Design, Synthesis, and Antiproliferative Activity of Benzopyran-4-One-Isoxazole Hybrid Compounds

The biological significance of benzopyran-4-ones as cytotoxic agents against multi-drug resistant cancer cell lines and isoxazoles as anti-inflammatory agents in cellular assays prompted us to design and synthesize their hybrid compounds and explore their antiproliferative activity against a panel of six cancer cell lines and two normal cell lines. Compounds 5a-d displayed significant antiproliferative activities against all the cancer cell lines tested, and IC₅₀ values were in the range of 5.2-22.2 μM against MDA-MB-231 cancer cells, while they were minimally cytotoxic to the HEK-293 and LLC-PK1 normal cell lines. The IC₅₀ values of 5a-d against normal HEK-293 cells were in the range of 102.4-293.2 μM. Compound 5a was screened for kinase inhibitory activity, proteolytic human serum stability, and apoptotic activity. The compound was found inactive towards different kinases, while it completely degraded after 2 h of incubation with human serum. At 5 μM concentration, it induced apoptosis in MDA-MB-231 by 50.8%. Overall, these findings suggest that new benzopyran-4-one-isoxazole hybrid compounds, particularly 5a-d, are selective anticancer agents, potentially safe for human cells, and could be synthesized at low cost. Additionally, Compound 5a exhibits potential anticancer activity mediated via inhibition of cancer cell proliferation and induction of apoptosis.

Hydroxyl directed C-arylation: synthesis of 3-hydroxyflavones and 2-phenyl-3-hydroxy pyran-4-ones under transition-metal free conditions

Hydroxyl assisted, efficient, transition-metal free and direct C-arylation of 3-hydroxychromone and 5-hydroxy pyran-4-one moieties in the presence of a base, air as an oxidant and arylhydrazines as arylating agents to furnish highly biologically active 3-hydroxyflavones and 2-phenyl-3-hydroxy pyran-4-ones has been developed.

Crystal structure of 3-(hy-droxy-meth-yl)chromone

In the title compound, C₁₀H₈O₃ (systematic name 3-hy­droxy­methyl-4H-chromen-4-one), the fused-ring system is slightly puckered [dihedral angle between the rings = 3.84 (11)°]. The hy­droxy O atom deviates from the heterocyclic ring by 1.422 (1) Å. In the crystal, inversion dimers linked by pairs of O—H⋯O hydrogen bonds generate R₂²(12) loops. The dimers are linked by aromatic π–π stacking [shortest centroid–centroid distance = 3.580 (3) Å], and C—H⋯O hydrogen bonds, generating a three-dimensional network.

Combining QSAR classification models for predictive modeling of human monoamine oxidase inhibitors

Due to their role in the metabolism of monoamine neurotransmitters, MAO-A and MAO-B present a significant pharmacological interest. For instance the inhibitors of human MAO-B are considered useful tools for the treatment of Parkinson Disease. Therefore, the rational design and synthesis of new MAOs inhibitors is considered of great importance for the development of new and more effective treatments of Parkinson Disease. In this work, Quantitative Structure Activity Relationships (QSAR) has been developed to predict the human MAO inhibitory activity and selectivity. The first step was the selection of a suitable dataset of heterocyclic compounds that include chromones, coumarins, chalcones, thiazolylhydrazones, etc. These compounds were previously synthesized in one of our laboratories, or elsewhere, and their activities measured by the same assays and for the same laboratory staff. Applying linear discriminant analysis to data derived from a variety of molecular representations and feature selection algorithms, reliable QSAR models were built which could be used to predict for test compounds the inhibitory activity and selectivity toward human MAO. This work also showed how several QSAR models can be combined to make better predictions. The final models exhibit significant statistics, interpretability, as well as displaying predictive power on an external validation set made up of chromone derivatives with unknown activity (that are being reported here for first time) synthesized by our group, and coumarins recently reported in the literature.

Lewis base catalyzed [4+2] annulation of electron-deficient chromone-derived heterodienes and acetylenes

Lewis base catalyzed [4+2] annulation reactions between electron-deficient chromone oxa- and azadienes and acetylene carboxylates provide tricyclic benzopyrones inspired by natural products. An asymmetric synthesis of the tricyclic benzopyrones was developed by using modified cinchona alkaloids as enantiodifferentiating Lewis base catalysts.

Synthesis of a novel series of diphenolic chromone derivatives as inhibitors of NO production in LPS-activated RAW264.7 macrophages

A novel series of diphenolic chromone derivatives were synthesized and their inhibitory activity on nitric oxide (NO) production and cytotoxicity were evaluated using LPS-activated murine macrophages RAW264.7 assay and MTT method, respectively. Among these compounds, (5,7-dihydroxy-4-oxo-4H-chromen-3-yl) methyl esters (6b, 6c, 6f, 6g, and 6h) showed quite potent inhibitory activities with IC(50) values of 2.20, 3.48, 0.35, 0.80, and 0.61microM, respectively. The MTT results showed that all of the active compounds exhibited no cytotoxicity at the effective concentrations. The preliminary mechanism of the most potent compounds (6b, 6c, 6f, 6g, and 6h) was further examined based on the RT-PCR results and the compounds 6f, 6g, and 6h inhibited NO production by suppressing the expression of iNOS mRNA in a dose dependent manner. Furthermore, a computational analysis of physicochemical parameters revealed that the most of the compounds possessed drug-like properties.

Effects of Simple and Angular Chromones on Tumor Cell Respiration

A set of structurally related compounds incorporating a chromone moiety as an essential component of their structures were tested against the TA3 mouse carcinoma cell line and its multidrug-resistant variant TA3-MTX-R. A tentative structure–activity relationship was found for this family of substances, suggesting that a Michael addition at C-1 is involved in the mechanism that provokes the activities.