Two silver(I) complexes, bis{diethyl[(5-phenyl-1,3,4-oxadiazol-2-yl-κN³:κN⁴-amino) (4-trifluoromethylphenyl)methyl]phosphonate-(tetrafluoroborato-κF)}-di-silver(I) and tetrakis-{diethyl[(5-phenyl-1,3,4-oxadiazol-2-yl-κN³-amino)(4-trifluoromethylphenyl)methyl]phosphonate} silver(I) tetrafluoroborate, were prepared starting from the diethyl[(5-phenyl-1,3,4-oxadiazol-2-yl-amino)(4-trifluoromethylphenyl)methyl]phosphonate (1) ligand and AgBF₄ salt in Ag/ligand ratios of 1/1 and 1/4, respectively. The structure, stoichiometry, and geometry of the silver complexes were fully characterized by elemental analyses, infrared, single-crystal X-ray diffraction studies, multinuclear NMR, and mass spectroscopies. The binuclear complex ([Ag₂(1)₂(BF₄)₂]; 2) crystallizes in the monoclinic asymmetric space group P2₁/c and contains two silver atoms adopting a {AgN₂F} planar trigonal geometry, which are simultaneously bridged by two oxadiazole rings of two ligands, while the mononuclear complex ([Ag(1)₄]BF₄; 3) crystallizes in the non-usual cubic space group Fd-3c in which the silver atom binds to four distinct electronically enriched nitrogen atoms of the oxadiazole ring, in a slightly distorted {AgN₄} tetrahedral geometry. The α-aminophosphonate and the monomeric silver complex were evaluated in vitro against MCF-7 and PANC-1 cell lines. The silver complex is promising as a drug candidate for breast cancer and the pancreatic duct with half-maximal inhibitory concentration (IC₅₀) values of 8.3 ± 1.0 and 14.4 ± 0.6 μM, respectively. Additionally, the interactions of the ligand and the mononuclear complex with Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Receptor-2 and DNA were evaluated by molecular docking methods.

An efficient and simple approach has been developed for the synthesis of eight dialkyl/aryl[(5-phenyl-1,3,4-oxadiazol-2-ylamino)(aryl)methyl]phosphonates through the Pudovik-type reaction of dialkyl/arylphosphite with imines, obtained from 5-phenyl-1,3,4-oxadiazol-2-amine and aromatic aldehydes, under microwave irradiation. Five of them were hydrolyzed to lead to the corresponding phosphonic acids. Selected synthesized compounds were screened for their in vitro antiviral activity against the avian bronchitis virus (IBV). In the MTT cytotoxicity assay, the dose-response curve showed that all test compounds were safe in the range concentration of 540–1599 µM. The direct contact of novel synthesized compounds with IBV showed that the diethyl[(5-phenyl-1,3,4-oxadiazol-2-ylamino)(4-trifluoromethoxyphenyl)methyl]phosphonate (5f) (at 33 µM) and the [(5-phenyl-1,3,4-oxadiazol-2-ylamino)(4-trifluoromethylphenyl)methyl] phosphonic acid (6a) (at 1.23 µM) strongly inhibited the IBV infectivity, indicating their high virucidal activity. However, virus titers from IBV-infected Vero cells remained unchanged in response to treatment with the lowest non-cytotoxic concentrations of synthesized compounds suggesting their incapacity to inhibit the virus replication inside the host cell. Lack of antiviral activity might presumably be ascribed to their polarity that hampers their diffusion across the lipophilic cytoplasmic membrane. Therefore, the interactions of 5f and 6a were analyzed against the main coronavirus protease, papain-like protease, and nucleocapsid protein by molecular docking methods. Nevertheless, the novel 1,3,4-oxadiazole-based α-aminophosphonic acids and α-amino-phosphonates hold potential for developing new hygienic virucidal products for domestic, chemical, and medical uses.

Three α-aminophosphonates, namely diethyl[(5-phenyl-1,3,4-oxadiazol-2-ylamino)(4-trifluoromethylphenyl) methyl]phosphonate (3a), diethyl[(5-phenyl-1,3,4-oxadiazol-2-ylamino)(2-methoxyphenyl)methyl]phosphonate (3b) and diethyl[(5-phenyl-1,3,4-oxadiazol-2-ylamino)(4-nitrophenyl)methyl]phosphonate (3c), were synthetized via the Pudovik-type reaction between diethyl phosphite and imines, obtained from 5-phenyl-1,2,4-oxadiazol-2-amine and aromatic aldehydes, under microwave irradiation. Compounds 3a–c underwent complexation with a ruthenium(II) precursor, selectively at the more basic nitrogen atom of the oxadiazole ring, leading to the corresponding ruthenium complexes 4a–c of the formula [RuCl₂(L)(p-cymene)] (L = α-aminophosphonates 3a–c). Complexes 4a–c proved to be efficient catalysts for the transfer hydrogenation of ketones to alcohols. All new compounds were fully characterised by elemental analysis, infrared, mass and NMR spectroscopy. An X-ray structure of the α-aminophosphonate 3b was obtained and revealed the presence, in the solid state, of an infinite chain of 3b units supramolecularly interlinked. Two X-ray diffraction studies carried out on ruthenium complexes confirm the specific coordination of the electron-enricher nitrogen atom of the oxadiazole ring.

The functionalization of methylated azines and diazines has aroused the interest of chemists given the structural diversity that it affords. Hindered lithium dialkylamides have been used to deprotometallate these substrates chemoselectively. In contrast, it can be observed that, despite some promising work, lithium diethylamide has been used very little for this purpose. Our objective here is on the one hand to make an inventory of what reagents have been used to deprotometallate methylpyridines, ‐quinolines and ‐quinoxalines, and on the other hand to describe the results obtained by seeking to functionalize a series of substrates with lithium diethylamide (picolines, 2,4‐lutidine, methylquinolines and 2‐methylquinoxaline). Our efforts to take advantage of the use of an in‐situ trap (a zinc chloride chelate) in these reactions are also described.