Erande, Rohan Diliprao

New therapeutic leads are in global demand against multiple drug-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, as presently there is no drug of choice left to treat this pathogen. In the present work, we have designed, synthesized, and in vitro validated dimedone-coupled 2,3-dihydrofuran (DDHF)-based inhibitor scaffolds against Staphylococcal thioredoxin reductase (SaTR), a pivotal drug target enzyme of Gram-positive pathogens. Accordingly, a green multicomponent method that is both efficient and one pot has been optimized to synthesize DDHF derivatives. The synthesized DDHF derivatives were found to inhibit a purified SaTR enzyme. The best inhibitor derivative, DDHF20, inhibits SaTR as a competitive inhibitor for the NADPH binding site at low micromolar concentrations. DDHF20-capped silver nanoparticles are synthesized and characterized, and their bactericidal property has been checked in vitro. Furthermore, detailed in silico-based structure-guided functional studies have been carried out to uncover the plausible mode of action of DDHF20 as a potential anti-Staphylococcal therapeutic lead.

Reduction of aldehydes to alcohols is a fundamental organic transformation, typically achieved through metal-catalyzed reductions or by the use of hydride-based reagents. However, these conventional methods often go through harsh conditions with expensive catalysts and additional reductants, limiting their broader applications. In this study, for the first time we introduce an efficient, metal-free reduction strategy using triphenylphosphine (PPh3) and KOtBu in MeOH. This method exhibits broad functional group tolerance, mild environment and selectivity in reducing aldehydes even in the presence of other reactive functionalities (NO2, CN, ketone, etc.). Key features highlight this novel approach with practicality, scalability to gram scales and excellent yields for the reduction of varied aldehydes to alcohols (30 examples; 65–95 % Yields).

We report here a cascade synthetic approach to prepare 3,3′-bis(indolyl)methanes (BIMs) and analogues from single reactant 1H-indole-3-carbaldehydes under the reductive condition using NaBH4. Uniformly, in another strategy, 1H-indole-3-carbaldehydes produced BIMs as a cascade product under Grignard reaction conditions. This is the first application of organometallic and reductive nucleophilic condition, where indole-3-carbaldehydes underwent NaBH4 reduction/ methyl Grignard addition to form 1°/2° alcohol followed by elimination and subsequent addition of another molecule of indole aldehyde provided symmetric BIMs as unambiguous cascade products (22 analogues) in good to excellent yields.

An efficient Cu(OTf)2-catalyzed [3 + 2] cycloaddition of indole-3-acrylate with p-benzoquinone has been developed to construct two distinct indole-tethered benzofuran scaffolds, offering the first-ever selective access to these scaffolds. Moreover, the [4 + 2] cycloaddition reaction of indole-3-acrylate with vinyl ketone derivatives was used to synthesize carbazoles in a one-pot manner. The disclosed strategies provided a series of selective transformations under low-catalyst loading, with a broad substrate scope featuring diverse applicability and practical simplicity of the developed protocol with easily available substrates.

Metal-catalyzed oxidative cleavage of unsaturated carbon–carbon bond is among the utmost valuable chemical transformations in synthetic organic chemistry. However, the direct transformation of cinnamate to benzoate remains an unsolved task in the series. Herein, we have developed an unprecedented one-pot strategy for the direct transformation of cinnamate esters to aromatic ester using V-catalyst [(L2)VIVO](ClO4) and green oxidant H2O2 in alcohol-reflux condition. The reaction on cinnamate proceeded via C[dbnd]C bond breaking to generate aldehyde intermediate, followed by oxidative esterification to yield two carbon less aromatic esters in 52–95% yields. Further, experimental and DFT studies confirmed the mechanism and in-situ aldehyde formation which consequently supported to the developed protocol.