K. N. Venugopala

Review on Natural Coumarin Lead Compounds for Their Pharmacological Activity

Coumarin (2H-1-benzopyran-2-one) is a plant-derived natural product known for its pharmacological properties such as anti-inflammatory, anticoagulant, antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral, anticancer, antihypertensive, antitubercular, anticonvulsant, antiadipogenic, antihyperglycemic, antioxidant, and neuroprotective properties. Dietary exposure to benzopyrones is significant as these compounds are found in vegetables, fruits, seeds, nuts, coffee, tea, and wine. In view of the established low toxicity, relative cheapness, presence in the diet, and occurrence in various herbal remedies of coumarins, it appears prudent to evaluate their properties and applications further.

Microwave-induced synthesis of schiff bases of aminothiazolyl bromocoumarins as antibacterials

A fast and highly efficient method for the synthesis of some of the schiff bases of aminothiazolylbromocoumarin (4a-m) has been performed by microwave irradiation of 2′-amino-4′-(6-bromo-3-coumarinyl) thiazole (3) and substituted aromatic aldehydes (a-m). Microwave assisted reactions have resulted in better yields of the desired products than when prepared under conventional conditions. The resulting products were evaluated for their qualitative and quantitative antibacterial activity.

Synthesis and antimosquito properties of 2,6-substituted benzo[d]thiazole and 2,4-substituted benzo[d]thiazole analogues against Anopheles arabiensis.

A novel and efficient one pot synthesis was developed for 2,6-substituted-benzo[d]thiazole analogues 4a-k and 2,4-substituted-benzo[d]thiazole analogues 4l-pvia three component condensation reaction of substituted arylaldehyde, 2-amino-6-halo/4-methyl-benzo[d]thiazole and 2-naphthol or 6-hydroxyquinoline in presence of 10% w/v NaCl in water by microwave method. This method enabled for short reaction times, easy work-up and significant high yields. The title compound 4b was used for single crystal X-ray studies in order to understand its conformation and packing features. The title compounds 4a-p were screened for antimosquito properties such as repellency, insecticidal and larvicidal activity against Anopheles arabiensis by mosquito feeding-probing assay, cone bio-assay and standard WHO larvicidal assay, respectively. Among these analogous 4b, 4d and 4p exhibit the highest repellent activity comparable to the positive control DEET, and 4a and 4k knockdown most mosquitoes on repellent assays.

Insights into conformational and packing features in a series of aryl substituted ethyl-6-methyl-4-phenyl-2-oxo-1,2,3,4-tetrahydropyrimidine-5-carboxylates

The supramolecular structures of eight aryl protected ethyl-6-methyl-4-phenyl-2-oxo-1,2,3,4-tetrahydropyrimidine-5-carboxylates have been analyzed to determine the role of different functional groups on the molecular geometry, conformational characteristics and the packing of these molecules in the crystal lattice. Out of these the parafluoro substituted compound on the aryl ring exhibits conformational polymorphism, due to the different conformation of the ester moiety. This behaviour has been characterized using both powder and single-crystal X-ray diffraction, optical microscopy and differential scanning calorimetry performed on both these polymorphs. The compounds pack via the cooperative interplay of strong N–H⋯OC intermolecular dimers and chains forming a sheet like structure. In addition, weak C–H⋯OC and C–H⋯π interactions impart additional stability to the crystal packing.

Effect of substitution on molecular conformation and packing features in a series of aryl substituted ethyl-6-methyl-4-phenyl-2-thioxo-1,2,3,4-tetrahydropyrimidine-5-carboxylates

The supramolecular structures of eight aryl protected ethyl-6-methyl-4-phenyl-2-thioxo-1,2,3,4 tetrahydropyrimidine-5-carboxyl ates were analyzed in order to understand the effect of variations in functional groups on molecular geometry, conformation and packing of molecules in the crystalline lattice. It is observed that the existence of a short intra-molecular C-H center dot center dot center dot pi interaction between the aromatic hydrogen of the aryl ring with the isolated double bond of the six-membered tetrahydropyrimidine ring is a key feature which imparts additional stability to the molecular conformation in the solid state. The compounds pack via the cooperative involvement of both N-H center dot center dot center dot S=C and N-H center dot center dot center dot O=C intermolecular dimers forming a sheet like structure. In addition, weak C-H center dot center dot center dot O and C-H center dot center dot center dot pi intermolecular interactions provide additional stability to the crystal packing.

Nanoparticle formulation by Büchi B-90 Nano Spray Dryer for oral mucoadhesion

Diabetes is considered one of the main threats to global public health in this era. It is increasing rapidly in every part of the world; the prevalence of the disease will grow to the point where 366 million people will be affected by 2030. The prevalence of diabetes mellitus (DM) in the Saudi population is high, and the majority of patients suffer from type 2 DM. Marketed oral antidiabetic drugs have indicated poor tolerability during chronic treatments, and this contributes to the moderately large proportion of type 2 DM patients that remain inadequately managed. Vildagliptin nanospheres were prepared with aminated gelatin using a spray-drying method; narrow particle-size distribution was seen at 445 nm. The angle of repose was found to be θ <33.5°. The nanospheres appeared to be spherical with a smooth surface. The drug content and percentage yield of the nanospheres were found to be 76.2%±4.6% and 83%±2%, respectively. The nanosphere-swell profile was found to be 165%±7%. The pure drug was 100% dissolved in 30 minutes, and the nanosphere formulation took 12 hours to dissolve (97.5%±2%), and followed a Korsmeyer–Peppas kinetic model with an R2 of 0.9838. The wash-off test of nanospheres found that they exhibited an excellent mucoadhesive property at 86.7% for 8 hours. The stability-study data showed no changes in the physicochemical properties of the nanospheres, and suggested that the nanospheres be stored below room temperature. The amount of vildagliptin retained was 1.6% within 3 hours, and in comparison with the gelatin vildagliptin nanoparticles formulation, the percentage that was retained was much higher (98.2% in 12 hours).

Greener synthesis of indolizine analogues using water as a base and solvent: study for larvicidal activity against Anopheles arabiensis

Greener synthesis of a series of novel indolizine analogues have been achieved by the cyclization of aromatic cycloimmonium ylides with electron‐deficient alkynes in the presence of water as the base and solvent at 80 °C. Yield of the title compounds was good and reactions performed were eco‐friendly. The structures of these newly synthesized compounds have been confirmed by spectroscopic techniques such as FTIR, NMR, LC‐MS, and elemental analysis. Characterized title compounds were evaluated for larvicidal activity against Anopheles arabiensis by standard WHO larvicidal assay using Temefos as standard at 4 μg/mL. Title compounds 2e, 2f, and 2g emerged as promising larvicidal agents.

Design, synthesis, and computational studies on dihydropyrimidine scaffolds as potential lipoxygenase inhibitors and cancer chemopreventive agents

Dihydropyrimidine scaffold has a wide range of potential pharmacological activities such as antiviral, antitubercular, antimalarial, anti-inflammatory, and anticancer properties. 5-Lipoxygenase enzyme is an enzyme responsible for the metabolism of arachidonic acid to leukotrienes. The elevated levels of this enzyme and its metabolites in cancer cells have a direct relation on the development of cancer when compared to normal cells. The development of novel lipoxygenase inhibitors can have a major role in cancer therapy. A series of substituted 1,4-dihydropyrimidine analogues were synthesized and characterized by 1H-NMR, 13C-NMR, and HRMS. Molecular docking against lipoxygenase enzyme (protein data bank code =3V99) was done using Molecular Operating Environment 2013.08 and Leadit 2.1.2 softwares and showed high affinities. The synthesized compounds were tested for their lipoxygenase inhibitory activity and showed inhibition ranging from 59.37%±0.66% to 81.19%±0.94%. The activity was explained by a molecular docking study. The title compounds were also tested for cytotoxic activity against two human cancer cell lines Michigan Cancer Foundation-7 and human melanoma cells and a normal peripheral blood mononuclear cell line.

Molecular modeling studies and anti-TB activity of trisubstituted indolizine analogues; molecular docking and dynamic inputs

A series of trisubstituted indolizine analogues has been designed as a result of a fragment-based approach to target the inhibition of mycobacterial enoyl-acyl carrier protein reductase. Anti-tuberculosis (TB) screening of the characterized compounds by a resazurin microplate assay method revealed that ethyl group at second position of indolizine nucleus exhibited activity against susceptible and multidrug-resistant strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis at concentration of 5.5 and 11.3 μg/mL, respectively. A molecular docking study was also conducted to evaluate the stability of the active compounds, and compound with ethyl substitution at second position of indolizine nucleus showed the highest free binding energy of ΔG −24.11 (kcal/mol), a low clash score of 3.04, and high lipo score of −13.33. Indolizine analog with ethyl substitution at second position demonstrated Molecular Mechanics/Generalized Born Surface Area (−23.85 kcal/mol). Two molecular dynamics studies were computed (100 ps and 50 ns) to calculate the relationship between the potential and kinetic energies of the active anti-TB compound with time and temperature. The discovery of this lead may have a positive impact on anti-TB drug discovery.

Design, synthesis, and characterization of (1-(4-aryl)-1 H -1,2,3-triazol-4-yl)methyl, substituted phenyl-6-methyl-2-oxo-1,2,3,4-tetrahydropyrimidine-5-carboxylates against Mycobacterium tuberculosis

The novel (1-(4-aryl)-1H-1,2,3-triazol-4-yl)methyl, substituted phenyl-6-methyl-2-oxo-1,2,3,4-tetrahydropyrimidine-5-carboxylate derivatives were synthesized by the click reaction of the dihydropyrimidinones, bearing a terminal alkynyl group, with various substituted aryl azides at room temperature using a catalytic amount of Cu(OAc)2 and sodium ascorbate in a 1:2 ratio of acetone and water as a solvent. The newly synthesized compounds were characterized by a number of spectroscopic techniques, such as infrared, liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry, 1H, and 13C nuclear magnetic resonance along with single crystal X-ray diffraction. The current procedure for the synthesis of 1,2,3-triazole hybrids with dihydropyrimidinones is appropriate for the synthesis of a library of analogs 7a-l and the method accessible here is operationally simple and has excellent yields. The title compounds 7a-l were evaluated for their in vitro antitubercular activity against H37RV and multidrug-resistant strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis by resazurin microplate assay plate method and it was found that compound 7d was promising against H37RV and multidrug-resistant strains of M. tuberculosis at 10 and 15 μg/mL, respectively.