No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

Anthraquinone-xanthone heterodimeric natural products are a diverse family of polyketides highlighted by a unique bicyclo [3.2.2] ring system which links both anthraquinone and xanthone moieties. Both the connectivity of the unique bicyclic ring system and the oxidation state of the two heterocycles vary among the members of this family of natural products. These molecules have been generally isolated as fungal metabolites but also have shown anticoccidial (xanthoquinodin A:0.02 μg/mL), antibiotic (acremonidins A and C; 32 μM and acremoxanthone, MIC; 12.5 μg/mL), and cytotoxicity against various human cancer cell lines. Both anthraquinone and xanthone heterocycles are derived from the anthraquinone chrysophanol, a common biosynthetic intermediate for polyketide synthesis. To date, there have been no reported synthetic efforts or total syntheses of the anthraquinone-xanthone heterodimeric natural products. Related synthetic examples include complex anthraquinone-xanthone biaryls, anthraquinone dimers, and monomeric xanthone and benzophenone-derived natural products. We describe an initial proposed synthesis wherein we aimed to prepare the unique bicyclo [3.2.2] ring system in a late stage operation of functionalized anthraquinone and xanthone units through a photo-mediated cycloaddition. We achieved synthesis of both an anthraquinone-derived oxanthrone ester fragment and the synthesis of several xanthone related natural products, namely graphisin A, sydowinin B, acremonidin E, and pinselin. Key steps involve aryl anion addition to substituted benzaldehyde derivatives, subsequent methyl ester installation, and dehydrative cyclization. Although we have not yet achieved the desired cycloaddition, we contributed to this area by developing efficient, reliable syntheses of various benzophenone and xanthone natural products. We will also describe an alternative strategy to access the bicyclo [3.2.2] core of these natural products via various proposed rearrangements of an anthraquinone-xanthone biaryl intermediate. Cross-coupling of substituted xanthone and naphthalene fragments established the desired biaryl linkage which was further elaborated to afford anthraquinone-xanthone biaryl structures. Attempts to rearrange these biaryls are ongoing to produce the unique core structure of the parent natural products. Initially discovered as a byproduct of the aforementioned cross-coupling reaction, we have achieved homo-coupling of substituted naphthalene fragments. The resulting naphthalene dimers could be further advanced to a series of novel 2,2'-linked anthraquinone dimers including the natural product chrysotalunin.

No / Chloroethylaminoanthraquinones are described with intercalating and alkylating capacity that potentially covalently cross-link topoisomerase II (topo II) to DNA. These compounds have potent cytotoxic activity (IC(50) = 0.9-7.6 nM) against the A2780 human ovarian carcinoma cell line. Hydroxyethylaminoanthraquinones also reported in this paper have similar IC(50) values (0.7-1.7 nM) in the same cell line. Alchemix (ZP281M, 1-(2-[N,N-bis(2-chloroethyl)amino]ethylamino)-4-(2-[N,N-(dimethyl)amino]ethylamino)-5,8-dihydroxy-9,10-anthracenedione), an alkylating anthraquinone, retains excellent antitumor activity in Adriamycin-resistant (2780AD) and cisplatin-resistant (2780/cp70) cell lines in vitro and in vivo. This indicates that Alchemix can evade both P-glycoprotein efflux pump and DNA mismatch repair-mediated resistance. In treated cells, Alchemix was shown to preferentially induce drug-stabilized covalent bound topo IIalpha-DNA complexes over topo IIbeta-DNA complexes.

Synthesizing bioactive small molecules by structural modification of 1,4-naphthoquinone was the primary goal of this research. Several bioactive compounds with anticancer, antifungal, and antibacterial activities were synthesized. All the synthetic protocols were optimized in such ways that do not require cumbersome purification. First, a new protocol for the synthesis of NQM111 was developed. NQM111 is a highly potent anticancer agent developed in our laboratory, but the old protocol does not provide enough quantity for in vivo study. Therefore, a new safe and improved method was developed which provides enough quantity for in vivo study. The second project involves the synthesis of 1,4-naphthoquinone conjugated with an aromatic group. These compounds are a highly potent anticancer agent with ~8-fold selectivity towards cancer cell lines than the non-cancer cell line. A mode of action study of this compound was identified, and it was observed that these compounds generate reactive oxygen species,which triggers apoptosis. The final project involves the synthesis of 1,4-naphthoquinone based antifungal, and antibacterial compounds. These compounds are multi-cationic in nature with a hydrophobic tail. Six different analogs with varying hydrophobic tails were synthesized and tested for their antibacterial and antifungal activity. These compounds showed excellent activity against wide range of fungi including resistant strains.

In this research the environmental effects related to the position of a redox moiety with the electrochemical double layer were studied. This project was made possible with the synthesis of a series of lengths of ferrocene derived alkanethiols, a series of lengths of ferrocene derived norbornylogous bridges and a series of lengths of anthraquinone derived norbornylogous bridges. The series of ferrocene derived alkanethiols were used to study the effect of gradually varying the polarity of the self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) surface on the standard electron transfer rate constant and formal potential. This was achieved by varying the portion of hydroxyl to methyl terminated alkanethiol diluent in the SAM preparation step. It was found that the formal potential increased with a decreasing proportion of hydroxyl terminated diluent and increasing length of the diluent. For pure hydroxyl terminated diluent the formal potential was relatively independent of length. It was found that the rate constant increased for short alkane chain lengths with decreasing proportion of hydroxyl terminated diluent. However, it decreased in magnitude with long alkane chain lengths for low proportions of hydroxyl terminated diluent. The norbornylogous bridges were shown to stand proud above the diluent with a similar tilt angle as the alkanethiol diluent. The ferrocene derived norbornylogous bridges showed hydroxyl terminated monolayers had a slower rate constant then methyl terminated diluents independent of length and that it is highly probable that an alkane bridged redox moiety is located very close to the surface of the monolayer. SAMs were created with the ferrocene of the ferrocene derived norbornylogous bridges located at various heights above the monolayers surface. This was done by using various lengths of hydroxyl terminated diluent. It was found that the rate constant and the formal potential decreased with height above the surface. Interfacial potential distribution was used to account for this and to estimate a ??true?? formal potential. The anthraquinone derived norbornylogous bridges were tested at various pH values and heights above the surface. It was found that an accurate estimate for the electron transfer mechanism can not be made for surface bound species due to the effects of interfacial potential distribution. They demonstrated a novel technique for estimating the point of zero charge of the electrode.