Moxifloxacin/Gatifloxacin‐1,2,3‐triazole‐isatin Hybrids with Hydrogen‐Bond Donor and Their In Vitro Anticancer Activity

A series of novel moxifloxacin/gatifloxacin‐1,2,3‐triazole‐isatin hybrids ( 8a – i ) were designed, synthesized, and screened for their in vitro anticancer activity in this paper. All of the synthesized hybrids were active against A549 and HepG2 cancer cell lines, whereas the parent drugs moxifloxacin and gatifloxacin were devoid of activity. Among them, hybrid 8i (IC₅₀: 41.1–98.3 μM) showed considerable activity against A549, HepG2, and MCF‐7 cancer cell lines, and it was no inferior to Vorinostat (IC₅₀: 64.32 to >100 μM) against the three cancer cell lines. Thus, this kind of hybrids has potentiality for discovery of new anticancer candidates for clinical deployment in the control and eradication of cancers.     

Ciprofloxacin/Gatifloxacin‐1,2,3‐triazole‐isatin Hybrids and Their In Vitro Anticancer Activity

Eleven novel ciprofloxacin/gatifloxacin‐1,2,3‐triazole‐isatin hybrids ( 8a – k ) were designed, synthesized, and screened for their in vitro anticancer activity in this paper. A significant part of the synthesized hybrids was active against A549, HepG2, and SF‐268 cancer cell lines, whereas the parent drugs ciprofloxacin and gatifloxacin were devoid of activity. Among them, hybrid 8i (IC₅₀: 78.1–90.7 μM) was found to be the most active against A549, HepG2, and SF‐268 cancer cell lines, and it was comparable with or better than Vorinostat (IC₅₀: 71.1 to >100 μM). Thus, these kind hybrids have potentiality for discovery of new anticancer candidates for clinical deployment in the control and eradication of cancers.     

Design,Synthesis, and Anticancer Activities of Benzofuran–Isatin Hybrids Tethered by Pentylene and Hexylene

Fourteen benzofuran–isatin hybrids 6a – f and 7a – h tethered via alkyl linker (pentylene and hexylene) were designed and synthesized, and hybrids 6c – f and 7a – h were screened for their in vitro anticancer activity against various human cancer cell lines. The majority of the hybrids were active against the tested cancer cells, and the most active hybrids 7g (half maximal inhibitory concentration/IC₅₀: 77.2–88.9 μM) and 7h (IC₅₀: 65.4–89.7 μM), which possessed broad spectrum anticancer activity were as potent as the reference vorinostat (IC₅₀: 64.2–>100 μM) against all tested cancer cell lines, could act as leads for further investigations. The structure–activity relationship is also discussed, and the enriched structure–activity relationship may afford useful information for further rational design of the candidates with higher activity.     

Synthesis and biological evaluation of analogs of altohyrtin C (spongistatin 2)

Several structural analogs that contain only part of the altohyrtin structure have been prepared and compared with synthetic altohyrtin C (2) for in vitro cytotoxicity against human colon (HCT116) and ovarian (A2780) cell lines. Whereas altohyrtin C was found to be exceedingly potent against these lines (IC₅₀=0.0003 μM), analogs 3-5 were >27,000-fold less potent (IC₅₀>8 μM). Analogs 6 and 7 also demonstrated weak cytotoxicity with IC₅₀ values for the HCT116 and A2780 cells of 4.8 μM and 2.4 μM, respectively, for 6.     

A pair of tirucallane C27-triterpenoid cyclopentenone epimers from the stem barks of Aphanamixis grandifolia

Two novel tirucallane C₂₇-triterpenoid epimers, aphagranins A (1) and B (2), featuring an unprecedented enolized cyclopentenone presented in the side-chain at C-17, were isolated from the stem barks of Aphanamixis grandifolia. Extensive spectroscopic analyses helped the establishment of the structures of the two isolates, whose absolute configurations were determined using density functional theory (DFT) calculations of optical rotation, and electronic circular dichroism (ECD). Remarkable discrepancies in the inhibitory activities against the growth of six lines of human cancer cells (MCF-7, A549, HepG2, Bel-7402, SGC-7901, and BGC-823) were found for the two epimers: with IC₅₀ less than 10 μM, aphagranin A exhibited much stronger antiproliferative activity than aphagranin B, showing no such activities with IC₅₀ over 20 μM.     

Artemisinin-isatin hybrids with potential antiproliferative activity against breast cancer

Three series of artemisinin-isatin hybrids 8a-i, 10a-c and 11a-e were designed, synthesized and evaluated for their antiproliferative activity against breast cancer cells (MCF-7, MDA-MB-231 and doxorubicin-resistant MCF-7 (MCF-7/DOX)), as well as the cytotoxicity towards normal MCF-10A breast cells. The preliminary results showed that a significant part of the synthesized hybrids (IC₅₀: 20.7–99.9 µM) were active against both drug-sensitive and doxorubicin-resistant breast cancer cell lines. The structure–activity relationship illustrated that the linker between artemisinin and isatin moieties as well as the substituents on C-3 and C-5 position of isatin motif had great influence on the activity. In particular, hybrids 11c,d were found to be most active against all tested breast cancer cell lines, and their activity was not inferior to that of doxorubicin. Therefore, hybrids 11c,d could serve as useful templates for the development of novel anti-breast cancer agents.     

Artanomadimers A–F: six new dimeric guaianolides from Artemisia anomala

A novel dimeric guaianolide with an unprecedented skeleton, named artanomadimer A (1), and five new analogues, artanomadimers B–F (2–6), were isolated from the aerial parts of Artemisia anomala. Their structures and stereochemistry were elucidated by extensive spectroscopic methods, and the absolute stereochemistry of compound 4 was confirmed by X-ray crystallographic analysis. Artanomadimer A (1) is probably formed through a Diels–Alder reaction with the new carbon–carbon bond formation of C-11/C-2′ and C-13/C-5′ based on its structure. A cytotoxic evaluation showed that compounds 1 and 6 exhibited significant inhibitory effects against the cell growth of BGC-823 tumor cell lines with IC₅₀ values of 2.71 and 6.25 μM, respectively.     

Synthesis,biological evaluation and molecular docking studies of novel 2-(2-cyanophenyl)-N-phenylacetamide derivatives

A series of novel 2-(2-cyanophenyl)-N-phenylacetamide derivatives 3(a-u) were designed and synthesized via selective amidation of methyl-2-(2-cyanophenyl)acetates over amidine formation by using AlMe₃ as catalyst in good yields. All the newly synthesized derivatives were well characterized by ¹H NMR, ¹³C NMR, FTIR and HRMS spectral techniques. All the synthesized title compounds were evaluated for their in vitro anticancer activity against three cancer cell lines. Among all compounds, 3i (IC₅₀?=?1.20 μM, IC₅₀?=?1.10 μM), 3j (IC₅₀?=?0.11 μM, IC₅₀?=?0.18 μM), 3o (IC₅₀?=?0.98 μM, IC₅₀?=?2.76 μM) showed excellent inhibitory activity than the standard Etoposide (IC₅₀?=?2.11 μM, IC₅₀?=?3.08 μM) against MCF-7 and A-549 cell lines, respectively. Docking analysis of all the compounds with the human topoisomerase II revealed that the compound 3j fitted well in the active site pocket, showing the best docking score of 158.072 kcal/mol.

     

Synthesis of 1-indolyl substituted β-carboline natural products and discovery of antimalarial and cytotoxic activities

A series of 1-indolyl substituted β-carbolines including the natural products hyrtiosulawesine, pityriacitrin and pityriacitrin B were prepared via Pictet–Spengler condensation—oxidation strategy from the corresponding indolyl-acetaldehydes and substituted tryptamines. Efforts to prepare the C-1 methylene-linked β-carboline analogues for structure–activity relationship studies were unsuccessful. Biological evaluation revealed two analogues (5 and 41) to exhibit weak inhibition of phospholipase A₂ (IC₅₀ 171 and 131 μM, respectively), two to act as antioxidants (3 and 43), and 12 analogues with activity towards a chloroquine-resistant strain (FcB1) of Plasmodium falciparum (IC₅₀ 1.0–23 μM). Testing against a panel of 60 human tumour cell lines revealed a general lack of cytotoxic effect for most of the compounds with the exception of β-carboline 42 exhibiting modest antileukaemic activity towards the HL-60(TB) cell line (LC₅₀ 4.2 μM). In addition, two novel structures (30 and 32) resulting from aldol condensation followed by Pictet–Spengler cyclisation displayed cytotoxicity with pronounced subpanel specificities towards colon cancer (COLO 205 and HCC-2998) cell lines.     

Synthesis and antimicrobial,antiproliferative and anti-inflammatory activities of novel 1,3,5-substituted pyrazoline sulphonamides

The design of novel molecules is imperative for the discovery of potent drugs in the medicinal chemistry field. In this work, new 1,3,5-substituted pyrazoline sulphonamides were synthesised using a two-step process with microwave assistance and evaluated biologically for their antimicrobial, antiproliferative, and anti-inflammatory properties. Most of the sulphonamides bearing 3-OH or 4-Cl groups exhibited significant inhibition of two Gram-positive bacteria, Bacillus subtillis and Staphylococcus aureus, and the yeast Candida albicans. Six compounds showed good activity against the cancer cell lines cervix carcinoma (Hep-2C) and human lung carcinoma (A549) with IC₅₀ in the range 16.03 ± 1.63 to 22.75 ± 0.19 μM and 18.64 ± 1.02 to 20.66 ± 2.09 μM, respectively, and exhibited low toxicity against mammalian Vero cells. In evaluating in vitro anti-inflammatory behaviour, five compounds showed high inhibition of NO production over the standard reference, with low toxicity against murine macrophage cell line RAW 264.7. Further investigation found that two compounds, 1b and 18b, exhibited the highest activity when testing mouse ear oedema. The findings are promising for the discovery of potent new drugs.     

Three new diterpenes from Jatropha curcas

Jatrophalactone (1) and jatrophalone (2), together with jatrophadiketone (3), a 6/6/6 tricyclic diterpene transformed from rhamnofolane skeleton, have been isolated from the methanolic extract of Jatropha curcas. The structures were established on the basis of extensive spectroscopic methods and further confirmed by X-ray crystallographic analysis. The cytotoxicity against selected cell lines was evaluated. Among them, compound 1 displayed cytotoxicity against HL-60, SMMC-7721, A-549, MCF-7, and SW480 cell lines with IC₅₀ values of 8.5, 20.6, 19.7, 20.1, and 19.2 μM, respectively. The possible biosynthetic pathways for 1 and 3 are proposed.     

Synthesis,anticancer evaluation,and molecular modeling study of new 2-(phenylamino)pyrazolo[1,5-a]pyrimidine analogues

The reaction of 3-amino-5-phenylaminopyrazoles 2 with 3-(dimethylamino) acrylonitrile derivatives resulted in a series of substituted pyrazolopyrimidine analogues 4 and 6. The DFT studies of the isolated compounds showed that the frontier molecular orbitals energy gap was close and in the 2.65–2.81 eV range where the derivative 6b has the lowest and both of 4a and 4c have the highest values. Meanwhile, the anticancer activity of the newly synthesized pyrazolopyrimidine analogues have been tested against several different cell lines (MCF-7, PC3, Hep-2 and WI38). The investigated pyrazolopyrimidines showed remarkable cytotoxicity activity against the MCF-7 and Hep-2 cell lines. In comparison to the effects of 5-fluorouracil, IC₅₀ = 10.19 ± 0.42 and 7.19 ± 0.47, compounds 6a-c demonstrated potential anticancer activity with IC₅₀ values for MCF-7 (10.80 ± 0.36–19.84 ± 0.49 μM) and Hep-2 (8.85 ± 0.24–12.76 ± 0.16 μM). Important details regarding the protein's binding sites were disclosed when the produced analogues docked with the crystal structure of the KDM5A protein, which was located in the protein data library.     

Synthesis and Ameliorative Effect of Isatin–Mesalamine Conjugates on Acetic Acid‐induced Colitis in Rats

A series of new isatin–mesalamine conjugates ( 9a – g ) were synthesized via conjugation of isatin ( 3a ) and its derivatives ( 3b – 3d , 4 , 5 , and 6 ) with mesalamine ( 7 ) by using chloroacetyl chloride as a bifunctional linker. Compounds 3a – 3d were prepared by employing Sandmeyer reaction. Compounds 4 , 5 , and 6 were obtained from isatin ( 3a ) via previously reported methods. The synthesized compounds were characterized by IR, mass, ¹H NMR, and ¹³C NMR spectral techniques. Synthesized compounds ( 3a – d , 4 , 5 , 6 , and 9a – g ) were evaluated for in vitro antioxidant activity by DPPH assay method using ascorbic acid as standard. Hybrids 9b (IC₅₀ = 368.6 ± 3.5 μM) and 9f (IC₅₀ = 335.1 ± 2.9 μM) showed better antioxidant activity than its parent compounds such as 3a (IC₅₀ = 556.8 ± 2.9 μM), 5 (IC₅₀ = 511.9 ± 3.6 μM), and 7 (IC₅₀ = 768.9 ± 2.7 μM). Acetic acid‐induced ulcerative colitis in rat model was chosen to examine the antioxidant potential of the synthesized hybrids ( 9b and 9f ) in the amelioration of ulcerative colitis. Colonic myeloperoxidase and malondialdehyde enzymes were used as biomarkers of anti‐ulcerative colitis activity. In the present study, hybrids 9b and 9f reduced the levels of colonic myeloperoxidase and malondialdehyde enzymes significantly (p < 0.05) when compared with control (colitic), at a dose (0.03 mM/12.5 mg/kg b.w. p.o.) (50%) less than that of its parent moieties mesalamine (0.16 mM/25 mg/kg) and isatin (0.16 mM/25 mg/kg). Thus, the molecular hybridization was proved to be significant in enhancing the activity of hybrids 9b and 9f by reducing the dose.     

Anticancer and antimicrobial evaluation of newly synthesized steroidal 5,6 fused benzothiazines

A series of new 5α-cholestano [5,6-b] benzothiazines (4–6) has been synthesized by the reaction of 5α-cholestan-6-one (1–3) with 2-aminothiophenol in the presence of iodine. The structures of newly synthesized compounds have been established on the basis of spectral and analytical data. Compounds (1–6) were screened for in vitro anticancer activity against the human cancer cell lines; SW480 (colon adenocarcinoma cells), A549 (lung carcinoma cells), HepG2 (hepatic carcinoma cells) and HeLa (cervical cancer cells) using MTT assay during which the products (4–6) showed marked increase in anticancer activity and in particular, compound 6 showed IC₅₀ = 13.73 μmol L⁻¹ against HeLa cells, being more effective than Doxorubicin against the same cells. Compounds 4 and 6 also showed minimum IC₅₀ of 15.83 μmol L⁻¹ and 16.89 μmol L⁻¹ against HepG2 and A549 cells, respectively. Compounds (1–6) were also tested for in vitro antimicrobial activity against different bacterial as well as fungal strains during which newly synthesized compounds (4–6) were found more potent than starting compounds (1–3). Compound 4 was found to be more potent than the reference drug, Chloramphenicol, in the case of Escherichia coli while compound 5 was found almost equally potential antifungal agent against P. marneffei in comparison with the reference drug, Nystatin.     

Semisynthetic derivatives of haemanthamine and their in vitro antiproliferative activity evaluation against a panel of human cell lines

In this study, a new series of aliphatic, cyclic, and heterocyclic derivatives of haemanthamine was designed and synthesized to enhance its inhibitory effect on the proliferation and viability of cancer cells. A library of haemanthamine derivatives was subjected to 10 μM single-dose cytotoxicity screening against a panel of human cell lines of various histotypes. Initial cytotoxicity evaluation of the parent haemanthamine (1) and a series of twenty-nine (2–30) semisynthetic analogues showed that for some of the newly formed derivatives, a certain cytotoxic effect was observed, in one case even higher than that of the parent compound. Specifically, 11-O-(4-chloro-3-nitrobenzoyl)haemanthamine (21) showed an enhanced antiproliferative effect, where the mean growth percent (GP) value was 5% compared to haemanthamine, leading to a decrease in the GP to 25%. Among ten cell lines tested, derivative 21, bearing a substituted aromatic ester bond via C-11 of haemanthamine, had excellent activity for inhibiting the growth of HeLa (IC₅₀ = 0.2 ± 0.1 μM), A549 (IC₅₀ = 1.7 ± 0.1 μM) and HT-29 (IC₅₀ = 2.2 ± 0.1 μM) cells. When evaluating response kinetics, we found that 21 and haemanthamine dose- and time-dependently suppressed the proliferation of A549 cells. In contrast to haemanthamine (1), Trypan blue and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release assay revealed that 21 was capable of reducing the survival of A549 cells.     

Synthesis of thiazo- or thiadiazo- naphthalene carboxamides via mercuric intermediates and their antitumor and DNA photocleavage activities

Two kinds of thiazo- or thiadiazo- naphthalene carboxamides with aminoalkyl side chains at 5- or 6-position modified from naphthalimides were designed, synthesized and quantitatively evaluated as antitumor and DNA photocleaving agents. The compound with aminoalkyl side chain at 6-position showed stronger antitumor (A549, P388) and DNA photocleaving abilities than its isomer with that at 5-position. B₂, the most efficient DNA photocleaver, also exhibited the highest cytotoxicity with the IC₅₀ of 2.53 and 0.11 μM against cell lines of A549 and P388, respectively. These compounds also photocleaved DNA more efficiently than their corresponding naphthalimides.     

Three new inositol derivatives from Chisocheton paniculatus

Three new inositol derivatives (1–3) were isolated from the leaves of Chisocheton paniculatus collected in Vietnam, along with four known compounds, including a limonoid (4), two triterpenoids (5–6), and a tocopherol (7). The structures of the new compounds were elucidated by 1D- and 2D-NMR and HRESIMS analyses. Compound 4 showed the highest cytotoxicities against the human lung cancer A549 and cervical cancer HeLa cell lines, with IC₅₀ values of 7.3 and 8.8 µM, respectively, among the isolated compounds. Compounds 5 and 7 displayed moderate to weak cytotoxicities against the A549, HeLa, and human stomach cancer GSU cell lines, with IC₅₀ values ranging from 17.7 to 68.0 µM.     

Qingqianliusus A-N, 3,4-seco-dammarane triterpenoids from the leaves of Cyclocarya paliurus and their biological activities

Fourteen previously unreported 3,4-seco-dammarane triterpenoids named Qingqianliusus A-N (1–14), along with four known 3,4-seco-dammarane triterpenoid derivatives (15–18) were isolated from the 95 % ethanol extract of the Cyclocarya paliurus leaves. Compounds 1 and 2 possess a rare 3,11-heptacyclic lactone as natural product, and several pairs of the 3,4-seco-dammarane triterpenoid epimers with R/S configuration at C-24 were investigated and determined in detail for the first time. Compounds 8, 11, and 14 showed good α-glucosidase inhibitory effects with IC₅₀ values of 4.97 ± 0.63, 7.08 ± 0.53, and 3.76 ± 0.77 μM, respectively. Meanwhile, compound 11 was also found potent inhibition rate of 35.83 % against COX-2, as compared with the positive control celecoxib (70.28 %). In addition, compounds 3, 7, 10, and 13 exhibited outstanding cytotoxicities against human gastric cancer cell lines (BGC-823) with IC₅₀ values of 7.69 ± 0.21, 8.47 ± 0.41, 9.04 ± 0.61, and 8.86 ± 0.38 μM, respectively. Compounds 13 and 3 had modest activities on human colon cancer cell lines (HCT-116) with IC₅₀ values of 8.80 ± 0.36 and 9.45 ± 0.93 μM, respectively.     

Synthesis and Anti‐proliferative Activity of Novel Polysubstitued Indazole Derivatives

A simple and efficient process is developed for the synthesis of new N‐(1‐alkyl‐3‐chloro‐4‐ethoxy‐1H‐indazol‐5‐yl)‐arylsulfonamides 4a – d and N‐(1‐alkyl‐3‐chloro‐1H‐indazol‐5‐yl)‐arylsulfonamides 5a – d through the reduction of 1‐alkyl‐3‐chloro‐5‐nitroindazoles 2a , b with SnCl₂ in ethanol followed by coupling the corresponding amine with arylsulfonyl chlorides in pyridine. All the newly synthesized compounds have been characterized by elemental analysis and spectroscopic data. Some compounds were tested for their in vitro antiproliferative activities against two selected human cancer cell lines A2780 and A549. Among all of these derivatives, compound 5d showed the most potent antiproliferative activity against A2780 (IC₅₀ = 5.47 ± 1.45 μM) and A549 (IC₅₀ = 7.73 ± 1.66 μM) cell lines.     

Design,synthesis and biological evaluation of isoxazole-naphthalene derivatives as anti-tubulin agents

In this study, a novel series of isoxazole-naphthalene derivatives as tubulin polymerization inhibitors were designed, synthesized and evaluated for their anti-proliferative activities against human breast cancer cell line MCF-7. Most of the synthesized compounds exhibited moderate to potent antiproliferative activity (IC₅₀ < 10.0 μM), as compared to cisplatin (15.24 ± 1.27 μM). Among them, compound 5j containing 4-ethoxy substitution at phenyl ring was found to be the most active compound with IC₅₀ value of 1.23 ± 0.16 μM. Mechanistic studies revealed that compound 5j arrested cell cycle at G2/M phase and induces apoptosis. Furthermore, in vitro tubulin polymerization assay showed that compound 5j displayed better inhibition activity on tubulin polymerization (IC₅₀ = 3.4 μM) than colchicine (IC₅₀ = 7.5 μM). Molecular docking study also revealed that compound 5j binds to the colchicine binding site of tubulin.