Structural reassignment of compound 968, an allosteric glutaminase inhibitor

• Lindsey A. Albertelli,
• Sainabou Jallow,
• Chun Li and
• Scott M. Ulrich

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2026, 22, 455–460, doi:10.3762/bjoc.22.33

• anticancer drug target. Compound 968 is a glutaminase inhibitor that is widely used to probe cancer cells’ dependence on glutaminase activity. Here, we show by NMR spectroscopy and X-ray crystallography that the reported benzo[c]phenanthridine structure of compound 968 is incorrect; its true structure is the

Synthesis and anti-cancer activity of naphthalimide–organylselanyl conjugates

• Rajkumar Ravi and
• Selvakumar Karuthapandi

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2026, 22, 416–435, doi:10.3762/bjoc.22.29

• epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) in which erlotinib, a well-known anticancer drug, binds. Keywords: cell line study; density functional theory; MDA-MB-231; molecular docking; organoselanyl conjugates; Introduction Cancer remains one of the most common and life-threatening diseases globally, posing

• minutes of incubation, absorbance at a wavelength of 590 nm was measured using a microplate reader. Representative structures of organoselenium compounds and naphthalimide derivatives are reported as anticancer drug molecules. a) ORTEP diagram of compound 7 with thermal ellipsoids drawn at the 50

Synthesis and characterization of a isothiouronium-calix[4]arene derivative: self-assembly and anticancer activity

• Giuseppe Granata,
• Loredana Ferreri,
• Claudia Giovanna Leotta,
• Giovanni Mario Pitari and
• Grazia Maria Letizia Consoli

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2535–2541, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.195

• and precise than current treatments. Numerous multivalent constructs have been reported in literature, both as compounds with intrinsic anticancer activity [4] and nanocarriers for anticancer drug delivery [5][6]. In the development of multivalent compounds, macrocyclic scaffolds such as cyclodextrins

• ][26]. A variety of calixarene-based nanoconstructs have been reported, including nanosystems with light-triggered anticancer activity [27], potential anticancer vaccine candidates [28], and nanocarriers for anticancer drug delivery [29][30][31][32][33]. Numerous bioactive groups have been introduced

Discovery of cytotoxic indolo[1,2-c]quinazoline derivatives through scaffold-based design

• Daniil V. Khabarov,
• Valeria A. Litvinova,
• Lyubov G. Dezhenkova,
• Dmitry N. Kaluzhny,
• Alexander S. Tikhomirov and
• Andrey E. Shchekotikhin

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2062–2071, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.161

• results suggest that DNA is not the primary biological target of most derivatives in this series. Importantly, this is the first study to demonstrate the antitumor potential of indolo[1,2-c]quinazoline derivatives. These findings establish this chemotype as a promising scaffold for anticancer drug

Synthesis, biological and electrochemical evaluation of glycidyl esters of phosphorus acids as potential anticancer drugs

• Almaz A. Zagidullin,
• Emil R. Bulatov,
• Mikhail N. Khrizanforov,
• Damir R. Davletshin,
• Elvina M. Gilyazova,
• Ivan A. Strelkov and
• Vasily A. Miluykov

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1909–1916, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.148

• . These findings provide important insights into the synthesis, cytotoxic activity, and biochemical reactivity of glycidyl esters of phosphorus acids, underscoring their potential as lead structures for further development in anticancer drug discovery and pharmaceutical research. Keywords: alkylating

Research progress on calixarene/pillararene-based controlled drug release systems

• Liu-Huan Yi,
• Jian Qin,
• Si-Ran Lu,
• Liu-Pan Yang,
• Li-Li Wang and
• Huan Yao

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1757–1785, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.139

• cyclodextrins in terms of controllable functionalization [61]. In clinical applications, particularly for anticancer drug conjugation, CAs demonstrate remarkable cancer cell selectivity, minimized off-target effects, enhanced delivery efficiency, and reduced systemic toxicity. Additionally, their synthetic

• , typically featuring shared membrane interfaces or segregated internal spaces. They subsequently loaded the anticancer drug DOX into the vesicle. The formation mechanism benefits from the rigid conical structure of C4AS, which significantly reduces the critical aggregation concentration of MVC12 by 1000

• the anticancer drug DOX. Both the acidic microenvironment at the tumor site and photothermal effects can induce the release of DOX. DOX delivered by these vesicles, in combination with NIR light irradiation, can significantly suppress tumor growth. Wang and colleagues [107] designed a supramolecular

Synthesis, structure, ionochromic and cytotoxic properties of new 2-(indolin-2-yl)-1,3-tropolones

• Yurii A. Sayapin,
• Eugeny A. Gusakov,
• Inna O. Tupaeva,
• Alexander D. Dubonosov,
• Igor V. Dorogan,
• Valery V. Tkachev,
• Anna S. Goncharova,
• Gennady V. Shilov,
• Natalia S. Kuznetsova,
• Svetlana Y. Filippova,
• Tatyana A. Krasnikova,
• Yanis A. Boumber,
• Alexey Y. Maksimov,
• Sergey M. Aldoshin and
• Vladimir I. Minkin

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 358–368, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.26

• cell culture, at which the number of live cells was reduced by 50%, was 0.172 ± 0.029 μM. For the H1299 culture, this value was 2.18 ± 0.7 μM. In comparison, the IC50 value of the standard anticancer drug cisplatin at 24 hour incubation is 137 ± 12 μM for the A431 culture [31] and 34.9 μM for the H1299

Synthesis of the 1,5-disubstituted tetrazole-methanesulfonylindole hybrid system via high-order multicomponent reaction

• Cesia M. Aguilar-Morales,
• América A. Frías-López,
• Nadia V. Emilio-Velázquez,
• Alejandro Islas-Jácome,
• Angelica Judith Granados-López,
• Jorge Gustavo Araujo-Huitrado,
• Yamilé López-Hernández,
• Hiram Hernández-López,
• Luis Chacón-García,
• Jesús Adrián López and
• Carlos J. Cortés-García

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 3077–3084, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.256

• potential in anticancer drug design. However, it should be taken into account that the sulfonyl group can radically change the pharmacokinetic properties of a drug, so the effect it may have on its ADMET properties should be determined in an additional study. Conclusion A novel synthetic strategy has been

Synthesis of benzo[f]quinazoline-1,3(2H,4H)-diones

• Ruben Manuel Figueira de Abreu,
• Peter Ehlers and
• Peter Langer

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2708–2719, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.228

• several drugs that are still important and often used. Examples include 5-fluorouracil and brivudine. 5-Fluoruracil is an important anticancer drug, while brivudine is considered to be one of the most effective antiviral drugs against the HSV-1 virus [4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18

O,S,Se-containing Biginelli products based on cyclic β-ketosulfone and their postfunctionalization

• Kateryna V. Dil and
• Vitalii A. Palchykov

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2143–2151, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.184

• regioselectivity to give diverse DHPMs in reasonable yields up to 95%. Moreover, an SO2-containing analogue of anticancer drug-candidate enastron (SO2 vs C=O) was obtained by using the here reported method in gram scale. We also demonstrate the reactivity of the Biginelli product in various directions – synthesis

• Supporting Information File 1). Next, we paid attention to testing the conditions we developed for the synthesis of the SO2-containing analogue 2r of potent anticancer drug enastron in gram scale (Scheme 3). Enastron is a novel dihydropyrimidine-based mitotic kinesin spindle protein KSP/Eg5 inhibitor [36

• -4,6,7,8-tetrahydro-1H-thiopyrano[3,2-d]pyrimidine-2(3H)-one/thione/selenone 5,5-dioxides and some of their derivatives. Furthermore, this methodology was successfully applied for the synthesis of the SO2-containing analogue of the anticancer drug-candidate enastron (SO2 vs C=O), and we believe a multitude

Generation of multimillion chemical space based on the parallel Groebke–Blackburn–Bienaymé reaction

• Evgen V. Govor,
• Vasyl Naumchyk,
• Ihor Nestorak,
• Dmytro S. Radchenko,
• Dmytro Dudenko,
• Yurii S. Moroz,
• Olexiy D. Kachkovsky and
• Oleksandr O. Grygorenko

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1604–1613, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.143

• can be considered as privileged chemotypes in drug discovery: their representatives include the sedative drug zolpidem, disease-modifying antirheumatic agent upadacitinib, anticancer drug capmatinib, or risdiplam, a medication for spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) treatment (Figure 1) [22][23]. Over the

The Ugi4CR as effective tool to access promising anticancer isatin-based α-acetamide carboxamide oxindole hybrids

• Carolina S. Marques,
• Aday González-Bakker and
• José M. Padrón

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1213–1220, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.104

• urgent need to find novel, effective and safe drugs for cancer therapy. Recently, focusing on the design of more potent anticancer drug candidates using more sustainable synthetic processes, we report a new Ugi four-component reaction approach for easy access to Ugi-derived isatin-peptoids in moderate to

• and Figure 2). Like the oxindole scaffold, 1,2,3-triazole is also considered a privileged unit in drug discovery since compounds having this structure have a broad spectrum of biological activities, and have been widely used to create anticancer drug candidates [24][25]. The copper-catalyzed azide

• . The half-maximal growth inhibitory concentration (GI50) values after 48 hours of exposure were calculated for each compound (Table S1, Supporting Information File 1). The standard anticancer drug cisplatin (CDDP) was used as positive control. The results are viewed as GI50 range plot (Figure 3). The

Synthesis of 1,4-azaphosphinine nucleosides and evaluation as inhibitors of human cytidine deaminase and APOBEC3A

• Maksim V. Kvach,
• Stefan Harjes,
• Harikrishnan M. Kurup,
• Geoffrey B. Jameson,
• Elena Harjes and
• Vyacheslav V. Filichev

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1088–1098, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.96

• . Recently, a combination of the CDA inhibitor (4R)-2′-deoxy-2′,2′-difluoro-3,4,5,6-tetrahydrouridine (cedazuridine, Ib, Figure 1B) with the anticancer drug decitabine was approved as an oral pill (i.e., C-DEC or ASTX727) for the treatment of patients with intermediate or high-risk myelodysplastic syndrome

(Bio)isosteres of ortho- and meta-substituted benzenes

• H. Erik Diepers and
• Johannes C. L. Walker

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 859–890, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.78

• -2 (both 189 and iso-189 were obtained and investigated as a mixture of four diastereomers). Comparative physicochemical data of the anticancer drug sonidegib and its 1,3-cuneane isostere 190 was reported by Lam and co-workers (Figure 27) [71]. Unfortunately, in this case, isosteric replacement of

Synthesis of ether lipids: natural compounds and analogues

• Marco Antônio G. B. Gomes,
• Alicia Bauduin,
• Chloé Le Roux,
• Romain Fouinneteau,
• Wilfried Berthe,
• Mathieu Berchel,
• Hélène Couthon and
• Paul-Alain Jaffrès

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 1299–1369, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.96

• with the development of edelfosine (an anticancer drug). More recently, ohmline, a glyco glycero ether lipid that modulates selectively SK3 ion channels and reduces in vivo the occurrence of bone metastases, and other glyco glycero ether also identified as GAEL (glycosylated antitumor ether lipids

Insight into oral amphiphilic cyclodextrin nanoparticles for colorectal cancer: comprehensive mathematical model of drug release kinetic studies and antitumoral efficacy in 3D spheroid colon tumors

• Sedat Ünal,
• Gamze Varan,
• Juan M. Benito,
• Yeşim Aktaş and
• Erem Bilensoy

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 139–157, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.14

• using polymeric nanoparticles for anticancer drug delivery have not been developed yet. Previous data showed encapsulation in non-ionic uncoated or coated cyclodextrin (CD) nanoparticles enhanced the CPT stability and GI absorption [9][11], and compared to PCL and PLGA nanoparticles, CD nanoparticles

On drug discovery against infectious diseases and academic medicinal chemistry contributions

• Yves L. Janin

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2022, 18, 1355–1378, doi:10.3762/bjoc.18.141

• combinatorial approach [232][233] appeared to have only led to one anticancer drug [234], major progresses in the design, selection, generation and purification of libraries have since then turned this type of chemistry into a central tool for drug discovery [235][236][237] along with more recent success

• drug vinorelbine (45). This provided in one step vinflunine (46) which, from 2009, became another anticancer drug. Past the historical case of fluoroquinolones [295], many more examples of the possible advantages of introducing fluorine(s) in a drug are provided in recent reviews [289][296]. Another

• [288][289][290][291][292][293]. Moreover, the use/design of new chemical reactions may lead to hard-to-get and original analogues possibly better than the one reported. One example, depicted in Scheme 2, would be the fluorination, under superacid conditions [294], of the highly elaborated anticancer

Synthesis of a new water-soluble hexacarboxylated tribenzotriquinacene derivative and its competitive host–guest interaction for drug delivery

• Man-Ping Li,
• Nan Yang and
• Wen-Rong Xu

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2022, 18, 539–548, doi:10.3762/bjoc.18.56

• larger cavity as compared to TBTQ-C6 due to the introduction of triazole rings. Two anticancer drug molecules, dimethyl viologen (MV) with a smaller size and DOX with a larger size, were selected as model anticancer agents for encapsulation by TBTQ-CB6 to form the host–guest complexes of TBTQ-CB6MV and

Ready access to 7,8-dihydroindolo[2,3-d][1]benzazepine-6(5H)-one scaffold and analogues via early-stage Fischer ring-closure reaction

• Irina Kuznetcova,
• Felix Bacher,
• Daniel Vegh,
• Hsiang-Yu Chuang and
• Vladimir B. Arion

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2022, 18, 143–151, doi:10.3762/bjoc.18.15

• to isomer C and a number of closely related derivatives with modified electronic and steric properties, e.g., bromo-substituted species, backbone with 8-membered azocinone ring, will trigger the design and synthesis of new exciting anticancer drug candidates, including metal-based, by targeting

Post-functionalization of drug-loaded nanoparticles prepared by polymerization-induced self-assembly (PISA) with mitochondria targeting ligands

• Janina-Miriam Noy,
• Fan Chen and
• Martina Stenzel

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 2302–2314, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.148

• methacrylate) (pPEGMA) and the anticancer drug PENAO (4-(N-(S-penicillaminylacetyl)amino)phenylarsenonous acid) or zwitterionic 2-methacryloyloxyethyl phosphorylcholine (MPC) and PENAO were reported. Both PISA particles were reacted with triphenylphosphonium (TPP) as mitochondria targeting units in order to

Constrained thermoresponsive polymers – new insights into fundamentals and applications

• Patricia Flemming,
• Alexander S. Münch,
• Andreas Fery and
• Petra Uhlmann

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 2123–2163, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.138

On the application of 3d metals for C–H activation toward bioactive compounds: The key step for the synthesis of silver bullets

• Renato L. Carvalho,
• Amanda S. de Miranda,
• Mateus P. Nunes,
• Roberto S. Gomes,
• Guilherme A. M. Jardim and
• Eufrânio N. da Silva Júnior

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 1849–1938, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.126

• -epoxynaphthalene as electrophiles. Several 2-alkynylbenzamide products were achieved in good yields, including a derivate of moclobemide (42), a drug used to treat depression and anxiety (Scheme 15C) [122]. It is worth mentioning here that this class of molecules can be used as effective anticancer drug carriers

• [188] described a cobalt-Cp*-catalyzed C–H methylation of several well-known pharmaceuticals, such as diazepam (a commercially available anxiolytic drug [189]), paclitaxel (a commercially available anticancer drug [190]), celecoxib (a commercially available analgesic drug [191]), and rucaparib (a

• commercially available anticancer drug [192]). They achieved the C–H methylation by following two methods (method A or method B, Scheme 36A) and obtained the methylated analogues 107–119 in moderate to very high yields (Scheme 36B and C). Ellman and co-workers described a powerful and interesting three

Amino- and polyaminophthalazin-1(2H)-ones: synthesis, coordination properties, and biological activity

• Zbigniew Malinowski,
• Emilia Fornal,
• Agata Sumara,
• Renata Kontek,
• Karol Bukowski,
• Beata Pasternak,
• Dariusz Sroczyński,
• Joachim Kusz,
• Magdalena Małecka and
• Monika Nowak

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 558–568, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.50

• anticancer drug vatalanib [26][27][28] (Figure 1). On the other hand, aminophthalazinones can be prospective candidates as N- and O-donor ligands to form complexes with biological significant metal ions, such as copper or zinc [29]. Recently, we have demonstrated a strategy for the synthesis of phthalazinone

The preparation and properties of 1,1-difluorocyclopropane derivatives

• Kymbat S. Adekenova,
• Peter B. Wyatt and
• Sergazy M. Adekenov

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 245–272, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.25

One-pot multicomponent green Hantzsch synthesis of 1,2-dihydropyridine derivatives with antiproliferative activity

• Giovanna Bosica,
• Kaylie Demanuele,
• José M. Padrón and
• Adrián Puerta

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2020, 16, 2862–2869, doi:10.3762/bjoc.16.235

• lines, in the low micromolar range. The most active compound was 5e, which exhibited GI50 values in the range of 2.7–5.6 μM. The results obtained are comparable to those of the standard anticancer drug cisplatin (CDDP), which was used as reference drug. Conclusion The one-pot multicomponent Hantzsch