Sequential functionalisation of 2-aryl-4-chloro-3-iodoquinolines via palladium-catalysed cross-coupling with phenylboronic acid followed by displacement of the 4-chloro atom from the resulting 2,3-diaryl-4-chloroquinolines with methoxide ion yielded 2,3-diaryl-4-methoxyquinolines. The latter were also prepared via Suzuki-Miyaura crosscoupling of 2-aryl-3-iodo-4-methoxyquinolines with phenylboronic acid. Demethylation of the methoxy compounds (BBr 3 ) gave the 2,3-diaryl-4(1H)-quinolinones.

Molecular iodine has established itself as a readily available and easy-to-handle electrophilic and oxidizing reagent used in various organic transformations. In this review attention is focused on the use of molecular iodine in promoting cyclization (iodocyclization and cyclodehydroiodination) of tethered heteroatom-containing alkenyl or alkynyl systems.

The C-3 brominated and iodinated derivatives were prepared from the corresponding 2-arylquinolin-4(1H)-ones and their NMe-4-oxo derivatives using pyridinium tribromide in acetic acid or iodine-Na 2 CO 3 mixture in THF. The results of further studies of chemical transformation of the prepared α-haloenones and preliminary antitumour activity of the 3-bromo NH-4-oxo and NMe-4-oxo derivatives are also described.

A series of 2-arylbenzo[c]furan-chalcone hybrids 3a–y have been synthesized and evaluated for antiproliferative effects against the human breast cancer (MCF-7) cell line and for its potential to induce apoptosis and also to inhibit tubulin polymerization and/or epidermal growth factor receptor-tyrosine kinase (EGFR-TK) phosphorylation. Most of these compounds exhibited moderate to significant antigrowth effects in vitro against the MCF-7 cell line when compared to the reference standard actinomycin D. The capabilities of the most cytotoxic benzofuran-chalcone hybrids 3b and 3i, to induce apoptosis, have been evaluated by Annexin V-Cy3 SYTOX staining and caspase-3 activation. The experimental and molecular docking results suggest that the title compounds have the potential to exhibit inhibitory effects against tubulin polymerization and epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase (EGFR-TK) phosphorylation. The modeled structures of representative compounds displayed hydrophobic interactions as well as hydrogen and/or halogen bonding with the protein residues. These interactions are probably responsible for the observed increased binding affinity for the two receptors and their significant antigrowth effect against the MCF-7 cell line.

alpha-Allylcyclohexane-1,3-diones undergo one-pot iodine-methanol promoted iodocyclization and oxidative aromatization to afford variously substituted 2-iodomethyltetrahydrobenzofuran-4-ones (minor) and 2-iodomethyl-4-methoxydihydrobenzofuran derivatives (major). On the other hand, the alpha-allyl-1,3-cyclohexanediones react with pyridinium hydrobromide perbromide in dichloromethane to afford mixtures of 2-bromomethyltetrahydrobenzofuran-4-ones (major) and 3-bromomethyltetrahydrobenzopyran-5-ones (minor). The prepared products and their derivatives were characterized using a combination of NMR, FT-IR and mass spectroscopic techniques.

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A series of 2-aryl-3-hydroxy-6-iodo-4H-chromen-4-ones substituted at the 7-position with a halogen atom (X = F, Cl and Br) or methoxy group and their corresponding 4-substituted 2-hydroxy-5-iodochalcone precursors were evaluated in vitro for inhibitory effect against acetylcholinesterase (AChE), butyrylcholinesterase (BChE) and β-secretase (BACE1) activities. Although moderate inhibitory effect was observed for the chalcones against AChE, derivatives 2h, 2j and 2n exhibited significant inhibitory effect against BChE and BACE-1. The 2-aryl-7-fluoro-8-iodoflavonols 3b and 3c, on the other hand, exhibited increased activity and selectivity against AChE and reduced effect on BACE-1. The flavonols 3h, 3i, 3k, 3l and 3p exhibited moderate inhibitory effect against AChE, but significant inhibition against BChE. Compounds 2j and 3l exhibited non-competitive mode of inhibition against BACE-1. Molecular docking predicted strong interactions with the protein residues in the active site of BACE-1 implying these compounds bind with the substrate. Similarly docking studies predicted interaction of the most active compounds with both CAS and PAS of either AChE or BChE with mixed type of enzyme inhibition confirmed by kinetic studies.

Prompted by the scant attention paid by published literature reviews to the applications of molecular iodine in oxidative aromatization reactions, we decided to review methods developed to-date involving iodine as an oxidant to promote aromatization of α,β-unsaturated cyclic compounds.