Gui-xiang Liu

Synthesis and biological evaluation of 1,2,4,5-tetrasubstituted imidazoles

Tetrasubstituted imidazoles were synthesized in high yields via the four-component reaction of aromatic aldehydes, amines, substituted benzils and ammonium acetate catalyzed by a porous CeO2 nanorod. Their anti-cancer activities on the Huh-7 hepatocellular carcinoma cell and antibacterial activities on four bacterial species (wild-type Escherichia coli, wild-type Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAM1032 and Escherichia coli-NMD-1) in vitro were evaluated. One compound (5p) was screened out because of its high inhibition rate on all four bacterials at 100 μg/mL. Three products (5p, 5t and 5y) showed a high inhibition rate on the Huh-7 hepatocellular carcinoma cell at 10 μg/mL. The results indicated their potential in new drug development.

Porous CeO2 nanorod-catalyzed synthesis of poly-substituted imino-pyrrolidine-thiones

Porous CeO2 nanorod has been used as efficient and recyclable heterogeneous catalyst for the synthesis of highly functionalized imino-pyrrolidine-thiones via the reaction of aromatic aldehyde (especially one bearing an electron-donating group), malononitrile, isocyanide and unactivated weakly acidic heterocyclic thiophenol. The high catalytic efficiency of porous CeO2 nanorod in this reaction was discussed preliminarily based on their morphology and structure.