Darío C. Gerbino

One-step synthesis of xanthones catalyzed by a highly efficient copper-based magnetically recoverable nanocatalyst.

A versatile and highly efficient strategy to construct a xanthone skeleton via a ligand-free intermolecular catalytic coupling of 2-substituted benzaldehydes and a wide range of phenols has been developed. For this purpose, a novel and magnetically recoverable catalyst consisting of copper nanoparticles on nanosized silica coated maghemite is presented. The reaction proceeds smoothly with easy recovery and reuse of the catalyst. The methodology is compatible with various functional groups and provides an attractive protocol for the generation of a small library of xanthones in very good yield.

Nucleophile- or Light-Induced Synthesis of 3-Substituted Phthalides from 2-Formylarylketones

The surprisingly facile conversion (isomerization) of 2-formyl-arylketones into 3-substituted phthalides, as observed for the marine natural product pestalone and its per-O-methylated derivative, was investigated using a series of simple 2-acylbenzaldehydes as substrates. The transformation generally proceeds smoothly in DMSO, either in a Cannizarro-Tishchenko-type reaction under nucleophile catalysis (NaCN) or under photochemical conditions (DMSO, 350 nm).

On the Antibiotic and Antifungal Activity of Pestalone, Pestalachloride A, and Structurally Related Compounds

Pestalone (1) is a prominent marine natural product first isolated by M. Cueto et al. in 2001 from a co-fermentation of a marine fungus with a marine bacterium. For more than 10 years, 1 had been considered as a promising new antibiotic compound, the reported MIC against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) being 37 ng/mL. After overcoming the limited availability of 1 by total synthesis (N. Slavov et al., 2010) we performed new biological tests, which did not confirm the expected degree of antibiotic activity. The observed activity of pestalone against different MRSA strains was 3-10 μg/mL, as determined independently in two laboratories. A number of synthetic derivatives of 1 including pestalachloride A and other isoindolinones (formed from 1 by reaction with amines) did not exhibit higher activities as compared to 1 against MRSA and a series of plant pathogens.

“Chameleonic” backbone hydrogen bonds in protein binding and as drug targets

We carry out a time-averaged contact matrix study to reveal the existence of protein backbone hydrogen bonds (BHBs) whose net persistence in time differs markedly form their corresponding PDB-reported state. We term such interactions as “chameleonic” BHBs, CBHBs, precisely to account for their tendency to change the structural prescription of the PDB for the opposite bonding propensity in solution. We also find a significant enrichment of protein binding sites in CBHBs, relate them to local water exposure and analyze their behavior as ligand/drug targets. Thus, the dynamic analysis of hydrogen bond propensity might lay the foundations for new tools of interest in protein binding-site prediction and in lead optimization for drug design.Graphical abstract

Hydrogen Bond Dynamic Propensity Studies for Protein Binding and Drug Design

We study the dynamic propensity of the backbone hydrogen bonds of the protein MDM2 (the natural regulator of the tumor suppressor p53) in order to determine its binding properties. This approach is fostered by the observation that certain backbone hydrogen bonds at the p53-binding site exhibit a dynamical propensity in simulations that differs markedly form their state-value (that is, formed/not formed) in the PDB structure of the apo protein. To this end, we conduct a series of hydrogen bond propensity calculations in different contexts: 1) computational alanine-scanning studies of the MDM2-p53 interface; 2) the formation of the complex of MDM2 with the disruptive small molecule Nutlin-3a (dissecting the contribution of the different molecular fragments) and 3) the binding of a series of small molecules (drugs) with different affinities for MDM2. Thus, the relevance of the hydrogen bond propensity analysis for protein binding studies and as a useful tool to complement existing methods for drug design and optimization will be made evident.

Design, synthesis and biological evaluation of 1,3-dihydroxyxanthone derivatives: Effective agents against acetylcholinesterase

The present work concerns the rational design and development of new inhibitors of acetylcholinesterase (AChE) based on the privileged xanthone scaffold. In order to understand and rationalize the mode of action of these target structures a theoretical study was initially conducted. From the results of rational design, a new variety of amphiphilic xanthone derivatives were synthesized, structurally characterized and evaluated as potential anti-Alzheimer agents. The results showed that most of the synthesized compounds exhibited high AChE inhibitory activity at the micromolar range (IC50, 0.46-12.09μM). The synthetic xanthone 11 showed the best inhibitory effect on AChE and a molecular modeling study revealed that 11 targeted both the catalytic active site (CAS) and the peripheral anionic site (PAS) of AChE. Therefore, this compound could be considered asa potential lead compound towards new drugs for the treatment of Alzheimers disease.

Synthesis and some properties of mixed alkyl(-)menthyltin dihydrides

This communication reports the synthesis of a series of new (-)menthylalkyltin dihydrides of type (-)MenRSnH2 (R = Me, i-Pr, n-Bu, and t-Bu), starting from the known (-)MenMe2SnBr (1). These organotin dihydrides containing a bulky chiral (-)menthyl substituent and alkyl groups of increasing steric volume should be of interest in the reduction of prochiral ketones and unsaturated systems. Physical characteristics of the new diorganotin hydrides and some of their precursors including selected values1H, 13C, and 119Sn NMR data are given.