Discovery and characterization of potent spiro-isoxazole-based cereblon ligands with a novel binding mode.

The vast majority of current cereblon (CRBN) ligands is based on the thalidomide scaffold, relying on glutarimide as the core binding moiety. With this architecture, most of these ligands inherit the overall binding mode, interactions with neo-substrates, and thereby potentially also the cytotoxic and teratogenic properties of the parent thalidomide. In this work, by incorporating a spiro-linker to the glutarimide moiety, we have generated a new chemotype that exhibits an unprecedented binding mode for glutarimide-based CRBN ligands.

3-Arylidene-2-oxindoles as Potent NRH:Quinone Oxidoreductase 2 Inhibitors.

The enzyme NRH:quinone oxidoreductase 2 (NQO2) plays an important role in the pathogenesis of various diseases such as neurodegenerative disorders, malaria, glaucoma, COVID-19 and cancer. NQO2 expression is known to be increased in some cancer cell lines. Since 3-arylidene-2-oxindoles are widely used in the design of new anticancer drugs, such as kinase inhibitors, it was interesting to study whether such structures have additional activity towards NQO2.

Optimal Greedy Control in Reinforcement Learning.

We consider the problem of dimensionality reduction of state space in the variational approach to the optimal control problem, in particular, in the reinforcement learning method. The control problem is described by differential algebraic equations consisting of nonlinear differential equations and algebraic constraint equations interconnected with Lagrange multipliers. The proposed method is based on changing the Lagrange multipliers of one subset based on the Lagrange multipliers of another subset.

Ketone Derivatives of Propargylamines as Synthetic Equivalents of Conjugated 2,4,1-Enynones in the Synthesis of Acetylenic 2-Pyrazolines and Pyrazoles.

An interaction of 1,5-diaryl-3-X-pent-4-yn-1-ones (where X stands for piperidin-1-yl, morpholin-4-yl, 4-methylpiperazin-1-yl) with arylhydrazines proceeds at room temperature and results in 3-aryl-5-arylethynyl-1-phenyl-4,5-dihydro-1-pyrazoles with up to 57-73% yields. Under similar conditions, the cyclocondensation of conjugated 2,4,1-enynones with arylhydrazine proceeds only in the presence of cyclic amines. 1,5-Diaryl-3-X-pent-4-yn-1-ones are reported as synthetic equivalents of conjugated 2,4,1-enynones in reactions with arylhydrazines.