Synthesis and biological evaluation of pyridazinone derivatives as potential anti-inflammatory agents

Diverse Pharmacological Potential of Pyridazine Analogs against Various Diseases

Pyridazinone analogs possess diverse types of pharmacological activities, such as anticancer, antimicrobial, anticonvulsant, analgesic, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antihypertensive, antisecretory, antiulcer, and other useful pharmacological activities. They also possess cyclooxygenase (COX) inhibitors, dipeptidyl peptidase inhibitors, phosphodiesterase inhibitors, glutamate transporter activators, adenosine receptor antagonists, serotonin receptors antagonists, lipooxygenase, cholinesterase, vasodilator, and anesthetics. Pyridazine rings are the essential structure for some marketed drugs, such as pimobendan, levosimendan as a cardiotonic drug, and emorfozan as an analgesic and anti-inflammatory (Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug) agent. So, researchers all over the world have paid attention to synthesizing various pyridazinone compounds mainly due to the ease of design and synthesis of different analogs and variables in the pharmacological responses. This review article focuses on the pharmacological activities of different pyridazine analogs.

Exploring Three Avenues: Chemo- and Regioselective Transformations of 1,2,4-Triketone Analogs into Pyrazoles and Pyridazinones

A convenient approach to substituted pyrazoles and pyridazinones based on 1,2,4-triketones is presented. Chemo- and regiocontrol in condensations of t-Bu, Ph-, 2-thienyl-, and CO2Et-substituted 1,2,4-triketone analogs with hydrazines are described. The direction of preferential nucleophilic attack was shown to be switched depending on the substituent nature in triketone as well as the reaction conditions. The acid and temperature effects on the selectivity of condensations were revealed. Regiochemistry of heterocyclic core formation was confirmed by NMR and XRD studies. The facile construction of heterocyclic motifs bearing acetyl and (or) carbethoxy groups suggests them as promising mono- or bifunctional building blocks for subsequent transformations.

PDE4 Inhibitors: Profiling Hits through the Multitude of Structural Classes

Cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterases 4 (PDE4) are a family of enzymes which specifically promote the hydrolysis and degradation of cAMP. The inhibition of PDE4 enzymes has been widely investigated as a possible alternative strategy for the treatment of a variety of respiratory diseases, including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and asthma, as well as psoriasis and other autoimmune disorders. In this context, the identification of new molecules as PDE4 inhibitors continues to be an active field of investigation within drug discovery. This review summarizes the medicinal chemistry journey in the design and development of effective PDE4 inhibitors, analyzed through chemical classes and taking into consideration structural aspects and binding properties, as well as inhibitory efficacy, PDE4 selectivity and the potential as therapeutic agents.

PDE4 inhibitors for disease therapy: advances and future perspective

The PDE4 enzyme family is specifically responsible for hydrolyzing cAMP and plays a vital role in regulating the balance of second messengers. As a crucial regulator in signal transduction, PDE4 has displayed promising pharmacological targets in a variety of diseases, for which its inhibitors have been used as a therapeutic strategy. This review provides a comprehensive summary of the development of PDE4 inhibitors in the past few years, along with the structure, clinical and research progress of multiple inhibitors of PDE4, focusing on the research and development strategies of PDE4 inhibitors. We hope our analysis will provide a significant reference for the future development of new PDE4 inhibitors.

Synthesis, Spectroscopic Characterization, Antibacterial Activity, and Computational Studies of Novel Pyridazinone Derivatives

In this work, a novel series of pyridazinone derivatives (3-17) were synthesized and characterized by NMR (¹H and ¹³C), FT-IR spectroscopies, and ESI-MS methods. All synthesized compounds were screened for their antibacterial activities against Staphylococcus aureus (Methicillin-resistant), Escherichia coli, Salmonella typhimurium, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Acinetobacter baumannii. Among the series, compounds 7 and 13 were found to be active against S. aureus (MRSA), P. aeruginosa, and A. baumannii with the lowest MIC value range of 3.74-8.92 µM. Afterwards, DFT calculations of B3LYP/6-31++G(d,p) level were carried out to investigate geometry structures, frontier molecular orbital, molecular electrostatic potential maps, and gap energies of the synthesized compounds. In addition, the activities of these compounds against various bacterial proteins were compared with molecular-docking calculations. Finally, ADMET studies were performed to investigate the possibility of using of the target compounds as drugs.

Inhibition of Recruitment and Activation of Neutrophils by Pyridazinone-Scaffold-Based Compounds

In inflammatory diseases, polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMNs) are known to produce elevated levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines and proteases. To limit ensuing exacerbated cell responses and tissue damage, novel therapeutic agents are sought. 4aa and 4ba, two pyridazinone-scaffold-based phosphodiesterase-IV inhibitors are compared in vitro to zardaverine for their ability to: (1) modulate production of pro-inflammatory mediators, reactive oxygen species (ROS), and phagocytosis; (2) modulate degranulation by PMNs after transepithelial lung migration. Compound 4ba and zardaverine were tested in vivo for their ability to limit tissue recruitment of PMNs in a murine air pouch model. In vitro treatment of lipopolysaccharide-stimulated PMNs with compounds 4aa and 4ba inhibited the release of interleukin-8, tumor necrosis factor-α, and matrix metalloproteinase-9. PMNs phagocytic ability, but not ROS production, was reduced following treatment. Using a lung inflammation model, we proved that PMNs transmigration led to reduced expression of the CD16 phagocytic receptor, which was significantly blunted after treatment with compound 4ba or zardaverine. Using the murine air pouch model, LPS-induced PMNs recruitment was significantly decreased upon addition of compound 4ba or zardaverine. Our data suggest that new pyridazinone derivatives have therapeutic potential in inflammatory diseases by limiting tissue recruitment and activation of PMNs.

Pyridazinones and Structurally Related Derivatives with Anti-Inflammatory Activity

Persistent inflammation contributes to a number of diseases; therefore, control of the inflammatory response is an important therapeutic goal. In an effort to identify novel anti-inflammatory compounds, we screened a library of pyridazinones and structurally related derivatives that were used previously to identify N-formyl peptide receptor (FPR) agonists. Screening of the compounds for their ability to inhibit lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced nuclear factor κB (NF-κB) transcriptional activity in human THP1-Blue monocytic cells identified 48 compounds with anti-inflammatory activity. Interestingly, 34 compounds were FPR agonists, whereas 14 inhibitors of LPS-induced NF-κB activity were not FPR agonists, indicating that they inhibited different signaling pathways. Further analysis of the most potent inhibitors showed that they also inhibited LPS-induced production of interleukin 6 (IL-6) by human MonoMac-6 monocytic cells, again verifying their anti-inflammatory properties. Structure–activity relationship (SAR) classification models based on atom pair descriptors and physicochemical ADME parameters were developed to achieve better insight into the relationships between chemical structures of the compounds and their biological activities, and we found that there was little correlation between FPR agonist activity and inhibition of LPS-induced NF-κB activity. Indeed, Cmpd43, a well-known pyrazolone-based FPR agonist, as well as FPR1 and FPR2 peptide agonists had no effect on the LPS-induced NF-κB activity in THP1-Blue cells. Thus, some FPR agonists reported to have anti-inflammatory activity may actually mediate their effects through FPR-independent pathways, as it is suggested by our results with this series of compounds. This could explain how treatment with some agonists known to be inflammatory (i.e., FPR1 agonists) could result in anti-inflammatory effects. Further research is clearly needed to define the molecular targets of pyridazinones and structurally related compounds with anti-inflammatory activity and to define their relationships (if any) to FPR signaling events.

Pyridazinone Derivatives Limit Osteosarcoma-Cells Growth In Vitro and In Vivo

Simple Summary

There is a dire need for novel therapeutic interventions to treat osteosarcoma. Pyridazinone derivatives have proven some efficacy in several cancer models, but their effect on osteosarcoma is yet to be evaluated. Our goal was to synthesize and evaluate, both in vitro and in vivo, some pyridazinone derivatives to provide a proof of concept of their potential as anti-osteosarcoma molecules. We demonstrated that our newly synthesized pyridazinone scaffold-based molecules might be hit-candidates to develop new therapeutic avenues for multi-therapy purposes.

Abstract

Osteosarcoma is a rare primary bone cancer that mostly affects children and young adults. Current therapeutic approaches consist of combining surgery and chemotherapy but remain unfortunately insufficient to avoid relapse and metastases. Progress in terms of patient survival has remained the same for 30 years. In this study, novel pyridazinone derivatives have been evaluated as potential anti-osteosarcoma therapeutics because of their anti-type 4 phosphodiesterase activity, which modulates the survival of several other cancer cells. By using five—four human and one murine osteosarcoma—cell lines, we demonstrated differential cytotoxic effects of four pyridazinone scaffold-based compounds (mitochondrial activity and DNA quantification). Proapoptotic (annexin V positive cells and caspase-3 activity), anti-proliferative (EdU integration) and anti-migratory effects (scratch test assay) were also observed. Owing to their cytotoxic activity in in vitro conditions and their ability to limit tumor growth in a murine orthotopic osteosarcoma model, our data suggest that these pyridazinone derivatives might be hit-candidates to develop new therapeutic strategies against osteosarcoma.

Design and synthesis of novel quinazolinones conjugated ibuprofen, indole acetamide, or thioacetohydrazide as selective COX-2 inhibitors: anti-inflammatory, analgesic and anticancer activities

Novel quinazolinones conjugated with indole acetamide (4a–c), ibuprofen (7a–e), or thioacetohydrazide (13a,b, and 14a-d) were designed to increase COX-2 selectivity. The three synthesised series exhibited superior COX-2 selectivity compared with the previously reported quinazolinones and their NSAID analogue and had equipotent COX-2 selectivity as celecoxib. Compared with celecoxib, 4 b, 7c, and 13 b showed similar anti-inflammatory activity in vivo, while 13 b and 14a showed superior inhibition of the inflammatory mediator nitric oxide, and 7 showed greater antioxidant potential in macrophages cells. Moreover, all selected compounds showed improved analgesic activity and 13 b completely abolished the pain response. Additionally, compound 4a showed anticancer activity in tested cell lines HCT116, HT29, and HCA7. Docking results were consistent with COX-1/2 enzyme assay results. In silico studies suggest their high oral bioavailability. The overall findings for compounds (4a,b, 7c, 13 b, and 14c) support their potential role as anti-inflammatory agents.

One-Pot and Two-Chamber Methodologies for Using Acetylene Surrogates in the Synthesis of Pyridazines and Their D-Labeled Derivatives

Acetylene surrogates are efficient tools in modern organic chemistry with largely unexplored potential in the construction of heterocyclic cores. Two novel synthetic paths to 3,6-disubstituted pyridazines were proposed using readily available acetylene surrogates through flexible C₂ unit installation procedures in a common reaction space mode (one-pot) and distributed reaction space mode (two-chamber): (1) an interaction of 1,2,4,5-tetrazine and its acceptor-functionalized derivatives with a CaC₂ -H₂ O mixture performed in a two-chamber reactor led to the corresponding pyridazines in quantitative yields; (2) [4+2] cycloaddition of 1,2,4,5-tetrazines to benzyl vinyl ether can be considered a universal synthetic path to a wide range of pyridazines. Replacing water with D₂ O and vinyl ether with its trideuterated analog in the developed procedures, a range of 4,5-dideuteropyridazines of 95-99% deuteration degree was synthesized for the first time. Quantum chemical modeling allowed to quantify the substituent effect in both synthetic pathways.

Pyridazinone derivatives as potential anti-inflammatory agents: synthesis and biological evaluation as PDE4 inhibitors

Cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterase type 4 (PDE4), which controls the intracellular level of cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP), has aroused scientific attention as a suitable target for anti-inflammatory therapy of respiratory diseases. This work describes the development and characterization of pyridazinone derivatives bearing an indole moiety as potential PDE4 inhibitors and their evaluation as anti-inflammatory agents. Among these derivatives, 4-(5-methoxy-1H-indol-3-yl)-6-methylpyridazin-3(2H)-one possesses promising activity, and selectivity towards PDE4B isoenzymes and is able to regulate potent pro-inflammatory cytokine and chemokine production by human primary macrophages.

Discovery of 3,6-disubstituted pyridazines as a novel class of anticancer agents targeting cyclin-dependent kinase 2: synthesis, biological evaluation and in silico insights

Human health in the current medical era is facing numerous challenges, especially cancer. So, the therapeutic arsenal for cancer should be unremittingly enriched with novel small molecules that selectively target tumour cells with minimal toxicity towards normal cells. In this context, herein a new series of 3,6-disubstituted pyridazines 11a–r has been synthesised and evaluated for in vitro anticancer activity. They possessed good anti-proliferative action towards human breast cancer T-47D (IC₅₀ range: 0.43 ± 0.01 − 35.9 ± 1.18 µM) and MDA-MB-231 (IC₅₀ range: 0.99 ± 0.03 − 34.59 ± 1.13 µM) cell lines, whereas they displayed weak activity against the tested ovarian cancer cell line SKOV-3. Among the studied compounds, the methyltetrahydropyran-bearing pyridazine 11m emerged as the unique submicromolar growth inhibitor herein reported towards both T-47D (IC₅₀ = 0.43 ± 0.01 µM) and MDA-MB-231 (IC₅₀ = 0.99 ± 0.03 µM) cell lines. In addition, the biological results indicated that pyridazines 11l and 11m exerted an efficient alteration within the cell cycle progression as well as induction of apoptosis in both T-47D and MDA-MB-231 cells. Moreover, pyridazines 11l and 11m displayed good mean tumour S. I. values of 13.7 and 16.1 upon assessment of their cytotoxicity towards non-tumorigenic breast MCF-10A cells. Furthermore, an in silico study proposed CDK2 as a probable enzymatic target for pyridazines 11, and explored their binding interactions within the vicinity of CDK2 binding site. Subsequently, pyridazines 11e, 11h, 11l, and 11m were selected to be evaluated for their ability to inhibit CDK2, where they exerted good inhibitory activity (IC₅₀ = 151, 43.8, 55.6 and 20.1 nM, respectively). Finally, the in silico study implied that target pyridazines 11 exhibited not only an efficient anticancer activity but also an acceptable ADME, physicochemical and druglikeness properties, specifically pyridazines 11l and 11m. Overall the obtained results from this study quite sustained our strategy and gave us a robust opportunity for further development and optimisation of 3,6-disubstituted pyridazine scaffold to enrich therapeutic arsenal with efficient and safe anticancer CDK inhibitors.

A three-component iodine-catalyzed oxidative coupling reaction: a heterodifunctionalization of 3-methylindoles

A metal-free method for the synthesis of heterodifunctional indole derivatives is developed through TBHP/KI-mediated oxidative coupling. The reaction constructs C-O and C-C bonds in succession with the help of tert-butyl peroxy radicals generated by the TBHP/KI catalytic system, enabling the direct realization of the heterodifunctionalization of indole in one pot. The product of this reaction is a novel heterodifunctional compound. This work might provide a new effective method for the synthesis of polycyclic indole compounds.

Crystal structure, Hirshfeld surface analysis and DFT studies of 6-[(E)-2-(thio-phen-2-yl)ethenyl]-4,5-di-hydro-pyridazin-3(2H)-one

In the title compound, C10H10N2OS, the five atoms of the thio-phene ring are essentially coplanar (r.m.s. deviation = 0.0037 Å) and the pyridazine ring is non-planar. In the crystal, pairs of N-H⋯O hydrogen bonds link the mol-ecules into dimers with an R 2 2(8) ring motif. The dimers are linked by C-H⋯O inter-actions, forming layers parallel to the bc plane. The theoretical geometric parameters are in good agreement with XRD results. The inter-molecular inter-actions were investigated using a Hirshfeld surface analysis and two-dimensional fingerprint plots. The Hirshfeld surface analysis of the title compound suggests that the most significant contributions to the crystal packing are by H⋯H (39.7%), C⋯H/H⋯C (17.3%) and O⋯H/H⋯O (16.8%) contacts.

Crystal structure, Hirshfeld surface analysis and DFT studies of 2-[5-(4-methyl-benz-yl)-6-oxo-3-phenyl-1,6-di-hydro-pyridazin-1-yl]acetic acid

In the title compound, the phenyl and pyridazine rings are inclined to each other by 10.55 (12)°, whereas the 4-methyl­benzyl ring is nearly orthogonal to the pyridazine ring with a dihedral angle of 72.97 (10)°.

The title pyridazinone derivative, C₂₀H₁₈N₂O₃, is not planar. The phenyl ring and the pyridazine ring are inclined to each other by 10.55 (12)°, whereas the 4-methyl­benzyl ring is nearly orthogonal to the pyridazine ring, with a dihedral angle of 72.97 (10)°. In the crystal, mol­ecules are linked by pairs of O—H⋯O hydrogen bonds, forming inversion dimers with an R₂²(14) ring motif. The dimers are linked by C—H⋯O hydrogen bonds, generating ribbons propagating along the c-axis direction. The inter­molecular inter­actions were additionally investigated using Hirshfeld surface analysis and two-dimensional fingerprint plots. They revealed that the most significant contributions to the crystal packing are from H⋯H (48.4%), H⋯O/O⋯H (21.8%) and H⋯C/C⋯H (20.4%) contacts. Mol­ecular orbital calculations providing electron-density plots of HOMO and LUMO mol­ecular orbitals and mol­ecular electrostatic potentials (MEP) were also computed, both with the DFT/B3LYP/6–311 G++(d,p) basis set.

Crystal structure and Hirshfeld surface analysis of (E)-6-(4-hy-droxy-3-meth-oxy-styr-yl)-4,5-di-hydro-pyridazin-3(2H)-one

In the title com­pound, inter­molecular C—H⋯O, O—H⋯O and N—H⋯O hydrogen bonds link the mol­ecules into a three-dimensional supra­molecular network.

In the title com­pound, C₁₃H₁₄N₂O₃, the dihydropyridazine ring (r.m.s. deviation = 0.166 Å) has a screw-boat conformation. The dihedral angle between its mean plane and the benzene ring is 0.77 (12)°. In the crystal, inter­molecular O—H⋯O hydrogen bonds generate C(5) chains and N—H⋯O hydrogen bonds produce R₂²(8) motifs. These types of inter­actions lead to the formation of layers parallel to (12). The three-dimensional network is achieved by C—H⋯O inter­actions, including R₂⁴(8) motifs. Inter­molecular inter­actions were additionally investigated using Hirshfeld surface analysis and two-dimensional fingerprint plots. The most significant contributions to the crystal packing are by H⋯H (43.3%), H⋯C/C⋯H (19.3%), H⋯O/H⋯O (22.6%), C⋯N/N⋯C (3.0%) and H⋯N/N⋯H (5.8%) contacts. C—H⋯π inter­actions and aromatic π–π stacking inter­actions are not observed.

Crystal structures and Hirshfeld surface analyses of 4-benzyl-6-phenyl-4,5-di-hydro-pyridazin-3(2H)-one and methyl 2-[5-(2,6-di-chloro-benz-yl)-6-oxo-3-phenyl-1,4,5,6-tetra-hydropyridazin-1-yl]acetate

In each asymmetric unit of the title compounds, one independent mol­ecule is present. In the crystal structure of 4-benzyl-6-phenyl-4,5-di­hydro­pyridazin-3(2H)-one, adjacent mol­ecules are linked by a pair of N—H⋯O hydrogen bonds, forming inversion dimers with an (8) ring motif. The crystal structure of methyl 2-[5-(2,6-di­chloro­benz­yl)-6-oxo-3-phenyl-1,6-di­hydro-pyridazin-1-yl]acetate displays inter­molecular C—H⋯O inter­actions.

The asymmetric units of the title compounds both contain one nonplanar mol­ecule. In 4-benzyl-6-phenyl-4,5-di­hydro­pyridazin-3(2H)-one, C₁₇H₁₄N₂O, (I), the phenyl and pyridazine rings are twisted with respect to each other, making a dihedral angle of 46.69 (9)°; the phenyl ring of the benzyl group is nearly perpendicular to the plane of the pyridazine ring, the dihedral angle being 78.31 (10)°. In methyl 2-[5-(2,6-di­chloro­benz­yl)-6-oxo-3-phenyl-1,4,5,6-tetra­hydropyridazin-1-yl]acetate, C₂₀H₁₆Cl₂N₂O₃, (II), the phenyl and pyridazine rings are twisted with respect to each other, making a dihedral angle of 21.76 (18)°, whereas the phenyl ring of the di­chloro­benzyl group is inclined to the pyridazine ring by 79.61 (19)°. In the crystal structure of (I), pairs of N—H⋯O hydrogen bonds link the mol­ecules into inversion dimers with an R₂²(8) ring motif. In the crystal structure of (II), C—H⋯O hydrogen bonds generate dimers with R₁²(7), R₂²(16) and R₂²(18) ring motifs. The Hirshfeld surface analyses of compound (I) suggests that the most significant contributions to the crystal packing are by H⋯H (48.2%), C⋯H/H⋯C (29.9%) and O⋯H/H⋯O (8.9%) contacts. For compound (II), H⋯H (34.4%), C⋯H/H⋯C (21.3%) and O⋯H/H⋯O (16.5%) inter­actions are the most important contributions.

Crystal structure and Hirshfeld surface analysis of 4-(4-methyl-benz-yl)-6-phenyl-pyridazin-3(2H)-one

In this paper, we describe the synthesis of a new di-hydro-2H-pyridazin-3-one derivative. The mol-ecule, C18H16N2O, is not planar; the benzene and pyridazine rings are twisted with respect to each other, making a dihedral angle of 11.47 (2)°, and the toluene ring is nearly perpendicular to the pyridazine ring, with a dihedral angle of 89.624 (1)°. The mol-ecular conformation is stabilized by weak intra-molecular C-H⋯N contacts. In the crystal, pairs of N-H⋯O hydrogen bonds link the mol-ecules into inversion dimers with an R 2 2(8) ring motif. The inter-molecular inter-actions were investigated using Hirshfeld surface analysis and two-dimensional (2D) fingerprint plots, revealing that the most important contributions for the crystal packing are from H⋯H (56.6%), H⋯C/C⋯H (22.6%), O⋯H/H⋯O (10.0%) and N⋯C/C⋯N (3.5%) inter-actions.

Synthesis and biological evaluation of a new series of ortho-carboranyl biphenyloxime derivatives

(Z,Z’)-1,1′-(4-ortho-Caboranyldimethyl)-bis(2-methoxyphenylethan-1-oxime) intermediate 3 was synthesized by a three-step reaction with a final treatment with base to give a new series of ortho-carboranyl biphenyloxime derivatives (4–8). Compounds 7 and 8 showed high solubility and the in vitro study results revealed high levels of accumulation in HeLa cells with higher cytotoxicity and boron uptake compared to l-boronphenylalanine.