Pyridine and pyrimidine derivatives have received great interest in recent pharmacological research, being effective in the treatment of various malignancies, such as myeloid leukemia, breast cancer and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. Most of the FDA approved drugs show a pyridine or pyrimidine core bearing different substituents. Aim of this review is to describe the most recent reports in this field, with reference to the new discovered pyridine- or pyrimidine-based drugs, to their synthesis and to the evaluation of the most biologically active derivatives. The corresponding benzofused heterocyclic compounds, i.e. quinolines and quinazolines, are also reported.

DFT-M062X quantum chemical computations on the Ala3H(+)·nH2O (n up to 37) complexes have been performed to model for hydration effects on the molecular properties of protonated trialanine. Following simple rules to arrange water molecules around the peptide, geometry optimization allows us to find four minima corresponding to the unfolded extended (β) and polyproline II (PPII) conformations. The peptide is incorporated into the network of hydrogen bonds of interfacial water molecules with a hydration energy of about -85 kcal mol(-1). The progressive hydration of the peptide shows a more efficient intermolecular hydrogen bonding in the PPII arrangement, and the following relative electronic energy stability β-β < β-PPII ≈ PPII-β < PPII-PPII has been found. The conformational entropy term proceeds in the reverse direction, thus these changes compensate in a way that leads to small changes in Gibbs free energy. These findings agree with experimental data which report an equilibrium between these conformers modulated by temperature.

AcAlaNH2 ⋅ n H2O (n=1-13) complexes have been proposed as models to account for water solvent effects on the molecular properties of N-acetyl-L-alanine amide. Ab initio computations are planned to evaluate peptide-water interactions and to provide a means for approximating relative effects of the short-range many-body interactions arising in real solution without introducing any external parameters intended to quantify empirical or semiempirical potential-energy functions. The present bottom-up approach reveals the formation of compact ring clusters of water molecules strongly bonded to peptidic polar groups throughout hydrogen bonds. The explicit coordination of water molecules around the peptide renders the fully extended (FE) and polyproline II (PPII) conformers more stable with respect to the 310 helix or γ turn. The alternance of donor and acceptor groups on both sides of the FE and PPII conformers allows for synergy and extensive H-bonding.

No abstract