We recently found that indomethacin (IMC) can effectively act as a powerful crystallization inhibitor for polyethylene glycol 6000 (PEG) despite the fact that the absence of interactions between the drug and the carrier in the solid state was reported in the literature. However, in the present study, we investigate the possibility of drug-carrier interactions in the liquid state to explain the polymer crystallization inhibition effect of IMC. We also aim to discover other potential PEG crystallization inhibitors. Drug-carrier interactions in both liquid and solid state are characterized by variable temperature Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and cross-polarization magic angle spinning C nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (CP/MAS NMR). In the liquid state, FTIR data show evidence of the breaking of hydrogen bonding between IMC molecules to form interactions of the IMC monomer with PEG. The drug-carrier interactions are disrupted upon storage and polymer crystallization, resulting in segregation of IMC from PEG crystals that can be observed under polarized light microscopy. This process is further confirmed byC NMR since in the liquid state, when the IMC/PEG monomer units ratio is below 2:1, IMC signals are undetectable because of the loss of cross-polarization efficiency in the mobile IMC molecules upon attachment to PEG chains via hydrogen bonding. This suggests that each ether oxygen of the PEG unit can form hydrogen bonds with two IMC molecules. The NMR spectrum of IMC shows no change in solid dispersions with PEG upon storage, indicating the absence of interactions in the solid state, hence confirming previous studies. The drug-carrier interactions in the liquid state elucidate the crystallization inhibition effect of IMC on PEG as well as other semicrystalline polymers such as poloxamer and Gelucire. However, hydrogen bonding is a necessary but apparently not a sufficient condition for the polymer crystallization inhibition. Screening of crystallization inhibitors of semicrystalline polymers discovers numerous candidates that exhibit the same behavior as IMC, demonstrating a general pattern of polymer crystallization inhibition rather than a particular case. Furthermore, the crystallization inhibition effect of drugs on PEG is independent of the carrier molecular weight. These mechanistic findings on the formation and disruption of hydrogen bonds in semicrystalline dispersions can be extended to amorphous dispersions and are of significant importance for preparation of solid dispersions with consistent and reproducible physicochemical properties.

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A new series of chromeno-annulated cis-fused pyrano [3,4-c]pyran derivatives have been synthesized by intramolecular [4 + 2] domino Knoevenagel-hetero-Diels-Alder reactions of 1-oxa-1,3-butadienes derived in situ from 1,3-dicarbonyls/active methylenes and 7-O-prenyl derivatives of 8-formyl-2,3-disubstituted chromenones in the presence of 20 mol% ethylenediamine diacetate (EDDA) in acetonitrile under reflux conditions in good to excellent yields. The structures were established based on spectroscopic data, and were further confirmed by X-ray diffraction analysis. These compounds were evaluated for their anti-proliferative activity using an in vitro MTT cytotoxicity assay. The results clearly demonstrated that compounds 4a, 4b, 4c, 4j, 4k, 4l, 4m and 4n exhibited significant antiproliferative activity against human A549 lung cancer and non-cancer MRC-5 cell lines along with potent inhibitory activity against human neuroblastoma SK-N-SH cancer cell lines. Among these, compounds 4a, 4b and 4j displayed the most potent anti-proliferative activity against human lung cancer A549 cell lines, while 4a and 4b displayed against neuroblastoma SK-N-SH cancer cell lines when compared to the standard doxorubicin.

Previous efforts led to dicarboxamide derivatives like 1.3, comprising either an imidazole, pyrazine or fenyl ring as the central scaffold, with many congeners displaying strong inhibitory effects against dengue virus (DENV) in cell-based assays. Following up on some literature reports, the rationale was borne out to preserve the pending groups, now attached to either a 2,6-diaminopurine or 2,4-diaminoquinazoline scaffold. Synthetic efforts turned out less straightforward than expected, but yielded some new derivatives with low micromolar anti-DENV activity, albeit not devoid of cellular toxicity. The purine 14 proved the most potent compound for this series with an EC50 of 1.9 μM and a selectivity index of 58, while the quinazoline 18a displayed an EC50 of 2.6 μM with SI of only 2.