Studies on 4‐Thiazolidinones: Scope of the Reactions of 3‐Aryl‐2‐thioxo‐1,3‐thiazolidin‐4‐ones with Cyanide and Cyanate Ions

Treatment of 3‐aryl‐2‐thioxo‐1,3‐thiazolidin‐4‐ones 1 with CN^? and NCO^? effected the ring cleavage providing [(cyanocarbonothioyl)amino]benzenes 4 and arylisothiocyanates 5 , respectively. Similar treatment of 5‐(2‐aryl‐2‐oxoethyl) derivatives 2 afforded 2,4‐bis(2‐aryl‐2‐oxoethylidene)cyclobutane‐1,3‐diones 6 along with each of the preceding products. Treatment of the respective (E,Z)‐5‐(2‐aryl‐2‐oxoethylidene) analogues 3b and 3c with CN^? gave 4b and 4c and 2‐(arylcarbonyl)‐2‐methoxy‐4‐oxopentanedinitriles 7b and 7c , in addition to 3,6‐bis[2‐(4‐chlorophenyl)‐1‐methoxy‐2‐oxoethylidene]‐1,4‐dithiane‐2,5‐dione 8c , which has been generated from 3c . Reactions of 3c or 3d with NCO^? provided 5c or 5d , together with 8c or 8d as pure isomers. In the formation of the MeO products 7 and 8 , the solvent (MeOH) has participated. Structures of these products are based on microanalytical and spectroscopic data. Rationalizations for the above transformations are given.     

In-Silico Screening and Molecular Dynamics Simulation of Drug Bank Experimental Compounds against SARS-CoV-2

For the last few years, the world has been going through a difficult time, and the reason behind this is severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), one of the significant members of the Coronaviridae family. The major research groups have shifted their focus towards finding a vaccine and drugs against SARS-CoV-2 to reduce the infection rate and save the life of human beings. Even the WHO has permitted using certain vaccines for an emergency attempt to cut the infection curve down. However, the virus has a great sense of mutation, and the vaccine’s effectiveness remains questionable. No natural medicine is available at the community level to cure the patients for now. In this study, we have screened the vast library of experimental drugs of Drug Bank with Schrodinger’s maestro by using three algorithms: high-throughput virtual screening (HTVS), standard precision, and extra precise docking followed by Molecular Mechanics/Generalized Born Surface Area (MMGBSA). We have identified 3-(7-diaminomethyl-naphthalen-2-YL)-propionic acid ethyl ester and Thymidine-5′-thiophosphate as potent inhibitors against the SARS-CoV-2, and both drugs performed impeccably and showed stability during the 100 ns molecular dynamics simulation. Both of the drugs are among the category of small molecules and have an acceptable range of ADME properties. They can be used after their validation in in-vitro and in-vivo conditions.     

Asymmetric effects of polymers in finite thermoviscoplasticity

Glassy polymers such as polycarbonate exhibit different behaviours in different loading scenarios, such as tension and compression. For the simulation of these asymmetric effects we present a framework for thermoviscoplastic modelling of polymers at large strains. To this end a flow rule is postulated within a thermodynamic consistent framework in a mixed variant formulation which is decomposed into a sum of weighted stress mode related quantities. The different stress modes are chosen such that they are accessible to individual examination in the laboratory, where tension and compression are typical examples. The characterisation of the stress modes is obtained in the octahedral plane of the deviatoric stress space in terms of the Lode angle, such that stress mode dependent scalar weighting functions can be constructed. Furthermore the numerical implementation of the resulting set of constitutive equations is used in the finite element program ABAQUS to simulate the laser transmission welding process. (© 2008 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Total Syntheses of Polyhydroxylated Steroids by an Unsaturation-Functionalization Strategy

Highly oxygenated cardiotonic steroids, such as ouabain, possess a wide spectrum of biological functions and remain significant synthetic challenges. Herein, we have applied an unsaturation-functionalization strategy and developed a synthetic method in addressing the C19-hydroxylation issue for efficient synthesis of polyhydroxylated steroids. An effective asymmetric dearomative cyclization allowed the construction of the C19-hydroxy unsaturated steroidal skeleton in only four steps from the Hajos-Parrish ketone ketal 7 . The synthetic sequence featured C3−OH-directed hydrogenation/epoxidation, m-CPBA-triggered epoxidation/S_N2′ nucleophilic substitution, Birch reduction of an enone, and regioselective LiAlH₄ reduction to furnish the polyhydroxy functionalities on the steroid skeleton with high stereochemical control and efficiency. This approach ultimately enabled the total synthesis of 19-hydroxysarmentogenin and ouabagenin in 18 and 19 steps, respectively, overall. The synthesis of these polyhydroxylated steroids offers synthetic versatility and practicality in the search for new therapeutic agents.