Melting Point Distribution Analysis of Globally Approved and Discontinued Drugs: A Research for Improving the Chance of Success of Drug Design and Discovery.

The melting point (MP), an easily accessible physical parameter, has considerable potential for the judgment of drug-like properties. However, to the best of our knowledge, there are no useful guidelines for understanding the relationship between the MP and drug-like properties. To this end, we have constructed the largest MP database (experimental value) of globally approved drugs (3164 organic small-molecule drugs) and discontinued drugs (417 organic small-molecule drugs) and subsequently extracted six subdatabases from the whole approved database and two subdatabases from the discontinued database. The MP distribution statistics and analysis of approved drugs reveal five noteworthy observations; moreover, the MP distribution statistics and analysis of discontinued drugs further supplement these criteria. In addition, the comparison of molecular weight (MW) versus MP and Clog P versus MP distributions of different classes of approved drugs indicated that the MWs and Clog P values of most drugs in the optimal MP range were not more than 500 and 5, respectively, implying the MP distribution criterion was in accordance with Lipinski's rule of five.

The ethylene bis-dithiocarbamate fungicide Mancozeb activates voltage-gated KCNQ2 potassium channel.

Mancozeb (manganese/zinc ethylene bis-dithiocarbamate) is an organometallic fungicide that has been associated with human neurotoxicity and neurodegeneration. In a high-throughput screen for modulators of KCNQ2 channel, a fundamental player modulating neuronal excitability, Mancozeb, was found to significantly potentiate KCNQ2 activity. Mancozeb was validated electrophysiologically as a KCNQ2 activator with an EC50 value of 0.92±0.23µM. Further examination showed that manganese but not zinc ethylene bis-dithiocarbamate is the active component for the positive modulation effects. In addition, the compounds are effective when the metal ions are substituted by iron but lack potentiation activity when the metal ions are substituted by sodium, signifying the importance of the metal ion. However, the iron (Fe(3+)) alone, organic ligands alone or the mixture of iron with the organic ligand did not show any potentiation effect, suggesting as the active ingredient is a specific complex rather than two separate additive or synergistic components. Our study suggests that potentiation on KCNQ2 potassium channels might be the possible mechanism of Mancozeb toxicity in the nervous system.

'One-pot' synthesis of dihydrobenzo[4,5][1,3]oxazino[2,3-a] isoquinolines via a silver(I)-catalyzed cascade approach.

An efficient approach for the synthesis of biologically interesting fused tetracyclic isoquinolines in high yields and with a broad substrate scope has been developed. The strategy features an AgNO(3) catalyzed 'one-pot' cascade process involving formation of two new C-N bonds and one new C-O bond.