Electrogenerated N-heterocyclic carbenes: N-functionalization of benzoxazolones

Synthesis, Antimicrobial Activity, and Molecular Modeling Studies of Some Benzoxazole Derivatives

Background:

The need to develop novel antimicrobial agents is apparent as infectious diseases are increasing and resistance is rapidly developing against the drugs used in the treatment.

Objective:

This study aimed at the synthesis, antimicrobial susceptibility testing, and computational elucidation of the mechanism of action of benzoxazole derivatives. It also aimed to compare the results obtained in this study with the previous studies by our group. This would pave the way for designing novel molecules with better antimicrobial activity. The other goal was pharmacophore analysis and in silico ADMET analysis of them.

Methods:

In this study, synthesis, antimicrobial susceptibility testing, molecular docking, pharmacophore analysis, and ADMET prediction were carried out.

Results:

The antimicrobial activity studies demonstrated that the synthesized compounds were active against standard strains and clinical isolates at high concentrations. Then, the antimicrobial testing results were compared to similar benzoxazoles tested by our group previously. Benzoxazole derivatives without a methylene bridge between oxazole and phenyl ring were found to be more active than those with the methylene bridge. This was also confirmed by molecular modeling undertaken in this study. The computational results indicated that the antibacterial activity could be achieved by DNA gyrase inhibition. Pharmacophore analysis showed that hydrogen bond acceptor (HBA), hydrogen bond donor (HBD), and hydrophobicity features would contribute to the inhibition. In addition, in silico ADMET property investigation of the compounds exhibited that they had the desired pharmacokinetics.

Conclusion:

Although antibacterial activity by inhibiting DNA gyrase is selective, the synthesized compounds were active at much higher concentrations than the standards. Therefore, in prospective antimicrobial studies, it is better to focus on benzoxazole derivatives without the methylene bridge. Since the compounds had suitable in silico ADMET properties, screening them against the other pharmacologic activities should be carried out. It is recommended to support the molecular modeling results with in vitro or in vivo studies.

Evaluation of Cyclic Amides as Activating Groups in N-C Bond Cross-Coupling: Discovery of N-Acyl-δ-valerolactams as Effective Twisted Amide Precursors for Cross-Coupling Reactions

The development of efficient methods for facilitating N-C(O) bond activation in amides is an important objective in organic synthesis that permits the manipulation of the traditionally unreactive amide bonds. Herein, we report a comparative evaluation of a series of cyclic amides as activating groups in amide N-C(O) bond cross-coupling. Evaluation of N-acyl-imides, N-acyl-lactams, and N-acyl-oxazolidinones bearing five- and six-membered rings using Pd(II)-NHC and Pd-phosphine systems reveals the relative reactivity order of N-activating groups in Suzuki-Miyaura cross-coupling. The reactivity of activated phenolic esters and thioesters is evaluated for comparison in O-C(O) and S-C(O) cross-coupling under the same reaction conditions. Most notably, the study reveals N-acyl-δ-valerolactams as a highly effective class of mono-N-acyl-activated amide precursors in cross-coupling. The X-ray structure of the model N-acyl-δ-valerolactam is characterized by an additive Winkler-Dunitz distortion parameter Σ(τ+χ_N) of 54.0°, placing this amide in a medium distortion range of twisted amides. Computational studies provide insight into the structural and energetic parameters of the amide bond, including amidic resonance, N/O-protonation aptitude, and the rotational barrier around the N-C(O) axis. This class of N-acyl-lactams will be a valuable addition to the growing portfolio of amide electrophiles for cross-coupling reactions by acyl-metal intermediates.

Electrogenerated NHCs in Organic Synthesis: Ionic Liquids vs Organic Solvents Effects

In the last twenty years, N-heterocyclic carbenes (NHCs) have been extensively studied for their application as organocatalysts in stereoselective synthesis as well as ligands for transition metals-promoted synthetic methodologies. Derived mainly from azolium salts, NHCs have demonstrated exceptional versatility in their generation usually performed by deprotonation or reduction (chemical or electrochemical). In particular, the generation of NHC under electrochemical conditions, starting from azolium-based ionic liquids, has proven to be a successful green approach and demonstrated wide applicability in organic synthesis. In this Personal Account, the application of electrogenerated NHCs in organic synthesis will be discussed, with a particular attention to the different reactivity in ionic liquids compared to classical organic solvents.

WO3 and Ionic Liquids: A Synergic Pair for Pollutant Gas Sensing and Desulfurization

This review deals with the notable results obtained by the synergy between ionic liquids (ILs) and WO3 in the field of pollutant gas sensing and sulfur removal pretreatment of fuels. Starting from the known characteristics of tungsten trioxide as catalytic material, many authors have proposed the use of ionic liquids in order to both direct WO3 production towards controllable nanostructures (nanorods, nanospheres, etc.) and to modify the metal oxide structure (incorporating ILs) in order to increase the gas adsorption ability and, thus, the catalytic efficiency. Moreover, ionic liquids are able to highly disperse WO3 in composites, thus enhancing the contact surface and the catalytic ability of WO3 in both hydrodesulfurization (HDS) and oxidative desulfurization (ODS) of liquid fuels. In particular, the use of ILs in composite synthesis can direct the hydrogenation process (HDS) towards sulfur compounds rather than towards olefins, thus preserving the octane number of the fuel while highly reducing the sulfur content and, thus, the possibility of air pollution with sulfur oxides. A similar performance enhancement was obtained in ODS, where the high dispersion of WO3 (due to the use of ILs during the synthesis) allows for noteworthy results at very low temperatures (50 °C).

Synthesis, cytotoxicities, and carbonic anhydrase inhibition potential of 6-(3-aryl-2-propenoyl)-2(3H)-benzoxazolones

In this study, new chalcone compounds having the chemical structure of 6-(3-aryl-2-propenoyl)-2(3H)-benzoxazolones (1-8) were synthesised and were characterised by 1H-NMR, 13 C-NMR, and HRMS spectra. Cytotoxic and carbonic anhydrase (CA) inhibitory effects of the compounds were investigated. Cytotoxicity results pointed out that compound 4, 6-[3-(4-trifluoromethylphenyl)-2-propenoyl]-3H-benzoxazol-2-one, showed the highest cytotoxicity (CC50) and potency-selectivity expression (PSE) value, and thus can be considered as a lead compound of this study. According to the CA inhibitory results, IC50 values of the compounds 1-8 towards hCA I were in the range of 29.74-69.57 µM, while they were in the range of 18.14 - 48.46 µM towards hCA II isoenzyme. Ki values of the compounds 1-8 towards hCA I were in the range of 28.37 ± 6.63-70.58 ± 6.67 µM towards hCA I isoenzyme and they were in the range of 10.85 ± 2.14 - 37.96 ± 2.36 µM towards hCA II isoenzyme.

Metal-free C(sp2)–H functionalization of azoles: K2CO3/I2-mediated oxidation, imination, and amination

We report metal-free one-pot C2−H oxidation, imination, and amination of several azoles from azolium salts by using a commercially available simple and efficient reagent combination K₂CO₃/I₂.

Ionic liquids as an electrolyte for the electro synthesis of organic compounds

The use of ionic liquids (ILs) as a solvent and an electrolyte for electro organic synthesis has been reviewed.