A rational foundation for micheliolide-based combination strategy by targeting redox and metabolic circuit in cancer cells.

Accumulating evidence has supported that targeting oxidative stress and metabolic alterations of cancer is an effective strategy to combat cancer. We previously reported that Dimethylaminomicheliolide (DMAMCL) and its active metabolite micheliolide (MCL) can cause oxidative stress and cell death in leukemia and glioblastoma. However, the detailed mechanism underlying MCL or DMAMCL triggered oxidative stress remains elusive. Herein, using leukemia HL60 cells and glioblastoma U118MG cells as models, we found that MCL-induced oxidative stress is mainly mediated by reduced glutathione (GSH). Overproduced reactive oxygen species (ROS) can lead to oxidative damage to mitochondrial, impairing the ability of the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle and causing dysfunction of mitochondrial respiratory chain. On the other hand, the depletion of GSH activates GSH biosynthesis pathway and has possibility to give rise to more GSH to scavenge ROS in cancer cells. Targeting this redox and metabolic circuit, we identified L-buthionine sulfoximine (BSO), an inhibitor in GSH biosynthesis, as an agent that can enhance MCL regimen to inhibit GSH compensatory event and thereby further facilitate cancer cell oxidative stress. Together, these results illustrate that targeting redox and metabolic pathway by MCL/DMAMCL combination with BSO is a potent therapeutic intervention for the treatments of glioblastoma and acute-myelocytic leukemia.

Synthesis and Activity Investigation of Novel 1H-Purin-6(9H)-one and 3H-Imidazo[4,5-d][1,2,3]triazin-4(7H)-one Derivatives.

Novel 1H-purin-6(9H)-one (D) and 3H-imidazo[4,5-d][1,2,3]trazin-4(7H)-one (E) derivatives were designed, synthesized, and characterized by 1H NMR, 13C NMR and high-resolution mass spectrometry spectra. Their herbicidal activity bioassay showed that compound 7d exhibited relatively good activity with 70.4% inhibition rate against Amaranthus retroflexus in postemergence treatments at 1500 g/ha. Antitumor activity indicated that most of the title compounds displayed potent antitumor activity at 20 µM, among all of the promising compounds possessing lower IC50 values than that of temozolomide, compound 7i demonstrated highest activity inhibiting both HepG-2 and U-118 MG cell lines with IC50 values of 2.0 and 3.8 µM, respectively. The structure-activity relationship analysis revealed that introduction of halogen atoms, a bulky bridging bond between benzene ring and nitrogen atom, longer R2 substituents could contribute to the improvement of antitumor activity. Analysis suggested that compound 7i might have potential as new highly active antitumor agent. Overall, D series had better anticancer activities than E series derivatives.

Base-catalyzed cascade synthesis of 2,3-dihydrofuro[2,3-b]pyridines and 2,3-dihydro-1H-pyrrolo[2,3-b]pyridines from N-propargylic ß-enaminones.

A novel protocol to prepare multi-substituted dihydrofuropyridine and dihydropyrrolopyridine derivatives from KOH-catalyzed reactions between readily available N-propargylic ß-enaminones and arylaldehydes or N-sulfonyl imines has been developed in moderate to good yields.

Ultralong In2S3 Nanotubes on Graphene Substrate with Enhanced Electrocatalytic Activity.

Ultralong one-dimensional (1D) nanostructures including nanowires or nanotubes have been extensively studied because of their widespread applications in many fields. Although a lot of methods have been reported to prepare In2S3 nanotubes, approaching these nanotubes through one-pot solution synthesis is still extremely difficult, probably because of the intrinsic isotropic crystal growth characteristic of In2S3. In this article, we demonstrated a self-assembly approach for hydrothermal synthesis of In2S3 nanotubes/graphene composites, which contain ultralong (up to 10 µm) In2S3 nanotubes on graphene substrate. The influence of several important synthetic parameters on the final products has been systematically investigated. Importantly, the as-prepared In2S3 nanotubes/graphene composites can be easily cast on FTO to form a film, which can be used as a counter electrode. Our research indicates that the as-fabricated counter electrode exhibits excellent electrocatalytic activity toward the iodide species (I-/I3-) reduction reaction and very high energy conversion efficiency (8.01%) in dye-sensitized solar cells.

Mesoporous Ni0.85Se Nanospheres Grown in Situ on Graphene with High Performance in Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells.

Mesoporous Ni0.85Se nanospheres grown on graphene were synthesized via the hydrothermal approach. Because of the exceptional electron-transfer pathway of graphene and the excellent catalytic ability of the mesoporous Ni0.85Se nanospheres, the nanocomposites exhibited excellent electrocatalytic property as the counter electrode (CE) of dye-sensitized solar cells. More catalytic active sites, better charge-transfer ability and faster reaction velocity of Ni0.85Se@RGO (RGO = reduced graphene oxide) CE led to faster and more complete I3(-) reduction than Pt, Ni0.85Se, and RGO CEs. Furthermore, the power conversion efficiency of Ni0.85Se@RGO CE reached 7.82%, which is higher than that of Pt CE (7.54%). Electrochemical impedance spectra, cyclic voltammetry, and Tafel polarization were obtained to demonstrate positive synergetic effect between Ni0.85Se and RGO, as well as the higher catalytic activity and the better charge-transfer ability of Ni0.85Se@RGO compared with Pt CE.

Mesoporous Bi2S3 nanorods with graphene-assistance as low-cost counter-electrode materials in dye-sensitized solar cells.

In this work, we report the synthesis of mesoporous Bi2S3 nanorods under hydrothermal conditions without additives, and investigated their catalytic activities as the CE in DSCs by I-V curves and tested conversion efficiency. To further improve their power conversion efficiency, we added different amounts of reduced graphene by simple physical mixing. With the addition of 9 wt% reduced graphene (rGO), the short-circuit current density, open-circuit voltage and fill factor were Jsc = 15.33 mA cm(-2), Voc = 0.74 V and FF = 0.609. More importantly, the conversion efficiency reached 6.91%, which is slightly inferior to the commercial Pt counter electrode (7.44%). Compared to the conventional Pt counter electrodes of solar cells, this new material has the advantages of low-cost, facile synthesis and high efficiency with graphene assistance. To the best of our knowledge, this Bi2S3 + 9 wt% rGO system has the best performance ever recorded in all Bi2S3-based CEs in the DSCs system.

A convenient base-mediated synthesis of 3-aryol-4-methyl (or benzyl)-2-methylthio furans from α-oxo ketene dithioacetals and propargyl alcohols via domino coupling/annulations.

A convenient base-mediated strategy to synthesize 3-aryol-4-methyl (or benzyl)-2-methylthio furans 2 (trisubstituted furans) has been developed through the domino coupling/annulations between available α-oxo ketene dithioacetals 1 and propargyl alcohols. In this strategy, these types of bases play an important role in driving the domino coupling reaction of propargyl alcohols and further intramolecular annulations to realize the target compounds. The possible mechanism for the formation of the various products is believed to involve the generation of allenes 7, followed by intramolecular annulations.

Synthesis and insecticidal activities of novel pyrazole oxime ether derivatives with different substituted pyridyl rings.

BACKGROUND: Pyrazole oxime ether derivatives with different substituted pyridyl rings represent new types of compounds that possess good insecticidal and acarcidal activity against Aphis laburni Kaltenbach and Tetranychus cinnabarinus. RESULTS: In total, 82 novel pyrazole oxime ether derivatives were synthesized and identified by (1) H NMR, elemental analysis or high-resolution mass spectrometry, and their insecticidal and acarcidal activities were tested against A. laburni Kaltenbach and T. cinnabarinus. Bioassays showed that at a 200 mg L(-1) dosage, one-third of the compounds displayed high insecticidal activity against A. laburni Kaltenbach (> 90%), whereas most of of the compound II series exhibited excellent acarcidal activity against T. cinnabarinus (> 92%). Most compound II series exhibited good activity in both insecticidal and acarcidal tests. In addition, at a low concentration of 10 mg L(-1) , the insecticidal activity of compounds IB9 and IE4 exceeded 90%, and the acarcidal activity of compounds IIB1 and IIB2 was ≥ 95%. CONCLUSION: Structure-activity relationships were also examined. Results suggested that the tert-butoxycarbonyl group, as well as the position between tert-butoxycarbonyl and the atom N of the pyridyl ring, were essential to obtaining the acarcidal activity of the title compounds.

Synthesis and nonvolatile memory behaviors of dioxatetraazapentacene derivatives.

Two novel heteroacenes 2,3,9,10-tetra(furan-2-yl)-1,4,8,11-tetraaza-6,13-dioxapentacene (FAOP, 1) and 2,3,9,10-tetra(thiophen-2-yl)-1,4,8,11-tetraaza-6,13-dioxapentacene (TAOP, 2) was successfully synthesized through a one-step condensation reaction, which have been fully characterized by (1)H NMR (nuclear magnetic resonance), (13)C NMR, FT-IR (Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy), and HRMS (high-resolution mass spectrum). The sandwich-structure memory devices have been fabricated using FAOP (1) and TAOP (2) as active layers, showing a typical bipolar resistive switching (RS) behavior in positive and negative regions.

Crystal structure and phototransistor behavior of N-substituted heptacence.

6,8,15,17-Tetraaza-1.18,4.5,9.10,13.14-tetrabenzoheptacene (TTH, 1) has been prepared and characterized by single-crystal X-ray structure analysis. A phototransistor device based on TTH single crystal demonstrated that TTH showed a good performance in signal amplification under the photoconductive effect as well as photocontrolled switches.

Synthesis and herbicidal activities of novel 3-(substituted benzyloxy or phenoxy)-6-methyl-4-(3-trifluoromethylphenyl)pyridazine derivatives.

BACKGROUND: 4-(3-Trifluoromethylphenyl)pyridazine represents a new series of compounds with bleaching and herbicidal activities. RESULTS: A total of 43 novel 3-(substituted benzyloxy or phenoxy)-6-methyl-4-(3-trifluoromethylphenyl)pyridazine derivatives were synthesised, and their bleaching and herbicidal activities were evaluated through Spirodela polyrrhiza and greenhouse tests. Some compounds exhibited excellent herbicidal activities, even at a dose of 7.5 g ha(-1). CONCLUSION: The results showed that a substituted phenoxy group at the 3-position of the pyridazine ring and the electron-withdrawing group at the para-position on the benzene ring were essential for high herbicidal activity.

Novel protoporphyrinogen oxidase inhibitors: 3H-pyrazolo[3,4-d][1,2,3]triazin-4-one derivatives.

A series of 3 H-pyrazolo[3,4-d][1,2,3]triazin-4-one derivatives were synthesized as candidate herbicides by diazotization of different 5(3)-amino- N-phenyl-1 H-pyrazole-4-carboxamide derivatives prepared by the reaction of substituted 5(3)-amino-pyrazole-4-carbonyl chloride with a substituted aniline. Their structures were identified by (1)H NMR and elemental analyses. The isomers D and E were isolated, and their structures were identified by two-dimensional NMR analyses (heteronuclear single quantum coherence and heteronuclear multiple-bond correlation) and single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis. The bioassay results showed that some of the title compounds exhibited both excellent herbicidal activity at a dose of 93.75 g/ha and strong inhibition against protoporphyrinogen oxidase activity in vitro. The structure-activity relationship showed that D16 possessed the highest activities both in vivo and in vitro when the N-substituted group of the pyrazole ring was allyl and the N-substituted group of benzooxazinone was propargyl.

Synthesis and herbicidal activities of novel 3-N-substituted amino-6-methyl-4-(3-trifluoromethylphenyl)pyridazine derivatives.

4-(3-Trifluoromethylphenyl)pyridazine is a new series of compounds with bleaching and herbicidal activities. Starting from ethyl 2-(3-trifluoromethylphenyl)acetate, an important intermediate 7 was synthesized in five steps with a moderate total yield of 51.5% in a safe and practical way. Twenty-six novel 3-N-substituted amino-6-methyl-4-(3-trifluoromethylphenyl)pyridazine derivatives were synthesized and evaluated through a Spirodela polyrrhiza test and greenhouse test. Some compounds can completely inhibit Chl at 1 microg/mL and exhibit equal or higher herbicidal activities with the commercial bleaching herbicide diflufenican against dicotyledonous plants at a rate of 75 g/ha.

6-Methyl-2-p-tolyl-4-[3-(trifluoro-meth-yl)phen-yl]pyridazin-3(2H)-one.

In the title mol-ecule, C(19)H(15)F(3)N(2)O, the benzene rings of the tolyl and trifluoro-methyl-phenyl groups form dihedral angles of 64.1 (2) and 38.5 (2)°, respectively, with the pyridazine ring. The CF(3) group is disordered over two orientations, with site-occupancy factors of ca 0.56 and 0.44.

Methyl 3-(4-{6-methyl-4-[3-(trifluoro-meth-yl)phen-yl]pyridazin-3-yl-oxy}phen-yl)propanoate.

In the title compound, C(22)H(19)F(3)N(2)O(3), the benzene rings of the trifluoro-methyl-phenyl and benzoyl-phenyl groups form dihedral angles of 41.89 (10) and 67.44 (10)°, respectively, with the pyridazine ring. The methyl-propanoate group is nearly coplanar with the attached benzene ring [dihedral angle = 3.9 (2)°]. The trifluoro-methyl group is disordered over two positions; the site-occupancy factors are ca 0.64 and 0.36. In the crystal structure, inversion-related mol-ecules are linked through C-H⋯O hydrogen bonds and C-H⋯π inter-actions.

Design, synthesis, and quantitative structure-activity relationship study of herbicidal analogues of pyrazolo[5,1-d][1,2,3,5]tetrazin-4(3H)ones.

A series of pyrazolo[5,1-d][1,2,3,5]tetrazin-4(3H)one derivatives were designed, synthesized, and evaluated for their herbicidal activities where some of these compounds provided >80% control of Brassica campestris at 10 microg/mL. Quantitative structure-activity relationship studies were performed on these compounds using physicochemical parameters (electronic, Verloop, or hydrophobic) as independent parameters and herbicidal activity as a dependent parameter, where herbicidal activity correlated best (r > 0.8) with physicochemical parameters in this set of molecules. The herbicidal activity against B. campestris was mainly affected by the molar refractivity (MR) for R1, Taft (Eso) for R2 or R6, Verloop (Lm) for R3 or R5, and electronic parameters (Hammett's constants) for R4. The optimal MR for herbicidal activity is 0.95. The herbicidal activity against Echinochloa crus-galli was mainly related with the substituents' hydrophobic parameter. The optimal pi parameters for R1 and R4 for herbicidal activity are 0.72 and 0.68, respectively. In general, these compounds showed greater herbicidal activity toward B. campestris than E. crus-galli.

Synthesis and herbicidal activity of novel alpha,alpha,alpha-trifluoro-m-tolyl pyridazinone derivatives.

A series of novel alpha,alpha,alpha-trifluoro-m-tolyl pyridazinone derivatives was synthesised. Herbicidal activities of the two intermediate compounds and 15 pyridazinone derivatives were evaluated through barnyardgrass and rape cup tests and Spirodela polyrrhiza (L.) Schleiden tests. Selected compounds were also evaluated under greenhouse conditions. Bleaching activities were observed at 10 microg ml(-1) and some compounds exhibited herbicidal activities at a rate of 300 g ha(-1). The relationship between crystal structures and herbicidal activities is discussed through a comparison of two compounds (5a and 5f).

Synthesis and herbicidal evaluation of novel 3-[(alpha-hydroxy-substituted)benzylidene]pyrrolidine-2,4-diones.

A series of 3-[(alpha-hydroxy-substituted) benzylidene]pyrrolidine-2,4-dione derivatives were synthesized as candidate herbicides by reacting different aroyl acetates with N-substituted glycine esters. The new compounds were identified by 1H NMR spectroscopy and elemental analyses. Their herbicidal activities were evaluated. Some compounds exhibited excellent herbicidal activities at a dose of 187.5 g/ha. A suitable electron-donating substituent at the 2- and/or 4-position of the phenyl ring was essential for high herbicidal activity, a result that has not been reported before. It was also found that the title compound's structure-activity relationships were different from those of other similar kinds of earlier compounds, a result that may depend on the enol structure difference.

The synthesis and herbicidal activity of 1-alkyl-3-(alpha-hydroxy-substituted benzylidene)pyrrolidine-2,4-diones.

In the search for better herbicides a series of 1-alkyl-3-(alpha-hydroxy-(un)substituted benzylidene)pyrrolidine-2,4-diones were prepared and their structure-activity relationships studied. All their structures have been confirmed by (1)H-NMR and elemental analysis. The preliminary bioassay results indicated that some of them have high herbicidal activity against annual dicotyledonous and monocotyledonous plants.