ABSTRACT
Most of the known approved drugs comprise functionalized heterocyclic compounds as subunits. Among them, non-fluorescent quinazolines with four different substitution patterns are found in a variety of clinically used pharmaceuticals, while 4,5,7,8-substituted quinazolines and those displaying their own specific fluorescence, favourable for cellular uptake visualization, have not been described so far. Here we report the development of a one-pot synthetic strategy to access these 4,5,7,8-substituted quinazolines, which are fluorescent and feature strong antiviral properties (EC50 down to 0.6±0.1 µM) against human cytomegalovirus (HCMV). Merging multistep domino processes in one-pot under fully metal-free conditions leads to sustainable, maximum efficient and high-yielding organic synthesis. Furthermore, generation of artesunic acid-quinazoline hybrids and their application against HCMV (EC50 down to 0.1±0.0 µM) is demonstrated. Fluorescence of new antiviral hybrids and quinazolines has potential applications in molecular imaging in drug development and mechanistic studies, avoiding requirement of linkage to external fluorescent markers.
ABSTRACT
Over the last several years there has been a huge increase in the development and applications of new efficient organocatalysts for enantioselective pericyclic reactions, which represent one of the most powerful types of organic transformations. Among these processes are cycloaddition reactions (e.g., [3+2]; formal [3+3]; [4+2]; vinylogous [4+2] and 1,3-dipolar cycloadditions), which belong to the most utilized reactions in organic synthesis of complex nitrogen- and oxygen-containing heterocyclic molecules. This review presents the breakthrough realized in this field using chiral BINOL-derived phosphoric acids and N-triflyl phosphoramide organocatalysts.
