Cephalotaxus Alkaloids.

Cephalotaxus alkaloids represent a family of plant secondary metabolites known for 60 years. Significant activity against leukemia in mice was demonstrated for extracts of Cephalotaxus. Cephalotaxine (CET) (1), the major alkaloid of this series was isolated from Cephalotaxus drupacea species by Paudler in 1963.

In silico studies, synthesis and binding evaluation of substituted 2-pyrrolidinones as peptidomimetics of RGD tripeptide sequence.

In silico optimisation, synthesis and binding evaluation of αvβ3 integrin's affinity for precursors of a new RGD peptidomimetics family are presented. The 2-pyrrolidinone building block was obtained by condensation of l-lysine with dimethoxydihydrofuran followed by reduction. The ring was functionalized with a carboxylic acid and a guanidinium appendage.

Optimized multimodal nanoplatforms for targeting α(v)β3 integrins.

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) using contrast agents is a very powerful technique for diagnosis in clinical medicine and biomedical research. The synthesis of ultrasmall superparamagnetic iron oxide (USPIO) nanoparticles targeting αvβ3 integrins and acting as new MRI contrast agents seems to be a promising way for cancer diagnosis. Indeed, it is well established that αvβ3 integrin plays a key role in tumor angiogenesis acting like a receptor for the extracellular matrix proteins like vitronectin, fibronectin through the arginine-glycine-aspartic acid (RGD) sequence.

Stereoselective synthesis of (-)-cephalotaxine and C-7 alkylated analogues.

A total asymmetric synthesis of (-)-cephalotaxine is reported. The chemistry of alpha,beta-unsaturated gamma-lactams was used to access the 1-azaspiro[4.4]nonane skeleton in enantiomerically pure form via a stereocontrolled semipinacolic rearrangement of an alpha-hydroxyiminium ion.