Search

COVID-19 is a global pandemic caused by infection with the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Remdesivir, a SARS-CoV-2 RNA polymerase inhibitor, is the only drug to have received widespread approval for treatment of COVID-19. The SARS-CoV-2 main protease enzyme (MPro), essential for viral replication and transcription, remains an active target in the search for new treatments. In this study, the ability of novel thiazolyl-indazole derivatives to inhibit MPro is evaluated. These compounds were synthesized via the heterocyclization of phenacyl bromide with (R)-carvone and (R)-pulegone thiosemicarbazones. The binding affinity and atomistic interactions of each compound were evaluated through Schrödinger Glide docking, AMBER molecular dynamics simulations, and MM-GBSA free energy estimation, and these results were compared with similar calculations of MPro binding various 5-mer substrates (VKLQA, VKLQS, VKLQG). From these simulations, we can see that binding is driven by residue specific interactions such as π-stacking with His41, and S/π interactions with Met49 and Met165. The compounds were also experimentally evaluated in a MPro biochemical assay and the most potent compound containing a phenylthiazole moiety inhibited protease activity with an IC50 of 92.9 µM. This suggests that the phenylthiazole scaffold is a promising candidate for the development of future MPro inhibitors.

International audience

The present work focuses on the synthesis, structural characterization and electrochemical investigation of some heterocyclic compounds prepared from d -limonene. Firstly, 3-acetylisoxazoline was synthesized from d -limonene, this precursor is then converted to its thiosemicarbazone derivatives which were then cyclized to produce their corresponding thiazolidine-4-ones. The obtained compounds were characterized by FT-IR, 1H NMR, 13C NMR and mass spectrometric techniques. Further, DFT quantum chemical studies were also used to interpret the structural properties of the compounds using the B3LYP/6–311++G (d, p) basis set. The obtained results from experimental and theoretical studies were in good agreement showing that compounds bearing both isoxazoline and thiazolidine-4-one moieties act as good corrosion inhibitors for stainless steel in 1 M sulfuric acid.

The title compound, C22H28O3, was prepared by a direct acetylation reaction of naturally occurring totarolenone. The molecule contains three fused rings, which exhibit different conformations. The central ring has a half-chair conformation, while the non-aromatic oxo-substituted ring has a screw-boat conformation. In the crystal, molecules are linked by C—H...O hydrogen bonds and C—H...π interactions, forming sheets parallel to the bc plane. The carbonyl O atoms and the C atom at the 6-position of the cyclohexene ring are each disordered over two sets of sites with major occupancy components of 0.63 (7) and 0.793 (14), respectively.

Treatment of thiosemicarbazones prepared from sesquiterpenes with ethyl 2-bromoacetate in the presence of sodium acetate afforded the corresponding thiazolidin-4-ones. The structures of all the newly synthesized compounds were established by considering spectral and single-crystal X-ray diffraction data. The title compound, ethyl 2-((Z)-2-{(Z)-[(1aR,5aR,9aS)-1,1-dichloro-1a,5,5,7-tetramethyl-1a,2,3,4,5,5a,8,9-octahydro-1H-benzo[a]cyclopropa[b][7]annulen-8-ylidene]hydrazono}-4-oxothiazolidin-3-yl)acetate, C23H31Cl2N3O3S, 5, crystallizes in the orthorhombic noncentrosymmetric space group P212121 with Z = 4. Within the molecule in the crystal structure, the cyclohexene ring has an envelope conformation and the cycloheptane ring, to which it is fused, has a boat conformation. In the crystal, molecules are linked by C—H...Cl hydrogen bonds forming chains propagating along the b-axis direction. The absolute configuration of the molecule in the crystal could be fully confirmed from anomalous dispersion effects [Flack parameter = −0.04 (2)]. Thiosemicarbazones 1 and 2 are efficient inhibitors for steel corrosion in 1 M H2SO4 solution, with a maximum efficiency of 92.28% at 10−3 M. Furthermore, thiosemicarbazone compounds were found to be more efficient than thiazolidin-4-one derivatives. In addition, cyclic voltammetry was used to characterize the tested molecules, as well to estimate the experimental value of the energy band gap.

The synthesis of three new polysubstituted monoterpenic thiazolidin-4-ones, namely (Z)-3-methyl-2-{(E)-[(1R,4R)-1,7,7-trimethylbicyclo[2.2.1]heptan-2-ylidene]hydrazinylidene}thiazolidin-4-one, C14H21N3OS (2), (2Z,5Z)-5-[(dimethylamino)methylidene]-2-{(E)-[(1R,4R)-1,7,7-trimethylbicyclo[2.2.1]heptan-2-ylidene]hydrazinylidene}thiazolidin-4-one, C16H24N4OS (3), and (2Z,5Z)-5-[(dimethylamino)methylidene]-3-methyl-2-{(E)-[(1R,4R)-1,7,7-trimethylbicyclo[2.2.1]heptan-2-ylidene]hydrazinylidene}thiazolidin-4-one, C17H26N4OS (4), is reported, starting from the corresponding thiosemicarbazones obtained from naturally occurring (R)-camphor. All the newly obtained thiazolidin-4-ones have been fully characterized by HRMS and 1H and 13C (1D and 2D) NMR spectroscopy. Two of them, i.e. 2 and 3, were identified by single-crystal X-ray crystallography, confirming the synthetic pathway and the spectroscopic analyses. In 3, there are two roughly identical molecules within the asymmetric unit with the same absolute configuration. These two molecules are linked through N—H...O hydrogen bonds, building an R 2 2(8) graph-set motif.

We have studied the inhibitory effect of some Monoterpenic Thiosemicarbazones on steel corrosion in 1 M HCl solution. The potentiodynamic polarization and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy were used. The Monoterpenic Thiosemicarbazones have inhibited significantly the dissolution of steel. The inhibition efficiency increased with increasing inhibitor concentration and also with the increase in temperature (293–323 K). Furthermore, the results obtained revealed that the adsorption of inhibitor on steel surface obeys Langmuir adsorption model and the thermodynamic parameters such as enthalpy and activation energy were determined. The scanning electron microscopy combined with dispersive X-ray spectroscopy examinations were used to see the shape of the surface morphology and to determine the elemental composition. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) images show that the surface damage decreases when the inhibitor is added. The quantum chemical calculations using density functional theory (DFT) were performed in order to provide some insights into the electronic density distribution as well as the nature of inhibitor-steel interaction.

There are two independent molecules (AandB) in the asymmetric unit of the title compound, C11H19N3S. In moleculeB, two C atoms and the associated H atoms of the cyclohexene ring are disordered over two sets of sites with a site occupancy ratio of 0.649 (7):0.351 (7). The N—N—C—N fragments of the hydrazinecarbothioamide segments of both molecules are not planar, with a torsion angle of −5.8 (3)° forAand 11.6 (3)° forB. The stability of the conformations of both molecules is aided by the formation of intramolecular N—H...N hydrogen bonds. In the crystal, N—H...S hydrogen bonds link like molecules intoR22(8)A+Bdimers. These dimers are interconnected by additional N—H...S contacts, forming chains along thec-axis direction. The structure was refined as a two-component inversion twin.

The title compounds C11H16Cl2O3 (III) and C11H16Br2O3 (IV) have been prepared from (S)-Limonen. Their crystal structure and absolute configuration have been determined by X-ray analysis which confirmed the 1′S absolute configuration at the cyclopropyl moiety, in agreement with the known absolute configuration of the starting material. Both (III) and (IV) are orthorhombic, space group P212121 with a = 7.2558(4) A (for III) 7.4058(6) A (for IV), b = 9.7885(5) A (for III) 9.7459(7) A (for IV), c = 17.7551(10) A (for III) 18.0354(14) A (for IV), α = 90°, β = 90°, γ = 90° and Z = 4. Absolute configuration determination, via an X-ray crystallographic study, of two optically active cyclopropyl-ketoacids.

Herein we report an efficient one pot synthesis of new chiral 4,5-dihydro-4-arylspiro[1,3,4-thiadiazole]-5,2′-camphane-2-carboxylic acid ethyl esters 5–7 and 4,5-dihydro-3-arylspiro[1,4,2-oxathiazole]-5,2′-camphane 11–13, using 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition of nitrilimines 2–4 and nitrile oxides 8–10 to (1R)-thiocamphor 1 respectively. The structure of the newly prepared 1,3,4-thiadiazoles 5–7 (obtained as pure diastereoisomers) were fully established via spectroscopic analysis and X-ray structural analysis which proved the absolute configuration of the C5 spiranic carbon to be (R). NMR spectral analysis were also very useful to show the new 1,4,2-oxathiazoles 11–13 are mixtures of two (5R)/(5S) diastereoisomers with the ratio 6:4,7:3 and 6:4 respectively.