Metal-free catalytic construction of C-N and C-C bonds: synthesis of benzimidazopyridine and 2-pyridone compounds.

datetime: 2019-09-11 views: 66

Recently, our laboratory team has disclosed a transition metal-free and efficient cascade reaction of ynones with 2-methylbenzimidazoles under mild conditions. This cascade reaction involved a Michael addition/intramolecular cycloaddition/dehydration and provided the desired benzo[4,5]imidazo[1,2-a]pyridines in moderate to good yields. Furthermore, three benzo[4,5]imidazo[1,2-a]pyridines (3d, 3i, and 3q) exhibited good activities against Hep-G2 (human liver cancer), T-24 (human bladder cancer cell), and SK-OV-3 (human ovarian cancer) cell lines with IC50 values in the range of 8.05–10.67 μmol/L. To investigate the mechanism of the effective inhibition of cell growth, further studies, including cell cycle analysis, apoptosis ratio detection, measurement of Ca2+ generation, ROS, mitochondrial membrane potential assay, and caspase-3/9 activation, were carried out on compound 3i. The results showed that compound 3i effectively inhibited cell growth by triggering G1 phase arrest and inducing apoptosis through the mitochondria-mediated pathway.