Green and sustainable approaches for the Friedel–Crafts reaction between aldehydes and indoles

• Periklis X. Kolagkis,
• Eirini M. Galathri and
• Christoforos G. Kokotos

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 379–426, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.36

• most common applications being the treatment of breast cancer. Studies have shown that breast cancer is tied to the ratio of 16α-hydroxyestrone (16αOHE1) and 2-hydroxyestrone (2OHE1), which are products of the metabolism of the estrogen 17β-estradiol. BIMs can shift the process of estrogen metabolism

• towards the production of 2OHE1, thus reducing the risk for estrogen-sensitive cancers, especially in combination with tamoxifen, which is an estrogen receptor modulator used in the treatment of breast cancer [4]. BIMs increase the efficacy of the antitumor activity of tamoxifen and reduce the side

• -effects that it can cause in the more sensitive subgroups of patients. Specifically, when DIM was used in tandem with tamoxifen, the ratio between 2OHE1/16αOHE1 increased up to 229%, as well as the concentration of the sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG) that inhibits the growth of breast cancer cells [4

Elucidating the glycan-binding specificity and structure of Cucumis melo agglutinin, a new R-type lectin

• Jon Lundstrøm,
• Emilie Gillon,
• Valérie Chazalet,
• Nicole Kerekes,
• Antonio Di Maio,
• Ten Feizi,
• Yan Liu,
• Annabelle Varrot and
• Daniel Bojar

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 306–320, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.31

• realm of therapeutics, lectins such as mistletoe lectins have shown promise in cancer therapy, by virtue of their ability to induce apoptosis in malignant cells [7]. Further, the creation of lectin arrays [8][9], which employ a diverse set of characterized lectins, has enabled high-throughput glycan

Chiral phosphoric acid-catalyzed transfer hydrogenation of 3,3-difluoro-3H-indoles

• Yumei Wang,
• Guangzhu Wang,
• Yanping Zhu and
• Kaiwu Dong

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 205–211, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.20

• SHP2 inhibitor that has entered phase II clinical trials for the treatment of solid tumors and has been approved by the FDA as a rare drug for treating esophageal cancer (Figure 1) [4]. Among the fluoroalkyl moieties, the geminal difluoromethylene group has showcased its beneficial properties as an

Metal-catalyzed coupling/carbonylative cyclizations for accessing dibenzodiazepinones: an expedient route to clozapine and other drugs

• Amina Moutayakine and
• Anthony J. Burke

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 193–204, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.19

• disorders (Figure 1) [1][2]. Dibenzodiazepinones were also found to exhibit significant anticancer properties [3], as they were found to effectively inhibit tumor invasion in vitro [4], and induce apoptosis among several cancer cell lines [5]. Additionally, several dibenzodiazepinone-based structures were

Synthesis of the 3’-O-sulfated TF antigen with a TEG-N₃ linker for glycodendrimersomes preparation to study lectin binding

• Mark Reihill,
• Hanyue Ma,
• Dennis Bengtsson and
• Stefan Oscarson

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 173–180, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.17

• -3, TEG-N3 glycosides of the TF antigen (β-ᴅ-Gal-(1→3)-α-ᴅ-GalNAc, 1) and its 3’-O-sulfated analogue (2, Figure 1) were required on a gram scale to allow efficient synthesis of the glycodendrisomes. The TF antigen is presented on the surface of most human cancer cell types and its interaction with

• galectins 1 and 3 leads to tumour cell aggregation and promotes cancer metastasis [3][4][5]. The 3’-O-sulfated analogue is known to bind to siglecs 1, 4, and 8 [6] as well as galectin 4 [7][8], but its biological role is not that well investigated. Compound 2 is a new compound but two syntheses of compound

Photoinduced in situ generation of DNA-targeting ligands: DNA-binding and DNA-photodamaging properties of benzo[c]quinolizinium ions

• Julika Schlosser,
• Olga Fedorova,
• Yuri Fedorov and
• Heiko Ihmels

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 101–117, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.11

• cancer [39], and bacterial, fungal, parasitic and viral infections [40][41]. In general, PDT operates on the basis of a photosensitizer, which generates reactive intermediates upon irradiation [42][43][44][45]. Hence, in the type-I mechanism the photosensitizer induces the formation of reactive oxygen

• , unlike type-II photosensitizers. In fact, the representative compound 3f is a more efficient DNA-damaging photosensitizer under anaerobic conditions, which may be an advantage for applications in hypoxic cancer cells. Preliminary investigations of the mechanism of the DNA damage revealed the involvement

GlAIcomics: a deep neural network classifier for spectroscopy-augmented mass spectrometric glycans data

• Thomas Barillot,
• Baptiste Schindler,
• Baptiste Moge,
• Elisa Fadda,
• Franck Lépine and
• Isabelle Compagnon

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 1825–1831, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.134

• spectra for cancer classification [8] and many research groups focused their efforts on using machine learning for simulating molecular structures; generating vibrational spectra; and classifying chemical groups based on vibrational features [9][10]. In a recent publication, the random forest approach was

Synthetic approach to 2-alkyl-4-quinolones and 2-alkyl-4-quinolone-3-carboxamides based on common β-keto amide precursors

• Yordanka Mollova-Sapundzhieva,
• Plamen Angelov,
• Danail Georgiev and
• Pavel Yanev

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 1804–1810, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.132

• monoamine oxidase [14], cytotoxicity against cancer cell lines [15], activity against nuclear factor of activated T cells [16], and anti-inflammatory activity [17]. Alkaloids with similar structure and anti-inflammatory activity have been isolated from another member of the Rutaceae family – Zanthoxylum

Effects of the aldehyde-derived ring substituent on the properties of two new bioinspired trimethoxybenzoylhydrazones: methyl vs nitro groups

• Dayanne Martins,
• Roberta Lamosa,
• Talis Uelisson da Silva,
• Carolina B. P. Ligiero,
• Sérgio de Paula Machado,
• Daphne S. Cukierman and
• Nicolás A. Rey

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 1713–1727, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.125

• cell membrane integrity [21]. In the context of cancer therapy development, metal complexes of N-acylhydrazones stand out. For example, Firmino et al. demonstrated that gallium(III) complexes of isoniazid-derived hydrazones exhibit strong cytotoxicity against HL-60 and HCT-116 cancer cell lines [22

• ]. The study also found that those coordination compounds were selective towards abnormal cells, exhibiting lower toxicity for healthy human hepatocytes. On the other hand, an important development in cancer research is the use of physiological metal ion complexes, which afford more biocompatibility and

• thus less side-effects in therapy [23]. In this sense, we have reported dicopper(II) complexes from different N-acylhydrazonic binucleating ligands with potent antiproliferative activity against a panel of cancer cell lines [24][25][26]. On the field of neurodegeneration, our research group was the

Morpholine-mediated defluorinative cycloaddition of gem-difluoroalkenes and organic azides

• Tzu-Yu Huang,
• Mario Djugovski,
• Sweta Adhikari,
• Destinee L. Manning and
• Sudeshna Roy

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 1545–1554, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.111

• -trisubstituted-1,2,3-triazoles, with a pendant morpholine at the C-4 position are formed with complete regiocontrol via β-fluoride elimination in an SNV-like transformation (Figure 1C). 1,2,3-Triazoles are a privileged scaffold in medicinal chemistry with a myriad of pharmacological activities against cancer [11

Synthesis and biological evaluation of Argemone mexicana-inspired antimicrobials

• Jessica Villegas,
• Bryce C. Ball,
• Katelyn M. Shouse,
• Caleb W. VanArragon,
• Ashley N. Wasserman,
• Hannah E. Bhakta,
• Allen G. Oliver,
• Danielle A. Orozco-Nunnelly and
• Jeffrey M. Pruet

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 1511–1524, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.108

• explored screening methanol and hexane extracts of various parts of the A. mexicana plant (seeds, leaves, inner vs outer roots) for biological activity with the outer root methanol extract showing the highest activity against Gram-positive bacteria as well as inhibitory effects against human colon cancer

• cells [9]. The quantification of c-MYC (oncogene) and APC (tumor suppressor) mRNA levels helped begin to elucidate how the A. mexicana root methanol extract may be affecting colon cancer cells. After chromatographic separations, UPLC–MS, and subsequent nuclear magnetic resonance analysis of the root and

• A. mexicana extract [9]. All variants were assessed against T84 colon cancer cells, using the MTT colorimetric assay, and compared to the parent compounds berberine or chelerythrine. As seen in Figure 5, several berberine variants showed fairly dynamic effects on the cancer cell viability, while

N-Sulfenylsuccinimide/phthalimide: an alternative sulfenylating reagent in organic transformations

• Fatemeh Doraghi,
• Seyedeh Pegah Aledavoud,
• Mehdi Ghanbarlou,
• Bagher Larijani and
• Mohammad Mahdavi

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 1471–1502, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.106

• synthesis, medicinal chemistry, and materials science [1][2][3][4][5]. For example, they are used in the treatment of cancer [6][7][8], inflammation [9][10][11], human immunodeficiency virus [12][13], Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases [14][15]. Scheme 1 shows selected examples of sulfur-containing

Visible-light-induced nickel-catalyzed α-hydroxytrifluoroethylation of alkyl carboxylic acids: Access to trifluoromethyl alkyl acyloins

• Feng Chen,
• Xiu-Hua Xu,
• Zeng-Hao Chen,
• Yue Chen and
• Feng-Ling Qing

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 1372–1378, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.98

• experiments showed that trifluoromethyl acyloins can selectively induce apoptosis in human oral cancer cells [22][23] and have therefore attracted much more attention. However, trifluoromethyl acyloins were not widely used due to the challenge associated with their synthesis. Certain progress has been made in

Synthesis of ether lipids: natural compounds and analogues

• Marco Antônio G. B. Gomes,
• Alicia Bauduin,
• Chloé Le Roux,
• Romain Fouinneteau,
• Wilfried Berthe,
• Mathieu Berchel,
• Hélène Couthon and
• Paul-Alain Jaffrès

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 1299–1369, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.96

• generally more abundant in cancer tissues than in normal human tissues [14]. It was also reported that the rate of neutral ether lipids in cancer cell line (quantified in vitro) was correlated to the tumorigenicity of the cancer cell lines in vivo [15]. However, the improvement of the analytical technics

• that now produces more accurate quantification of lipids with a distinction of neutral EL and phosphoglycero ELs produced contradictory data. Indeed, a recent study that focused on ether glycerophospholipids (alkyl and alkenyl ether lipids) indicates that in breast cancer cells (average of 9 breast

• cancer cell lines) the PC and PE ether lipids (alkyl and alkenyl together) were down regulated when compared to normal cells (MCF10A) with some variation in the different classes of lipid (PC, PE, PI, PS) [16]. However, alkylglyceronephosphate synthase (AGPS) is highly expressed in aggressive breast

Two new lanostanoid glycosides isolated from a Kenyan polypore Fomitopsis carnea

• Winnie Chemutai Sum,
• Sherif S. Ebada,
• Didsanutda Gonkhom,
• Cony Decock,
• Rémy Bertrand Teponno,
• Josphat Clement Matasyoh and
• Marc Stadler

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 1161–1169, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.84

• (L929) (IC50 = 15.2 µM), breast cancer cells (MCF-7) (17.6 µM), and prostate cancer cells (PC-3) (18.9 µM). Discussion The introduction of a hydroxy group at C-2 rendered forpinioside C (2) inactive in antimicrobial assays compared to forpinioside B (1), however; both compounds were not active in the

• potency against cancer cells in the presence of a 3-OH group. Notably, hydrolysis of the C3-acetoxy group in pachymic acid to tumulosic acid increased the activity of the compound compared to the positive control (cisplatin), in some instances [36]. Concomitantly, the oxidation of the hydroxy group at C-3

• used in determining the cytotoxicity (IC50) of the isolated compounds as previously established [38][39]. The mammalian cell lines (mouse fibroblasts L929, adenocarcinomic human alveolar basal epithelial cells A549, HeLa cells KB-3-1, breast cancer cells MCF-7, epidermoid carcinoma cells (A431), and

Synthesis of imidazo[4,5-e][1,3]thiazino[2,3-c][1,2,4]triazines via a base-induced rearrangement of functionalized imidazo[4,5-e]thiazolo[2,3-c][1,2,4]triazines

• Dmitry B. Vinogradov,
• Alexei N. Izmest’ev,
• Angelina N. Kravchenko,
• Yuri A. Strelenko and
• Galina A. Gazieva

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 1047–1054, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.80

• [16][17]. Recent studies of the antitumor activity of imidazo[4,5-e]thiazolo[2,3-c]-1,2,4-triazines revealed a number of compounds with a high antiproliferative effect towards a large number of human cancer cell lines (Figure 1) [18][19]. Therefore, the synthesis of new imidazothiazolotriazines and

Five new sesquiterpenoids from agarwood of Aquilaria sinensis

• Hong Zhou,
• Xu-Yang Li,
• Hong-Bin Fang,
• He-Zhong Jiang and
• Yong-Xian Cheng

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 998–1007, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.75

• from agarwood. Unfortunately, none of the new compounds exhibits biological activity against LPS-induced inflammation in Raw264.7 cells and human breast cancer cells. However, we have drawn good conclusions for SAR studies based on the current study and our previous study. These compounds will be

Clauson–Kaas pyrrole synthesis using diverse catalysts: a transition from conventional to greener approach

• Dileep Kumar Singh and
• Rajesh Kumar

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 928–955, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.71

• /instruments. Some of these synthesized N-substituted pyrrole derivatives were evaluated for in vitro cytotoxicity for various cancer cell lines. In 2014, Wang et al. [78] demonstrated a modified Clauson–Kaas reaction to synthesize various N-substituted pyrroles 53 in 75–95% yields by reacting various aromatic

• –98% yields by reacting various amines 60 and 2,5-DMTHF 2 under solvent-free conditions in the presence of 5 mol % molecular iodine as catalyst (Scheme 29a). These synthesized products were tested against various cancer cells in vitro. In the proposed mechanism, deprotection of the methoxy group of

Non-peptide compounds from Kronopolites svenhedini (Verhoeff) and their antitumor and iNOS inhibitory activities

• Yuan-Nan Yuan,
• Jin-Qiang Li,
• Hong-Bin Fang,
• Shao-Jun Xing,
• Yong-Ming Yan and
• Yong-Xian Cheng

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 789–799, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.59

• methods. Selected compounds were evaluated for their biological properties against a mouse pancreatic cancer cell line and inhibitory effects on iNOS and COX-2 in RAW264.7 cells. Keywords: arthropod; iNOS; Kronopolites svenhedini (Verhoeff); non-peptide small molecules; Introduction The millipede (class

• compounds, cytotoxic and anti-inflammatory properties were evaluated. In particular, a mouse pancreatic cancer cell line (Panc02-h7-GP-GFP) was used to determine cytotoxicity. Additionally, LPS-induced pro-inflammatory expression of iNOS and COX-2 in RAW264.7 cells was evaluated. Antitumor activity of

• DFT calculations at the B3LYP/6-311G(d,p) level of theory. The program SpecDis 1.62 was used to generate the CD spectra [31]. Biological evaluation Antitumor assay Panc02-h7-GP-GFP cells (derived from the transformation of mouse pancreatic cancer cell line Panc02-h7) were maintained at 37 °C in a 5

Nucleophile-induced ring contraction in pyrrolo[2,1-c][1,4]benzothiazines: access to pyrrolo[2,1-b][1,3]benzothiazoles

• Ekaterina A. Lystsova,
• Maksim V. Dmitriev,
• Andrey N. Maslivets and
• Ekaterina E. Khramtsova

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 646–657, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.46

• targeted cancer therapy development. Keywords: 1,4-benzothiazine; 1,3-benzothiazole; 1H-pyrrole-2,3-diones; nitrogen heterocycle; sulfur heterocycle; Introduction Pyrrolo[2,1-b][1,3]benzothiazole (PBTA) is an angularly fused sulfur and nitrogen-containing heterocyclic scaffold. Its derivatives are

• popular in medicinal chemistry and pharmacology as potential biologically active compounds. In particular, PBTAs were found to be promising inhibitors of centromere-associated protein E (CENP-E) (Figure 1), which is demanded for the development of targeted cancer therapy [1]. Furthermore, candidate

pH-Responsive fluorescent supramolecular nanoparticles based on tetraphenylethylene-labelled chitosan and a six-fold carboxylated tribenzotriquinacene

• Nan Yang,
• Yi-Yan Zhu,
• Wei-Xiu Lin,
• Yi-Long Lu and
• Wen-Rong Xu

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 635–645, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.45

• stimulus-responsive supramolecular vesicles and molecule-scale drug carriers are considered to have potential for cancer drug delivery. However, such supramolecular systems are not suitable for oral administration, which is a convenient and patient-preferred method of drug delivery, especially for patients

Dipeptide analogues of fluorinated aminophosphonic acid sodium salts as moderate competitive inhibitors of cathepsin C

• Karolina Wątroba,
• Małgorzata Pawełczak and
• Marcin Kaźmierczak

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 434–439, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.33

• ]. Cathepsin C is an emerging pharmacological target due to its involvement in inflammatory and autoimmune diseases. Cathepsin C is upregulated in immune-related cells. DPPI also plays a role in the development of cancer – particularly in the liver and breast, hence the potential contribution of its inhibitors

Combretastatins D series and analogues: from isolation, synthetic challenges and biological activities

• Jorge de Lima Neto and
• Paulo Henrique Menezes

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 399–427, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.31

• functional groups to obtain the desired compounds and especially with regard to the structure–activity relationship of these molecules against different types of cancer cells (see Section 3). Harras and co-workers [57] achieved the total synthesis of combretastatins D-2 (2) and D-4 (4) and the formal

• these compounds in folk medicine for the treatment of different types of diseases, such as inflammatory processes, viral infections, metabolic disorders and some types of cancer [13][14][15][16][17][18][19]. The first biological studies of the combretastatin D series exploited their anticancer activity

• , since Pettit and co-workers, in a program from U.S. National Cancer Institute for the discovery of new anticancer agents, initially showed that combretastatins D-1 (1) and D-2 (2) isolated from the bark of the Combretum caffrum tree inhibited the growth of the murine lymphocytic leukemia cell line P388

CuAAC-inspired synthesis of 1,2,3-triazole-bridged porphyrin conjugates: an overview

• Dileep Kumar Singh

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 349–379, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.29

• MeI in DMF to afford the cationic products 85 and 87 in good yields. The synthesized conjugates exhibited high photocytotoxicity towards A549 cancer cells as compared to a tumor-localizing and potent photosensitizing agent, TMPyP. Further, the authors discovered that the porphyrin-carboline conjugates

• -soluble nanowires, nanorods, and nanospheres. In addition, these triazoloporphyrins have a wide range of medical applications, including photoinduced cytotoxicity against cancer cells, drug delivery, as phototherapeutic agents, and PDT applications. I believe this review will be useful and encourage

Synthesis, α-mannosidase inhibition studies and molecular modeling of 1,4-imino-ᴅ-lyxitols and their C-5-altered N-arylalkyl derivatives

• Martin Kalník,
• Sergej Šesták,
• Juraj Kóňa,
• Maroš Bella and
• Monika Poláková

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 282–293, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.24

• that are involved in diseases such as viral infections, diabetes or cancer and lysosomal storage disorders [7][8][9]. Thus, iminosugar derivatives are promising candidates for pharmaceuticals, and many of them have already been approved for treatments, for example miglitol (type 2 diabetes), miglustat

• found to suppress metastasis, the potentially positive effect of swainsonine on cancer patients is strongly reduced by its severe side effects [15][16]. These are associated with the accumulation of oligomannoside structures in tissues, serum, and urine, which is caused by the co-inhibition of lysosomal