Discovery of 'click' 1,2,3-triazolium salts as potential anticancer drugs.

BACKGROUND: In order to increase the effectiveness of cancer treatment, new compounds with potential anticancer activities are synthesized and screened. Here we present the screening of a new class of compounds, 1-(2-picolyl)-, 4-(2-picolyl)-, 1-(2-pyridyl)-, and 4-(2-pyridyl)-3-methyl-1,2,3-triazolium salts and 'parent' 1,2,3-triazole precursors. METHODS: Cytotoxic activity of new compounds was determined by spectrophotometric MTT assay on several tumour and one normal cell line. Effect of the selected compound to bind double stranded DNA (ds DNA) was examined by testing its influence on thermal stability of calf thymus DNA while its influence on cell cycle was determined by flow cytometric analysis. Generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) was determined by addition of specific substrate 5-(and-6)-chloromethyl-2',7'-dichlorodihydrofluorescein diacetate, acetyl ester (CM-H2DCFDA). RESULTS: Parent triazoles were largely inactive, while some of the triazolium salts were highly cytotoxic for HeLa cells. Triazolium salts exhibited high cell-type dependent cytotoxicity against different tumour cells. Selected compound (4-(4-methoxyphenyl)-3-methyl-1-(2-picolyl)-1H-1,2,3-triazolium hexafluorophosphate(V) (2b) was significantly more cytotoxic against tumour cells than to normal cells, with very high therapeutic index 7.69 for large cell lung carcinoma H460 cells. Additionally, this compound was similarly cytotoxic against parent laryngeal carcinoma HEp-2 cells and their drug resistant 7T subline, suggesting the potential of this compound in treatment of drug resistant cancers. Compound 2b arrested cells in the G1 phase of the cell cycle. It did not bind ds DNA, but induced ROS in treated cells, which further triggered cell death. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that the 'click' triazolium salts are worthy of further investigation as anti-cancer agents.

Ru(II), Os(II), and Ir(III) complexes with chelating pyridyl-mesoionic carbene ligands: structural characterization and applications in transfer hydrogenation catalysis.

Chelating ligands with one pyridine donor and one mesoionic carbene donor are fast establishing themselves as privileged ligands in homogeneous catalysis. The synthesis of several new Ir(III)-Cp*- and Os(II)-Cym complexes (Cp* = pentamethylcyclopentadienyl, Cym = p-cymene=4-isopropyl-toluene) derived from chelating pyridyltriazolylidenes where the additional pyridine donor was incorporated via the azide part of the triazole is presented. Furthermore, different 4-substituted phenylacetylene building blocks have been used to introduce electronic fine-tuning in the ligands. The ligands thus can be generally described as 4-(4-R-phenyl)-3-methyl-1-(pyridin-2-yl)-1H-1,2,3-triazol-5-ylidene (with R being H (L(1)), Me (L(2)), OMe (L(3)), CN (L(4)), CF3 (L(5)), Br (L(6)) or NO2 (L(7))). The corresponding complexes (Ir-1 to Ir-7 and Os-1 to Os-7) were characterized by standard spectroscopic methods, and the expected three-legged, piano-stool type coordination was unambiguously confirmed by X-ray diffraction analysis of selected compounds. Together with Ru(II) analogues previously reported by us, a total of 21 complexes were tested as (pre)catalysts for the transfer hydrogenation of carbonyl groups, showing a remarkable reactivity even at very low catalyst loadings. The electronic effects of the ligands as well as different substrates were investigated. Some mechanistic elucidations are also presented.

Analytical Techniques for Structural Characterization of Proteins in Solid Pharmaceutical Forms: An Overview.

Therapeutic proteins as biopharmaceuticals have emerged as a very important class of drugs for the treatment of many diseases. However, they are less stable compared to conventional pharmaceuticals. Their long-term stability in solid forms, which is critical for product performance, depends heavily on the retention of the native protein structure during the lyophilization (freeze-drying) process and, thereafter, in the solid state. Indeed, the biological function of proteins is directly related to the tertiary and secondary structure. Besides physical stability and biological activity, conformational stability (three-dimensional structure) is another important aspect when dealing with protein pharmaceuticals. Moreover, denaturation as loss of higher order structure is often a precursor to aggregation or chemical instability. Careful study of the physical and chemical properties of proteins in the dried state is therefore critical during biopharmaceutical drug development to deliver a final drug product with built-in quality that is safe, high-quality, efficient, and affordable for patients. This review provides an overview of common analytical techniques suitable for characterizing pharmaceutical protein powders, providing structural, and conformational information, as well as insights into dynamics. Such information can be very useful in formulation development, where selecting the best formulation for the drug can be quite a challenge.

RuII, IrIII and OsII mesoionic carbene complexes: efficient catalysts for transfer hydrogenation of selected functionalities.

Pyridine-appended triazolylidene donors have been recently used as ligands in various homogeneous catalytic processes. We present here a new pyrimidine substituted triazolium salt which was prepared and used in the coordination to RuII and OsII. The new triazolium salt and the obtained complexes were characterized by multinuclear NMR spectroscopy. The molecular composition of the mentioned compounds was confirmed by positive ion electrospray ionization (ESI+) mass spectra. The new pyrimidyl containing complexes, as well as the related pyridyl-triazolylidene containing complexes, were applied in transfer hydrogenation reactions of carbonyls, alkenes, imines and nitroarenes. The pyrimidyl containing complexes reveal an over-all better activity in comparison to their pyridine bearing analogues. The studies of electronic effects of the ligands, as well as mechanistic insights for the reduction of nitrobenzene with three selected precatalysts are presented.

A mesoionic bis(Py-tzNHC) palladium(II) complex catalyses "green" Sonogashira reaction through an unprecedented mechanism.

A novel bis(pyridyl-functionalized 1,2,3-triazol-5-ylidene)-palladium(II) complex [Pd(Py-tzNHC)2](2+) catalyses the copper-, amine-, phosphine-, and additive-free aerobic Sonogashira alkynylation of (hetero)aryl bromides in water as the only reaction solvent. The catalysis proceeds along two connected Pd-cycles with homogeneous bis-carbene Pd(0) and Pd(II) species, as demonstrated by electrospray ionization mass spectrometry.

Catalytic oxygenation of sp3 "C-H" bonds with Ir(III) complexes of chelating triazoles and mesoionic carbenes.

Cp*-Ir(III) complexes with additional chelating ligands are known active pre-catalysts for the oxygenation of C-H bonds. We present here eight examples of such complexes where the denticity of the chelating ligands has been varied from the well-known 2,2'-bpy through pyridyl-triazole, bi-triazole to ligands containing pyridyl-triazolylidene, triazolyl-triazolylidene and bi-triazolylidenes. Additionally, we also compare the catalytic results to complexes containing chelating cyclometallated ligands with additional triazole or triazolylidene donors. Single crystal X-ray structural data are presented for all the new complexes that contain one or more triazolylidene donors of the mesoionic carbene type. We present the first example of a metal complex containing a chelating triazole-triazolylidene ligand. The results of the catalytic screening show that complexes containing unsymmetrical donors of the pyridyl-triazole or pyridyl-triazolylidene types are the most potent pre-catalysts for the C-H oxygenation of cyclooctane in the presence of either m-CPBA or NaIO4 as a sacrificial oxidant. These pre-catalysts can also be used to oxygenate C-H bonds in other substrates such as fluorene and ethyl benzene. The most potent pre-catalysts presented here work with a lower catalyst loading and under milder conditions while delivering better product yields in comparison with related literature known Ir(III) pre-catalysts. These results thus point to the potential of ligands with unsymmetrical donors obtained through the click reaction in oxidation catalysis.

A selective approach to pyridine appended 1,2,3-triazolium salts.

A selective and highly efficient strategy to obtain a library of pyridine appended 1,4-disubstituted-3-methyl-1,2,3-triazolium salts is described. It features pyridine nitrogen protection at click-derived pyridyl-triazoles through N-oxidation with subsequent N3 alkylation of the triazole ring and deprotection. Triazolium salts are obtained in high yield and purity in either a stepwise or one-pot protocol. Preliminary data indicate their remarkable efficiency in palladium-catalyzed Suzuki-Miyaura catalysis in the environmentally benign solvent water.