Molecular iodine has been used as an efficient catalyst for a double Friedel-Crafts reaction of various heteroarenes, i.e. 2-methylfuran, 2-ethylfuran, 2-methylthiophene, pyrrole, N-methylpyrrole and indole, using aldehydes as alkylating agents under "open-flask" conditions with toluene or water as the reaction media. In the presence of 10 mol% iodine in toluene at room temperature, both aliphatic and aromatic aldehydes reacted smoothly to give the corresponding bis(heteroaryl)alkanes in good to excellent yields. Interestingly, with water as the solvent, the bis(heteroaryl)alkane adducts were obtained in moderate to good yields. The use of mild reaction conditions, low catalyst loadings, and eco-friendly reagents in a single step synthesis are the advantages of the present procedure. In an effort to discover novel non-steroidal anti-inflammatory agents, the synthesized bis(heteroaryl)alkanes were evaluated for the anti-inflammatory activity in the lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated RAW 264.7 macrophage model. These compounds (50 μM) significantly inhibited NO production and did not exhibit significant cytotoxic effects on macrophage cells. Among them, bis[(5-methyl)2-furyl](4-nitrophenyl) methane exhibited the most potent inhibition of NO with IC50 value of 42.4 ± 1.9, which is similar to that of the positive control, aminoguanidine (43.3 ± 2.5 μM). Thus, the bis[(5-methyl)2-furyl](4-nitrophenyl) methane could be considered a lead compound for the development of novel anti-inflammatory agents.
Keywords: 1,1-Bis(heteroaryl)alkane; Anti-inflammatory agents; Iodine; Nitric oxide.
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