Mini-Reviews in Organic Chemistry - Volume 9, Issue 4, 2012

The genus Euonymus has been reviewed for its chemical constituents and its biological activities including traditional importance of some common species. The genus Euonymus is cultivated in many parts of India for its ornamental purposes. The present report is based on available data and references about the genus. The main substances found in plants of the genus euonymus are dihydroagarofuran, sesquiterpene polyol esters, chlorogenic acid, D:A-friedooleanans, lupenediol and pyridine alkaloids. The overall activity of the extract is based on the interaction between its components. Different extracts of the Euonymus genus showed remarkable acitvites e.g. anticancerous, insecticidal, antitumor, antidiabetic and antimicrobial activities. Therefore, the safety and efficacy of the extract cannot be fully imitated by individual constituents. The aim of the present review is to summarize the different phytochemical and pharmacological work on the genus together.

Some essential basics, mechanisms and properties in the chemistry of cyanine dyes are reviewed, explained and/or illustrated in the paper. This involves and/or covers the generic structure of cyanine dyes, mesomeric structures of cyanine dyes, charge of the dye unit, quaternary salts used in the preparation of cyanine dyes, mechanism of styryl cyanine dyes, mechanism of aza-styryl cyanine dyes, mechanism of acyclic merocyanine dyes, mechanism of cyclic merocyanine dyes, mechanism of aromatic squarylium cyanine dyes, mechanism of heterocyclic squarylium cyanine dyes, acid-base properties of cyanine dyes, determination of the pKa values of cyanine dyes, solvatochromism, general and specific solvent effects, mixed solvent effects, advantages of cyanine dyes and disadvantages of cyanine dyes. In addition, in the introduction section of this review article some light is shed on the uses and applications of cyanine dyes.

In this paper, the basic information, fundamental understanding, principles and/or knowledge of color, dyes and pigments chemistry via multi choice questions and their answers have been reviewed. More than two hundred multi choice questions and their answers have been represented in this paper review. The paper includes topics like, the relation between color and constitution and/or Witt's theory, fibers, nomenclature of dyes, definitions for dyes and pigments, types of dye binding to the fibers and other definitions and vital information in color, dyes and pigments chemistry. The paper also involves synthesis, properties, classifications and uses of many aromatic and/or heterocyclic dyes. Such dyes, like nitro dyes, nitroso dyes, azo dyes, diarylmethane dyes, triarylmethane dyes, anthraquinone dyes, cyanine dyes, azine dyes, phthaleine dyes, rehodamine dyes and indigoid dyes. Reviewing the basics, fundamental principles and/or the understanding of color, dyes and pigments chemistry via multi choice questions and their answers are considered a new and/or novel idea of reviewing which have not mentioned in the literature before.

Aripiprazole is the first next generation atypical antypsychotic drug destined for treatment of schizophrenia. Originally discovered by Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., the compound was jointly developed by Otsuka and Bristol Myers Squibb and was first marketed in the USA in 2002 under the trade name Abilify. The value of sales of Abilify preparations in the world in the years 2009 and 2010 was 6522.94 and 6742.51 million USD, which provided the aripiprazole, manufactured by Otsuka company, third and second place respectively in the Top50 list of drugs acting on the central nervous system. This review presents the currently known methods of aripiprazole manufacturing, both from the point of view of its synthesis and the possibility of formation of polymorphs, solvates, salts, co-crystals and amorphous solids.

Bisbenzimidazoles, have shown various biological activities viz. antineoplastic, anti-tumor, anti-fungal, anti-inflammatory, hypoglycemia treatment and physiological disorders, besides other pharmacological effects. Structural modifications of the benzimidazole nucleus are being carried out in several ways in order to anticipate enhanced biological activities. The synthesis of bis-benzimidazoles is one such attempt, where the two benzimidazole nuclei are united together using a variety of linkers and points of linkages. These structural permutations and combinations have given a large number of available bisbenzimidazole compounds for pharmacological and biological research. A number of reviews have been published over the past decade on the compilation of the biological activities of bisbenzimidazoles. However, we could not locate any report covering the general strategies followed for the synthesis of these compounds. The present review provides an in depth view of synthetic routes for preparation of symmetric bisbenzimidazoles.

Benzimidazole (benzimidazolone) template certainly deserves the title of “privileged scaffold” in antiviral drug research field because of the versatility and potential to yield derivatives with a wide range of antiviral activity, such as anti-HIV, anti-HCV, anti-HBV, anti-HCMV, anti-RSV and anti-rhino/enteroviruses activities, etc. These different biological properties of benzimidazole (benzimidazolone) derivatives have motivated new studies in searching for novel derivatives with improved activity and also other applications in pharmaceutical field. No systematic review is available in the literature on the benzimidazole (benzimidazolone) derivatives concerning the design of potent antiviral inhibitors. Owing to the importance of this heterocyclic system, the aim of this review is to present the main aspects of exploring antiviral properties, such as the structural modifications, the structure-activity relationship (SAR), making an effort to highlight the importance and therapeutic potentials of the benzimidazole (one) scaffold in the present antiviral agents.

Ascorbigen (2-C-(3-indolyl)-methyl-α-L-xylo-hex-3-ulofuranosono-1,4-lactone, 1) is a breakdown product of glucobrassicins found in cruciferous vegetables, such as cabbage, cauliflower, Brussel sprouts, or broccoli, formed by direct C-alkylation of ascorbic acid (vitamin C) by (3-indolyl)-methyl intermediates under physiological conditions. It is a labile compound, and direct synthesis approaches are hampered by the oxidative instability of the indol moiety and ring transformations of the ascorbyl part. The latter have also impeded ascorbigen analytics for decades, and only recently different ascorbigens have been shown to represent mixtures of compounds rather than individual ascorbigen-type compounds. Following a review of pertinent literature, timely aspects of ascorbigen chemistry, including the most recent synthesis approaches and in-depth characterization of the compound, are presented.

A brief overview is presented of major aspects of synthesis, analysis, activity and application of boron analogues and derivatives of biologically active compounds, structurally based on nucleoside/nucleotide skeleton. Comprehensive information on rare boron analogues of nucleic acid bases is also included.

Rearrangement of some anthranilic acid esters, thioesters or amides under particularly acidic conditions gives derivatives of 2- aryl-3-substituted-quinolinon-4(1H)-ones. The reaction represents undoubtely the most efficient method for the preparation of derivatives bearing hydroxy and amino group at position 3. Furthermore, the target compounds comprise organic molecules with very interesting biological properties that have been reviewed quite recently. This mini-review summarizes information about limits and scopes of the unprecedent reaction that became extremely useful and revolutionary in area of flavonoids analogues research.

The potential of higher plants as a source of new drugs is still largely unexplored. Among the estimated 2.5-5 lakh plant species, only a small percentage has been investigated phytochemically and the fraction submitted to biological or pharmacological screening is even smaller. Cumulative studies have revealed that lauraceous plants, particularly those of the Litsea, Neolitsea, Phoebe, Cryptocarya, and Dehaasia genera contain various types of isoquinoline alkaloids. Besides this, other components such as lactonic compounds and flavonoid glycosides were reported in certain lauraceous species. To further clarify the application of chemotaxonomy in this family, a more thorough investigation on other genera is required, especially for those rarely studied ones, such as Alseodaphne. The genus Alseodaphne is a member of family Lauraceae. It is distributed in tropical belt of India, Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar and Philippines. Although, efforts have been made by researchers to explore this genus, but, very less number of the species have been explored. The genus contains a wide class of alkaloids and lactones, some of which could be of great biological importance. The present review is an attempt to highlight various phytochemical and pharmacological reports on the genus Alseodaphne, to draw the attention of the researchers towards versatility of the genus.