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Heterocyclic Chemistry in the Footsteps of the Graoully—In Honour of Gilbert Kirsch on the Occasion of His 75th Birthday

A special issue of Molecules (ISSN 1420-3049). This special issue belongs to the section "Medicinal Chemistry".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 August 2022) | Viewed by 11603

Special Issue Editors


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Division of Bioorganic Chemistry, School of Pharmacy, Saarland University, D-66123 Saarbruecken, Germany
Interests: bioorganic chemistry; catalytic sensor/effector agents; epistemology; intracellular diagnostics; nanotechnology; natural products; reactive sulfur and selenium species; redox regulation via the cellular thiolstat
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Laboratoire de Chimie et Physique - Approche Multi-échelle des Milieux Complexes (EA 4632), ICPM, Université de Lorraine, Nancy, France
Interests: pharmaceutical and plant analysis; high-resolution mass spectrometry; mass spectrometry hyphenated to gas chromatography; liquid chromatography and capillary electrophoresis; imaging mass spectrometry; LC-MS/MS
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Throughout history, there have been quite a few dragons roaming various scenic locations, from the rolling hills of Camelot to the ruins of the Roman amphitheater in the ancient city of Mettis, present-day Metz in Lorraine. Apart from the dragon Graoully, this region is renowned for its exquisite mirabelle, colorful history, unsuspected places with suspicious names such as Thionville, and a former and world’s only Smurf adventure park. In fact, the greater region surrounding Metz is considered by many as a jolly place where French savoir vivre meets German efficiency, the true heart and soul of Europe, with Germany, Luxembourg, Belgium, and Switzerland within cycling distance.

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 Cycling across borders may also best describe the more than 50 years of synthetic chemistry associated with Gilbert Kirsch and the innovative Laboratoire d'Ingénierie Moléculaire et Biochimie Pharmacologique (LIMBP) in Metz. Born in 1947, in nearby Merlebach, a small town right at the border with the Saarland and with a long tradition in coal mining, Gilbert studied chemistry and physics at the Paul Verlaine University of Metz, graduating with a B.Sc. in 1969 and an M.Sc. degree in 1971. In 1973, he obtained his PhD degree at the same University under the supervision of Denise Cagniant with a thesis entitled “Synthesis and reactivity of sulfur-selenium heterocycles with benzo[b]selenophene skeleton. Comparison with the benzo[b]furane analogues.”

This general theme of research into chalcogen- and nitrogen heterocycles subsequently has formed the focus of the Kirsch laboratory in Metz, which Gilbert established in 1985 after a few years abroad, and which witnessed Gilbert rising through the usual professorial ranks until his retirement in 2015. For the last four decades, and with over 250 publications, numerous book chapters, international cooperations, and lectures at conferences, Gilbert Kirsch and his group at the LIMBP have been far from limp – they have turned Metz into a center of excellence, an amphitheater of organic synthetic chemistry famous within the community and esteemed by followers worldwide.

It is, therefore, our great pleasure to launch this Special Issue of Molecules in honor of Gilbert Kirsch and as a true celebration of his beloved heterocyclic chemistry. Submissions on any aspects of heterocyclic chemistry, from the synthesis to biological applications are welcome, ice-cold or hot as the Graoully, blue as a Smurf, yellow as a mirabelle or red as a cherry, moony in the sky as selenium or just simply down to earth as tellurium.

Prof. Dr. Claus Jacob
Prof. Dr. Patrick Chaimbault
Guest Editors

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

14 pages, 2823 KiB  
Communication
Evaluation of Vetiver Volatile Compound Production under Aeroponic-Grown Conditions for the Perfume Industry
by Carole Gavira, Françoise Watteau, Jean-Marc Lainé, Frédéric Bourgaud and Laurent Legendre
Molecules 2022, 27(6), 1942; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules27061942 - 17 Mar 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 3178
Abstract
Vetiver (Chrysopogon zizanioides (L.) Roberty) is a major tropical perfume crop. Access to its essential oil (EO)-filled roots is nevertheless cumbersome and land-damaging. This study, therefore, evaluated the potential of vetiver cultivation under soilless high-pressure aeroponics (HPA) for volatile organic compound (VOC) [...] Read more.
Vetiver (Chrysopogon zizanioides (L.) Roberty) is a major tropical perfume crop. Access to its essential oil (EO)-filled roots is nevertheless cumbersome and land-damaging. This study, therefore, evaluated the potential of vetiver cultivation under soilless high-pressure aeroponics (HPA) for volatile organic compound (VOC) production. The VOC accumulation in the roots was investigated by transmission electron microscopy, and the composition of these VOCs was analyzed by gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (GC/MS) after sampling by headspace solid-phase microextraction (HS-SPME). The HPA-grown plants were compared to plants that had been grown in potting soil and under axenic conditions. The HPA-grown plants were stunted, demonstrating less root biomass than the plants that had been grown in potting soil. The roots were slender, thinner, more tapered, and lacked the typical vetiver fragrance. HPA cultivation massively impaired the accumulation of the less-volatile hydrocarbon and oxygenated sesquiterpenes that normally form most of the VOCs. The axenic, tissue-cultured plants followed a similar and more exacerbated trend. Ultrastructural analyses revealed that the HPA conditions altered root ontogeny, whereby the roots contained fewer EO-accumulating cells and hosted fewer and more immature intracellular EO droplets. These preliminary results allowed to conclude that HPA-cultivated vetiver suffers from altered development and root ontology disorders that prevent EO accumulation. Full article
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14 pages, 2774 KiB  
Article
Anti-Inflammatory Activity of Bryophytes Extracts in LPS-Stimulated RAW264.7 Murine Macrophages
by Raíssa Volpatto Marques, Stefania Enza Sestito, Frédéric Bourgaud, Sissi Miguel, Frédéric Cailotto, Pascal Reboul, Jean-Yves Jouzeau, Sophie Rahuel-Clermont, Sandrine Boschi-Muller, Henrik Toft Simonsen and David Moulin
Molecules 2022, 27(6), 1940; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules27061940 - 17 Mar 2022
Cited by 11 | Viewed by 4248
Abstract
Bryophytes produce rare and bioactive compounds with a broad range of therapeutic potential, and many species are reported in ethnomedicinal uses. However, only a few studies have investigated their potential as natural anti-inflammatory drug candidate compounds. The present study investigates the anti-inflammatory effects [...] Read more.
Bryophytes produce rare and bioactive compounds with a broad range of therapeutic potential, and many species are reported in ethnomedicinal uses. However, only a few studies have investigated their potential as natural anti-inflammatory drug candidate compounds. The present study investigates the anti-inflammatory effects of thirty-two species of bryophytes, including mosses and liverworts, on Raw 264.7 murine macrophages stimulated with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) or recombinant human peroxiredoxin (hPrx1). The 70% ethanol extracts of bryophytes were screened for their potential to reduce the production of nitric oxide (NO), an important pro-inflammatory mediator. Among the analyzed extracts, two moss species significantly inhibited LPS-induced NO production without cytotoxic effects. The bioactive extracts of Dicranum majus and Thuidium delicatulum inhibited NO production in a concentration-dependent manner with IC50 values of 1.04 and 1.54 µg/mL, respectively. The crude 70% ethanol and ethyl acetate extracts were then partitioned with different solvents in increasing order of polarity (n-hexane, diethyl ether, chloroform, ethyl acetate, and n-butanol). The fractions were screened for their inhibitory effects on NO production stimulated with LPS at 1 ng/mL or 10 ng/mL. The NO production levels were significantly affected by the fractions of decreasing polarity such as n-hexane and diethyl ether ones. Therefore, the potential of these extracts to inhibit the LPS-induced NO pathway suggests their effective properties in attenuating inflammation and could represent a perspective for the development of innovative therapeutic agents. Full article
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20 pages, 3488 KiB  
Article
Synthesis, Molecular Docking, and Biofilm Formation Inhibitory Activity of Bis(Indolyl)Pyridines Analogues of the Marine Alkaloid Nortopsentin
by Heba M. Abo-Salem, Hayam A. Abd El Salam, Anhar Abdel-Aziem, Mohamed S. Abdel-Aziz and Eslam Reda El-Sawy
Molecules 2021, 26(14), 4112; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules26144112 - 6 Jul 2021
Cited by 20 | Viewed by 2731
Abstract
An efficient and simple protocol for the synthesis of a new class of diverse bis(indolyl)pyridines analogues of the marine alkaloid nortopsentin has been reported. A one-pot four-component condensation of 3-cyanocarbomethylindole, various aldehyde, 3-acetylindole, and ammonium acetate in glacial acetic acid led to the [...] Read more.
An efficient and simple protocol for the synthesis of a new class of diverse bis(indolyl)pyridines analogues of the marine alkaloid nortopsentin has been reported. A one-pot four-component condensation of 3-cyanocarbomethylindole, various aldehyde, 3-acetylindole, and ammonium acetate in glacial acetic acid led to the formation of 2,6-bis(1H-indol-3-yl)-4-(substituted-phenyl)pyridine-5-carbonitriles. Additionally, 2,6-bis(1H-indol-3-yl)-4-(benzofuran) pyridine-5-carbonitriles were prepared via a one-pot four-component condensation of 3-cyanocarbomethylindole, various N-substituted-indole-3-aldehydes, 2-acetylbenzofuran, and ammonium acetate. The synthesized compounds were evaluated for their ability to inhibit biofilm formation against the Gram-positive bacterial reference strains Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 6538 and the Gram-negative strain Escherichia coli ATCC 25922. Some of the new compounds showed a marked selectivity against the Gram-positive and Gram-negative strains. Remarkably, five compounds 4b, 7a, 7c, 7d and 8e demonstrated good antibiofilm formation against S. aureus and E. coli. On the other hand, the release of reducing sugars and proteins from the treated bacterial strains over the untreated strains was considered to explain the disruption effect of the selected compound on the contact cells of S. aureus and E. coli. Out of all studied compounds, the binding energies and binding mode of bis-indole derivatives 7c and 7d were theoretically the best thymidylate kinase, DNA gyrase B and DNA topoisomerase IV subunit B inhibitors. Full article
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