Biphenyl-based compounds are clinically important for the treatments of hypertension and inflammatory, while many more are under development for pharmaceutical uses. In the present study, a series of 2-([1,1'-biphenyl]-4-yl)-2-oxoethyl benzoates, 2(a-q), and 2-([1,1'-biphenyl]-4-yl)-2-oxoethyl pyridinecarboxylate, 2(r-s) were synthesized by reacting 1-([1,1'-biphenyl]-4-yl)-2-bromoethan-1-one with various carboxylic acids using potassium carbonate in dimethylformamide at ambient temperature. Single-crystal X-ray diffraction studies revealed a more closely packed crystal structure can be produced by introduction of biphenyl moiety. Five of the compounds among the reported series exhibited significant anti-tyrosinase activities, in which 2p, 2r and 2s displayed good inhibitions which are comparable to standard inhibitor kojic acid at concentrations of 100 and 250 μg/mL. The inhibitory effects of these active compounds were further confirmed by computational molecular docking studies and the results revealed the primary binding site is active-site entrance instead of inner copper binding site which acted as the secondary binding site.

Adamantyl-based compounds are commercially important in the treatments for neurological conditions and type-2 diabetes, aside from their anti-viral abilities. Their values in drug design are chronicled as multi-dimensional. In the present study, a series of 2-(adamantan-1-yl)-2-oxoethyl benzoates, 2(a-q), and 2-(adamantan-1-yl)-2-oxoethyl 2-pyridinecarboxylate, 2r, were synthesized by reacting 1-adamantyl bromomethyl ketone with various carboxylic acids using potassium carbonate in dimethylformamide medium at room temperature. Three-dimensional structures studied using X-ray diffraction suggest OPEN ACCESSMolecules 2015, 20 18828 that the adamantyl moiety can serve as an efficient building block to synthesize 2-oxopropyl benzoate derivatives with synclinal conformation with a looser-packed crystal packing system . Compounds 2a, 2b, 2f, 2g, 2i, 2j, 2m, 2n, 2o, 2q and 2r exhibit strong antioxidant activities in the hydrogen peroxide radical scavenging test. Furthermore, three compounds, 2p, 2q and 2r, show good anti-inflammatory activities in the evaluation of albumin denaturation.

A new series of 3-O-substituted xanthone derivatives were synthesised and evaluated for their anti-cholinergic activities against acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and butyrylcholinesterase (BChE). The results indicated that the xanthone derivatives possessed good AChE inhibitory activity with eleven of them (5, 8, 11, 17, 19, 21-23, 26-28) exhibited significant effects with the IC 50 values ranged 0.88 to 1.28 mM. The AChE enzyme kinetic study of 3-(4-phenylbutoxy)-9H-xanthen-9-one (23) and ethyl 2-((9-oxo-9H-xanthen-3-yl)oxy)acetate (28) showed a mixed inhibition mechanism. Molecular docking study showed that 23 binds to the active site of AChE and interacts via extensive p-p stacking with the indole and phenol side chains of Trp86 and Tyr337, besides the hydrogen bonding with the hydration site and p-p interaction with the phenol side chain of Y72. This study revealed that 3-O-alkoxyl substituted xanthone derivatives are potential lead structures, especially 23 and 28 which can be further developed into potent AChE inhibitors.

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Adamantyl-based compounds are clinically important for the treatments of type 2 diabetes and for their antiviral abilities, while many more are under development for other pharmaceutical uses. This study focused on the acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and butyrylcholinesterase (BChE) inhibitory activities of adamantyl-based ester derivatives with various substituents on the phenyl ring using Ellman’s colorimetric method. Compound 2e with a 2,4-dichloro electron-withdrawing substituent on the phenyl ring exhibited the strongest inhibition effect against AChE, with an IC50 value of 77.15 µM. Overall, the adamantyl-based ester with the mono-substituent at position 3 of the phenyl ring exhibited good AChE inhibition effects with an ascending order for the substituents: Cl < NO2 < CH3 < OCH3. Furthermore, compounds with electron-withdrawing groups (Cl and NO2) substituted at position 3 on their phenyl rings demonstrated stronger AChE inhibition effects, in comparison to their respective positional isomers. On the other hand, compound 2j with a 3-methoxyphenyl ring showed the highest inhibition effect against BChE, with an IC50 value of 223.30 µM. Molecular docking analyses were conducted for potential AChE and BChE inhibitors, and the results demonstrated that the peripheral anionic sites of target proteins were predominant binding sites for these compounds through hydrogen bonds and halogen interactions instead of hydrophobic interactions in the catalytic active site.

The title phosphanegold(I) thiolate, C26H22AuFNOPS or [Au(C8H7FNOS)(C18H15P)], has the AuI centre coordinated by phosphane-P [2.2494 (8) Å] and thiolate-S [2.3007 (8) Å] atoms to define a close to linear geometry [P—Au—S = 176.10 (3)°]. The thiolate ligand is orientated so that the methoxy-O atom is directed towards the Au atom, forming an Au...O close contact of 2.986 (2) Å. In the crystal, a variety of intermolecular contacts are discerned with fluorobenzene-C—H...O(methoxy) and phenyl-C—H...F interactions leading to dimeric aggregates. These are assembled into a three-dimensional architecture by phenyl-C—H...S(thiolate) and phenyl-C—H...π(fluorobenzene, phenyl) interactions. Accordingly, the analysis of the calculated Hirshfeld surface shows 30.8% of all contacts are of the type C...H/H...C but this is less than the H...H contacts, at 44.9%. Other significant contributions to the surface come from H...F/F...H [8.1%], H...S/S...H [6.9%] and H...O/O...H [3.2%] contacts. Two major stabilization energies have contributions from the phenyl-C—H...π(fluorobenzene) and fluorobenzene-C—H...C(imine) interactions (−37.2 kcal mol−1), and from the fluorobenzene-C—H...F and phenyl-C—H...O interactions (−34.9 kcal mol−1), the latter leading to the dimeric aggregate.

Imidazo[1,2-a]pyridine-based compounds are clinically important to the treatments of heart and circulatory failures, while many are under development for pharmaceutical uses. In this study, a series of imidazo[1,2-a]pyridine-based derivatives 2(a–o) were synthesized by reacting a-haloketones with 2-aminopyridines in a basic media at ambient temperature. Single crystal X-ray diffraction studies suggest that with low degree-of-freedom, the introduction of bulky adamantyl or electron-rich biphenyl moiety into the imidazopyridine derivatives will not affect its structural occupancy. Imidazo[1,2-a]pyridine-based derivatives with biphenyl side chain are potential AChE inhibitors. Compound 2h which bears a biphenyl side chain and methyl substituent at the position R4 of the imidazo[1,2-a]pyridine ring showed the strongest AChE inhibition with an IC50 value of 79 µM. However, imidazo[1,2-a]pyridine derivatives with phenyl side chain exhibit better BChE inhibition effect among the series. Compound 2j with 3,4-dichlorophenyl side chain and unsubstituted imidazo[1,2-a]pyridine ring appears to be the strongest BChE inhibitor with an IC50 value of 65 µM and good selectivity. The inhibitory effects of active compounds were further confirmed by computational molecular docking studies. The results unveiled that peripheral anionic sites of AChE and acyl pocket of BChE were the predominated binding sites for the subjected inhibitors.

The title dammarane triterpenoid, C30H50O4, assigned the name chrysura, was isolated from an ethyl acetate extract of Walsura chrysogyne leaves (Meliaceae). It has 20S*,24S* relative stereochemistry and an oxepanone ring with two methyl groups at position 4. The two cyclo­hexane rings adopt chair conformations. The cyclo­pentane and tetra­hydro­furan rings have envelope conformations; their mean planes make a dihedral angle of 13.1 (3)°, indicating that the rings are only slightly tilted with respect to each other. There is an intra­molecular C—H⋯O hydrogen bond in the mol­ecule, which forms S(6) and S(7) ring motifs. In the crystal, mol­ecules are linked via O—H⋯O and C—H⋯O hydrogen bonds, forming chains propagating along [001] which stack along the b-axis direction.