhibit good antiproliferative activity.