Enrico Perspicace

Direct metallation of thienopyrimidines using a mixed lithium–cadmium base and antitumor activity of functionalized derivatives

A series of thieno[2,3-d]- and thieno[3,2-d]pyrimidines have been easily synthesized using as key step a deproto-cadmiation-trapping sequence. Some of the compounds thus synthesized were screened for anticancer (cytotoxic) activities, and (S)-2-(6-iodo-2-phenylthieno[2,3-d]pyrimidin-4-ylamino)-3-phenylpropanoic acid proved to have a significant activity towards liver, human breast and cervix carcinoma cell lines.

Vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-2 (VEGFR-2) inhibitors: development and validation of predictive 3-D QSAR models through extensive ligand- and structure-based approaches

Vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-2, (VEGFR-2), is a key element in angiogenesis, the process by which new blood vessels are formed, and is thus an important pharmaceutical target. Here, 3-D quantitative structure–activity relationship (3-D QSAR) were used to build a quantitative screening and pharmacophore model of the VEGFR-2 receptors for design of inhibitors with improved activities. Most of available experimental data information has been used as training set to derive optimized and fully cross-validated eight mono-probe and a multi-probe quantitative models. Notable is the use of 262 molecules, aligned following both structure-based and ligand-based protocols, as external test set confirming the 3-D QSAR models’ predictive capability and their usefulness in design new VEGFR-2 inhibitors. From a survey on literature, this is the first generation of a wide-ranging computational medicinal chemistry application on VEGFR2 inhibitors.

Synthesis and Transformations of 2- and 3-hydroxy-Selenophenes and 2- and 3-Amino-Selenophenes

Several monographs, series and articles have been published on selenophene [1–4]. These give a general overview of the nucleus synthesis. In this chapter we focus on the synthesis of hydroxy and aminoselenophenes and also describe examples of their reactivity or their transformation to different condensed heterocyclic systems.