Twenty-first century antiepileptic drugs. An overview of their targets and synthetic approaches.

The therapeutic use of the traditional drugs against epilepsy has been hindered by their toxicity and low selectivity. These limitations have stimulated the design and development of new generations of antiepileptic drugs. This review explores the molecular targets and synthesis of the antiepileptic drugs that have entered the market in the 21st century, with a focus on manufacturer synthesis.

Mechanochemical Synthesis of Primary Amides.

Ball milling of aromatic, heteroaromatic, vinylic, and aliphatic esters with ethanol and calcium nitride afforded the corresponding primary amides in a transformation that was compatible with a variety of functional groups and maintained the integrity of a stereocenter α to carbonyl. This methodology was applied to α-amino esters and -BOC dipeptide esters and also to the synthesis of rufinamide, an antiepileptic drug.

Sustainable Access to Acridin-9-(10)ones with an Embedded -Terphenyl Moiety Based on a Three-Component Reaction.

A Ce(IV)-catalyzed three-component reaction between chalcones, anilines and β-ketoesters followed by a microwave-assisted thermal cyclization afforded 1,3-diaryl-1,2-dihydroacridin-9(10)-ones. Their microwave irradiation in nitrobenzene, acting both as solvent and oxidant, afforded fully unsaturated 1,3-diarylacridin-9(10)-ones, which combine acridin-9-(10)one and -terphenyl moieties. Overall, the route generates three C-C and one C-N bond and has the advantage of requiring a single chromatographic separation.

Antioxidants as Molecular Probes: Structurally Novel Dihydro--Terphenyls as Turn-On Fluorescence Chemodosimeters for Biologically Relevant Oxidants.

One interesting aspect of antioxidant organic molecules is their use as probes for the detection and quantitation of biologically relevant reactive oxidant species (ROS). In this context, a small library of dihydroterphenyl derivatives has been synthesised and studied as fluorescent chemodosimeters for detecting reactive oxygen species and hypochlorite. The fluorescence quantum yields of these molecules are negligible, while the corresponding aromatized compounds formed upon oxidation show moderate to high native fluorescence, depending on their structures.

Three-Component Synthesis of a Library of m-Terphenyl Derivatives with Embedded β-Aminoester Moieties.

The three-component reaction between alkyl- or arylamines, β-ketoesters and chalcones in refluxing ethanol containing a catalytic amount of Ce(IV) ammonium nitrate allowed the construction of a large library of highly substituted dihydro- m-terphenyl derivatives containing β-alkylamino- or β-arylamino ester moieties. This process generates three new bonds and one ring and proceeds in high atom economy, having two molecules of water as the only side product. Another domino process, in which the original MCR was telescoped with a subsequent aza Michael/retro-aza Michael sequence, allowed the one-pot preparation of a library of compounds with a N-unsubstituted β-aminoester fragment.