Controlling the radical 5-exo-trig cyclization, and selective synthesis of seco-iso-cyclopropylfurano[e]indoline (seco-iso-CFI) and seco-cyclopropylthiophene[e]indoline (seco-CTI) DNA alkylating subunit of the duocarmycins

Design, synthesis, nuclear localization, and biological activity of a fluorescent duocarmycin analog, HxTfA

HxTfA 4 is a fluorescent analog of a potent cytotoxic and antimalarial agent, TfA 3, which is currently being investigated for the development of an antimalarial vaccine, PlasProtect®. HxTfA contains a p-anisylbenzimidazole or Hx moiety, which is endowed with a blue emission upon excitation at 318 nm; thus enabling it to be used as a surrogate for probing the cellular fate of TfA using confocal microscopy, and addressing the question of nuclear localization. HxTfA exhibits similar selectivity to TfA for A-tract sequences of DNA, alkylating adenine-N3, albeit at 10-fold higher concentrations. It also possesses in vitro cytotoxicity against A549 human lung carcinoma cells and Plasmodium falciparum. Confocal microscopy studies showed for the first time that HxTfA, and by inference TfA, entered A549 cells and localized in the nucleus to exert its biological activity. At biologically relevant concentrations, HxTfA elicits DNA damage response as evidenced by a marked increase in the levels of γH2AX observed by confocal microscopy and immunoblotting studies, and ultimately induces apoptosis.

Synthesis and evaluation of duocarmycin SA analogs incorporating the methyl 1,2,8,8a-tetrahydrocyclopropa[c]imidazolo[4,5-e]indol-4-one-6-carboxylate (CImI) alkylation subunit

The design, synthesis, and evaluation of methyl 1,2,8,8a-tetrahydrocyclopropa[c]imidazolo[4,5-e]indol-4-one-6-carboxylate (CImI) derivatives are detailed representing analogs of duocarmycin SA and yatakemycin containing an imidazole replacement for the fused pyrrole found in the DNA alkylation subunit.

Synthetic approaches, functionalization and therapeutic potential of quinazoline and quinazolinone skeletons: the advances continue

The presence of N-heterocycles as an essential structural motif in a variety of biologically active substances has stimulated the development of new strategies and technologies for their synthesis. Among the various N-heterocyclic scaffolds, quinazolines and quinazolinones form a privileged class of compounds with their diverse spectrum of therapeutic potential. The easy generation of complex molecular diversity through broadly applicable, cost-effective, practical and sustainable synthetic methods in a straightforward fashion along with the importance of these motifs in medicinal chemistry, received significant attention from researchers engaged in drug design and heterocyclic methodology development. In this perspective, the current review article is an effort to recapitulate recent developments in the eco-friendly and green procedures for the construction of highly challenging and potentially bioactive quinazoline and quinazolinone compounds in order to help medicinal chemists in designing and synthesizing novel and potent compounds for the treatment of different disorders. The key mechanistic insights for the synthesis of these heterocycles along with potential applications and manipulations of the products have also been conferred. This article also aims to highlight the promising future directions for the easy access to these frameworks in addition to the identification of more potent and specific products for numerous biological targets.