Publications by authors named "Albert J. Ndakala"

Monoterpene derivatives are of great biological relevance in the pharmaceutical industry. In the present study, pyrrolidine derivative of a carvotacetone, 3-benzylcarvotacetone (), and selected monoterpenes (3-hydroxy-2-isopropyl-5-methyl--benzoquinone () and piperitol ()) were prepared to provide ()-1-(4-(benzyloxy)-5-isopropyl-2-methylcyclohexa-1,3-dien-1-yl)-pyrrolidine (), 2-isopropyl-5-methyl-3,6-dioxocyclohexa-1,4-dien-1-yl acetate (), 3-hydroxypiperitone () and carvacrol (). Structure of was determined based on NMR and HRMS spectral data.

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In an attempt to synthesize carvotacetone analogues, new 3--benzyl-carvotacetone ( and previously reported 3-hydroxy-2-isopropyl-5-methyl--benzoquinone () were synthesized from piperitone (). In this work, we describe the synthesis of and other analogues from . Luche reduction of to -piperitol (, followed by benzylation yielded 3--benzyl-piperitol ().

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β-Sitosterol (β-Sit) is a dietary phytosterol with demonstrated anticancer activity against a panel of cancers, but its poor solubility in water limits its bioavailability and therapeutic efficacy. In this study, poly(lactide-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) and block copolymers of poly(ethylene glycol)-block-poly(lactic acid) (PEG-PLA) were used to encapsulate β-Sit into nanoparticles with the aim of enhancing its in vitro anticancer activity. β-Sitosterol-loaded PLGA and PEG-PLA nanoparticles (β-Sit-PLGA and β-Sit-PEG-PLA) were prepared by using a simple emulsion-solvent evaporation technique.

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A novel class of antimalarial pyrido[1,2-a]benzimidazoles were synthesized and evaluated for antiplasmodial activity and cytotoxicity following hits identified from screening commercially available compound collections. The most active of these, TDR86919 (4c), showed improved in vitro activity vs the drug-resistant K1 strain of Plasmodium falciparum relative to chloroquine (IC(50) = 0.047 μM v 0.

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1,5-Dioxaspiro[3.2]hexanes undergo ring-opening reactions with many heteroatom nucleophiles to provide alpha-substituted-beta'-hydroxy ketones. However, certain Lewis acidic nucleophiles provide 2,2-disubstituted oxetanes.

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[reaction: see text] 3-Alkylidene-2-methyleneoxetanes have been prepared by treating alpha-alkylidene-beta-lactones, derived from Morita-Baylis-Hillman-type adducts, with dimethyltitanocene. Preliminary studies of the reactivity of these little known, strained heterocycles are also described.

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[reaction: see text] A serine-derived 1,5-dioxaspiro[3.2]hexane template is shown to be a useful precursor for both aminodiol and aminotriol sphingoid bases by its conversion to D-erythro-dihydrosphingosine and D-xylo-phytoshingosine.

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