Hongjian Song

Synthesis and Antiviral and Fungicidal Activity Evaluation of β-Carboline, Dihydro-β-carboline, Tetrahydro-β-carboline Alkaloids, and Their Derivatives

Six known β-carboline, dihydro-β-carboline, and tetrahydro-β-carboline alkaloids and a series of their derivatives were designed, synthesized, and evaluated for their anti-tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) and fungicidal activities for the first time. All of the alkaloids and some of their derivatives (compounds 3, 4, 14, and 19) exhibited higher anti-TMV activity than the commercial antiviral agent Ribavirin both in vitro and in vivo. Especially, the inactivation, curative, and protection activities of alkaloids Harmalan (62.3, 55.1, and 60.3% at 500 μg/mL) and tetrahydroharmane (64.2, 57.2, and 59.5% at 500 μg/mL) in vivo were much higher than those of Ribavirin (37.4, 36.2, and 38.5% at 500 μg/mL). A new derivative, 14, with optimized physicochemical properties, obviously exhibited higher activities in vivo (50.4, 43.9, and 47.9% at 500 μg/mL) than Ribavirin and other derivatives; therefore, 14 can be used as a new lead structure for the development of anti-TMV drugs. Moreover, most of these compounds exhibited good fungicidal activity against 14 kinds of fungi, especially compounds 4, 7, and 11.

Design, synthesis, and insecticidal activity of novel pyrazole derivatives containing α-hydroxymethyl-N-benzyl carboxamide, α-chloromethyl-N-benzyl carboxamide, and 4,5-dihydrooxazole moieties.

On the basis of commercial insecticides tebufenpyrad and tolfenpyrad, two series of novel pyrazole-5-carboxamides containing α-hydroxymethyl-N-benzyl or α-chloromethyl-N-benzyl and pyrazoles containing 4,5-dihydrooxazole moieties were designed and synthesized via the key intermediate 2-amino-1-(4-substituted) phenyl ethanol. The structures of target compounds were confirmed by (1)H NMR and elemental analysis or high-resolution mass spectrum (HRMS), and their activities against cotton bollworm (Helicoverpa armigera), diamondback moth (Plutella xylostella), bean aphid (Aphis craccivora), mosquito (Culex pipiens pallens), and spider mite (Tetranychus cinnabarinus) were tested. The results of bioassays indicated that compounds containing α-chloromethyl-N-benzyl and compounds containing 4,5-dihydrooxazole showed high insecticidal activity against cotton bollworm. Especially, stomach activities of compounds Ij, Il, and IIe were 60% at 5 mg kg(-1). Moreover, the target compounds exhibited high selectivity between cotton bollworm and diamondback moth, although both of them belong to the order Lepidoptera. Although the activities against diamondback moth were at a low level, some of the target compounds exhibited antifeedant activity. The compounds also had good activities against bean aphid, mosquito, and spider mite. The foliar contact activity of compounds Ic, Id, Ie, and IIf against bean aphid were 95, 95, 100, and 95%, respectively, at 200 mg kg(-1). The miticidal and ovicidal activities of compound IIi against spider mite were both 95% at 200 mg kg(-1). Furthermore, a trivial change at 4-position of pyrazole ring would lead to great changes in properties and activities, which can easily be deduced by comparing the activities of compounds in series I (4-chloro-pyrazole compounds) with corresponding compounds in series II (4-hydro-pyrazole compounds), especially from the miticidal and ovicidal activities of Ii and IIi against spider mite.

Cascade electrophilic iodocyclization: efficient preparation of 4-iodomethyl substituted tetrahydro-β-carbolines and formal synthesis of oxopropaline G.

4-Iodomethyl substituted tetrahydro-β-carbolines, the core structure of numerous natural products and bioactive molecules, are readily prepared via I2-promoted cascade electrophilic cyclization. The reactivity differences of olefins and alkynes ensure that the reaction proceeds smoothly. This methodology was successfully applied to the formal synthesis of oxopropaline G.

Design, synthesis, anti-TMV, fungicidal, and insecticidal activity evaluation of 1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-β-carboline-3-carboxylic acid derivatives based on virus inhibitors of plant sources.

By drawing the creation ideas of botanical pesticides, a series of tetrahydro-β-carboline-3-carboxylic acid derivatives were designed and synthesized, and first evaluated for their anti-TMV, fungicidal and insecticidal activities. Most of these derivatives exhibited good antiviral activity against TMV both in vitro and in vivo. Especially, the activities of compounds 8 and 15 in vivo were higher than that of ribavirin. The compound 8 exhibited more than 70% fungicidal activities against Cercospora arachidicola Hori, Alternaria solani, Bipolaris maydis, and Rhizoctonia solani at 50mg/kg, compounds 16 and 20 exhibited more than 60% insecticidal activities against Mythimna separate and Ostrinia nubilalis.

Design, Synthesis, and Antiviral, Fungicidal, and Insecticidal Activities of Tetrahydro-β-carboline-3-carbohydrazide Derivatives

According to our previous research on the antiviral activity of β-carboline and tetrahydro-β-carboline derivatives, using (1S,3S)-1-methyl-2,3,4,9-tetrahydro-1H-pyrido[3,4-b]indole-3-carbohydrazide (1) as a lead compound, series of novel tetrahydro-β-carboline derivatives containing acylhydrazone moiety were designed, synthesized, and first evaluated for their biological activities. Most of these compounds exhibited excellent antiviral activity both in vitro and in vivo. The in vivo inactivation, curative, and protection activities of compounds 8, 9, 12, 16, 28, 29, and 30 were much higher than that of ribavirin (37.6%, 39.4%, and 37.9% at 500 μg/mL) and the lead compound (40.0%, 42.3%, and 39.6% at 500 μg/mL). Especially, the in vitro and in vivo activities of compound 16 (36.9%, 33.6%, 30.2%, and 35.8%) at 100 μg/mL, which were very close to that of ribavirin (40.0% for in vitro activity) at 500 μg/mL. Compounds 9 and 29 were chosen for the field trials of antiviral efficacy against TMV (tobacco mosaic virus); the results exhibited that both compounds, especially compound 29, showed better activities than control plant virus inhibitors. At the same time, the fungicidal results showed that compounds 6, 9, and 11 exhibited good fungicidal activities against 14 kinds of phytopathogens. Additionally, compounds 3 and 23 exhibited moderate insecticidal activity against the four tested species of insects.

Design, synthesis, and insecticidal evaluation of new pyrazole derivatives containing imine, oxime ether, oxime ester, and dihydroisoxazoline groups based on the inhibitor binding pocket of respiratory complex I.

On the basis of complex I receptor protein binding site and commercial tebufenpyrad and tolfenpyrad, four series of novel pyrazole-5-carboxamides containing imine, oxime ether, oxime ester, and dihydroisoxazoline were designed and synthesized via the key intermediate 4-chloro-3-ethyl-N-(4-formylbenzyl)-1-methyl-1H-pyrazole-5-carboxamide. The structures of target compounds were confirmed by ¹H NMR and high-resolution mass spectrum (HRMS). The results of bioassays indicated that the target compounds possessed good-to-excellent activities against a broad spectrum of insects such as cotton bollworm (Helicoverpa armigera), spider mite (Tetranychus cinnabarinus), bean aphid (Aphis craccivora), and mosquito (Culex pipiens pallens), but gave different structure-activity relationships for each species. Compounds containing imine showed high insecticidal activity against cotton bollworm. Especially, stomach activity of compounds 5-1c was 60% at 11 mg kg⁻¹. The compounds also had good activities against bean aphid and mosquito. The foliar contact activity of compounds 5-1a, 5-1b, 5-1e, 5-3c, and 5-3d against bean aphid were 90, 100, 90, 90, and 90%, respectively, at 200 mg kg⁻¹. The activity of compound containing dihydroisoxazoline moiety (5-4) against mosquito was 60% at 1 mg kg⁻¹, which was near that of tebufenpyrad. The introduction of dihydroisoxazoline structure (5-4) was advantageous to improve the activity of the compound against adult mites compared with other structures; the miticidal activity of 5-4- against adult mites was 60% at 50 mg kg⁻¹.

C ring may be dispensable for β-carboline: Design, synthesis, and bioactivities evaluation of tryptophan analog derivatives based on the biosynthesis of β-carboline alkaloids.

According to our previous work and the latest research on the biosynthesis of β-carboline, and using the reverse thinking strategy, tryptophan, the biosynthesis precursor of β-carboline alkaloids, and their derivatives were synthesized, and their biological activities and structure-activity relationships were studied. This bioassay showed that these compounds exhibited good inhibitory activities against tobacco mosaic virus (TMV); especially (S)-2-amino-3-(1H-indol-3-yl)-N-octylpropanamide (4) (63.3±2.1%, 67.1±1.9%, 68.7±1.3%, and 64.5±3.1%, 500μg/mL) exhibited the best antiviral activity both in vitro and in vivo. Compound 4 was chosen for the field trials and the acute oral toxicity test, the results showed that the compound exhibited good anti-TMV activity in the field and low acute oral toxicity. We also found that these compounds showed antifungal activities and insecticidal activities.

Regio- and chemoselective N-1 acylation of indoles: Pd-catalyzed domino cyclization to afford 1,2-fused tricyclic indole scaffolds.

A concise method for the synthesis of 1,2-fused tricyclic indole scaffolds by domino cyclization involving a Pd-catalyzed Sonogashira coupling, indole cyclization, regio- and chemoselective N-1 acylation, and 1,4-Michael addition is reported. This method provides straightforward access to tetrahydro[1,4]diazepino[1,2-a]indole and hexahydro[1,5]diazocino[1,2-a]indole scaffolds.

Various Bioactivity and Relationship of Structure–Activity of Matrine Analogues

For the first time, the botanic source natural product matrine was reported to have more potent inhibitory activity against tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) than the commercial virucide ribavirin. On the basis of the structural diversity modification strategy, a series of matrine derivatives was synthesized and systematically evaluated for their antiviral activity against TMV, fungicidal activity, and insecticidal activity. As a result, compounds 3 (inhibitory rate 67.3%, 69.5%, 63.7%, 63.0% at 500 μg/mL for in vitro activity, inactivation, curative, and protection activities in vivo, respectively), 16 (66.7%, 60.7%, 63.8%, 68.9% at 500 μg/mL), and 32 (74.6%, 76.9%, 72.3%, 75.7% at 500 μg/mL) were found to have much higher anti-TMV activity than ribavirin (40.8%, 37.5%, 38.2%, 37.7% at 500 μg/mL), even exhibiting as well as NK-007 (70.3%, 66.1%, 68.4%, 67.5% at 500 μg/mL), which was an efficient compound created by our group previously. At the same time, it was found that matrine and its derivatives had a broad spectrum fungicidal activity (14 fungi), especially the inhibition of compound 32 against Phytophthora capsici Leonian reached 96.4% at a concentration of 50 μg/mL. Whats more, all compounds exhibited very good insecticidal activity to five kinds of insects (including Mythimna Separate, Helicoverpa Armigera, Ostrinia Nubilalis, Plutella xylostella, and Culex Pipiens Pallens); especially, the inhibition rate of C. Pipiens Pallens of compound 22 could still reach 70% at 1 μg/mL.

Pd-Catalyzed cycloisomerization/nucleophilic addition/reduction: an efficient method for the synthesis of spiro-pseudoindoxyls containing N,N′-ketal

An efficient method for the synthesis of C2-spiropseudoindoxyls which are common structural units prevalent in indole alkaloids was developed. A study of the mechanism indicated that this protocol involved a Pd-catalyzed 5-exo-dig nitroalkyne cyclization and an internal N–O bond redox process. The fungicidal activity evaluation of representative compounds highlighted this reaction for the construction of bioactive functionalized spiro-heterocycles.