SciCombinator

Miconazole nitrate is an imidazole derivative used to treat skin disorders caused by fungi. The aim of this study was to investigate in a systematic way whether miconazole nitrate can have skin penetration enhancing properties. Using Franz diffusion cells, three representative model compounds (caffeine, testosterone and ibuprofen) were applied to human skin as 10 mM aqueous-ethanolic solutions with or without 1 mM of miconazole nitrate. The apparent permeability coefficient K(p) for each of the model compounds was determined with and without miconazole nitrate. While a statistically significant penetration enhancement effect of 33% was found for testosterone, no overall statistically significant effect could be demonstrated for caffeine and ibuprofen. The increase in skin permeability of testosterone is mainly due to an improved partitioning from the dose solution into the skin, thereby resulting in a higher delivery through the human skin. Our results indicate that miconazole can act as a penetration enhancer.

An efficient procedure has been developed for the preparation of tetrasubstituted unsymmetrical 1,4-enediones via copper-promoted auto-tandem catalysis and air as the oxidant. Various N-nucleophiles are compatible with this reaction, such as morpholine, piperidine, pyrrolidine, arylamines, pyrazole, imidazole, benzimidazole, and benzotriazole. This reaction also has significant advantages in easily available substrates, atom economy, bond forming efficiency and environmental benignity.

Direct N-difluoromethylation of imidazoles and benzimidazoles has been achieved using TMS-CF3 (the Ruppert-Prakash reagent) under neutral conditions. Difluoromethylated products were obtained in good-to-excellent yields. Inexpensive, commercially available starting materials, neutral conditions, and shorter reaction times are advantages of this methodology. Reactions are accessible through conventional as well as microwave irradiation conditions.

N-Acyl imidazoles and catalytic isothiourea hydrochloride salts function as ammonium enolate precursors in the absence of base. Enantioselective Michael addition-cyclization reactions using different α,β-unsaturated Michael acceptors have been performed to form dihydropyranones and dihydropyridinones with high stereoselectivity. Detailed mechanistic studies using RPKA have revealed the importance of the “imidazolium” effect in ammonium enolate formation and have highlighted key differences with traditional base-mediated processes.

Dihydroxybenziphthalocyanine 1, with bulky aryloxy groups, has been synthesized and characterized by X-ray crystallography, NMR and UV/Vis-NIR spectroscopy, and theoretical calculations. Macrocycle 1 is the first example of an aromatic benziphthalocyanine with an 18π-electron structure, and was found to exist as an equilibrium mixture of weakly aromatic and strongly aromatic tautomers. The aromaticity and near-IR absorption can be controlled by chemical modification at the reactive resorcinol moiety and by variation of the solvent.

A method for the C-N coupling of imidazoles based on electrooxidative C-H functionalization of aromatic and benzylic compounds has been developed. The key to the success is the formation of protected imidazolium ions as initial products, avoiding overoxidation. Deprotection under nonoxidative conditions affords N-substituted imidazoles. Various functional groups are compatible with the present transformation. To demonstrate the power of the method, a P450 17 inhibiter and an antifungal agent having N-substituted imidazole structures were synthesized.

Carnosine is a dipeptide of β-alanine and L-histidine found in high concentrations in skeletal muscle. Combined with β-alanine, the pKa of the histidine imidazole ring is raised to ∼6.8, placing it within the muscle intracellular pH high-intensity exercise transit range. Combination with β-alanine renders the dipeptide inert to intracellular enzymic hydrolysis and blocks the histidinyl residue from participation in proteogenesis, thus making it an ideal, stable intracellular buffer. For vegetarians, synthesis is limited by β-alanine availability; for meat-eaters, hepatic synthesis is supplemented with β-alanine from the hydrolysis of dietary carnosine. Direct oral β-alanine supplementation will compensate for low meat and fish intake, significantly raising the muscle carnosine concentration. This is best achieved with a sustained-release formulation of β-alanine to avoid paresthesia symptoms and decreasing urinary spillover. In humans, increased levels of carnosine through β-alanine supplementation have been shown to increase exercise capacity and performance of several types, particularly where the high-intensity exercise range is 1-4 min. β-Alanine supplementation is used by athletes competing in high-intensity track and field cycling, rowing, swimming events and other competitions. Copyright © 2013 Nestec Ltd., Vevey/S. Karger AG, Basel.

Imidazole, a subunit of histidine, plays a crucial role in proton-relay processes that are important for various biological activities, such as metal efflux, viral replication and photosynthesis. We show here how an imidazolyl ring incorporated into a rotary switch based on a hydrazone enables a switching cascade that involves proton relay between two different switches. The switching process starts with a single input, zinc(II), that initiates an E/Z isomerization in the hydrazone system through a coordination-coupled proton transfer. The resulting imidazolium ring is unusually acidic and, through proton relay, activates the E/Z isomerization of a non-coordinating pyridine-containing hydrazone switch. We hypothesize that the reduction in the acid dissociation constant of the imidazolium ring results from a combination of electrostatic and conformational effects, the study of which might help elucidate the proton-coupled electron-transfer mechanism in photosynthetic bacteria.

Pyrazolo[3,4-d]pyrimidine ring system constitute an important class of heterocyclic compounds which can serve as a promising scaffold exhibiting many pharmacological activities. This ring system received much attention as it is a purine isostere by replacing imidazole ring in purine with pyrazole moiety in pyrazolo[3,4-d]pyrimidine. Here we concentrate on new advances in the synthesis of this important ring and other clinical aspects in an attempt to sheld the light to assist in discovery of new pyrazolo[3,4-d]pyrimidine derivatives.

Pyrimidine-nucleoside phosphorylase catalyzes the phosphorolytic cleavage of thymidine and uridine with equal activity. Investigation of this protein is essential for anticancer drug design. Here, the structure of this protein from Bacillus subtilis in complex with imidazole and sulfate is reported at 1.9 Å resolution, which is an improvement on the previously reported structure at 2.6 Å resolution. The localization and position of imidazole in the nucleoside-binding site reflects the possible binding of ligands that possess an imidazole ring.