Dendritic Pyridine-Imine Copper Complexes as Metallo-Drugs.

Since the discovery of cisplatin in the 1960s, the search for metallo-drugs that are more efficient than platinum complexes with negligible side effects has attracted much interest. Among the other metals that have been examined for potential applications as anticancer agents is copper. The interest in copper was recently boosted by the discovery of cuproptosis, a recently evidenced form of cell death mediated by copper. However, copper is also known to induce the proliferation of cancer cells. In view of these contradictory results, there is a need to find the most suitable copper chelators, among which Schiff-based derivatives offer a wide range of possibilities. Gathering several metal complexes in a single, larger entity may provide enhanced properties. Among the nanometric objects suitable for such purpose are dendrimers, precisely engineered hyperbranched macromolecules, which are outstanding candidates for improving therapy and diagnosis. In this review article, we present an overview of the use of a particular Schiff base, namely pyridine-imine, linked to the surface of dendrimers, suitable for complexing copper, and the use of such dendrimer complexes in biology, in particular against cancers.

Two-Photon Absorbing Dendrimers and Their Properties-An Overview.

This review describes the two-photon absorption properties of dendrimers, which are arborescent three-dimensional macromolecules differing from polymers by their perfectly defined structure. The two-photon absorption process is a third order non-linear optical property that is attractive because it can be used in a wide range of applications. In this review, dendrimers that were studied for their two-photon absorption properties are first described. Then, the use of dendritic TPA chromophores for light harvesting, photopolymerization, optical power limitation, cell imaging, singlet oxygen generation, and photodynamic therapy is described. This review thus proposes an overview of the properties and possible applications of two-photon absorbing dendrimers.

From Stilbenes to carbo-Stilbenes: an Encouraging Prospect.

Beyond previously described carbo-naphthalene and carbo-biphenyl, a novel type of bis-carbo-benzenic molecules is envisaged from the stilbene parent. The synthesis, structure, spectroscopic and electrochemical properties of two such carbo-stilbenes are described at complementary experimental and computational DFT levels. In the selected targets, the bare skeletal carbo-mer of carbo-stilbene is decorated by 8 or 10 phenyl groups, 0 or 2 tert-butyl groups, and 2 n-octyl chains, the later substituents being introduced to compensate anticipated solubility issues. As in the parent stilbene series, isomers of the phenylated carbo-stilbenes are characterized. The cis- and trans-isomers are, however, formed in almost equal amounts and could not be separated by either chromatography or crystallization. Nevertheless, due to a slow interconversion at the NMR time scale (up to 55 °C) the 1H NMR signals of both isomers of the two carbo-stilbenes could be tentatively assigned. The calculated structure of the cis-isomer exhibits a helical shape, consistent with the observed magnetic shielding of phenyl p-CH nuclei residing inside the shielding cone of the facing C18 ring. The presence of the two isomers in solution also gives rise to quite broad UV-vis absorption spectra with main bands at ca 460, 560 and 710 nm, and a significant bathochromic shift for the decaphenylated carbo-stilbene vs the di-tert-butyl-octaphenylated counterpart. Square wave voltammograms do not show any resolution of the two isomers, giving a reversible reduction wave at -0.65 or -0.58 V/SCE, and an irreversible oxidation peak at 1.11 V/SCE, those values being classical for most carbo-benzene derivatives. Calculated NICS values (NICS(1)=-12.5±0.2 ppm) also indicate that the aromatic nature of the C18 rings is not markedly affected by the dialkynylbutatriene (DAB) connector between them.

Phenyl dialkynylcarbinols, a Bioinspired Series of Synthetic Antitumor Acetylenic Lipids.

A series of 25 chiral anti-cancer lipidic alkynylcarbinols (LACs) were devised by introducing an (hetero)aromatic ring between the aliphatic chain and the dialkynylcarbinol warhead. The resulting phenyl-dialkynylcarbinols (PACs) exhibit enhanced stability, while retaining cytotoxicity against HCT116 and U2OS cell lines with IC50 down to 40 nM for resolved eutomers. A clickable probe was used to confirm the PAC prodrug behavior: upon enantiospecific bio-oxidation of the carbinol by the HSD17B11 short-chain dehydrogenase/reductase (SDR), the resulting ynones covalently modify cellular proteins, leading to endoplasmic reticulum stress, ubiquitin-proteasome system inhibition, and apoptosis. Insights into the design of LAC prodrugs specifically bioactivated by HSD17B11 vs its paralogue HSD17B13 were obtained. The HSD17B11/HSD17B13-dependent cytotoxicity of PACs was exploited to develop a cellular assay to identify specific inhibitors of these enzymes. A docking study was performed with the HSD17B11 AlphaFold model, providing a molecular basis of the SDR substrates mimicry by PACs. The safety profile of a representative PAC was established in mice.

The Chemistry of P=N-P=X (X=S, O, NR) Linkages for the Synthesis of Dendritic Structures.

The Staudinger reaction between a phosphine and an azide, applied to phosphorus azides, has been used for the synthesis of a large variety of dendritic structures, incorporating P=N-P=X moieties (X = mainly S, but also O and N-R). Conjugation of the P=N bond with the P=X bond greatly stabilizes the P=N bond. Highly branched structures such as dendrons, dendrimers, Janus dendrimers, layered dendrimers, surface-block dendrimers, and diverse other dendritic structures incorporating such linkage have been elaborated. Accelerated methods of synthesis of dendrimers are also based on the Staudinger reaction. A versatile reactivity was observed exclusively on the sulfur atom of P=N-P=S linkages, such as alkylation or complexation. Alkylation on S induces a weakening of the strength of the P=S bond, which can be easily cleaved to generate phosphines able to react in Staudinger reactions inside the structure of dendrimers, thus affording highly sophisticated dendritic structures.

BODIPY-Ethynylestradiol molecular rotors as fluorescent viscosity probes in endoplasmic reticulum.

Due to their capability for sensing changes in viscosity, fluorescent molecular rotors (FMRs) have emerged as potential tools to develop several promising viscosity probes; most of them, however, localize non-selectively within cells, precluding changes in the viscosity of specific cellular microdomains to be studied by these means. Following previous reports on enhanced fluorophore uptake efficiency and selectivity by incorporation of biological submolecular fragments, here we report two potential BODIPY FMRs based on an ethynylestradiol spindle, a non-cytotoxic semisynthetic estrogen well recognized by human cells. A critical evaluation of the potential of these fluorophores for being employed as FMRs is presented, including the photophysical characterization of the probes, SXRD studies and TD-DFT computations, as well as confocal microscopy imaging in MCF-7 (breast cancer) cells.

SDR enzymes oxidize specific lipidic alkynylcarbinols into cytotoxic protein-reactive species.

Hundreds of cytotoxic natural or synthetic lipidic compounds contain chiral alkynylcarbinol motifs, but the mechanism of action of those potential therapeutic agents remains unknown. Using a genetic screen in haploid human cells, we discovered that the enantiospecific cytotoxicity of numerous terminal alkynylcarbinols, including the highly cytotoxic dialkynylcarbinols, involves a bioactivation by HSD17B11, a short-chain dehydrogenase/reductase (SDR) known to oxidize the C-17 carbinol center of androstan-3-alpha,17-beta-diol to the corresponding ketone. A similar oxidation of dialkynylcarbinols generates dialkynylketones, that we characterize as highly protein-reactive electrophiles. We established that, once bioactivated in cells, the dialkynylcarbinols covalently modify several proteins involved in protein-quality control mechanisms, resulting in their lipoxidation on cysteines and lysines through Michael addition. For some proteins, this triggers their association to cellular membranes and results in endoplasmic reticulum stress, unfolded protein response activation, ubiquitin-proteasome system inhibition and cell death by apoptosis. Finally, as a proof-of-concept, we show that generic lipidic alkynylcarbinols can be devised to be bioactivated by other SDRs, including human RDH11 and HPGD/15-PGDH. Given that the SDR superfamily is one of the largest and most ubiquitous, this unique cytotoxic mechanism-of-action could be widely exploited to treat diseases, in particular cancer, through the design of tailored prodrugs.

Carbo-mer of Barrelene: A Rigid 3D-Carbon-Expanded Molecular Barrel.

After extensive studies of 1D and 2D skeletal carbo-mers based on C8 π-conjugating dialkynylbutatriene units (DABs: ∼C≡C-(R)C=C=C=C(R)-C≡C∼) bridging sp or sp2 centers in carbo-butene, carbo-xylylene or carbo-benzene derivatives, 3D versions are envisaged through carbo-barrelenes and partially reduced derivatives thereof where two or three DAB blades span a bridge between sp3 carbinol vertices or ether thereof. For R=Ph, stable representatives were synthesized through a pivotal [6]pericyclynedione, and extensively characterized by spectroscopic, electrochemical and crystallographic methods. Density functional theory calculations allow detailed analysis of structural and electronic features of the 7 Šhigh C26 barrel-shaped molecules, and show that they can behave as cages for ionic species. Beyond aesthetical concerns, the results could open prospects of applications in host-guest supramolecular chemistry and single molecule charge transport.

Core carbo-mer of an Extended Tetrathiafulvalene: Redox-Controlled Reversible Conversion to a carbo-Benzenic Dication.

carbo-Benzene is an aromatic molecule devised by inserting C2 units within each C-C bond of the benzene molecule. By integrating the corresponding carbo-quinoid core as bridging unit in a π-extended tetrathiafulvalene (exTTF), it is shown that a carbo-benzene ring can be reversibly formed by electrochemical reduction or oxidation. The so-called carbo-exTTF molecule was thus experimentally prepared and studied by UV-visible absorption spectroscopy and cyclic voltammetry, as well as by X-ray crystallography and by scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) on a surface of highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG). The molecule and its oxidized and reduced forms were subjected to a computational study at the density functional theory (DFT) level, supporting carbo-aromaticity as a driving force for the formation of the dication, radical cation, and radical anion. By allowing co-planarity of the dithiolylidene rings and carbo-quinoidal core, carbo-exTTFs present a promising new class of redox-active systems.

Methinylogation Approach in Chiral Pharmacophore Design: from Alkynyl- to Allenyl-carbinol Warheads against Tumor Cells.

Extension of a structure-activity relationship study of the antitumor cytotoxicity of lipidic dialkynylcarbinols (DACs) is envisaged by formal methinylogation of one of the ethyndiyl moieties of the DAC warhead into the corresponding allenylalkynylcarbinol (AllAC) counterpart. External AllACs were directly obtained by methinylation of the parent DACs with formaldehyde in either the racemic or scalemic series. Isomers containing external progargyl and propynyl motifs were also prepared. Internal AllACs were obtained as racemic statistical mixtures of stereoisomers in two steps from the key C5 -DAC rac-TIPS-C≡C-CH(OH)-C≡CH and aldehydes. Kinetic resolution of the (S)-C5 -DAC in 97 % ee and (R)-C5 -DAC in 99 % ee was achieved by sequential lipase-mediated acetylation/hydrolysis using the Candida antartica lipase (Novozyme 435). The four internal AllAC stereoisomers were prepared by asymmetric methinylation with (R)- or (S)-diphenylprolinol as chiral auxiliary. Cytotoxicity assays on HCT116 cancer cells showed that the most active (eutomeric) external or internal AllAC exhibits an S configuration, a fatty chain length of n=12, and a 50 % inhibitory concentration IC50 ≈1.0 µm.

Skeletal Optimization of Cytotoxic Lipidic Dialkynylcarbinols.

In line with a recent study of the pharmacological potential of bioinspired synthetic acetylenic lipids, after identification of the terminal dialkynylcarbinol (DAC) and butadiynyl alkynylcarbinol (BAC) moieties as functional antitumor pharmacophoric units, this work specifically addresses the issue of carbon backbone length. A systematic variation of the aliphatic chain length was thus carried out in both the DAC and BAC series. The critical impact of the length of the lipidic skeleton was first confirmed in the racemic series, with the highest cytotoxic activity observed for C17 to C18 backbones. Enantiomerically enriched samples were prepared by asymmetric synthesis of the optimal C18 DAC and C17 BAC derivatives. Samples with upgraded enantiomeric purity were alternatively produced by enzymatic kinetic resolution. Eutomers possessing the S configuration displayed cytotoxicity IC50 values as low as 15 nm against HCT116 cancer cells, the highest level of activity reached to date in this series.

Steric/π-Electronic Insulation of the carbo-Benzene Ring: Dramatic Effects of tert-Butyl versus Phenyl Crowns on Geometric, Chromophoric, Redox, and Magnetic Properties.

Hexa-tert-butyl-carbo-benzene (C18 tBu6 ) and three phenylated counterparts (C18 tBum Ph6-m ; m=4, 2) have been synthesized. The peralkylated version (m=6) provides experimental access to intrinsic features of the insulated C18 core independently from the influence of π-conjugated substituent. Over the series, structural, spectroscopic, and electrochemical properties are compared with those of the hexaphenylated reference (m=0). Anchoring tBu substituents at the C18 macrocycle is shown to enhance stability and solubility, and to dramatically modify UV/Vis absorption and redox properties. Whereas all carbo-benzenes reported previously were obtained as dark-reddish/greenish solids, crystals and solutions of C18 tBu6 happen to be yellow (λmax =379 vs. 472 nm for C18 Ph6 ). In comparison to C18 Ph6 , the reduction of C18 tBu6 remains reversible, but occurs at twice as high an absolute potential (E1/2 =-1.36 vs. -0.72 V). Systematic XRD analyses and DFT calculations show that the C18 ring symmetry is the nearest to D6h for m=6, which indicates a maximum geometric aromaticity. According to calculated nucleus-independent chemical shifts (NICS), the macrocyclic magnetic aromaticity is also maximum for C18 tBu6 : NICS(0)=-17.2 ppm versus (-18.0±0.1) ppm for the theoretical references C18 H6 and C18 F6 , and -13.5 ppm for C18 Ph6 . Accurate correlations of NICS(0) with experimentally recorded or calculated maximum UV/Vis absorption wavelengths, λmax , and chemical hardness, η=ELUMO -EHOMO , are evidenced.

Carbo-biphenyls and Carbo-terphenyls: Oligo(phenylene ethynylene) Ring Carbo-mers.

Ring carbo-mers of oligo(phenylene ethynylene)s (OPEn, n=0-2), made of C2 -catenated C18 carbo-benzene rings, have been synthesized and characterized by NMR and UV-vis spectroscopy, crystallography and voltammetry. Analyses of crystal and DFT-optimized structures show that the C18 rings preserve their individual aromatic character according to structural and magnetic criteria (NICS indices). Carbo-terphenyls (n=2) are reversibly reduced at ca. -0.42 V/SCE, i.e. 0.41 V more readily than the corresponding carbo-benzene (-0.83 V/SCE), thus revealing efficient inter-ring π-conjugation. An accurate linear fit of E1/2red1 vs. the DFT LUMO energy suggests a notably higher value (-0.30 V/SCE) for a carbo-quaterphenyl congener (n=3). Increase with n of the effective π-conjugation is also evidenced by a red shift of two of the three main visible light absorption bands, all being assigned to TDDFT-calculated excited states, one of them restricting to a HOMO→LUMO main one-electron transition.

Supramolecular Architecture of Substituted Tetraphenyl-carbo-benzenes from the Energetic Viewpoint.

The use of DFT-calculated energy-vector diagrams (EVDs) featuring the topology of pairwise intermolecular interaction energies is applied to crystals of carbo-benzenes. A homogeneous set of six ideally centrosymmetric tetraphenyl-carbo-benzenes is selected, with various substituents R in para positions: R=4-anisyl, 1-ethyl-2-phenyl-1H-indol-3-yl, 2-chloro-2-(1-ethyl-2-phenyl-1H-indol-3-yl)ethenyl, tetradecyl, and 9,9-dihexyl-9H-fluoren-2-yl, 2-(9,9-dihexyl-9H-fluoren-2-yl)ethynyl. The basic structural motifs (BSMs) of the crystals vary from layers to columns, depending on the size and shape of the substituents R. The BSM cohesion is shown to rely on π-stacking, CH-π and dispersive interactions. Solvate molecules are shown to have a negligible role in the formation of the BSM, whereas they loosen the interaction between neighbouring BSMs.

3D and 2D supramolecular assemblies and thermotropic behaviour of a carbo-benzenic mesogen.

Hexaalkoxy-di(phenylethynyl)-tetraphenyl-carbo-benzenes bearing six CnH2n+1 aliphatic chains (n = 12, 18) have been synthesized and characterized, including by single crystal XRD analysis. For n = 12, a liquid crystal behaviour was observed in the range of 109-130 °C. DSC, POM and PXRD analyses evidenced a rectangular columnar mesophase at 115 °C. The determined 3D lattice constants are consistent with 2D STM images of the so-called "carbo-mesogen" deposited on an HOPG surface.

Lipidic Carbo-benzenes: Molecular Probes of Magnetic Anisotropy and Stacking Properties of α-Graphyne.

Solubilization of the C18 fundamental circuit of α-graphyne has been envisaged by decoration with aliphatic chains R = n-CnH2n+1. The synthesis and characterization of p-dialkyl-tetraphenyl-carbo-benzenes (n = 2, 8, 14, 20) are thus presented and compared to the monoalkyl series produced concomitantly. In both series, a dramatic enhancement of solubility in organic solvents (CH2Cl2, CHCl3) is observed for n ≥ 8, and in the dialkyl series, the melting-decomposition temperature of the solid products is shown to decrease linearly from 208 °C for n = 2 to 149 °C for n = 20. Fluoroalkyl analogues with R = n-C8H4F13 are also described. The products display classical UV-vis electronic spectra of carbo-benzenes in solution (λmax = 445.5 ± 1 nm, ε ≈ 200 000 L·mol-1·cm-1). They are also characterized by UV-vis absorption in the solid state, which is found to be correlated with the color and crystal packing. The methylene groups of R provide an experimental probe of the magnetic anisotropy and aromaticity of the C18 ring through the progressive NMR shielding of the 1H nuclei from ca. 4.70 to 1.25 ppm going away from the border of the ring (as far as 8 Å away). All alkyl-carbo-benzenes were also found to be highly crystalline. Seven of them have been characterized by X-ray diffraction analysis and the C18 columnar packing compared in a systematic manner. Crystals of the diethyl and bistetradecyl derivatives, containing no solvent molecule, provided the first examples of direct π-stacking of carbo-benzene rings, with inter-ring distances very close to calculated interlayer distances in AB and ABC α-graphityne (3.255 and 3.206 Å vs 3.266 and 3.201 Å, respectively).

carbo-Naphthalene: A Polycyclic carbo-Benzenoid Fragment of α-Graphyne.

A ring carbo-mer of naphthalene, C32 Ar8 (Ar=p-n-pentylphenyl), has been obtained as a stable blue chromophore, after a 19-step synthetic route involving methods inspired from those used in the synthesis of carbo-benzenes, or specifically devised for the present target, like a double Sonogashira-type coupling reaction. The last step is a SnCl2 /HCl-mediated reduction of a decaoxy-carbo-decalin, which is prepared through successive [8+10] macrocyclization steps. Two carbo-benzene references are also described, C18 Ar6 and o-C18 Ar4 (C≡C-SiiPr3 )2 . The carbo-naphthalene bicycle is locally aromatic according to structural and magnetic criteria, as revealed by strong diatropic ring current effects on the deshielding of 1 H nuclei of the Ar groups and on the negative value of the DFT-calculated NICS at the center of the C18 rings (-12.8 ppm). The stability and aromaticity of this smallest fused molecular fragment of α-graphyne allows prediction of the same properties for the carbon allotrope itself.

Fluorophore-tagged pharmacophores for antitumor cytotoxicity: Modified chiral lipidic dialkynylcarbinols for cell imaging.

Chiral lipidic dialkynylcarbinols (DACs), recently highlighted as antitumoral pharmacophores, have been conjugated to difluoroboron-dipyrromethene (bodipy), 7-hydroxy-coumarine, and 7-nitro-benzoxadiazole (NBD) fluorophore motifs through triazole clips. The labeled lipids preserve cytotoxic activity against HCT116 cells, and fluorescence microscopy of the stained cells showed clear signals in the intra-cellular membrane system. While the bodipy conjugate also labels lipid droplets very brightly, as expected, the coumarine and NBD probes appear as promising specific tools for the identification of the intra-cellular targets of DACs' cytotoxicity.

Difluorenyl carbo-Benzenes: Synthesis, Electronic Structure, and Two-Photon Absorption Properties of Hydrocarbon Quadrupolar Chromophores.

The synthesis, crystal and electronic structures, and one- and two-photon absorption properties of two quadrupolar fluorenyl-substituted tetraphenyl carbo-benzenes are described. These all-hydrocarbon chromophores, differing in the nature of the linkers between the fluorenyl substituents and the carbo-benzene core (C-C bonds for 3 a, C-C=C-C expanders for 3 b), exhibit quasi-superimposable one-photon absorption (1PA) spectra but different two-photon absorption (2PA) cross-sections σ2PA. Z-scan measurements (under NIR femtosecond excitation) indeed showed that the C≡C expansion results in an approximately twofold increase in the σ2PA value, from 336 to 656 GM (1 GM = 10(-50) cm(4) s molecule(-1) photon(-1)) at λ = 800 nm. The first excited states of Au and Ag symmetry accounting for 1PA and 2PA, respectively, were calculated at the TDDFT level of theory and used for sum-over-state estimations of σ2PA(λi), in which λi = 2 hc/Ei, h is Planck's constant, c is the speed of light, and Ei is the energy of the 2PA-allowed transition. The calculated σ2PA values of 227 GM at 687 nm for 3 a and 349 GM at 708 nm for 3 b are in agreement with the Z-scan results.

"Carbo-aromaticity" and novel carbo-aromatic compounds.

While the concept of aromaticity is being more and more precisely delineated, the category of "aromatic compounds" is being more and more expanded. This is illustrated by an introductory highlight of the various types of "aromaticity" previously invoked, and by a focus on the recently proposed "aromatic character" of the "two-membered rings" of the acetylene and butatriene molecules. This serves as a general foundation for the definition of "carbo-aromaticity", the relevance of which is surveyed through recent results in the synthetic, physical, and theoretical chemistry of carbo-mers and in particular macrocyclic-polycyclic representatives constituting a natural family of "novel aromatic compounds". With respect to their parent molecules, carbo-mers are constitutionally defined as "carbon-enriched", and can also be functionally regarded as "π-electron-enriched". This is exemplified by recent experimental and theoretical results on functional, aromatic, rigid, σ,π-macrocyclic carbo-benzene archetypes of various substitution patterns, with emphasis on the quadrupolar pattern. For the purpose of comparison, several types of non-aromatic references of carbo-benzenes are then considered, i.e. freely rotating σ,π-acyclic carbo-n-butadienes and flexible σ-cyclic, π-acyclic carbo-cyclohexadienes, and to "pro-aromatic" congeners, i.e. rigid σ,π-macrocyclic carbo-quinoids. It is shown that functional carbo-mers are entering the field of "molecular materials" for properties such as linear or nonlinear optical properties (e.g. dichromism and two-photon absorption) and single molecule conductivity. Since total or partial carbo-mers of aromatic carbon-allotropes of infinite size such as graphene (graphynes and graphdiynes) and graphite ("graphitynes") have long been addressed at the theoretical or conceptual level, recent predictive advances on the electrical, optical and mechanical properties of such carbo-materials are surveyed. Very preliminary experimental results on a carbo-benzenoid fragment are finally disclosed.