Development of potential anticancer agents and apoptotic inducers based on 4-aryl-4H chromene scaffold: Design, synthesis, biological evaluation and insight on their proliferation inhibition mechanism.

An array of 4-aryl-2-amino-4H chromene derivatives were designed, synthesized, and evaluated for cytotoxic activity against four cancer cell lines and two non-cancerous cell lines. The most active candidates were further screened for their in vitro anticancer activity on NCI panel of 60 human cancer cell lines where compounds 2a, 2b, 4a-2, and 2e showed promising activity against various leukemia, non-small lung, renal, prostate, and breast cancer cell lines, particularly against NCI-H522 non-small lung cancer cell line (GI50 of 0.35-0.60 µM), MCF7 breast cancer cell line (GI50 of 0.34-0.59 µM), and MDA-MB-468 breast cancer cell line (GI50 of 0.23-0.40 µM). Compound 2b was the most potent against all leukemia and prostate cancer cell lines with GI50 values (0.29-0.60 µM). Compound 2b inhibited the proliferation of MCF-7 and HepG2 cells by inducing cell cycle arrest and apopotosis. 2b downregulated the mRNA abundance of BAX, Apaf-1 and caspase-3 and upregulated BCL-2. The activities of caspase-3 and caspase-9 were declined in MCF-7 and HepG2 cells treated with compound 2b. Compounds 2b and 4a-2 inhibited tubulin polymerization, with an IC50 values of 0.92 and 1.13 µM, respectively. These findings indicate that these synthesized compounds may represent potential drug candidates to inhibit the proliferation of different types of cancer cells.

Synthesis and biological studies of "Polycerasoidol" and "trans-δ-Tocotrienolic acid" derivatives as PPARα and/or PPARγ agonists.

2-Prenylated benzopyrans represent a class of natural and synthetic compounds showing a wide range of significant activities. Polycerasoidol is a natural prenylated benzopyran isolated from the stem bark of Polyalthia cerasoides (Annonaceae) that exhibits dual PPARα/γ agonism and an anti-inflammatory effect by inhibiting mononuclear leukocyte adhesion to the dysfunctional endothelium. Herein, we report the synthesis of three new series of prenylated benzopyrans containing one (series 1), two (series 2, "polycerasoidol" analogs) and three (series 3, "trans-δ-tocotrienolic acid" analogs) isoprenoid units in the hydrocarbon side chain at the 2-position of the chroman-6-ol (6-hydroxy-dihydrobenzopyran) scaffold. Isoprenoid moieties were introduced through a Grignard reaction sequence, followed by Johnson-Claisen rearrangement and subsequent Wittig olefination. hPPAR transactivation activity and the structure activity relationships (SAR) of eleven novel synthesized 2-prenylated benzopyrans were explored. PPAR transactivation activity demonstrated that the seven-carbon side chain analogs (series 1) displayed selectivity for hPPARα, while the nine-carbon side chain analogs (polycerasoidol analogs, series 2) did so for hPPARγ. The side chain elongation to 11 or 13 carbons (series 3) resulted in weak dual PPARα/γ activation. Therefore, 2-prenylated benzopyrans of seven- and nine-carbon side chain (polycerasoidol analogs) are good lead compounds for developing useful candidates to prevent cardiovascular diseases associated with metabolic disorders.

Cooperative Hydrogen-Bond-Donor Catalysis with Hydrogen Chloride Enables Highly Enantioselective Prins Cyclization Reactions.

Cooperative asymmetric catalysis with hydrogen chloride (HCl) and chiral dual-hydrogen-bond donors (HBDs) is applied successfully to highly enantioselective Prins cyclization reactions of a wide variety of simple alkenyl aldehydes. The optimal chiral catalysts were designed to withstand the strongly acidic reaction conditions and were found to induce rate accelerations of 2 orders of magnitude over reactions catalyzed by HCl alone. We propose that the combination of strong mineral acids and chiral hydrogen-bond-donor catalysts may represent a general strategy for inducing enantioselectivity in reactions that require highly acidic conditions.

Anti-cancer potential of natural products containing (6H-dibenzo[b,d]pyran-6-one) framework using docking tools.

To explore complex biological and chemical systems, pharmaceutical research has effectively included several molecular modeling tools into a range of drug development initiatives. Molecular docking methods are widely employed in current drug design to investigate ligand conformations within macromolecular targets' binding sites. This method also estimates the ligand-receptor binding free energy by assessing critical phenomena involved in the intermolecular recognition process. In an attempt, several natural products have been synthesized in our laboratory. All the synthesized compounds containing (6H-Dibenzo[b,d]pyran-6-one) framework were subjected to molecular docking studies for the inhibition of CYP1B1 and BCL2 proteins using Auto Dock Vina software and the interacting amino acid residues were visualized using Discovery Studio, to look into the binding modalities that might influence their anticancer properties. The in silico molecular docking study outcomes showed that all the synthesized compounds having optimum binding energy and have a decent affinity to the active pocket, thus, they may be considered as a respectable inhibitor of CYP1B1 and BCL2 proteins.

Design of a Spiropyran-Based Smart Adsorbent with Dual Response: Focusing on Highly Efficient Enrichment of Phosphopeptides.

Smart responsive materials have attractive application prospects due to their tunable behaviors. In this work, we design novel spiropyran (SP)-based magnetic nanoparticles (MNP-SP) with dual response to ultraviolet light and pH and apply them to the enrichment of phosphopeptides. SP is modified on the surface of magnetic nanoparticles through a simple esterification reaction, based on which an MNP-SP-MS phosphopeptide identification platform is established. The capture and release of phosphopeptides are facilely adjusted by changing external light and the pH of the solution. The smart responsive MNP-SP has fast magnetic response performance, high sensitivity (detection limit of 0.4 fmol), and good reusability (6 cycles). In addition, MNP-SP is used for the enrichment of phosphopeptides in skimmed milk, human saliva, and human serum samples, indicating that it is an ideal adsorbent for enriching low-abundance phosphopeptides in complex biological environments.

Synthesis and evaluation of antitumor activity of 9-methoxy-1H-benzo[f]chromene derivatives.

Herein, a series of aryl-substituted derivatives of 3-amino-1-aryl-9-methoxy-1H-benzo[f]chromene-2-carbonitriles (4a-4q) were designed and synthesized via reaction of 7-methoxy-2-naphthol with a mixture of appropriate aromatic aldehydes and malononitrile under microwave conditions. Among the tested benzochromene, the known compound 4e and four novel compounds 4f, 4j, 4k, 4m exhibited the highest cytotoxicity towards a panel of six human cancer cell lines MDA-MB-231, A549, HeLa, MIA PaCa-2, RPMI 7951, and PC-3. Compound 4j with 2,4-dichloro substitution on the pendant phenyl ring exhibited the highest broad-spectrum cytotoxicity towards all tested cancer cell lines. Compounds 4e, 4f, 4j, 4k, 4m were further selected to study the mechanism of cellular toxicity using the triple-negative breast cancer cells MDA-MB-231. Compounds 4e, 4f, 4j, 4k, 4m induced accumulation of the treated MDA-MB-231 cells in the S phase and 4k additionally in the G2/M phase of the cell cycle. Compounds 4e, 4f, 4j, 4k, 4m induced dissipation of mitochondrial transmembrane potential and activation of caspase 3/7 in MDA-MB-231 cells with 4j being one of the most active. In an in vivo model, compound 4j and less efficiently 4e and 4f inhibited growth and proliferation and triggered DNA fragmentation in MDA-MB-231 xenografts grown on chick chorioallantoic membranes. SAR study confirmed that the 2,4-dichloro substitution pattern on the pendant phenyl ring enhanced the cytotoxic activity of benzochromene.

Synthesis and biological evaluation of substituted amide derivatives of C4-ageratochromene dimer analog.

Substituted amide derivatives of C4-ageratochromene dimer analog (19) were synthesized through structural modification of precocene-I (4a), isolated from the essential oil of Ageratum conyzoides L. The target compounds (18-20, 23I-VI, 24I-VI, and 25I-VI) were evaluated for their bone-forming effect using osteoblast differentiation assay. Seven compounds (23I, 23II, 23IV, 23VI, 24III, 24VI, and 25VI) presented good activity within 1 pM-1 nM concentration. At 1 pM concentration, the most active compound i.e. 23II showed effective mineralization of osteoblast cells along with expression of osteogenic marker genes viz RUNX 2, BMP-2, and type 1 collagen (Type-1 col) without any toxicity towards osteoblast cells. Single crystal X-ray analysis of 18 and 20 revealed that the core nucleus of these molecules bear phenyl rings in a Trans-stilbenoid system and had a good structural correlation with 17ß-estradiol (1) and diethylstilbestrol (DES, 3). In-silico study about 23II showed its structural complementarities with the LBD of estrogen receptor (ER) which indicated possible ER-mediated activity of compounds.

Identifying requirements for RSK2 specific inhibitors.

Identifying isoform-specific inhibitors for closely related kinase family members remains a substantial challenge. The necessity for achieving this specificity is exemplified by the RSK family, downstream effectors of ERK1/2, which have divergent physiological effects. The natural product, SL0101, a flavonoid glycoside, binds specifically to RSK1/2 through a binding pocket generated by an extensive conformational rearrangement within the RSK N-terminal kinase domain (NTKD). In modelling experiments a single amino acid that is divergent in RSK3/4 most likely prevents the required conformational rearrangement necessary for SL0101 binding. Kinetic analysis of RSK2 association with SL0101 and its derivatives identified that regions outside of the NTKD contribute to stable inhibitor binding. An analogue with an n-propyl-carbamate at the 4" position on the rhamnose moiety was identified that forms a highly stable inhibitor complex with RSK2 but not with RSK1. These results identify a SL0101 modification that will aid the identification of RSK2 specific inhibitors.

Design, Synthesis and Antibacterial Activity of Novel Pyrimidine-Containing 4H-Chromen-4-One Derivatives*.

A series of pyrimidine-containing 4H-chromen-4-one derivatives were designed and synthesized by combining bioactive substructures. Preliminary biological activity results showed that most of the compounds displayed significant inhibitory activities in vitro against Xanthomonas axonopodis pv. Citri (X. axonopodis), Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae (X. oryzae) and Ralstonia solanacearum (R. solanacearum). In particular, compound 2-[(3-{[5,7-dimethoxy-4-oxo-2-(3,4,5-trimethoxyphenyl)-4H-1-benzopyran-3-yl]oxy}propyl)sulfanyl]-4-(4-methylphenyl)-6-oxo-1,6-dihydropyrimidine-5-carbonitrile (4c) demonstrated a good inhibitory effect against X. axonopodis and X. oryzae, with the half-maximal effective concentration (EC50 ) values of 15.5 and 14.9 µg/mL, respectively, and compound 2-[(3-{[5,7-Dimethoxy-4-oxo-2-(3,4,5-trimethoxyphenyl)-4H-1-benzopyran-3-yl]oxy}propyl)sulfanyl]-4-(3-fluorophenyl)-6-oxo-1,6-dihydropyrimidine-5-carbonitrile (4h) showed the best antibacterial activity against R. solanacearum with an EC50 value of 14.7 µg/mL. These results were better than commercial reagents bismerthiazol (BT, 51.7, 70.1 and 52.7 µg/mL, respectively) and thiodiazole copper (TC, 77.9, 95.8 and 72.1 µg/mL, respectively). In vivo antibacterial activity results indicated that compound 4c displayed better curative (42.4 %) and protective (49.2 %) activities for rice bacterial leaf blight than BT (35.2, 39.1 %) and TC (30.8, 27.3 %). The mechanism of compound 4c against X. oryzae was analyzed through scanning electron microscopy (SEM). These results indicated that pyrimidine-containing 4H-chromen-4-one derivatives have important value in the research of new agrochemicals.

Design, Synthesis, and Biological Evaluation of Novel 6H-Benzo[c]chromen-6-one Derivatives as Potential Phosphodiesterase II Inhibitors.

Urolithins (hydroxylated 6H-benzo[c]chromen-6-ones) are the main bioavailable metabolites of ellagic acid (EA), which was shown to be a cognitive enhancer in the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases. As part of this research, a series of alkoxylated 6H-benzo[c]chromen-6-one derivatives were designed and synthesized. Furthermore, their biological activities were evaluated as potential PDE2 inhibitors, and the alkoxylated 6H-benzo[c]chromen-6-one derivative 1f was found to have the optimal inhibitory potential (IC50: 3.67 ± 0.47 µM). It also exhibited comparable activity in comparison to that of BAY 60-7550 in vitro cell level studies.

A New Family of Benzo[h]Chromene Based Azo Dye: Synthesis, In-Silico and DFT Studies with In Vitro Antimicrobial and Antiproliferative Assessment.

The high biological activity of the chromene compounds coupled with the intriguing optical features of azo chromophores prompted our desire to construct novel derivatives of chromene incorporating azo moieties 4a-l, which have been prepared via a three-component reaction of 1-naphthalenol-4-[(4-ethoxyphenyl) azo], 1, with the benzaldehyde derivatives and malononitrile. The structural identities of the azo-chromene 4a-l were confirmed on the basis of their spectral data and elemental analysis, and a UV-visible study was performed in a Dimethylformamide (DMF) solution for these molecules. Additionally, the antimicrobial activity was investigated against four human pathogens (Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria) and four fungi, employing an agar well diffusion method, with their minimum inhibitory concentrations being reported. Molecules 4a, 4g, and 4h were discovered to be more efficacious against Syncephalastrum racemosum (RCMB 05922) in comparison to the reference drugs, while compounds 4b and 4h demonstrated the highest inhibitory activity against Escherichia coli (E. coli) in evaluation against the reference drugs. Moreover, their cytotoxicity was assessed against three different human cell lines, including human colon carcinoma (HCT-116), human hepatocellular carcinoma (HepG-2), and human breast adenocarcinoma (MCF-7) with a selection of molecules illustrating potency against the HCT-116 and MCF-7 cell lines. Furthermore, the molecular modeling results depicted the binding interactions of the synthesized compounds 3b and 3h in the active site of the E. coli DNA gyrase B enzyme with a clear SAR (structure-activity relationship) analysis. Lastly, the density functional theory's (DFTs) theoretical calculations were performed to quantify the energy levels of the Frontier Molecular Orbitals (FMOs) and their energy gaps, dipole moments, and molecular electrostatic potentials. These data were utilized in the chemical descriptor estimations to confirm the biological activity.

Biomimetic Dearomatization Strategies in the Total Synthesis of Meroterpenoid Natural Products.

Natural products are biosynthesized from a limited pool of starting materials via pathways that obey the same chemical logic as textbook organic reactions. Given the structure of a natural product, it is therefore often possible to predict its likely biosynthesis. Although biosynthesis mainly occurs in the highly specific chemical environments of enzymes, the field of biomimetic total synthesis attempts to replicate predisposed pathways using chemical reagents.We have followed several guidelines in our biomimetic approach to total synthesis. The overarching aim is to construct the same skeletal C-C and C-heteroatom bonds and in the same order as our biosynthetic hypothesis. In order to explore the innate reactivity of (bio)synthetic intermediates, the use of protecting groups is avoided or at least minimized. The key step, which is usually a cascade reaction, should be predisposed to selectively generate molecular complexity under substrate control (e.g., cycloadditions, radical cyclizations, carbocation rearrangements). In general, simple reagents and mild conditions are used; many of the total syntheses presented in this Account could be achieved using pre-1980s methodology. We have focused almost exclusively on the synthesis of meroterpenoids, that is, natural products of mixed terpene and aromatic polyketide origin, using commercially available terpenes and electron-rich aromatic compounds as starting materials. Finally, all of the syntheses in this Account involve a dearomatization step as a means to trigger a cascade reaction or to construct stereochemical complexity from a planar, aromatic intermediate.A biomimetic strategy can offer several advantages to a total synthesis project. Most obviously, successful biomimetic syntheses are usually concise and efficient, naturally adhering to the atom, step, and redox economies of synthesis. For example, in this Account, we describe a four-step synthesis of garcibracteatone and a three-step synthesis of nyingchinoid A. It is difficult to imagine shorter, non-biomimetic syntheses of these intricate molecules. Furthermore, biomimetic synthesis gives insight into biosynthesis by revealing the chemical relationships between biosynthetic intermediates. Access to these natural substrates allows collaboration with biochemists to help uncover the function of newly discovered enzymes and elucidate biosynthetic pathways, as demonstrated in our work on the napyradiomycin family. Third, by making biosynthetic connections between natural products, we can sometimes highlight incorrect structural assignments, and herein we discuss structure revisions of siphonodictyal B, rasumatranin D, and furoerioaustralasine. Last, biomimetic synthesis motivates the prediction of "undiscovered natural products" (i.e., missing links in biosynthesis), which inspired the isolation of prenylbruceol A and isobruceol.

Synthesis and Biological Evaluation of Natural-Product-Inspired, Aminoalkyl-Substituted 1-Benzopyrans as Novel Antiplasmodial Agents.

Herein, relationships between the structures of 1-aminoethyl-substituted chromenes and their antimalarial activities were thoroughly investigated. At first, the methyl moiety in the side chain was removed to eliminate chirality. The hydrogenation state of the benzopyran system, the position of the phenolic OH moiety, and the distance of the basic amino moiety toward both aromatic rings were varied systematically. 1-Benzopyran-5-ol 8b (IC50 = 10 nM), 1-benzopyran-7-ol 9c (IC50 = 38 nM), and the aminoalcohol 19c (IC50 = 17 nM) displayed antiplasmodial activity with IC50 values below 50 nM. To identify the mechanism of action, inhibition of three key enzymes by 9c was investigated. 9c was not able to reduce the number of Plasmodia in erythrocytes of mice. This low in vivo activity was explained by fast clearance from blood plasma combined with rapid biotransformation of 9c. Three main metabolites of 9c were identified by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) methods.

Structure activity relationship of 3-nitro-2-(trifluoromethyl)-2H-chromene derivatives as P2Y6 receptor antagonists.

Various 6-alkynyl analogues of a known 3-nitro-2-(trifluoromethyl)-2H-chromene antagonist 3 of the Gq-coupled P2Y6 receptor (P2Y6R) were synthesized using a Sonogashira reaction to replace a 6-iodo group. The analogues were tested in a functional assay consisting of inhibition of calcium mobilization in P2Y6R-expressing astrocytoma cells elicited by native P2Y6R agonist UDP. 6-Ethynyl and 6-cyano groups were installed, and the alkynes were extended through both alkyl and aryl spacers. The most potent antagonists, with IC50 of ~1 µM, were found to be trialkylsilyl-ethynyl 7 and 8 (3-5 fold greater affinity than reference 3), t-butyl prop-2-yn-1-ylcarbamate 14 and p-carboxyphenyl-ethynyl 16 derivatives, and 3 and 8 displayed surmountable antagonism of UDP-induced production of inositol phosphates. Other chain-extended terminal carboxylate derivatives were less potent than the corresponding methyl ester derivatives. Thus, the 6 position in this chromene series is suitable for derivatization with flexibility of substitution, even with sterically extended chains, without losing P2Y6R affinity. However, a 3-carboxylic acid or 3-ester substitution did not serve as a nitro bioisostere, as the affinity was eliminated. These compounds provide additional ligand tools for the underexplored P2Y6R, which is a target for inflammatory, neurodegenerative and metabolic diseases.

A computational approach to understand the role of metals and axial ligands in artificial heme enzyme catalyzed C-H insertion.

Engineered heme enzymes such as myoglobin and cytochrome P450s metalloproteins are gaining widespread importance due to their efficiency in catalyzing non-natural reactions. In a recent strategy, the naturally occurring Fe metal in the heme unit was replaced with non-native metals such as Ir, Rh, Co, Cu, etc., and axial ligands to generate artificial metalloenzymes. Determining the best metal-ligand for a chemical transformation is not a trivial task. Here we demonstrate how computational approaches can be used in deciding the best metal-ligand combination which would be highly beneficial in designing new enzymes as well as small molecule catalysts. We have used Density Functional Theory (DFT) to shed light on the enhanced reactivity of an Ir system with varying axial ligands. We look at the insertion of a carbene group generated from diazo precursors via N2 extrusion into a C-H bond. For both Ir(Me) and Fe systems, the first step, i.e., N2 extrusion is the rate determining step. Strikingly, neither the better ligand overlap with 5d orbitals on Ir nor the electrophilicity on the carbene centre play a significant role. A comparison of Fe and Ir systems reveals that a lower distortion in the Ir(Me)-porphyrin on moving from the reactant to the transition state renders it catalytically more active. We notice that for both metal porphyrins, the free energy barriers are affected by axial ligand substitution. Further, for Fe porphyrin, the axial ligand also changes the preferred spin state. We show that for the carbene insertion into the C-H bond, Fe porphyrin systems undergo a stepwise HAT (hydrogen atom transfer) instead of a concerted hydride transfer process. Importantly, we find that the substitution of the axial Me ligand on Ir to imidazole or chloride, or without an axial substitution changes the rate determining step of the reaction. Therefore, an optimum ligand that can balance the barriers for both steps of the catalytic cycle is essential. We subsequently used the QM cluster approach to delineate the protein environment's role and mutations in improving the catalytic activity of the Ir(Me) system.

Concise synthesis and in vitro anticancer activity of benzo[g][1]benzopyrano[4,3-b]indol-6(13H)-ones (BBPIs), topoisomerase I inhibitors based on the marine alkaloid lamellarin.

Benzo[g][1]benzopyrano[4,3-b]indol-6(13H)-ones (BBPIs) are potent anticancer compounds having unique BBPIs ring system designed on the basis of the marine natural product lamellarin D. In this study, we describe an alternative synthesis of a 2-demethoxy series of BBPIs, employing van Leusen pyrrole synthesis and an intramolecular Heck reaction as the key reactions. Cytotoxicity of the derivatives against several cancer and normal cell lines is reported.

Application of cyclohexane-1,3-diones for six-membered oxygen-containing heterocycles synthesis.

Cyclohexan-1,3-dione derivatives are versatile scaffolds for the synthesis of a variety of value-added organic molecules including heterocycles and natural products. Six-membered oxygen heterocycles prepared from cyclohexan-1,3-diones are of much importance as they are intermediate for the synthesis of a number of natural products and several other valuable bioactive molecules which shows anti-viral, anti-bacterial, analgesic, antimalarial, anti-inflammatory, anti-allergic, anti-tumor and anti-cancer activities. These advantages have inspired us to write a detailed survey on the newly developed methods which are very essential in the construction of six-membered oxygen heterocycles. Further, the versatility in the chemistry of cyclohexan-1,3-dione and its derivatives is due to the presence of highly active methylene moiety and its active di-carbonyl groups. Recently, reactions of cyclohexane-1,3-dione and its derivatives with other substrates for instance aldehydes, malononitriles, NMSM, chalcones, isatin etc. have been established for the construction of a variety of six-membered oxygen heterocycles. The studies reported in this review article involved the synthesis of six-membered oxygen-containing heterocycles which includes 4H-chromen-5(6H)-one, 2H-xanthen-1(9H)-one, 2H-xanthen-1,8(5H,9H)-dione, 6H-chromen-2,5-dione derivatives and natural products having six-membered oxygen heterocycles from cyclohexane-1,3-dione and its derivatives as one of the substrate.

Rational design and synthesis of 6-aryl-6H-benzo[c]chromenes as non-steroidal progesterone receptor antagonists for use against cancers.

Progesterone receptor (PR) antagonists have been found to be effective for treating certain human cancers. However, the steroidal structure of PR antagonists could bind to other hormone receptors, thus leading to serious side effects. On the other hand, non-steroidal PR antagonists have rarely been evaluated for their anti-cancer efficacy. Therefore, identifying novel non-steroidal PR antagonists possessing potent anti-cancer efficacy would be an attractive project to pursue. In this study, we presented a new metal-free oxidative CH arylation method to rapidly synthesize a series of 6-aryl-6H-benzo[c]chromene derivatives. Multiple cancer cell lines were used for their anti-cancer activity screening. An extensive analysis of structure-activity relationships (SAR) of the derivatives revealed that compounds 32 and 34 markedly inhibited the proliferation of MCF-7 cells with IC50 values of 6.32 ± 0.52 µM and 5.71 ± 0.49 µM, respectively. Further investigation indicated that derivatives 32 and 34 could elevate the expression of p21 and decrease the expressions of CDK4 and cyclin D1, leading to cell cycle arrest at G0/G1 phase. In addition, derivatives 32 and 34 could induce apoptosis of MCF-7 cells in both dose- and time-dependent manners by activation of p53 pathway, i.e., activation of Cleaved Caspase-3, p53 and P-p53 as well as elevation of the Bax/Bcl-2 ratio. Docking of derivatives 32 and 34 into a PR homology model exhibited potent PR antagonistic activity indicating the 6-aryl-6H-benzo[c]chromene derivatives are promising PR antagonists. We envisioned that derivatives 32 and 34 might be potential anti-cancer drug candidates as novel therapeutic treatment for breast cancer.

Synthesis and Evaluation of Cytotoxic Activity of Certain Benzo[h]chromene Derivatives.

BACKGROUND: Benzo[h]chromenes attracted great attention because of their widespread biological activities, including anti-proliferate activity, and the discovery of novel effective anti-cancer agents is imperative. OBJECTIVE: The main objective was to synthesize new benzo[h]chromene derivatives and some reported derivatives, and then test all of them for their anti-cancer activities. METHODS: The structures of the newly synthesized derivatives were confirmed by elemental and spectral analysis (IR, Mass, 1H-NMR and 13C-NMR). 35 compounds were selected by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) for single-dose testing against 60 cell lines and 3 active compounds were selected for 5-doses testing. Also, these 3 compounds were tested as EGFR-inhibitors; using sorafenib as standard, and as Tubulin polymerization inhibitors using colchicines as a standard drug. Moreover, molecular docking study for the most active derivative on these 2 enzymes was also carried out. RESULTS: Compounds 1a, 1c and 2b have the highest activities among all 35 tested compounds especially compound 1c. CONCLUSION: compound 1c has promising anti-cancer activities compared to the used standards and may need further modification and investigations.

Synthesis, characterization and anti-inflammatory properties of karanjin (Pongamia pinnata seed) and its derivatives.

Karanja (Pongamia pinnata) is a medicinal tree used in the Indian traditional ayurvedic system for treating several ailments. The seeds contain a unique furano-flavonoid karanjin, which has shown to possess many medicinal properties. Its usage at the clinical level is affected due to poor solubility and absorption. In the present investigation, molecular modifications of karanjin were attempted and evaluated their effect on anti-inflammatory activity. Firstly, Karanja ketone was obtained from karanjin by hydrolysis, and it was converted into karanja ketone oxime. The oxime undergoes Beckmann rearrangement and cyclized to yield furano benzoxazole (karanja oxazole). The new derivatives were purified with >95% purity (HPLC) and spectrally characterized (HR-MS, FTIR, and NMR). Among the test compounds, karanja ketone oxime exhibited higher antioxidant activity with an IC50 value of 360 µg/ml (DPPH). Soy lipoxygenase-1 (LOX-1) inhibitory activity of oxime was higher (IC50 = 65.4 µM) than other compounds. Fluorescence studies showed that oxime had higher quenching capacity with a Qmax of 76.3% and a binding constant of 0.9 × 105 M-1 for soy LOX-1. In-silico interaction studies showed that karanja ketone oxime had the least binding energy of -5.76 kcal/mol with LOX-1 by forming two hydrogen bonds with hydrophobic amino acids Leu 390 and Gly 392. The compounds were evaluated for their acute anti-inflammatory activity by the paw and ear edema in the rat model. Karanjin inhibits paw edema and ear edema by 34.13% and 51.13%, respectively, whereas the derivatives inhibited by 45-57 % and 70-76.8%. This study reports a rational approach to synthesize karanjin derivatives with considerable anti-inflammatory properties, both in-vitro and in-vivo.