Furanaphthoquinones are well known in medicinal chemistry for exhibiting relevant structural heterogeneity and bioactivities. In this work, it was synthesized a series of furanaphthoquinones through a tandem reaction between lawsone (8) and cyclic ketones in the presence of morpholine. This strategy provides an efficient and general method for synthesizing furanaphthoquinones with activity against the epimastigote form of Trypanosoma cruzi (T. cruzi), the parasite that causes Chagas disease. Compound 9b was the better prototype, and it exhibited high potency for causing parasite death, showed reduced acute toxicity towards mammalian cells, and was capable of rupturing the epimastigote plasma membrane and acting on sterol 14α-demethylase (CYP51). Additionally, 9b reduced trypomastigote viability by 99% after 24 h. Candidate 9b demonstrated the best and most promising profile when bound to CYP51.

ABSTRACT This study presents the bioreduction of six β-ketoesters by whole cells of Kluyveromyces marxianus and molecular investigation of a series of 13 β-ketoesters by hologram quantitative structure-activity relationship (HQSAR) in order to relate with conversion and enantiomeric excess of β-stereogenic-hydroxyesters obtained by the same methodology. Four of these were obtained as (R)-configuration and two (S)-configuration, among them four compounds exhibited >99% enantiomeric excess. The β-ketoesters series LUMO maps showed that the β-carbon of the ketoester scaffold are exposed to undergo nucleophilic attack, suggesting a more favorable β-carbon side to enzymatic reduction based on adopted molecular conformation at the reaction moment. The HQSAR method was performed on the β-ketoesters derivatives separating them into those provided predominantly (R)- or (S)-β-hydroxyesters. The HQSAR models for both (R)- and (S)-configuration showed high predictive capacity. The HQSAR contribution maps suggest the importance of β-ketoesters scaffold as well as the substituents attached therein to asymmetric reduction, showing a possible influence of the ester group carbonyl position on the molecular conformation in the enzyme catalytic site, exposing a β-carbon side to the bioconversion to (S)- and (R)-enantiomers.

ABSTRACT This paper reports the in vitro trypanocidal activity evaluation of new carbohydrazide derivatives from 3-methyl-1-phenyl-1H-pyrazolo[3,4-b]pyridine, substituted at C-6 position by phenyl, methyl or trifluoromethyl group. These compounds were evaluated in order to identify the antiparasitic profile against trypomastigote and amastigote forms of Trypanosoma cruzi. The 4-carbohydrazide derivatives presented different profiles of activity. In the investigation of the chemical structure influence in the trypanocidal activity, the results indicated there are large lipophilicity and volume differences among these derivatives. The complementarities of their stereoelectronic and physical-chemical aspects seem to be relevant for the biological activity against T. cruzi.