Catalytic asymmetric synthesis of spirooxindoles: recent developments

Supported molybdenum on graphene oxide/Fe3O4: An efficient, magnetically separable catalyst for one-pot construction of spiro-oxindole dihydropyridines in deep eutectic solvent under microwave irradiation

The first enantioselective Satoh-Miura-type reaction is reported. A variety of C-N axially chiral N-aryloxindoles have been enantioselectively synthesized by an asymmetric rhodium-catalyzed dual C-H activation reaction of N-aryloxindoles and alkynes. High yields and enantioselectivities were obtained (up to 99 % yield and up to 99 % ee). To date, it is also the first example of the asymmetric synthesis of C-N axially chiral compounds by such a C-H activation strategy.

Enantioselective Synthesis of C-N Axially Chiral N-Aryloxindoles by Asymmetric Rhodium-Catalyzed Dual C-H Activation.

Introduction: Spirooxindole, a unique and versatile scaffold, has been widely studied in some fields such as pharmaceutical chemistry and synthetic chemistry. Especially in the application of medicine, quite a few compounds featuring spirooxindole motif have displayed excellent and broad pharmacological activities. Many identified candidate molecules have been used in clinical trials, showing promising prospects.Areas covered: This article offers an overview of different applications and developments of spirooxindoles (including the related natural products and their derivatives) in the process of drug innovation, including such as in anticancer, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, analgesic, antioxidant, antimalarial, and antiviral activities. Furthermore, the crucial structure-activity relationships, molecular mechanisms, pharmacokinetic properties, and main synthetic methods of spirooxindoles-based derivatives are also reviewed.Expert opinion: Recent progress in the biological activity profiles of spirooxindole derivatives have demonstrated their significant position in present-day drug discovery. Furthermore, we believe that the multidirectional development of novel drugs containing this core scaffold will continue to be the research hotspot in medicinal chemistry in the future.

An overview of spirooxindole as a promising scaffold for novel drug discovery.

A highly efficient, eco-friendly protocol has been developed for synthesis of spirooxindole-pyran derivatives via one-pot, three-component reaction of isatins, malononitrile, and enolizable C–H activated compounds (2-hydroxynaphthalene-1,4-dione, 4-hydroxycoumarine and dimedone) under visible-light irradiation in water-ethyl lactate at room temperature. The reported approach shows significant advantages such as a high yield, mild and clean reaction conditions, the application of clean visible light as a source of energy, the absence of catalyst, the use of ethyl lactate/water as an environmentally friendly solvent, a one-pot multicomponent reaction at room temperature, no chromatographic separation, and applicability for large-scale synthesis.

Catalyst-Free, Visible-Light Promoted One-Pot Synthesis of Spirooxindole-Pyran Derivatives in Aqueous Ethyl Lactate

Spirooxindoles are important synthetic targets possessing extended biological activity and drug discovery applications. This review focuses on the various strategies for the enantioselective synthesis of spirocyclic oxindoles relying on reports over the past decade and from earlier work. The spirooxindoles in this review are separated into three structural classes, and then further categorized into the method type from which the spirocycle is generated.

Dmytro V. Atamanuk

Papers

Molecular diversity of spirooxindoles. Synthesis and biological activity