Synthesis and Anticancer Activity of Novel 9-O-Substituted Berberine Derivatives.

Berberine is a bioactive isoquinoline alkaloid derived from many plants. Although berberine has been shown to inhibit growth and induce apoptosis of several tumor cell lines, its poor absorption and moderate activity hamper its full therapeutic potential. Here, we describe the synthesis of a series of 9-O-substituted berberine derivatives with improved antiproliferative and apoptosis-inducing activities. An analysis of novel berberine derivatives by EPR spectroscopy confirmed their similar photosensitivity and analogous behavior upon UVA irradiation as berberine, supporting their potential to generate ROS. Improved antitumor activity of novel berberine derivatives was revealed by MTT assay, by flow cytometry and by detection of apoptotic DNA fragmentation and caspase-3 activation, respectively. We showed that novel berberine derivatives are potent inhibitors of growth of HeLa and HL-60 tumor cell lines with IC50 values ranging from 0.7 to 16.7 µM for HL-60 cells and 36 to >200 µM for HeLa cells after 48 h treatment. Further cell cycle analysis showed that the observed inhibition of growth of HL-60 cells treated with berberine derivatives was due to arresting these cells in the G2/M and S phases. Most strikingly, we found that berberine derivative 3 (9-(3-bromopropoxy)-10-methoxy-5,6-dihydro-[1,3]dioxolo[4,5-g]isoquino[3,2-a] isoquinolin-7-ylium bromide) possesses 30-fold superior antiproliferative activity with an IC50 value of 0.7 µM and 6-fold higher apoptosis-inducing activity in HL-60 leukemia cells compared to berberine. Therefore, further studies are merited of the antitumor activity in leukemia cells of this berberine derivative.

Assessment of Immunomodulatory Activities and in vitro Toxicity of New Quinolone 7-ethyl 9-ethyl-6-oxo-6,9-dihydro[1,2,5]selenadiazolo[3,4-h]quinoline-7-carboxylate.

Our previous studies on leukemia cells L1210 and cervical cancer HeLa cells revealed cytotoxic effects of the 7-ethyl 9-ethyl-6-oxo-6,9-dihydro[1,2,5]selenadiazolo[3,4-h]quinoline-7-carboxylate (E2h), a new synthetically prepared quinolone derivative, toward selected cancer cell lines. The aim of the present study was to examine the cytotoxicity of E2h toward next cell lines and tissues; that is, human cancer HL-60 and A549 cells, human non-cancer fibroblast BHNF-1 cells, and reconstructed human epidermis tissues. Further we investigated the immunomodulatory activity of E2h on murine macrophage RAW 264.7 cells. Selenadiazoloquinolone E2h induced specific antiproliferative/cytotoxic activity against leukemia HL-60 cells and is the potent inducer of apoptotic cell death. Quinolone derivative demonstrated the immunomodulatory activities on RAW 264.7 cell line murine macrophages. The immunobiological studies revealed time- and concentration-dependent effective immunomodulation of pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines' release and antiproliferative/cytotoxic effect following exposure of RAW 264.7 cells to E2h. ABBREVIATIONS: DMEM, Dulbecco's modified eagle medium; DMSO, Dimethylsulfoxide; EtBr, Ethidium bromide; PI, Propidium iodide; E2h, 7-ethyl 9-ethyl-6-oxo-6,9-dihydro[1,2,5]selenadiazolo[3,4-h]quinoline-7-carboxylate.

Conformational, spectroscopic, and molecular dynamics DFT study of precursors for new potential antibacterial fluoroquinolone drugs.

Biological activity, functionality, and synthesis of (fluoro)quinolones is closely related to their precursors (for instance 3-fluoroanilinoethylene derivatives) (i.e., their functional groups, conformational behavior, and/or electronic structure). Herein, the theoretical study of 3-fluoroanilinoethylene derivatives is presented. Impact of substituents (acetyl, methyl ester, and ethyl ester) on the conformational analysis and the spectral behavior is investigated. The B3LYP/6-311++G** computational protocol is utilized. It is found that the intramolecular hydrogen bond N-H···O is responsible for the energetic preference of anti (a) conformer (anti position of 3-fluoroanilino group with respect to the C═C double bond). The Boltzmann ratios of the conformers are related to the differences of the particular dipole moments and/or their dependence on the solvent polarity. The studied acetyl, ethyl ester, and methyl ester substituted fluoroquinolone precursors prefer in the solvent either EZa, ZZa, or both conformers equally, respectively. In order to understand the degree of freedom of rotation of the trans ethyl ester group, B3LYP/6-311G** molecular dynamic simulations were carried out. Vibrational frequencies, electron transitions, as well as NMR spectra are analyzed with respect to conformational analysis, including the effect of the substituent. X-ray structures of the precursors are presented and compared with the results of the conformational analysis.

Oxidation of quinolones with peracids (an in situ EPR study).

4-Oxoquinoline derivatives (quinolones) represent heterocyclic compounds with a variety of biological activities, along with interesting chemical reactivity. The quinolone derivatives possessing secondary amino hydrogen at the nitrogen of the enaminone system are oxidized with 3-chloroperbenzoic acid to nitroxide radicals in the primary step while maintaining their 4-pyridone ring. Otherwise, N-methyl substituted quinolones also form nitroxide radicals coupled with the opening of the 4-pyridone ring in a gradual oxidation of the methyl group via the nitrone-nitroxide spin-adduct cycle. This was confirmed in an analogous oxidation using N,N-dimethylaniline as a model compound. N-Ethyl quinolones in contrast to its N-methyl analog form only one nitroxide radical without a further degradation.

Fused-ring derivatives of quinoxalines: spectroscopic characterization and photoinduced processes investigated by EPR spin trapping technique.

10-Ethyl-7-oxo-7,10-dihydropyrido[2,3-f]quinoxaline derivatives, synthesized as promising biologically/photobiologically active compounds were characterized by UV/vis, FT-IR and fluorescent spectroscopy. Photoinduced processes of these derivatives were studied by EPR spectroscopy, monitoring in situ the generation of reactive intermediates upon UVA (λmax=365 nm) irradiation. The formation of reactive oxygen species and further oxygen- and carbon-centered radical intermediates was detected and possible reaction routes were suggested. To quantify the investigated processes, the quantum yields of the superoxide radical anion spin-adduct and 4-oxo-2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine N-oxyl generation were determined, reflecting the activation of molecular oxygen by the excited state of the quinoxaline derivative.

Use of activated enol ethers in the synthesis of pyrazoles: reactions with hydrazine and a study of pyrazole tautomerism.

Activated enol ethers derived from esters or the dinitrile of malonic acid, or from pentane-2,4-dione were treated with hydrazine hydrate. The structures of the obtained products - pyrazoles 5 - were studied with a focus on tautomerism and supramolecular structure. A reverse addition of the reagents led to the isolation of two novel products, namely bis-enehydrazines 6 with an unsymmetrical arrangement of the formally equivalent subunits.

[Warfarin - its synthesis and properties in a twenty-year retrospective*]. / Warfarín - jeho syntéza a vlastnosti v dvadsatrocnej retrospektíve*

The review paper deals with some aspects of warfarin history and its use, at the beginning as a rodenticide and later as an anticoagulant. It describes its principal physical-chemical properties and it analyzes schematically the possibilities of its preparation by both selective and non-selective synthesis from coumarin derivatives. A survey of syntheses and its results are tabulated, including the literary references, and the paper is concluded with an evaluation of the prospects of this agent in comparison with alternative anticoagulants and its advantages, disadvantages and prospects.

New syntheses of 5,6- and 7,8-diaminoquinolines.

The synthesis of 5,6- and 7,8-diaminoquinoline derivatives starting from angularly annelated selenadiazoloquinolones is presented. Simple chlorination of the pyridone ring followed by reductive deselenation of the 1,2,5-selenadiazole ring afforded novel 4-chloro-o-diaminoquinolines. Dechlorination of 4-chloro-7,8-diaminoquinoline gave 7,8-diaminoquinoline hydrochloride which was successfully employed as starting material in the synthesis of condensed nitrogen heterocycles.

Stable radical trianions from reversibly formed sigma-dimers of selenadiazoloquinolones studied by in situ EPR/UV-vis spectroelectrochemistry and quantum chemical calculations.

The redox behavior of the series of 7-substituted 6-oxo-6,9-dihydro[1,2,5]selenadiazolo[3,4-h]quinolines and 8-substituted 9-oxo-6,9-dihydro[1,2,5]selenadiazolo[3,4-f]quinolines with R(7), R(8) = H, COOC(2)H(5), COOCH(3), COOH, COCH(3), and CN has been studied by in situ EPR and EPR/UV-vis spectroelectrochemistry in dimethylsulfoxide. All selenadiazoloquinolones undergo a one-electron reduction process to form the corresponding radical anions. Their stability strongly depends on substitution at the nitrogen atom of the 4-pyridone ring. The primary generated radical anions from N-ethyl-substituted quinolones are stable, whereas for the quinolones with imino hydrogen, the initial radical anions rapidly dimerize to produce unusually stable sigma-dimer (σ-dimer) dianions. These are reversibly oxidized to the initial compounds at potentials considerably less negative than the original reduction process in the back voltammetric scan. The dimer dianion can be further reduced to the stable paramagnetic dimer radical trianion in the region of the second reversible reduction step. The proposed complex reaction mechanism was confirmed by in situ EPR/UV-vis cyclovoltammetric experiments. The site of the dimerization in the σ-dimer and the mapping of the unpaired spin density both for radical anions and σ-dimer radical trianions with unusual unpaired spin distribution have been assigned by means of density functional theory calculations.

Machine learning prediction of 3CLpro SARS-CoV-2 docking scores.

Molecular docking results of two training sets containing 866 and 8,696 compounds were used to train three different machine learning (ML) approaches. Neural network approaches according to Keras and TensorFlow libraries and the gradient boosted decision trees approach of XGBoost were used with DScribe's Smooth Overlap of Atomic Positions molecular descriptors. In addition, neural networks using the SchNetPack library and descriptors were used. The ML performance was tested on three different sets, including compounds for future organic synthesis. The final evaluation of the ML predicted docking scores was based on the ZINC in vivo set, from which 1,200 compounds were randomly selected with respect to their size. The results obtained showed a consistent ML prediction capability of docking scores, and even though compounds with more than 60 atoms were found slightly overestimated they remain valid for a subsequent evaluation of their drug repurposing suitability.

Anodic oxidation of selenadiazoloquinolones in alkaline media.

Newly synthesized derivatives of 6-oxo-6,9-dihydro[1,2,5]selenadiazolo[3,4-h]quinoline variously substituted at position 7 (R = H, COOH, COCH(3), CN, COOC(2)H(5) and COOCH(3)) are established in strongly alkaline aqueous solutions (0.1 M NaOH; pH ∼ 13) as N(9)-deprotonated structures, but in less alkaline solutions (0.001 M NaOH; pH ∼ 11) the N(9)-protonated oxo tautomeric forms dominate. Upon their anodic oxidation in alkaline solutions, the selenadiazole ring is replaced, forming instead the paramagnetic species analogous to the ortho semiquinone radical anions as monitored by in situ EPR spectroscopy. The quantum chemical calculations for two representative selenadiazoloquinolones (R = H and COOH) and their anodic oxidation products presented are in agreement with experiments.

Ethyl 1-ethyl-7-fluoro-4-oxo-1,4-dihydroquinoline-3-carboxylate: X-ray and DFT studies.

The basic building unit in the structure of the title compound, C(14)H(14)FNO(3), is pairs of molecules arranged in an antiparallel fashion, enabling weak C-H···O interactions. Each molecule is additionally involved in π-π interactions with neighbouring molecules. The pairs of molecules formed by the C-H···O hydrogen bonds and π-π interactions form ribbon-like chains running along the c axis. Theoretical calculations based on these pairs showed that, although the main intermolecular interaction is electrostatic, it is almost completely compensated by an exchange-repulsion contribution to the total energy. As a consequence, the dominating force is a dispersion interaction. The F atoms form weak C-F···H-C interactions with the H atoms of the neighbouring ethyl groups, with H···F separations in the range 2.59-2.80 Å.

2-{[(3-Fluorophenyl)amino]methylidene}-3-oxobutanenitrile and 5-{[(3-fluorophenyl)amino]methylidene}-2,2-dimethyl-1,3-dioxane-4,6-dione: X-ray and DFT studies.

In the crystal structures of the title compounds, C(11)H(9)FN(2)O, (I), and C(13)H(12)FNO(4), (II), the molecules are joined pairwise via different hydrogen bonds and the constituent pairs are crosslinked by weak C-H...O hydrogen bonds. The basic structural motif in (I), which is partially disordered, comprises pairs of molecules arranged in an antiparallel fashion which enables C-H...N[triple bond]C interactions. The pairs of molecules are crosslinked by two weak C-H...O hydrogen bonds. The constituent pair in (II) is formed by intramolecular bifurcated C-H...O/O' and combined inter- and intramolecular N-H...O hydrogen bonds. In both structures, F atoms form weak C-F...H-C interactions with the H atoms of the two neighbouring methyl groups, the H...F separations being 2.59/2.80 and 2.63/2.71 A in (I) and (II), respectively. The bond orders in the molecules, estimated using the natural bond orbitals (NBO) formalism, correlate with the changes in bond lengths. Deviations from the ideal molecular geometry are explained by the concept of non-equivalent hybrid orbitals. The existence of possible conformers of (I) and (II) is analysed by molecular calculations at the B3LYP/6-31+G** level of theory.

Mass spectrometrical and quantum-chemical study of pentafluorophenylhydrazones.

Twenty-one pentafluorphenylhydrazones have been analyzed by means of tandem mass spectrometry (ESI MS/MS) conditions to compare their fragmentations with those ones obtained from quantum-chemical calculations of the hydrazone moiety depending on the substitution from the aldehyde site. The hydrazone N-N bond is disrupted under such conditions, and these results are in accordance with the facts that an electron-rich particle, such as an anion and or radical in a solution, can cause this disruption and simultaneous defluorination in para-position of the hydrazone part of the molecule.

1H, 13C and 15N NMR spectroscopy and tautomerism of nitrobenzotriazoles.

Benzotriazole nitro derivatives were prepared by nitration of the corresponding benzotriazoles and by methylation or cyclization of appropriate nitro-1,2-phenylenediamines. Structures and tautomerism of the nitrobenzotriazoles were studied by multinuclear (1)H, (13)C, (15)N, and 2D NMR spectroscopy and quantum chemistry.

13C and 15N NMR spectra of aminobenzimidazoles in solution and in the solid state.

The (13)C [hexadeutero-dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO-d(6)), hexamethyl-phosphoramide (HMPA)-d(18)and solid-state] and (15)N (solid-state) NMR spectra of six C-aminobenzimidazoles have been recorded. The tautomerism of 4(7)-aminobenzimidazoles and 5(6)-aminobenzimidazoles has been determined and compared with B3LYP/6-311 + + G(d,p) calculations confirming the clear predominance of the 4-amino tautomer and the slight preference for the 6-amino tautomer. GIAO-calculated absolute shieldings compare well with experimental chemical shifts.

(E)-Methyl 2-[(2-fluorophenyl)aminomethylene]-3-oxobutanoate: X-ray and density functional theory (DFT) study.

The title compound, C(12)H(12)FNO(3), a potential precursor for fluoroquinoline synthesis, is essentially planar, with the most outlying atoms displaced from the best-plane fit through all non-H atoms by 0.163 (2) and 0.118 (2) A. Molecules are arranged in layers oriented parallel to the (011) plane. The arrangement of the molecules in the structure is controlled mainly by electrostatic interactions, as the dipole moment of the molecule is 5.2 D. In addition, the molecules are linked by a weak C-H...O hydrogen bond which gives rise to chains with the base vector [1,1,1]. Electron transfer within the molecule is analysed using natural bond orbital (NBO) analysis. Deviations from the ideal molecular geometry are explained by the concept of non-equivalent hybrid orbitals.

5-Amino-1-methyl-1H-benzimidazole.

The structure of the title compound, C(8)H(9)N(3), a potential anti-tumour drug, was determined in order to give more insight into its structure-function relationships. The benzimidazole core of the mol-ecule was found to be exactly planar, while the substituents are displaced slightly from the mol-ecular plane [C-C-N-C and C-C-C-N torsion angles of 0.8 (3) and 179.0 (1)° for the methyl and amino groups, respectively]. The bond lengths are analysed in detail and compared with those of the parent unsubstituted analogues. The results show that the lone-pair electrons on the amino N atom are involved in conjugation with the adjacent π system and hence affect the charge distribution in the heterocycle. Two inter-molecular N-H⋯N and C-H⋯N hydrogen bonds have been identified.

Dimethyl 2-(methyl-amino-methyl-ene)malonate.

In the title compound, C(7)H(11)NO(4), which is an example of a push-pull alkene, a network of N-H⋯O and C-H⋯O inter-actions helps to establish the crystal structure. The investigated crystal turned out to be a non-merohedral twin with a ratio of twin components of 0.442 (3):0.558 (3). Two pairs of independent mol-ecules (Z' = 4) are linked by inter-molecular N-H⋯O hydrogen bonds, forming independent chains; the chains are connected via inter-molecular C-H⋯O contacts, building a three-dimensional network.

Dimethyl 2-(amino-methyl-ene)malonate.

In the title compound, C(6)H(9)NO(4), which is an example of a push-pull alkene, N-H⋯O inter-actions stabilize the crystal structure.