Structure-activity relationship of quinazolinedione inhibitors of calcium-independent phosphodiesterase

Bestowal of Quinazoline Scaffold in Anticancer Drug Discovery

BACKGROUND

Cancer is one of the major causes of human mortality worldwide. A number of existing antineoplastic medications and treatment regimens are already working in the field, and several new compounds are in different phases of clinical trials. An extensive series of anticancer drugs exist in the market, and studies suggest that these molecules are associated with different types of adverse side effects. The reduction of the cytotoxicity of drugs to normal cells is a major problem in anticancer therapy. Therefore, researchers around the globe are involved in the development of more efficient and safer anticancer drugs. The output of extensive research is that the quinazoline scaffold and its various derivatives can be explored further as a novel class of cancer chemotherapeutic agents that has already shown promising activities against different tumours. Quinazoline derivatives have already occupied a crucial place in modern medicinal chemistry. Various research has been performed on quinazoline and their derivatives for anticancer activity and pharmacological importance of this scaffold has been well established.

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this review is to compile and highlight the developments concerning the anticancer activity of quinazoline derivatives as well as to suggest some new aspects of the expansion of anticancer activity of novel quinazoline derivatives as anticancer agents in the near future.

METHODS

Recent literature related to quinazoline derivatives endowed with encouraging anticancer potential is reviewed. With a special focus on quinazoline moiety, this review offers a detailed account of multiple mechanisms of action of various quinazoline derivatives: inhibition of the DNA repair enzyme system, inhibition of EGFR, thymidylate enzyme inhibition and inhibitory effects for tubulin polymerization by which these derivatives have shown promising anticancer potential.

RESULTS

Exhaustive literature survey indicated that quinazoline derivatives are associated with properties of inhibiting EGFR and thymidylate enzymes. It was also found to be involved in disturbing tubulin assembly. Furthermore, quinazoline derivatives have been found to inhibit critical targets such as DNA repair enzymes. These derivatives have shown significant activity against cancer.

CONCLUSION

In cancer therapy, Quinazoline derivatives seems to be quite promising and act through various mechanisms that are well established. This review has shown that quinazoline derivatives can further be explored for the betterment of chemotherapy. A lot of potentials are still hidden, which demands to be discovered for upgrading quinazoline derivatives efficacy.

Design, synthesis, biological evaluation and docking study of novel quinazoline derivatives as EGFR-TK inhibitors

Background: Quinazoline-based compounds have been proved effective in the treatment of cancers for years. Materials & methods: The structural features of several inhibitors of EGFR were integrated and quinazolines with a benzazepine moiety at the 4-position were constructed. Results: Most of the compounds exhibited excellent antitumor activities. Compound 33e showed excellent antitumor activities against the four tested cell lines (IC₅₀: 1.06-3.55 μM). The enzymatic, signaling pathways and apoptosis assay of 33e were subsequently carried out to study the action of the mechanism. Conclusion: Compound 33e with a benzazepine moiety at the 4-position can be screened in this study and provides useful information for the design of EGFR-T790M inhibitors, which deserve additional research.

β-Cyclodextrin: a supramolecular catalyst for metal-free approach towards the synthesis of 2-amino-4,6-diphenylnicotinonitriles and 2,3-dihydroquinazolin-4(1H)-one

β-Cyclodextrin, a green and widespread supramolecular catalyst, has been explored as a highly proficient promoter for the metal-free one-pot multi-component synthesis of a vast range of highly functionalized bioactive heterocyclic moiety, 2-amino-4,6-diphenylnicotinonitriles and 2,3-dihydroquinazolin-4(1H)-one, from easily available precursor aldehydes. The main endeavor of these protocols is to explore this organic supramolecule in one-pot multi-component synthesis. Absence of metal catalyst or toxic acid and harsh reaction conditions, excellent functional group tolerance, inexpensive, greener and environmentally safe protocol are the key advantages of this work.

FeCl3-Mediated Synthesis of 2-(Trifluoromethyl)quinazolin-4(3H)-ones from Isatins and Trifluoroacetimidoyl Chlorides

An FeCl₃-mediated cascade coupling/decarbonylative annulation reaction for the efficient construction of 2-(trifluoromethyl)quinazolin-4(3H)-ones has been developed. This transformation employs readily available isatins and trifluoroacetimidoyl chlorides as the starting materials, providing a facile and practical route to diverse biologically relevant quinazolin-4(3H)-one derivatives. A plausible reaction pathway has been proposed based on the mechanistic observations.

Base-promoted Lewis acid catalyzed synthesis of quinazoline derivatives

A one-pot protocol has been developed for the synthesis of quinazolinones from amide-oxazolines with TsCl via a cyclic 1,3-azaoxonium intermediate and 6π electron cyclization in the presence of a Lewis acid and base. The process is operationally simple and has a broad substrate scope. This method provides a unique strategy for the construction of quinazolinones.

Synthesis of quinazolin-4(1H)-ones via amination and annulation of amidines and benzamides

Quinazolinones have broad applications in the biological, pharmaceutical and material fields. Studies on the synthesis of these compounds are therefore widely conducted. Herein, a novel and highly efficient copper-mediated tandem C(sp2)-H amination and annulation of benzamides and amidines for the synthesis of quinazolin-4(1H)-ones is proposed. This synthetic route can be useful for the construction of quinazolin-4(1H)-one frameworks.

Ru(II)/Ir(III)-Catalyzed C-H Bond Activation/Annulation of Cyclic Amides with 1,3-Diketone-2-diazo Compounds: Facile Access to 8H-Isoquinolino[1,2-b]quinazolin-8-ones and Phthalazino[2,3-a]cinnoline-8,13-diones

Efficient access to 8H-isoquinolino[1,2-b]quinazolin-8-ones and phthalazino[2,3-a]cinnoline-8,13-diones through cyclic amide-directed Ru(II)/Ir(III)-catalyzed C-H bond activation, has been developed. Consecutive C-H bond activation, carbene insertion, and condensation annulation processes were realized, affording 8H-isoquinolino[1,2-b]quinazolin-8-one and phthalazino[2,3-a]cinnoline-8,13-dione derivatives in good-to-excellent yields under mild conditions, with H₂O and N₂ being generated as the only byproducts.

Copper-catalyzed synthesis of 2,3-disubstituted quinazolin-4(3H)-ones from benzyl-substituted anthranilamides

An efficient, practical approach to the copper-catalyzed synthesis of 2,3-disubstituted quinazolin-4(3H)-one derivatives is described. The preparation involves treatment of benzyl amines with benzyl anthranilamides in the presence of Cu(OAc)2 and tetra-n-butylammonium bromide (TBAB).

Direct Palladium-Catalyzed β-Arylation of Lactams

A direct and catalytic method is reported here for β-arylation of N-protected lactams with simple aryl iodides. The transformation is enabled by merging soft enolization of lactams, palladium-catalyzed desaturation, Ar-X bond activation, and aryl conjugate addition. The reaction is operated under mild reaction conditions, is scalable, and is chemoselective. Application of this method to concise syntheses of pharmaceutically relevant compounds is demonstrated.

Research progress in quinazoline derivatives as multi-target tyrosine kinase inhibitors

Receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs), such as epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), are involved in multiple human tumors. Therefore, RTKs are attractive targets for various antitumor strategies. Two classes of tyrosine kinase antagonists were applied in the clinic for monoclonal antibodies and small-molecule tyrosine kinase inhibitors. A well-studied class of small-molecule inhibitors is represented by 4-anilinoquinazolines, exemplified by gefitinib and erlotinib as mono-targeted EGFR inhibitors, which were approved for the treatment of non-small-cell lung cancer. Mono-target drugs may result in drug resistance and the innovation of multi-target drugs has grown up to be an active field. Recent advances in research on antitumor bioactivity of 4-anilino(or phenoxy)quinazoline derivatives with multiple targets are reviewed in this paper. At the same time, synthetic methods of quinazolines were introduced from the point of building the ring skeleton and based on the types of reaction.

Palladium-Catalyzed Incorporation of Two C1 Building Blocks: The Reaction of Atmospheric CO2 and Isocyanides with 2-Iodoanilines Leading to the Synthesis of Quinazoline-2,4(1H,3H)-diones

A Pd-catalyzed insertion and cycloaddition of CO₂ and isocyanide into 2-iodoanilines under atmospheric pressure has been developed and affords quinazoline-2,4(1H,3H)-diones through the formation of new C-C, C-O, and C-N bonds under mild conditions. This reaction provides a new and practical method not only for the construction of quinazoline-2,4(1H,3H)-diones but also for the efficient utilization of carbon dioxide.

A choline hydroxide catalyzed synthesis of 2,3-dihydroquinazolin-4(1H)-ones in an aqueous medium

A simple, metal and ligand-free protocol for the synthesis of 2,3-dihydroquinazolin-4(1H)-one derivatives using choline hydroxide (ChOH) as an effective catalyst in an aqueous medium has been developed.

Visible-light-mediated reaction: synthesis of quinazolinones from 1,2-dihydroquinazoline 3-oxides

The first example of methane evolution involving cleavage of a C(sp³)–CH₃ bond of quinazoline 3-oxide via visible light irradiation is reported.

Cleavage of the C–C triple bond of ketoalkynes: synthesis of 4(3H)-quinazolinones

A novel strategy to 4(3H)-quinazolinones from ketoalkynes and o-aminobenzamides through C–C triple bond fragmentation and two C–N bond formations under external oxidant and metal free conditions.

Copper-catalyzed tandem N-arylation/condensation: synthesis of quinazolin-4(3H)-ones from 2-halobenzonitriles and amides

A novel, straightforward and practical copper-catalyzed domino protocol for synthesis of quinazolin-4(3H)-one derivatives from commercially available 2-halobenzonitriles and amides was successfully developed.

Synthesis, antiproliferative activity and tubulin targeting effect of acridinone and dioxophenothiazine derivatives

The synthesis of new acridinone and dioxophenothiazine derivatives along with their tubulin polymerization inhibitory and antiproliferative activities is reported. The analysis of correlation for cytotoxic and antitubulin potential of tested compounds showed that 4-methoxyphenylethyl derivatives 18a and 19a were highly cytotoxic but were regarded to have no significant antitubulin activity. However, the introduction of a 3-hydroxy substituent leading to compounds 18e and 19e, strongly increased the antitubulin potential but was associated with a loss of the antiproliferative activity. Modeling studies, topoisomerase inhibition assays and cell cycle analysis have been performed to better investigate the mechanism of action of such compounds.

Synthesis of dihydrouracils spiro-fused to pyrrolidines: druglike molecules based on the 2-arylethyl amine scaffold

The synthesis of a small library of dihydrouracils spiro-fused to pyrrolidines is described. These compounds are synthesized from beta-aryl pyrrolidines, providing products with the 2-arylethyl amine moiety, a structural feature often encountered in compounds active in the central nervous system. The b-aryl pyrrolidines are synthesized through a three-step methodology that includes a Knoevenagel condensation reaction, a 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reaction, and a nitrile reduction.