In this work, a heteroatom-containing luminogen (TPE-Py) with multi-functionalities was synthesized in a reasonable yield by melding a pyridinium unit with tetraphenylethene through vinyl functionality. TPE-Py is weakly emissive in solution but becomes a strong emitter when aggregated as nanoparticle suspensions in poor solvents or in the solid state, displaying a phenomenon of aggregation-induced emission. Crystallization generally weakens and red-shifts the light emission. The crystalline aggregates of TPE-Py, however, emit stronger and bluer light than their amorphous counterparts. The solid-state emission of TPE-Py can be reversibly switched between green and yellow color by grinding-fuming and grindingheating processes with a high contrast due to the transformation from the crystalline to the amorphous state and vice versa. The large Stokes shift and well-ordered molecular arrangement of the crystalline microrods of TPE-Py make it promising as an optical waveguide material with a low optical loss coefficient of $0.032 dB mm À1. TPE-Py works as a good fluorescent visualizer for specific staining of mitochondria in living cells with a high photostability, thanks to its hydrophobic and cationic features.

NPF, the title compound, was studied for its in vitro antitumor activity against 56 human tumor cell lines derived from seven cancer types. In general, NPF is about 100 times more active as compared to its parent compound, etoposide, toward all the tumor cell lines and can be considered as a lead structure for further development of anticancer agents. In order to facilitate future computer-assisted design of NPF analogs, NPF was characterized by X-ray crystallography. This crystal structure was used as the starting point for conformational analysis of this compound using several commercially available software packages, including SYBYL (Tripos Associates; Tripos force field), INSIGHT/DISCOVER (Biosym Technologies; CVFF force field), and semiempirical package MOPAC as implemented in SYBYL. The lowest energy conformation generated with the Tripos force field disagreed with the X-ray structure. On the other hand, semiempirical MOPAC/AM1 calculations showed that the X-ray structure had a lower energy than the Tripos lowest energy conformation. Subsequent NMR studies agreed well with the X-ray structure. Furthermore, conformational analysis of NPF using the DISCOVER force field identified the X-ray structure as the lowest energy conformation. Thus, the latter force field is adequate for future molecular modeling of NPF and its analogs.

A series of novel 4 beta-amino derivatives of etoposide (1), which can form water-soluble salts and demonstrate excellent activity against mdr- and topo II-resistant cell lines, have been synthesized. Compared with etoposide, compounds 5-6, 8, and 10-16 show comparable or greater inhibition of human DNA topo II. In a cellular protein-DNA complex formation assay, compounds 5-6, 8, 10-14, and 16 are more potent than 1. A dose-response study of 8 shows that it is 20 times more active in formation of protein-linked DNA breaks than etoposide. Furthermore, both 8 and its free base 7 were found to be highly active toward etoposide-resistant KB cell lines. All compounds were also evaluated in vitro against a total of 56 human tumor cell lines derived from seven cancer types. Comparison of the log10 GI50 mean graph midpoints of 5-19 (-4.89 to -7.30) with that of 1 (-4.08) shows these new analogs to be 6-1659-fold more active than 1.

A series of ortho-quinone analogues 1-28 of podophyllotoxin possessing various C-4 beta-aniline moieties have been synthesized and evaluated for their inhibitory activity against human DNA topoisomerase II, their activity in causing cellular protein-linked DNA breakage, and their cytotoxicity against KB cells. Compounds 8-12, 15, 19, and 23-28 are better than or comparable to etoposide in their inhibition of the human DNA topoisomerase II, while compounds 8-10 and 22 are comparable to or more potent than etoposide in causing DNA breakage. There is an apparent lack of correlation between cytotoxicity and the ability of these compounds to cause protein-linked DNA breaks or inhibit DNA topoisomerase II. This suggests that in addition to the mechanism of the topoisomerase II involving DNA breakages, other mechanisms of action, such as the radical mechanism or the direct adduct formation of the ortho-quinone with DNA or protein, may also involve and account for the apparent KB cytotoxicity. Two different modes of DNA topoisomerase II inhibition for 8-28 were proposed.