Rational design, molecular docking and synthesis of novel homopiperazine linked imidazo[1,2-a]pyrimidine derivatives as potent cytotoxic and antimicrobial agents

Synthesis, Characterizations, and Quantum Chemical Investigations on Imidazo[1,2-a]pyrimidine-Schiff Base Derivative: (E)-2-Phenyl-N-(thiophen-2-ylmethylene)imidazo[1,2-a]pyrimidin-3-amine

In this study, (E)-2-phenyl-N-(thiophen-2-ylmethylene)imidazo[1,2-a]pyrimidin-3-amine (3) is synthesized, and detailed spectral characterizations using 1H NMR, 13C NMR, mass, and Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy were performed. The optimized geometry was computed using the density functional theory method at the B3LYP/6-311++G(d,p) basis set. The theoretical FT-IR and NMR (1H and 13C) analysis are agreed to validate the structural assignment made for (3). Frontier molecular orbitals, molecular electrostatic potential, Mulliken atomic charge, electron localization function, localized orbital locator, natural bond orbital, nonlinear optical, Fukui functions, and quantum theory of atoms in molecules analyses are undertaken and meticulously interpreted, providing profound insights into the molecular nature and behaviors. In addition, ADMET and drug-likeness studies were carried out and investigated. Furthermore, molecular docking and molecular dynamics simulations have been studied, indicating that this is an ideal molecule to develop as a potential vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-2 inhibitor.

Synthesis of new imine-/amine-bearing imidazo[1,2-a]pyrimidine derivatives and screening of their cytotoxic activity

Imidazo[1,2-a]pyrimidine derivatives bearing imine groups (3a-e) were successfully synthesized in moderate to good yields using microwave-assisted heating. Corresponding amine derivatives (4a-e) were also obtained by the reduction reaction of the imine derivatives (3a-e). All synthesized products were characterized by FT-IR, 1H NMR, 13C NMR, and LC-MS spectroscopic techniques. In silico ADMET, Lipinski, and drug-likeness studies of the compounds were conducted and all were found to be suitable drug candidates. The cytotoxicity of the potential drug molecules was screened against the breast cancer cell lines MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 and the healthy model HUVEC by the sulforhodamine B method. According to the antiproliferative studies, compounds 3d and 4d showed remarkable inhibition of MCF-7 cells with IC50 values of 43.4 and 39.0 μM and of MDA-MB-231 cells with IC50 values of 35.9 and 35.1 μM, respectively. In particular, compound 3d selectively inhibited the proliferation of MCF-7 1.6-fold and MDA-MB-231 2.0-fold relative to healthy cells. Moreover, the apoptotic mechanism studies indicated that compound 4d induced apoptosis by moderately increasing the ratio of Bax/Bcl-2 genes. Imidazo[1,2-a]pyrimidine derivative 3d, a promising cytotoxic agent, may be helpful in the discovery of new and more efficient anticancer agents for breast cancer treatment.

Azole-pyrimidine Hybrid Anticancer Agents: A Review of Molecular Structure, Structure Activity Relationship and Molecular Docking

Cancer has emerged as one of the leading causes of deaths globally partly due to the steady rise in anticancer drug resistance. Pyrimidine and pyrimidine-fused heterocycles are some of the privileged scaffolds in medicine, as they possess diverse biological properties. Pyrimidines containing azole nucleus possesses inestimable anticancer potency and has enormous potential to conduct the regulation of cellular pathways for selective anticancer activity. The present review outlines the molecular structure of pyrimidine-fused azoles with significant anticancer activity. The structure activity relationship and molecular docking studies have also been discussed. The current review is the first complete compilation of significant literature on the proposed topic from 2016 to 2020. The information contained in this review offers a useful insight to chemists in the design of new and potent anticancer azole-pyrimidine analogues.

Pyrimidine-fused Dinitrogenous Penta-heterocycles as a Privileged Scaffold for Anti-Cancer Drug Discovery

Pyrimidine-fused derivatives that are the inextricable part of DNA and RNA play a key role in the normal life cycle of cells. Pyrimidine-fused dinitrogenous penta-heterocycles including pyrazolopyrimidines and imidazopyrimidines is a special class of pyrimidine-fused compounds contributing to an important portion in anti-cancer drug discovery, which have been discovered as core structure for promising anti-cancer agents used in clinic or clinical evaluations. Pyrimidine-fused dinitrogenous penta-heterocycles have become one privileged scaffold for anti-cancer drug discovery. This review consists of the recent progress of pyrimidine-fused dinitrogenous penta-heterocycles as anti-cancer agents and their synthetic strategies. In addition, this review also summarizes some key structure-activity relationships (SARs) of pyrimidine-fused dinitrogenous penta-heterocycle derivatives as anti-cancer agents.

Uncovering the origins of supramolecular similarity in a series of benzimidazole structures

Quantitative similarity indices (IX) were combined with crystallization mechanism proposals to shed more light on the origins of the supramolecular similarity between a series of benzimidazole derivative structures.

Preliminary modelling as the first stage of targeted organic synthesis

The review aims to present a classification and applicability analysis of methods for preliminary molecular modelling for targeted organic, catalytic and biocatalytic synthesis. The following three main approaches are considered as a primary classification of the methods: modelling of the target – ligand coordination without structural information on both the target and the resulting complex; calculations based on experimentally obtained structural information about the target; and dynamic simulation of the target – ligand complex and the reaction mechanism with calculation of the free energy of the reaction. The review is meant for synthetic chemists to be used as a guide for building an algorithm for preliminary modelling and synthesis of structures with specified properties.

The bibliography includes 353 references.

Imidazoles as Potential Anticancer Agents: An Update on Recent Studies

Nitrogen-containing heterocyclic rings are common structural components of marketed drugs. Among these heterocycles, imidazole/fused imidazole rings are present in a wide range of bioactive compounds. The unique properties of such structures, including high polarity and the ability to participate in hydrogen bonding and coordination chemistry, allow them to interact with a wide range of biomolecules, and imidazole-/fused imidazole-containing compounds are reported to have a broad spectrum of biological activities. This review summarizes recent reports of imidazole/fused imidazole derivatives as anticancer agents appearing in the peer-reviewed literature from 2018 through 2020. Such molecules have been shown to modulate various targets, including microtubules, tyrosine and serine-threonine kinases, histone deacetylases, p53-Murine Double Minute 2 (MDM2) protein, poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP), G-quadraplexes, and other targets. Imidazole-containing compounds that display anticancer activity by unknown/undefined mechanisms are also described, as well as key features of structure-activity relationships. This review is intended to provide an overview of recent advances in imidazole-based anticancer drug discovery and development, as well as inspire the design and synthesis of new anticancer molecules.

Synthesis, biological evaluation, and structure-activity relationships of new tubulin polymerization inhibitors based on 5-amino-1,2,4-triazole scaffold

Based on our previous research, thirty new 5-amino-1H-1,2,4-triazoles possessing 3,4,5-trimethoxyphenyl moiety were synthesized, and evaluated for antiproliferative activities. Among them, compounds IIa, IIIh, and IIIm demonstrated significant antiproliferative activities against a panel of tumor cell lines, and the promising compound IIIm dose-dependently caused G2/M phase arrest in HeLa cells. Furthermore, analogue IIa exhibited the most potent tubulinpolymerization inhibitory activity with an IC₅₀ value of 9.4 μM, and molecular modeling studies revealed that IIa formed stable interactions in the colchicine-binding site of tubulin, suggesting that 5-amino-1H-1,2,4-triazole scaffold has potential for further investigation to develop novel tubulin polymerization inhibitors with anticancer activity.

Microwave assisted, sequential two-step, one-pot synthesis of novel imidazo[1,2-a]pyrimidine containing tri/tetrasubstituted imidazole derivatives

A series of novel imidazo[1,2- a ]pyrimidine containing tri/tetrasubstituted imidazole derivatives (1-10) has been synthesized via sequential two-step, one-pot, multicomponent reaction using imidazo[1,2- a ]pyrimidine-2-carbaldehyde, benzil, primary amines, and ammonium acetate catalyzed by p -toluenesulfonic acid under microwave-assisted conditions. The results showed that target compounds can be obtained from a wide range of primary amines bearing different functional groups with moderate to good yields (46%-80%) under optimum reaction conditions. This method provides a green protocol for imidazo[1,2- a ]pyrimidine containing tri/tetrasubstituted imidazole derivatives due to ethyl alcohol as a green solvent, microwave irradiation as a greener heating method and one-pot multicomponent reaction as a green technique. The synthesized compounds have been elucidated using various spectroscopic tools such as FT-IR, 1H NMR, 13 C NMR, and MS.

Novel α-Aminophosphonates of imatinib Intermediate: Synthesis, anticancer Activity, human Abl tyrosine kinase Inhibition, ADME and toxicity prediction

An efficient method for the synthesis of a new class of α-aminophosphonates of imatinib derivative has been developed in one-pot Kabachnik-Fields reaction of N-(5-amino-2-methyl phenyl)-4-(3-pyridyl)-2-pyrimidine amine with various aldehydes and diethyl phosphite under microwave irradiation and neat conditions using NiO nanoparticles as an reusable and heterogeneous catalyst, with 96% yield at 450 W within 15 min. All the compounds were evaluated for their in vitro cytotoxicity with various cancer cell lines by MTT assay method. Compounds with halo (4f, -4Br, IC₅₀ = 1.068 ± 0.88 µM to 2.033 ± 0.97 µM), nitro substitution (4 h, -3NO₂, IC₅₀ = 1.380 ± 0.94 µM to 2.213 ± 0.64 µM), (4 g, -4NO2, IC₅₀ = 1.402 ± 0.79 µM to 2.335 ± 0.73 µM) and (4i, 4-Cl, 3-NO₂, IC₅₀ = 1.437 ± 0.92 µM to 2.558 ± 0.76 µM) were showed better anticancer activity when compared with standard drugs Doxorubicin and Imatinib using MTT assay method. Further in silico target hunting reveals the anticancer activity of the designed compounds by inhibiting human ABL tyrosine kinase and all the designed compounds have shown significant drug-like characteristics.

Novel halogenated pyrido[2,3-a]carbazoles with enhanced aromaticity as potent anticancer and antioxidant agents: rational design and microwave assisted synthesis

Design and synthesis a series of pyrido[2,3-a]carbazoles for their anticancer and antioxidant activity.