An efficient method for the synthesis of copillar[5]arenes was developed with FeCl(3) as catalyst and different 1,4-dialkoxybenzenes and paraformaldehyde as reactants (yields: 50-85%). The host-guest property of (co)pillar[5]arenes and terminal dibromoalkanes was investigated by (1)H NMR measurements and an X-ray study. The complexation behavior of the copillar[5]arenes can be tuned by changing the substituents on the host. A complete complexation selectivity was found between pillar[5]- and pillar[6]arenes, which is an interesting aspect for sensor techniques.
Two novel copillar[5]arenes bearing ω-hydroxyalkoxy groups are synthesized and their self-assembly properties are studied by (1)H NMR spectroscopy, specific viscosity, and X-ray measurements. The copillar[5]arene 2b bearing a 6-hydroxyhexyloxy group exhibits a reversible self-assembly behavior, leading to the formation of the self-inclusion monomer and hugging dimers. The reversible self-assembly behavior can be controlled by tuning solvent, temperature, guest, and H-bond interaction. However, the copillar[5]arene 2a bearing a short 4-hydroxybutyloxy group does not show such a self-assembly behavior to the formation of the self-inclusion monomer and hugging dimers.
Drug delivery systems have good biocompatibiliy and low side effects for cancer treatment, but overcoming high efficiency of drug-loading and the drug-targeting controlled release still remains challenging. In this work, supramolecular vesicles, with pH-triggering effect, have been successfully constructed for drug delivery, which are fabricated by the complexation between a cationic pillar[5]arene (DAWP5) and a sodium dodecyl sulfonate (SDS) in aqueous solution. Drug-loading and releasing results demonstrated that anticancer drug doxorubicin (DOX) could be loaded efficiently by such cationic vesicles in neutral condition, and the drug release could be controlled in the simulated weak acid environment of tumor cells. Moreover, the vesicles had low cytotoxicity to normal human cell (L02), while the DOX-loaded vesicles could significantly enhance the cytotoxicity of free DOX for normal cell L02 and four tested tumor cells (Hela, HepG2, MGC-803 and T24). Especially for HepG2, after 24 h incubation time, IC50 of DOX-loaded vesicles was only 0.79 μM, about 23% of that of DOX (3.43 μM). These results suggested that such novel vesicles have promising potential to construct nano-drug delivery systems for various biomedical applications.
In an attempt to search for new natural products-based antifungal agents, a series of novel dehydroabietic acid derivatives bearing a 1,3,4-thiadiazole-thiazolidinone moiety were designed and synthesized. The primary bioassay used showed that at a concentration of [Formula: see text], the target compounds 3c, 3f, and 3n exhibited excellent antifungal activity (91.3 % inhibition) against Gibberella zeae, which was equivalent to the commercial antifungal drug azoxystrobin (positive control).
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