113296-80-3Relevant academic research and scientific papers
One-pot α-amidosulfone-mediated variation of the pictet-Spengler tetrahydroisoquinoline synthesis, suitable for amide-type substrates
Arroyo, Francisco J.,López-Alvarado, Pilar,Ganesan,Menéndez, J. Carlos
supporting information, p. 5720 - 5727 (2014/11/07)
The development of Pictet-Spengler reactions from amide substrates is a challenging problem. We report here that the reaction between amide-type compounds (including carbamates, amides, ureas and diketopiperazines), aldehydes and p-toluenesulfinic acid constitutes an efficient method for the preparation of tetrahydroisoquinolines or pyrazino-[2,1-b]isoquinolines. Unlike previously known methods, this one-pot Pictet-Spengler protocol avoids the need for strong Lewis or Br?nsted acid catalysts.
Discovery of a class of diketopiperazines as antiprion compounds
Bolognesi, Maria Laura,Tran, Hoang Ngoc Ai,Staderini, Matteo,Monaco, Alessandra,Lopez-Cobeas, Alberto,Bongarzone, Salvatore,Biarnes, Xevi,Lopez-Alvarado, Pilar,Cabezas, Nieves,Caramelli, Maria,Carloni, Paolo,Menendez, J. Carlos,Legname, Giuseppe
experimental part, p. 1324 - 1334 (2011/01/04)
Prion diseases are fatal neurodegenerative and infectious disorders for which effective pharmacological tools are not yet available. This unmet challenge and the recently proposed interplay between prion diseases and Alzheimer's have led to a more urgent demand for new antiprion agents. Herein, we report the identification of a novel bifunctional diketopiperazine (DKP) derivative 1d, which exhibits activity in the low micromolar range against prion replication in ScGT1 cells, while showing low cytotoxicity. Supported by properly addressed molecular modeling studies, we hypothesized that a planar conformation is the major determinant for activity in this class of compounds. Moreover, studies aimed at assessing the mechanism-of-action at the molecular level showed that 1d might interact directly with recombinant prion protein (recPrP) to prevent its conversion to the pathogenic misfolded prion protein (PrPSc)-like form. This investigation suggests that DKP based antiprion compounds can serve as a promising lead scaffold in developing new drugs to combat prion diseases.
