Some new glycosides of 3-ferrocenyl-1-(4'-hydroxyphenyl)-prop-2-en-1-one were prepared and transformed into the corresponding pyrazoline and pyrazole derivatives. Using methyl-hydrazine, formation of regioisomers was observed. DDQ was found to be a mild and efficient reagent for the pyrazoline-pyrazole dehydroaromatization process. The structure of the new compounds was proved by IR and NMR spectroscopy. The in vitro antitumor activity of the substances was investigated against human leukemia (HL-60) cells by the MTT method. Among these new compounds some chalcone derivatives (3 a, 3 b, 5 a, and 5 b) showed attractive in vitro antitumor effects on human leukemia cells. These molecules contained ferrocenyl moieties and a p-hydroxy-phenolic ring or a size-independent apolar substitution of that.

To obtain key sugar derivatives of making homooligomeric foldamers or α/β-chimera peptides, economic and multigram scale synthetic methods were to be developed. Though described in the literature, the cost-effective making of both 3-amino-3-deoxy-ribofuranuronic acid (H-tX-OH) and its C-3 epimeric stereoisomer, the 3-amino-3-deoxy-xylofuranuronic acid (H-cX-OH) from D-glucose is described here. The present synthetic route elaborated is i) appropriate for large-scale synthesis, ii) reagent costs reduced (e.g. by a factor of 400), iii) yields optimized are ~80% or higher for all six consecutive steps concluding -tX-or -cX-and iv) reaction times shortened. Thus, a new synthetic route step-by-step optimized for yield, cost, time and purification is given both for D-xylo and D-riboamino-furanuronic acids using sustainable chemistry (e.g. less chromatography with organic solvents; using continuous flow reactor). Multigram scale syntheses of these β-sugar amino acids, β-SAAs, now available on a larger scale made possible to test and optimize coupling reactions and conditions of making α/β-chimera peptides. Our study encompasses necessary building blocks (e.g. -X-OMe, -X-O i Pr, -X-NHMe, Fmoc-X-OH) and key coupling reactions making -Aaa-tX-Aaa-or -Aaa-tX-tXAaa-type "inserts". Completed for both stereoisomers of X, including the newly synthetized FmoccX-OH, producing longer oligomers for drug design and discovery is more of a reality than a wish. 2Graphical abstract: From D-glucose in 6 (7) steps both C-3 epimers of an azido-furanuronic acid (cAFU and tAFU) are obtained. Yield optimized, scalable and robust reactions made possible to get β-sugar amino acids in a more environment-friendly way. Useful derivatives were synthesized and probed as key intermediates of foldameric "Lego element" now ready to be built in into α/β-chimera peptides supporting drug design and discovery.3

Data reported in this article describe the synthesis of Arg‐rich oligopeptide conjugates of ferrocenecarboxylic acid on solid support with two different strategies and for the first time, the successful preparation of peptide conjugates of ferrocenylacrylic acid in solution. The antitumor effect of conjugates was analyzed by MTT assay in vitro. We demonstrated that ferrocenylacrylic acid possessing an enone (CHCHCO) moiety exhibited remarkable antiproliferative effect against human leukemia cells (HL‐60) in vitro, but its effect was not improved by conjugation with hexa‐ or octaarginines. However, we observed highly increased water‐solubility. In contrast, the results provide evidence that conjugation of ferrocenecarboxylic acid to Argn (n = 6, 8) improved not only its water‐solubility, but also antitumor effect on human leukemia cells in vitro. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Biopolymers (Pept Sci) 88: 108–114, 2007. This article was originally published online as an accepted preprint. The ‘Published Online’ date corresponds to the preprint version. You can request a copy of the preprint by emailing the Biopolymers editorial office at biopolymers@wiley.com