Acid 1a Research Articles

Boronate, trifluoroborate, sulfone, sulfinate and sulfonate congeners of oseltamivir carboxylic acid: Synthesis and anti-influenza activity

Tamiflu readily undergoes endogenous hydrolysis to give oseltamivir carboxylic acid (OC) as the active anti-influenza agent to inhibit the viral neuraminidase (NA). GOC is derived from OC by replacing the 5-amino group with a guanidino group. In this study, OC and GOC congeners with the carboxylic acid bioisosteres of boronic acid, trifluoroborate, sulfone, sulfinic acid, sulfonic acid and sulfonate ester were first synthesized, starting with conversion of OC to a Barton ester, followed by halodecarboxylation to give the iodocyclohexene, which served as a pivotal intermediate for palladium-catalyzed coupling reactions with appropriate diboron and thiol reagents. The enzymatic and cell-based assays indicated that the GOC congeners consistently displayed better NA inhibition and anti-influenza activity than the corresponding OC congeners. The GOC sulfonic acid congener (7a) was the most potent anti-influenza agent, showing EC50 = 2.2 nM against the wild-type H1N1 virus, presumably because the sulfonic acid 7a was more lipophilic than GOC and exerted stronger interactions on the three arginine residues (R118, R292 and R371) in the NA active site. Although the trifluoroborates, sulfones and sulfonate esters did not have acidic proton, they still exhibited appreciable NA inhibitory activity, indicating that the polarized B−F and S→O bonds still made sufficient interactions with the tri-arginine motif.

Hydrogen bonding and sodium coordination in the crystal structure of tetrasodium (3-((2,4-dinitrophenyl)amino)-1-hydroxypropane-1,1-diyl)-bis-phosphonate pentahydrate – a N-substituted Pamidronate

The reaction of 1-fluoro-2,4-dinitrobenzene with (3-amino-1-hydroxypropane-1,1-diyl)bis(phosphonic acid) (pamidronic acid) 1a in combination with NAOH leads to disodium (3-((2,4-dinitrophenyl)amino)-1-hydroxy-propane-1,1-diyl)bis(phosphonate) heptahydrate 2 and further to tetrasodium (3-((2,4-dinitrophenyl)amino)-1-hydroxy-propane-1,1-diyl)bis(phosphonate) pentahydrate 3. The crystal structure of 3 is composed of the organic anion, which is coordinated to the sodium counter cations and furthermore is involved in hydrogen bonds. The 2,4-dinitrophenyl moiety gives rise to π–π connected hydrophobic layers. The hydrophilic moiety of the anions, sodium cations and water molecules form a hydrophilic layer. The individual conformation of this N-substituted pamidronate anion is a compromise between its geometric limitations and the intermolecular interactions with sodium and the water molecules.

Convenient Synthesis of Some Novel Pyridazinone‐Bearing Triazole Moieties

The chemoselective reactions of 2‐(5‐mercapto‐4‐phenyl‐4H‐[1,2,4]triazol‐3‐ylmethyl)‐6‐p‐tolyl‐4,5‐dihydro‐2H‐pyridazin‐3‐one (3) with different electrophiles were evaluated. Triazole 3 reacted with alkyl halides in the presence of triethylamine in alcohol to give the corresponding S‐substituted derivatives. On the basis of S‐chemoselective reactions of triazole 3, a series of amino acid 10a–d and dipeptide derivatives 12a–d were prepared via azide coupling of the corresponding hydrazides 9 and 15 with amino acid ester hydrochlorides, respectively. N‐Substituted triazoles 6a–c or 7a–d attached to pyridazin‐3‐one moiety were successfully formed by the reaction of 3 with activated acrylic acid derivatives or with amines. Antibacterial activities of the synthesized derivatives were investigated through correlation with Escherichia coli FabH inhibitory activities using molecular modeling docking software. The antimicrobial activity of synthesized compounds was evaluated, showing best inhibition zone for N‐substituted carboxylic acid 5a and N‐substituted nitrile 5c parallel to the molecular modeling studies.

Orthoamide und Iminiumsalze, XCIVa. Kondensationsreaktion von Orthoamiden von Alkincarbonsäuren mit 2-Methyl-5-phenacyl-1,3,4-thiadiazolen

Abstract The ketene aminals 9a–e can be prepared from the orthoamide of propiolic acid 6a and 2-methyl-5-phenacyl-1,3,4-thiadiazoles 8a–e under mild conditions. The crystal structure analyses of 9b and 9d reveal that compounds 9 can be regarded as 1,4-dipoles (push-pull-substituted butadienes). Surprisingly, the analogous reactions of the orthoamides 6b,c with the thiadiazoles 8a–c give rise to the formation of 1,2-dihydro-pyridin-2-thiones 13a–j. The constitution of the compounds 13 was confirmed by crystal structure analyses of the compounds 13c,f,g,i.

Difficulties to Determine the Absolute Configuration of Guaiaretic Acid

An account of the difficulties to determine the absolute configuration (AC) of guaiaretic acid (1a), using contemporary methodology, is described in commemoration of the century of its structure elucidation. In fact, the herein studied molecule was the derived diacetate 1b, since the natural lignan slowly decomposes upon manipulation. Single crystal X-ray diffraction of 1b demonstrated the structure, but calculation of Flack and Hooft parameters to know the AC was unsuccessful since the crystals were triclinic, P-1, which is a centro-symmetric space group. In turn, manual band to band comparison of experimental and DFT B3LYP/DGDZVP calculated VCD spectra of 1b allowed ascertaining its AC, although automatic comparison using the Compare VOA software was not very successful. This behavior is associated to the fact that the studied molecule has a sole stereogenic center located on the acyclic portion of a carbon chain possessing two quite similar substituents. The behavior is discussed in relation to cases where the molecular flexibility also generates a very large number of conformers.

Asymmetric Primaquine and Halogenaniline Fumardiamides as Novel Biologically Active Michael Acceptors.

Novel primaquine (PQ) and halogenaniline asymmetric fumardiamides 4a–f, potential Michael acceptors, and their reduced analogues succindiamides 5a–f were prepared by simple three-step reactions: coupling reaction between PQ and mono-ethyl fumarate (1a) or mono-methyl succinate (1b), hydrolysis of PQ-dicarboxylic acid mono-ester conjugates 2a,b to corresponding acids 3a,b, and a coupling reaction with halogenanilines. 1-[bis(Dimethylamino)methylene]-1H-1,2,3-triazolo[4,5-b]pyridinium 3-oxide hexafluorophosphate (HATU) was used as a coupling reagent along with Hünig′s base. Compounds 4 and 5 were evaluated against a panel of bacteria, several Mycobacterium strains, fungi, a set of viruses, and nine different human tumor cell lines. p-Chlorofumardiamide 4d showed significant activity against Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus pneumoniae and Acinetobacter baumannii, but also against Candida albicans (minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) 6.1–12.5 µg/mL). Together with p-fluoro and p-CF3 fumardiamides 4b,f, compound 4d showed activity against Mycobacterium marinum and 4b,f against M. tuberculosis. In biofilm eradication assay, most of the bacteria, particularly S. aureus, showed susceptibility to fumardiamides. m-CF3 and m-chloroaniline fumardiamides 4e and 4c showed significant antiviral activity against reovirus-1, sindbis virus and Punta Toro virus (EC50 = 3.1–5.5 µM), while 4e was active against coxsackie virus B4 (EC50 = 3.1 µM). m-Fluoro derivative 4a exerted significant cytostatic activity (IC50 = 5.7–31.2 μM). Acute lymphoblastic leukemia cells were highly susceptible towards m-substituted derivatives 4a,c,e (IC50 = 6.7–8.9 μM). Biological evaluations revealed that fumardiamides 4 were more active than succindiamides 5 indicating importance of Michael conjugated system.

Synthesis of Bisboronic Acids and Their Selective Recognition of Sialyl Lewis X Antigen

The development of sensors that recognize Lewis oligosaccharides can help the diagnosis and early detection of cancer. Herein, we reported the design and synthesis of a series of anthracene-based bisboronic acids (9a—9e) with different N-substituents near the boronic acid unit. Among them, compound 9a could recognize sialyl Lewis X(sLex) with selectivity over other Lewis sugars, and could significantly stain sLex-expressing HEPG2 cells with selectivity over the range of 0.1—10 μmol/L. Compound 9a possibly has two properly positioned boronic acids caused by the steric hindrance by the near N-benzyl substituent group, which empower its sLex selectivity and higher binding affinity.

New camphor hybrids: lipophilic enhancement improves antimicrobial efficacy against drug-resistant pathogenic microbes and intestinal worms

Using the Blanc reaction, new derivatives of camphor (1a–g) and camphor sulfonic acid (2a–g) were synthesized. Chemical structures of the new derivatives were supported by IR, 1H-NMR, 13C-NMR, and LC-MS/MS (ESI) spectrometric analyses. The new compounds (1a–g/2a–g) and the parent compounds (a–g) were tested for their antimicrobial efficacy against the following drug-resistant pathogens: methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), multi-drug resistant Klebsiella pneumonia (MDR-Kb), Escherichia coli (FDA control), Acinetobacter baumannii, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Candida albicans (CLSI: Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute strain) and Cryptococcus neoformans var. grubii. The linking of camphor to quinoxalin-2,3(1H, 4H)-dione (1a) enhances the antibacterial efficacy approximately 8-folds (MIC: 24 µM) against MRSA. Camphor linking with isatin (1g) increased efficacy against Acinetobacter baumannii by 8-fold (MIC: 26 µM) and by 4-fold (MIC: 51 µM) against MRSA, MDR-Kb, E. coli, P. auruginosa and C. albicans. Among the series, derivatives of benzoin (1e) and salicylic acid (1f) exhibited greater efficacy against drug-resistant Candida albicans, MDR-Kb and Acinetobacter baumannii, whereas 6, 7-biphenylquinoxalin 2-sulfonamide/sulphonyl chloride (1b/1d) selectively inhibited the growth of Gram-negative bacteria. None of these compounds were active against Cryptococcus neoformans var. grubii. Furthermore, these new derivatives were tested for anthelmintic efficacy and the results indicated that new compounds had significant anthelmintic efficacy (p < 0.05) at 2.5 mg/mL, except for the salicylic acid hybrids (1f, 2f). To conclude, camphor hybrids (1a–g) demonstrated enhanced antimicrobial and anthelmintic efficacy compared to the camphor sulfonic acid hybrids (2a–g). This improved antimicrobial efficacy may be due to the increased membrane permeability of the compounds across the cell wall, via the camphor moiety, which augmented the lipophilicity of the new compounds.

Synthesis , Characterization and Biological activity of new derivatives of Chromen-2-one

We report the organic syntheses of new derivatives from Chromen-2-one and their antibacterial activity. Compounds 4-[Acetyl-(2-oxo-2H-chromen-4-yl)-amino]-&#x0D; benzenesulfonyl chloride 1a, 4-[Acetyl-(2-oxo-3-phenylsulfamoyl-2H-chromen-4-yl)-amino]-benzenesulfonyl chloride 2a , 2-{4-[Acetyl-(4-chlorosulfonyl-phenyl)-amino]-2-oxo-3-phenylsulfamoyl-2H-chromen-7-ylamino}-benzoic acid 3a. &#x0D; All Structures have been synthesized and characterized using melting points , IR spectra , 1H-NMR, 13C-NMR spectra , and elemental analyses . The purified synthesized compounds (1a,2a,3a), at contcentrations 2,3,5 mg/ml was tested for their antibacterial activity against three bacterial cultures ;Staphylococcus aureus, Escherchia coli and Bacillus cereus. The antibacterial activity of synthesized compounds are compared with antibacterial activity of standard antibiotics cephalexine and streptomycine. &#x0D; The compounds (1a,2a,3a) shows different bacteriostatic and bacteriocidal activity.

Allergy-preventive effects of linarinic acid and its tetrahydropyrrolo[2,1-b]quinazoline derivatives isolated from Linaria vulgaris.

Linarinic acid, (-)-1,2,3,9-tetrahydropyrrolo[2,1-b]quinazoline-1-carboxylic acid (4a), was isolated from the ethanol extract of Linaria vulgaris Mill. In our previous study, a series of tetrahydropyrrolo[2,1-b]quinazoline derivatives 4b, 4c, 5a, 5b, 6a and 6b that were structurally related to 4a and evaluated as neuroprotective agents were synthesized. The aim of the present study was to investigate the novel features of these compounds. We examined their allergy-preventive effects using an in vivo assay system we developed previously, that monitors a decrease in blood flow in the tail vein of mice subjected to sensitization with hen egg-white lysozyme. We observed that 4a and its three derivatives, amide (6a), ester (5a), bromine (4b), and alcohol substituent (6b), showed significant allergy-preventive activities. The study confirmed the allergy-preventive activity of tetrahydropyrrolo[2,1-b]quinazoline derivatives by comprehensively monitoring the specific blood flow decrease occurring in the induction phase of allergy. This finding may aid in the development of new agents for the treatment of allergic diseases such as atopic dermatitis, allergic asthma, and hay fever.

Flavonoids and triterpenes from Combretum fragrans with anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and antidiabetic potential.

Despite the well-documented benefits of Combretum fragrans in Cameroon, only few scientific works have been done on it. In this study we isolated eight compounds from the leaves extract of C. fragrans: velutin (1), belamcanidin (2), cirsilineol (3), cirsimaritin (4), 3β-acetoxy-20,24-epoxy-11,25-hydroxy-dammarane (5), combretin A (6), combretin B (7) and a mixture of arjunolic acid (8a) and asiatic acid (8b). Compounds 6 and 7 presented potent anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and antidiabetic activities. Compounds 1, 3, 5 and the mixture of 8a and 8b were significantly active, and compounds 2 and 4 presented moderate activity for reactive oxygen species inhibitory and free-radical scavenging. All compounds were isolated using chromatographic techniques; their structures were elucidated by spectroscopic techniques and their spectroscopic data compared with those of the literature. Anti-inflammatory activity was evaluated via the oxidative burst assay using a luminol-amplified chemiluminescence technique, antioxidant activity by free-radical scavenging activity (DPPH) and antidiabetic activity via α-glucosidase inhibition. All of the isolated compounds (1-8) were reported to exhibit significant antioxidant activity. Compounds 1, 3, and 5-8 exhibited potent chemiluminescence inhibition effect, and only compounds 6 and 7 inhibited α-glucosidase. Thus, C. fragrans can be used as an effective natural source of anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and antidiabetic compounds.

Triterpenic azines, a new class of compounds with selective cytotoxicity to leukemia cells CCRF-CEM.

From betulinic acid (1a), we synthesized 30-oxobetulinic acid (2a) that is highly cytotoxic against many cancer cell lines; however, its generic toxicity is the main obstacle in further development as cytostatic. Methodology & results: From 2a, we prepared a new class of compounds - nonsymmetrical azines and tested their in vitro cytotoxicity. All new azines with a free 28-COOH group (4a-4e) were highly and selectively cytotoxic against the T-lymphoblastic leukemia cell line CCRF-CEM and exhibited dose-dependent inhibition of RNA and DNA synthesis and other cell-cycle alterations, including the M-phase block. The potential use of azines (4a-4e) in drug development focused on hematological cancers is significantly higher than that of previously studied acids 1a and 2a.

Vibrational Properties of Bulk Boric Acid 2A and 3T Polymorphs and Their Two-Dimensional Layers: Measurements and Density Functional Theory Calculations.

Boric acid (H3BO3) is being used effectively nowadays in traps/baits for the management of Aedes aegypti L. and Aedes albopictus Skuse species of mosquitoes, which are the main spreading vectors worldwide for diseases such as malaria, dengue, and zika. Previously, we published results on the structural, electronic, and optical properties of its molecular triclinic H3BO3-2A and trigonal H3BO3-3T polymorphs within the framework of density functional theory (DFT). Because of the renewed importance of these materials, the focus of this work is on the vibrational properties of the bulk boric acid 2A and 3T polymorphs. We measured the infrared and Raman spectra of the former, which was accompanied and interpreted through state-of-the-art DFT calculations, supplemented by computations regarding the H3BO3 molecule and two-dimensional layers based on the bulk structures. We identify/assign their normal modes and find vibrational signatures for each polymorph as well as in- and out-of-plane motions and molecular vibrations, unveiling a nice agreement between the DFT level of theory employed and our improved spectroscopic measurements in the wavenumber ranges of 400-2000 cm-1 (infrared) and 0-1500 cm-1 (Raman). We show that a dispersion-corrected DFT functional within the generalized gradient approximation (GGA) can be very accurate in describing the vibrational properties of the boric acid polymorphs. Besides, several issues left open/not clearly resolved in previously published works on the vibrational mode assignments of the bulk and 2D sheets of boric acid are explained satisfactorily. Finally, phonon dispersions and associated densities of states were also evaluated for each polymorph along with their temperature-dependent DFT-calculated entropy, enthalpy, free energy, heat capacity, and Debye temperature. In particular, our DFT calculations suggest a possible way to differentiate the 2A and 3T boric acid polymorphs through Raman spectroscopy and heat capacity measurements.

Picolyl amides of betulinic acid as antitumor agents causing tumor cell apoptosis

A series of picolyl amides of betulinic acid (3a–3c and 6a–6c) was prepared and subjected to the cytotoxicity screening tests. Structure-activity relationships studies resulted in finding differences in biological activity in dependence on o-, m- and p-substitution of the pyridine ring in the target amides, when cytotoxicity data of 3a–3c and 6a–6c were obtained and compared. The amides 3b and 3a displayed cytotoxicity (given in the IC50 values) in G-361 (0.5 ± 0.1 μM and 2.4 ± 0.0 μM, respectively), MCF7 (1.4 ± 0.1 μM and 2.2 ± 0.2 μM, respectively), HeLa (2.4 ± 0.4 μM and 2.3 ± 0.5 μM, respectively) and CEM (6.5 ± 1.5 μM and 6.9 ± 0.4 μM, respectively) tumor cell lines, and showed weak effect in the normal human fibroblasts (BJ). Selectivity against all tested cancer cells was determined and compared to normal cells with therapeutic index (TI) between 7 and 100 for compounds 3a and 3b. The therapeutic index (TI = 100) was calculated for human malignant melanoma cell line (G-361) versus normal human fibroblasts (BJ). The cytotoxicity of other target amides (3c and 6a–6c) revealed lower effects than 3a and 3b in the tested cancer cell lines.

Synthesis, antitumour and antioxidant activities of novel α,β-unsaturated ketones and related heterocyclic analogues: EGFR inhibition and molecular modelling study

New α,β-unsaturated ketones 4a,b; 5a–c; and 6a,b; as well as 4-H pyran 7; pyrazoline 8a,b; isoxazoline 9; pyridine 10–11; and quinoline-4-carboxylic acid 12a,b derivatives were synthesized and evaluated for in vitro antitumour activity against HepG2, MCF-7, HeLa, and PC-3 cancer cell lines. Antioxidant activity was investigated by the ability of these compounds to scavenge the 2,2′-azinobis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) radical cation (ABTS•+). Compounds 6a, 6b, 7, and 8b exhibited potent antitumour activities against all tested cell lines with [IC50] ≅5.5–18.1 µΜ), in addition to significantly high ABTS•+ scavenging activities. In vitro EGFR kinase assay for 6a, 6b, 7, and 8b as the most potent antitumour compounds showed that; compounds 6b, and 7 exhibited worthy EGFR inhibition activity with IC50 values of 0.56 and 1.6 µM, respectively, while compounds 6a and 8b showed good inhibition activity with IC50 values of 4.66 and 2.16 µM, respectively, compared with sorafenib reference drug (IC50 = 1.28 µM). Molecular modelling studies for compounds 6b, 7, and 8b were conducted to exhibit the binding mode towards EGFR kinase, which showed similar interaction with erlotinib.

Design, synthesis, biological evaluation, and nitric-oxide release studies of a novel series of celecoxib prodrugs possessing a nitric-oxide donor moiety

A new group of hybrid nitric oxide-releasing anti-inflammatory drugs (NONO-coxibs), in which an O2 ‑acetoxymethyl-1-(N-ethyl-N-methylamino)diazen-1-ium-1,2-diolate NO-donor moiety is attached directly to the carboxylic acid group of 1-(4-aminosulfonylphenyl)-5-aryl-1H-pyrazol-3-carboxylic acids (6a–c), were synthesized. A low amount of NO was released from the diazen-1-ium-1,2-diolate compounds 6a–c upon incubation with phosphate buffer saline (PBS) at pH 7.4 (range: pH 7.97–8.51), whereas, the percentage of NO released was significantly higher (84.5%–85.05% of the theoretical maximal release of two molecules of NO/molecule of the parent hybrid ester prodrug) when the diazen-1-ium-1,2-diolate ester prodrugs were incubated in the presence of rat serum. These incubation studies demonstrated that both NO and the anti-inflammatory 1-(4-aminosulfonylphenyl)-5-(4-H, 4-F or 4-Me-phenyl)-1H‑pyrazol-3-carboxylic acid (4a–c) would be released from the parent NONO-coxib upon in vivo cleavage by non-specific serum esterases. The parent compounds 4a-c displayed good antiinflammatory effects (ID50=81.4–112.4 mg/kg p.o.) between those exhibited by the reference drugs, aspirin (ID50=114.3 mg/kg p.o.) and celecoxib (ID50=12.6 mg/kg p.o.). Hybrid ester anti-inflammatory/NO-donor prodrugs (NONO‑coxibs) offer a potential drug-design concept directed toward the development of antiinflammatory drugs that are lacking adverse ulcerogenic and/or cardiovascular effects.

Synthesis and biological evaluation of 2-styrylquinolines as antitumour agents and EGFR kinase inhibitors: molecular docking study

A new series of 4,6-disubstituted 2-(4-(dimethylamino)styryl)quinoline 4a,b–9a,b was synthesized by the reaction of 2-(4-(dimethylamino)styryl)-6-substituted quinoline-4-carboxylic acids 3a,b with thiosemicarbazide, p-hydroxybenzaldehyde, ethylcyanoacetate, and 2,4-pentandione. In addition, the antitumour activity of all synthesized compounds 3a,b–9a,b was studied via MTT assay against two cancer cell lines (HepG2 and HCT116). Furthermore, epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) inhibition, using the most potent antitumour compounds, 3a, 3b, 4a, 4b, and 8a, was evaluated. The interpretation of the results showed clearly that the derivatives 3a, 4a, and 4b exhibited the highest antitumour activities against the tested cell lines HepG2 and HCT116 with IC50 range of 7.7–14.2 µg/ml, in comparison with the reference drugs 5-fluorouracil (IC50 = 7.9 and 5.3 µg/ml, respectively) and afatinib (IC50 = 5.4 and 11.4 µg/ml, respectively). In vitro EGFR screening showed that compounds 3a, 3b, 4a, 4b, and 8a exhibited moderate inhibition towards EGFR with IC50 values at micromolar levels (IC50 range of 16.01–1.11 µM) compared with the reference drugs sorafenib (IC50 = 1.14 µM) and erlotinib (IC50 = 0.1 µM). Molecular docking was performed to study the mode of interaction of compounds 3a and 4b with EGFR kinase.

An Accessible Route for the Synthesis of Novel Lignan Derivatives and Their Biological Evaluation

2-(Aryl(thiophen-2-yl)methyl)succinic acids (4a – 4d), 3-(aryl(thiophen-2-yl)methyl)dihydrofuran-2,5-diones (5a – 5d), 7-aryl-4-oxo-4,5,6,7-tetrahydrobenzo[b]thiophene-6-carboxylic acids (6a – 6d), and ethyl 7-aryl-4-oxo-4,5,6,7-tetrahydrobenzo[b]thiophene-6-carboxylates (7a – 7d) were synthesized via Stobbe condensation of aryl(thiophen-2-yl)methanones and diethyl succinate. The newly synthesized compounds (5a – 5d, 6a – 6d, and 7a - 7d) were screened in vitro for their antimicrobial and antioxidant properties. Compounds 5b, 6d, and 7d exhibited promising antifungal and antibacterial activity against various microorganisms tested. Compounds 7d and 7b showed remarkable DPPH radical scavenging abilities.

H-Bonding Assisted Self-Assembly of Anionic and Neutral Ligand on Metal: A Comprehensive Strategy To Mimic Ditopic Ligands in Olefin Polymerization.

Self-assembly of two neutral ligands on a metal to mimic bidentate ligand coordination has been frequently encountered in the recent past, but self-assembly of an anionic ligand on a metal template alongside a neutral ligand remains an elusive target. Such a self-assembly is hampered by additional complexity, wherein a highly negatively charged anion can form intermolecular hydrogen bonding with the supramolecular motif, leaving no scope for self-assembly with neutral ligand. Presented here is the self-association of anionic ligand 3-ureidobenzoic acid (2a) and neutral ligand 1-(3-(diphenylphosphanyl)phenyl)urea (1a) on a metal template to yield metal complex [{COOC6H4NH(CO)NH2}{Ph2PC6H4NH(CO)NH2}PdMeDMSO] (4a). The identity of 4a was established by NMR and mass spectroscopy. Along the same lines, 3-(3-phenylureido)benzoic acid (2b) and 1-(3-(diphenylphosphanyl)phenyl)-3-phenylurea (1b) self-assemble on a metal template to produce palladium complex [{COOC6H4NH(CO)NHPh}{Ph2PC6H4NH(CO)NHPh}PdMePy] (5c). The existence of 5c was confirmed by Job plot, 1-2D NMR spectroscopy, deuterium labeling, IR spectroscopy, UV-vis spectroscopy, model complex synthesis, and DFT calculations. These solution and gas phase investigations authenticated the presence of intramolecular hydrogen bonding between hydrogen's of 1b and carbonyl oxygen of 2b. The generality of the supramolecular approach has been validated by preparing six complexes from four monodentate ligands, and their synthetic utility was demonstrated in ethylene polymerization. Complex 4a was found to be the most active, leading to the production of highly branched polyethylene with a molecular weight of 55700 g/mol and melting temperature of 112 °C.

Electrophilic Triterpenoid Enones: A Comparative Thiol-Trapping and Bioactivity Study.

Bardoxolone methyl (1) is the quintessential member of triterpenoid cyanoacrylates, an emerging class of bioactive compounds capable of transient covalent binding to thiols. The mechanistic basis for this unusual "pulsed reactivity" profile and the mode of its biological translation are unknown. To provide clues on these issues, a series of Δ1-dehydrooleanolates bearing an electron-withdrawing group at C-2 (7a-m) were prepared from oleanolic acid (3a) and comparatively investigated in terms of reactivity with thiols and bioactivity against a series of electrophile-sensitive transcription factors (Nrf2, NF-κB, STAT3). The emerging picture suggests that the triterpenoid scaffold sharply decreases the reactivity of the enone system by steric encumbrance and that only strongly electrophilic and sterically undemanding substituents such as a cyanide or a carboxylate group can re-establish Michael reactivity, albeit in a transient way for the cyanide group. In general, a substantial dissection between the thiol-trapping ability and the modulation of biological end-points sensitive to thiol alkylation was observed, highlighting the role of shape complementarity for the activity of triterpenoid thia-Michael acceptors.