Ferrocenyl Azoles: Versatile N-Containing Heterocycles and their Anticancer Activities.

The medicinal chemistry of ferrocene has gained its momentum after the discovery of biological activities of ferrocifen and ferroquine. These ferrocenyl drugs have been designed by replacing the aromatic moiety of the organic drugs, tamoxifen and chloroquine respectively, with a ferrocenyl unit. The promising biological activities of these ferrocenyl drugs have paved a path to explore the medicinal applications of several ferrocenyl conjugates. In these conjugates, the ferrocenyl moiety has played a vital role in enhancing or imparting the anticancer activity to the molecule. The ferrocenyl conjugates induce the cytotoxicity by generating reactive oxygen species and thereby damaging the DNA. In medicinal chemistry, the five membered nitrogen heterocycles (azoles) play a significant role due to their rigid ring structure and hydrogen bonding ability with the biomolecules. Several potent drug candidates with azole groups have been in use as chemotherapeutics. Considering the importance of ferrocenyl moiety and azole groups, several ferrocenyl azole conjugates have been synthesized and screened for their biological activities. Hence, in the view of a wide scope in the development of potent drugs based on ferrocenyl azole conjugates, herein we present the details of synthesis and the anticancer activities of ferrocenyl compounds bearing azole groups such as imidazole, triazoles, thiazole and isoxazoles.

π-Conjugated Materials Derived From Boron-Chalcogenophene Combination. A Brief Description of Synthetic Routes and Optoelectronic Applications.

Functional materials composed of Boron-chalcogenophene conjugates have emerged as promising ensemble featuring commendable optoelectronic properties. This review describes the categories, synthetic routes and optoelectronic applications of a range of boron-chalcogenophene conjugates. Conjugation and linking of different types of tri- and tetra-coordinated boron moieties with chalcogenophenes have remained an important strategy for constructing a range of functional materials. Synthetic protocols have been devised to efficiently prepare such chemically robust conjugates, often exhibiting a myriad of photophysical properties, redox capabilities and also solid-state behaviors. Tin-boron and silicon-boron exchange protocols have been efficiently adapted to access these boron-chalcogenophenes. Few other commonly used methods namely, hydroboration of alkynes as well as electrophilic borylations are also mentioned. The chemical and electronic properties of such boron-chalcogenophene conjugates are directly influenced by the strong Lewis acid character of trivalent boranes which can further alter the intra- and inter- molecular Lewis acid-base interactions. Apart from the synthetic protocols, recent advances in the application of these boron-chalcogenophene conjugates towards analyte sensing, organic electronics, molecular switches and several other aspects will be discussed in this review.

Synthesis, characterization and antimicrobial activity of novel Schiff base tethered boronate esters of 1,2-O-isopropylidene-α-d-xylofuranose.

A series of twenty one Schiff bases based on boronate ester of 1,2-O-isopropylidene-α-d-xylofuranose scaffold were designed and synthesized by condensation of formyl or amino phenyl boronate esters with substituted anilines or 2-hydroxybenzaldehydes, respectively. All the imines are remarkably stable crystalline solids and were obtained in good yields. All the products were fully characterized by FT-IR, multinuclear NMR ((1)H, (13)C and (11)B) spectroscopy, and elemental analysis. Furthermore, the molecular structures of two of the Schiff bases were established by single crystal X-ray diffraction analysis. All the compounds have been screened for in vitro antimicrobial activity against various Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacterial and fungal strains. They exhibited moderate to good inhibitory activity against most of the tested organisms in comparison with standard drugs.

Efficient synthesis, structural characterization and anti-microbial activity of chiral aryl boronate esters of 1,2-O-isopropylidene-α-D-xylofuranose.

A simple and efficient synthetic approach toward a series of chiral aryl boronate esters, starting from D-xylose, as anti-microbial agents, is described herein. Minimum inhibitory concentration and zone of inhibition revealed that these derivatives exhibit potent anti-bacterial and anti-fungal properties. Herein, we report the first anti-microbial activity of this class of compounds. All products have been characterized by NMR ((1)H, (13)C and (11)B), IR, elemental and mass spectral study.

Synthesis, structure and photophysical properties of ferrocenyl or mixed sandwich cobaltocenyl ester linked meso-tetratolylporphyrin dyads.

We report here the design and synthesis of porphyrin-metallocene dyads consisting of a metallocene [either ferrocene or mixed sandwich η(5)-[C5H4(COOH)]Co(η(4)-C4Ph4) connected via an ester linkage at meso phenyl position of either free-base or zinc porphyrin. All these dyad systems were characterized by various spectroscopic and electrochemical methods. A dimeric form of this molecule was observed in the X-ray crystal structure of Zn-TTPCo. The absorption spectra of all four dyads indicated the absence of electronic interactions between porphyrin macrocycle and metallocene in the ground state. However, interestingly, in all four dyads, fluorescence emission of the porphyrin was quenched (19-55%) as compared to their monomeric units. The quenching was more pronounced in ferrocene derivatives rather than cobaltocenyl derivatives. The emission quenching can be attributed to the excited-state intramolecular photoinduced electron transfer from metallocene to singlet excited state of porphyrin and the electron-transfer rates (k(ET)) were established in the range 1.51 × 10(8) to 1.11 × 10(9) s(-1). They were found to be solvent dependent.

Sugar-boronate ester scaffold tethered pyridyl-imine palladium(II) complexes: synthesis and their in vitro anticancer evaluation.

A series of five palladium(ii) pyridyl-imine Schiff base complexes 5a-e containing boronate esters with protected sugar diols derived from d-xylose, l-sorbose and d-mannitol were designed and synthesized starting from pyridyl-imines generated in situ from 3-aminophenyl boronate ester of sugars 3a-e and 2-pyridinecarboxaldehyde, followed by the addition of Pd(cod)Cl2 in dichloromethane solvent. All the complexes are remarkably stable orange/yellow crystalline solids and were obtained in good yields. The complexes were fully characterized by FT-IR, multinuclear NMR ((1)H, (13)C and (11)B), UV-visible spectroscopy, and elemental analysis. The solid state structures of 3a and 5a were established by single crystal X-ray diffraction analysis. The complexes have been tested for their in vitro anticancer activities against human colon cancer (HT-29) and breast cancer (MDA-MB-231) cell lines. All the complexes have shown moderate to good cytotoxicity in both the cancer cell lines with IC50 values ranging from 4.27 to 34.76 µM. Strikingly, 5a displayed selective anticancer activity against both HT-29 and MDA-MB-231 cells with low IC50 values 6.71 and 8.58 µM respectively. Results also demonstrate that some of these complexes are highly potent against HT-29 cells as compared to the other cancer cell lines. In particular, 1,2:5,6-di-O-isopropylidene-d-mannitol complex 5d showed a two-fold higher toxicity against HT-29 cells in comparison with that of cisplatin. In addition, these complexes are less toxic to model non-tumorigenic human embryonic kidney cells (HEK-293T). Furthermore, the interaction of the complexes with calf thymus DNA (CT-DNA) was investigated using spectroscopy and viscosity measurements. It was found that they intercalate with DNA.

Novel Approach to Mixed Group 15/16 Element Ligands-Formation of Unusual Trichalcogenophosphonato Ligands in Mixed Fe/Cr Clusters.

Trithiophosphonato and triselenophosphonato ligands containing mixed Fe/Cr clusters have been synthesized from the reaction of [Fe3 (CO)9 (µ3 -Y)2 ] (Y=S or Se) with [CpCr(CO)2 (η3 -P3 ] in the presence of trimethylamine oxide. This novel approach leads to new clusters containing the first examples of P(S)S2 and P(Se)Se2 ligands in complexed forms.

Effect of amide-triazole linkers on the electrochemical and biological properties of ferrocene-carbohydrate conjugates.

Amide-triazole linker incorporated ferrocene-carbohydrate conjugates were prepared by adopting a regiospecific copper(II)-catalysed 1,3-cycloaddition of ferrocenoyl propargylamide and isopropylidene/acetyl protected carbohydrate azides. Hydrophilic ferrocene glycoside with an amide-triazole linker was synthesised by deacetylation of the hydroxyl groups. All the new compounds were characterised by UV-visible and electrochemical studies and they were found to be stable in organic solvents as well as in the buffer system under physiological conditions (pH = 7.0). The diffusion coefficient (D(f)) of the conjugates was also calculated by means of cyclic voltammetric studies. It was observed that while the molecular weight of the compounds had no significant effect on the diffusion coefficient, the hydrophobic/hydrophilic nature of the carbohydrate scaffold displayed varied diffusion coefficient values. Stabilization of the compounds in buffer solution under physiological pH led to almost identical diffusion coefficient values. The compounds derived from xylose and ribose exhibited cytotoxicity on hormone-dependent and hormone-independent breast cancer cell lines, whereas the conjugates derived from glucose and galactose were found to be non-toxic in nature. The compounds did not show any antimicrobial activity against Gram-positive and Gram-negative pathogens.