Soniya S. Rao

Deciphering Noncovalent Interactions Accompanying 7,7,8,8‐Tetracyanoquinodimethane Encapsulation within Biphene[n]arenes: Nucleus‐Independent Chemical Shifts Approach

Binding of novel biphene[n]arene hosts to antiaromatic 7,7,8,8-tetracyanoquinodimethane (TCNQ) are investigated by DFT. Biphene[4]arene favors the inclusion complex through noncovalent interactions, such as hydrogen bonding, π-π stacking, C-H⋅⋅⋅π, and C-H⋅⋅⋅H-C dihydrogen bonding. Donor-acceptor complexation renders aromatic character to the guest through charge transfer. The formation of TCNQ anionic radicals through supramolecular π stacking significantly influences its chemical and photophysical behavior. Electron density reorganization consequent to encapsulation of TCNQ reflects in the shift of characteristic vibrations in the IR spectra. The accompanying aromaticities arising from the induced ring currents are analyzed by employing nucleus-independent chemical shifts based profiles.

Benzo[α]phenoxazines and benzo[α]phenothiazine from vitamin K3: synthesis, molecular structures, DFT studies and cytotoxic activity

Synthesis and characterization of fluorescent benzo[α]phenoxazines viz., M-1B (10-chloro-6-methyl-7a,11a-dihydro-5H-benzo[α]phenoxazin-5-one), M-2B 6,10-dimethyl-7a,11a-dihydro-5H-benzo[α]phenoxazin-5-one), M-3B (6-methyl-7a,11a-dihydro-5H-benzo[α]phenoxazin-5-one) and benzo[α]phenthiazine, M-4B (6-methyl-5H-benzo[α]phenothiazin-5-one) were carried out. 1H and 13C chemical shifts were assigned from the 2DgHSQCAD NMR experiments. Compound M-1B crystallizes in the orthorhombic space group P212121, while M-2B and M-4B crystallize in the monoclinic space group P21/c. The crystal network of M-1B showed slipped π–π stacking and Cl⋯Cl interactions, while M-2B facilitated ladder like π–π stacked polymeric chains. The C⋯S contacts were observed in the crystal environment of M-4B. All these structures possess C–H⋯O interactions. Electronic structure and charge distribution in terms of molecular electrostatic potential and frontier orbital analyses based on the MO6-2X based density functional theory further showed that monomer and dimer structures are in keeping with the single crystal X-ray data and provide insights for the growth of the crystal network. Antiproliferative activity of M-1B–M-4B was determined from the MTT assay against a human breast adenocarcinoma cell line (MCF-7), human carcinoma cell line (HeLa) and normal skin cell line. All these compounds showed significant cytotoxic activity against MCF-7 and HeLa by inducing apoptosis and thus can be viewed as potential candidates for antitumor therapy. Compounds M-2B and M-4B were further found to be topoisomerase II inhibitors.

Hydrogen Bonding, 1H NMR, and Molecular Electron Density Topographical Characteristics of Ionic Liquids Based on Amino Acid Cations and Their Ester Derivatives

Amino acid ionic liquids (AAILs) have attracted significant attention in the recent literature owing to their ubiquitous applications in diversifying areas of modern chemistry, materials science, and biosciences. The present work focuses on unraveling the molecular interactions underlying AAILs. Electronic structures of ion pairs consisting of amino acid cations ([AA(+)], AA = Gly, Ala, Val, Leu, Ile, Pro, Ser, Thr) and their ester substituted derivatives [AAE(+)] interacting with nitrate anion [NO3(-)] have been obtained from the dispersion corrected M06-2x density functional theory. The formation of ion pair is accompanied by the transfer of proton from quaternary nitrogen to anion facilitated via hydrogen bonding. The [Ile], [Pro], [Ser], and [Thr] and their esters reveal relatively strong inter- as well as intramolecular hydrogen-bonding interactions. Consequently, the hierarchy in binding energies of [AA][NO3] ion pairs and their ester analogues turns out to be [Gly] > [Ala] > [Ser] ∼ [Val] ∼ [Ile] > [Leu] ∼ [Thr] > [Pro]. The work underlines how the interplay of intra- as well as intermolecular hydrogen-bonding interactions in [AA]- and [AAE]-based ILs manifest in their infrared and (1)H NMR spectra. Substitution of -OCH3 functional group in [AA][NO3] ILs lowers the melting point attributed to weaker hydrogen-bonding interactions, making them suitable for room temperature applications. As opposed to gas phase structures, the presence of solvent (DMSO) does not bring about any proton transfer in the ion pairs or their ester analogues. Calculated (1)H NMR chemical shifts of the solvated structures agree well with those from experiment. Correlations of decomposition temperatures in [AA]- and [AAE]-based ILs with binding energies and electron densities at the bond critical point(s) in molecular electron density topography, have been established.

Synthesis and biological evaluation of copper(II) pyrenethiosemicarbazone

Pyrenethiosemicarbazone (PyTSC) and its copper(II) complex (CuPyTSC) have been synthesized and characterized by elemental analysis, 1H-NMR, IR, ESI-MS, cyclic voltammetry, UV-Visible and fluorescence spectroscopy. Both the compounds interact with calf thymus (CT) DNA via intercalation with apparent binding constants, Kb, of the order of 105. CuPyTSC shows better photo-induced DNA cleavage of plasmid pBR322 DNA (74%) than PyTSC (14%). Mechanistic investigations revealed the involvement of singlet oxygen species in the DNA cleavage by both the compounds. DFT calculations demonstrated more efficient generation of singlet oxygen by CuPyTSC with a decreased HOMO–LUMO gap (0.332 eV) than PyTSC (0.629 eV). The protein binding ability has been monitored using Bovine Serum Albumin (BSA). The compounds show green fluorescence revealing their uptake by the cells under a fluorescence microscope. CuPyTSC displayed better cytotoxic activity on photoexposure to B16F10 melanoma cells.

Targeting a chemorefractory COLO205 (BRAF V600E) cell line using substituted benzo[α]phenoxazines

Mutational activations of the oncogene BRAF (especially BRAF V600E) result in a poor prognosis for colon cancer patients and are associated with chemoresistance rendering them refractory to treatment. The development of novel bioactive compounds with specific targeting abilities under such conditions is an urgent need in drug discovery. In this report we synthesize and characterize three fluorescent benzo[α]phenoxazine compounds (10R-benzo[α]phenoxazine-5-one, 1B; R = Cl, 2B; R = CH3, 3B; R = H) and their anticancer activities are evaluated in a COLO205 cell line. All three compounds with a logP value around 2 were cell permeable. However, 2B and 3B showed specific cytotoxicity in a malignant COLO205 cell line with a BRAF mutation (V600E) in comparison to a non-malignant wild-type BRAF HEK293T cell line. From further cell-based assays (cell cycle analysis, DNA fragmentation and caspase activation), we conclude that 2B and 3B treatment-induced selective cell death by inducing cell cycle arrest at the G0/G1 phase and caspase-mediated apoptosis (activation of the intrinsic and extrinsic pathways) are present only in BRAF V600E COLO205 cells. Further studies in the drug discovery pipeline might help develop these benzo[α]phenoxazines as promising chemotherapeutics for such refractory mutated cancers.

Electronic Structure, NMR, Spin–Spin Coupling, and Noncovalent Interactions in Aromatic Amino Acid Based Ionic Liquids

Noncovalent interactions accompanying phenylalanine (Phe), tryptophan (Trp), and tyrosine (Tyr) amino acids based ionic liquids (AAILs) composed of 1-methyl-3-butyl-imidazole and its methyl-substituted derivative as cations have been analyzed employing the dispersion corrected density functional theory. It has been shown that cation-anion binding in these bioionic ILs is primarily facilitated through hydrogen bonding in addition to lp---π and CH---π interactions those arising from aromatic moieties which can be probed through (1)H and (13)C NMR spectra calculated from the gauge independent atomic orbital method. Characteristic NMR spin-spin coupling constants across hydrogen bonds of ion pair structures viz., Fermi contact, spin-orbit and spin-dipole terms show strong dependence on mutual orientation of cation with the amino acid anion. The spin-spin coupling mechanism transmits spin polarization via electric field effect originating from lp---π interactions whereas the electron delocalization from lone pair on the carbonyl oxygen to antibonding C-H orbital is facilitated by hydrogen bonding. It has been demonstrated that indirect spin-spin coupling constants across the hydrogen bonds correlate linearly with hydrogen bond distances. The binding energies and dissected nucleus independent chemical shifts (NICS) document mutual reduction of aromaticity of hydrogen bonded ion pairs consequent to localization of π-character. Moreover the nature and type of such noncovalent interactions governing the in-plane and out-of-plane NICS components provide a measure of diatropic and paratropic currents for the aromatic rings of varying size in AAILs. Besides the direction of frequency shifts of characteristic C═O and NH stretching vibrations in the calculated vibrational spectra has been rationalized.

Density functional investigations on 2-naphthalenecarbonitrile dimerization within cucurbit[8]uril cavitand.

AbstractDimerization of 2-naphthalenecarbonitrile (2-NpCN) mediated by cucurbit[8]uril (CB[8]) has been investigated employing the density functional theory. Different structures of 2-NpCN dimers were generated by combining monomers in anti-head-to-head (A), anti-head-to-tail (B) and syn-head-to-tail (C) fashion. All these dimeric structures possess rigid cube-like architecture. On confinement within the CB[8] dimer A turns out to be the lowest energy structure. Calculated 1H NMR spectra revealed that the 2-NpCN dimer exhibits large shielding for aromatic protons consistent with the experiment. The protons attached to cubane moiety on the other hand, led to down-field signals. Dimerization mediated with CB[8] cavitand is further accompanied by the frequency up-shift (blue shift) of methylene stretching vibration in its infrared spectra. Figure2-naphthalenecarbonitrile

Regioselective synthesis of a vitamin K3 based dihydrobenzophenazine derivative: its novel crystal structure and DFT studies

A novel acid catalyzed regioselective Michael addition of o-phenylenediamine to vitamin K3 has been carried out to synthesize a dihydrobenzophenazine derivative viz. 6a-methyl-6a,7-dihydrobenzo[α]phenazin-5(6H)-one (1). The compound has been characterized using the single crystal X-ray diffraction and density functional theory.