Sanjay V. Malhotra

Enzymatic resolution of amino acid esters using ionic liquid N-ethyl pyridinium trifluoroacetate

A new ionic liquid, N-ethyl pyridinium trifluoroacetate, was used with a commercial protease to resolve N-acetyl amino acid esters in place of traditional organic solvents. Products with enantiomeric excess (ee) between 86–97% were obtained. These results show that with low concentration of this new ionic liquid, the enzymatic resolution can be increased considerably depending upon the substrate being used.

A copper chelate of thiosemicarbazone NSC 689534 induces oxidative/ER stress and inhibits tumor growth in vitro and in vivo.

In this study, a Cu(2+) chelate of the novel thiosemicarbazone NSC 689534 was evaluated for in vitro and in vivo anti-cancer activity. Results demonstrated that NSC 689534 activity (low micromolar range) was enhanced four- to fivefold by copper chelation and completely attenuated by iron. Importantly, once formed, the NSC 689534/Cu(2+) complex retained activity in the presence of additional iron or iron-containing biomolecules. NSC 689534/Cu(2+) mediated its effects primarily through the induction of ROS, with depletion of cellular glutathione and protein thiols. Pretreatment of cells with the antioxidant N-acetyl-l-cysteine impaired activity, whereas NSC 689534/Cu(2+) effectively synergized with the glutathione biosynthesis inhibitor buthionine sulfoximine. Microarray analysis of NSC 689534/Cu(2+)-treated cells highlighted activation of pathways involved in oxidative and ER stress/UPR, autophagy, and metal metabolism. Further scrutiny of the role of ER stress and autophagy indicated that NSC 689534/Cu(2+)-induced cell death was ER-stress dependent and autophagy independent. Last, NSC 689534/Cu(2+) was shown to have activity in an HL60 xenograft model. These data suggest that NSC 689534/Cu(2+) is a potent oxidative stress inducer worthy of further preclinical investigation.

A profile of the in vitro anti-tumor activity of imidazolium-based ionic liquids

The anti-cancer activity and cytotoxicity of imidazolium-based ionic liquids has been determined for the first time via NCIs in vitro 60 human tumor cell lines. The preliminary SAR showed that the chain length of alkyl substitution at N-3 position of imidazole ring plays crucial role towards anti-tumor activity and cytotoxicity of these ionic liquids. The ionic liquids with alkyl substitution of C-12 chain length were found to be effective against all 60 tumor cell lines and show very low cytotoxicity in most of the cases. Further increase in chain length resulted in enhanced growth inhibition of tumor cell lines as well as high cytotoxicity. Interestingly, active compounds 1-dodecyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride (8), 1-dodecyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate (9), 1-hexadecyl-3-methylimidazoium chloride (10), 1-octadecyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride (11), 1-octadecyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate (12), 1-octadecyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(triflic)imide (13) and 1-octadecyl-3-methylimidazolium tris(pentafluoroethyl)trifluorophosphate (14) were highly active against leukemia cell lines, especially compounds 13 and 14 where the cytotoxicity was also very low as given by LC(50) >100microM in all six leukemia cell lines.

Study on the potential anti-cancer activity of phosphonium and ammonium-based ionic liquids

The anti-cancer activity and cytotoxicity of phosphonium and ammonium-based ionic liquids (ILs) have been determined for the first time via NCIs in vitro 60 human tumor cell lines. The preliminary SAR showed that the chain length of alkyl substitution on the cations plays crucial role towards anti-tumor activity and cytotoxicity of these ionic liquids. In general, phosphonium-based ILs were found to be more active and less cytotoxic as compared to ammonium ILs. Cell line data and hollow fiber study has demonstrated the potential of ILs to be developed as therapeutic agent.

Antioxidant activity of 4-methylcoumarins

Polyphenolic coumarins are known to act as antioxidants in biological systems, but it is difficult to distinguish their antioxidant activity from the many other effects they produce in cells. We have determined the radical scavenging capacity of 22 structurally related natural and synthetic 4‐methylcoumarins, by measuring their reaction with radicals, galvinoxyl and 2,2‐diphenyl‐1‐picrylhydrazyl, using electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy. Efficient antioxidant activity of 4‐methylcoumarins in cells was verified using the DCF fluorescent probe assay for determination of intracellular reactive oxygen species levels. As expected, the o‐dihydroxysubstituted coumarins were found to be excellent radical scavengers and better than the m‐dihydroxysubstituted or monohydroxysubstituted analogues, but surprisingly the corresponding o‐diacetoxy derivatives also turned out to be good scavengers, even in the absence of an esterase. Another unexpected result was that the anti‐oxidant efficiency of 4‐methylcoumarins could be modulated by introducing an ethoxycarbonyl‐ethyl substituent at the C‐3 position; this effect cannot be explained by simple electron donating/withdrawing properties. Coumarin concentrations of 10 μm or less were used in all experiments, corresponding to the levels relevant for therapeutic purposes. Considering that 4‐methylcoumarins, in contrast to many other coumarins, are not metabolized to toxic epoxide intermediates, these results indicate promising new strategies for the design of non‐toxic antioxidant coumarin‐based drugs.

Toxicity of various anions associated with methoxyethyl methyl imidazolium-based ionic liquids on Clostridium sp.

We investigated the effects on the growth of the anaerobic bacterium, Clostridium sp., of the ionic liquid, 1-methoxyethyl-3-methyl imidazolium [MOEMIM](+), derived from imidazolium cation and paired with one of a variety of counter-ions, viz., tetrafluoroborate [BF₄]⁻, hexafluorophosphate [PF₆]⁻(,) trifluoroacetate [CF₃COO]⁻, bis(trifluoromethane)sulfonamide [Tf₂N]⁻, methane sulfonate [OMS], and 1-butyl-3-methyl imidazolium tetrafluoroborate [BMIM][BF₄]. These anions, in association with [MOEMIM](+) lowered the growth rate of the bacterium, showing the following trend: [Tf₂N]⁻ ≧ [PF₆]⁻ > [BF₄]⁻ > [CF₃COO]⁻ > [OMS]⁻. Anions incorporating fluorine were more toxic than those without it, and their toxicity rose with an increase in the number of fluorine atoms. Also, [MOEMIM](+)[BF₄]⁻ was less toxic than [BMIM](+)[BF₄]⁻, probably due to the presence of a methoxyethyl functional group integrated in the cation side chain.

Kinetic Study on the Enzymatic Resolution of Homophenylalanine Ester Using Ionic Liquids

Two ionic liquids (ILs) were investigated as novel media for the enzymatic resolution of amino acid ester to obtain enantiomeric amino acid homophenylalanine. The effects of solvent nature, polarity, and concentration on the kinetic resolution were investigated. With change in solvent concentration, a systematic study shows that an improved enzyme activity can be obtained by adjusting these solvent parameters.

Toxicity of imidazolium- and pyridinium-based ionic liquids and the co-metabolic degradation of N-ethylpyridinium tetrafluoroborate

We examined the effects of the ionic liquids (ILs), 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate [BMIM][PF₆], N-ethylpyridinium tetrafluoroborate [EtPy][BF₄], and N-ethylpyridinium trifluoroacetate [EtPy][CF₃COO] on Pseudomonas fluorescens, a ubiquitous soil bacterium. In the presence of 0.5- and 1% of [BMIM][PF₆] or [EtPy][CF₃COO] the growth of bacteria was inhibited, whereas exposing them to 1% [EtPy][BF₄] increased the lag period wherein bacteria adapt to growth conditions before continuing to grow. However, at higher concentrations (5% and 10%), no growth was observed. The inhibitory effects were evident by a decrease in the optical density of the culture, a decline in the consumption of the carbon source, citric acid, and a change in the size of the bacterium. At concentrations below 1%, [EtPy][BF₄] was metabolized by P. fluorescens in the presence of citric acid. Oxidation of the side alkyl-chain of [EtPy][BF₄] caused the accumulation of N-hydroxylethylpyridinium and pyridinium as major degradation products.

Biodegradation of pyridinium-based ionic liquids by an axenic culture of soil Corynebacteria

We investigated the biodegradation of ionic liquids N-ethylpyridinium tetrafluoroborate [EtPy]+[BF4]−, N-ethylpyridinium trifluoroacetate [EtPy]+[CF3COO]−, and 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate [BMIM]+[PF6]− by a soil bacterium isolated by an enrichment-culture technique. The bacterium identified as Corynebacterium sp. degraded the N-ethylpyridinium cation in the first two compounds when present as its sole carbon and nitrogen source without any obvious effects of the anion; however, [BMIM]+[PF6]− was not metabolized. We observed cleavage of the pyridinium ring and identified the resulting metabolites by ESI/MS/MS. We propose a degradation pathway.

Preparation and characterization of three room-temperature ionic liquids

Three important room-temperature ionic liquids (RTILs) were prepared using straightforward precipitation reactions, 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate ([EMIM] + [BF 4 ] - ), N-ethyl pyridinium tetrafluoroborate ([EtPy] + [BF 4 ] - ) and N-ethyl pyridinium trifluoroacetate ([EtPy]+[CF 3 OO] - ). They were characterized by density measurements and IR spectroscopy.