Materials that exhibit responsiveness toward biological signals are currently subjected to intense research in the field of drug delivery. In our study, we tried to develop cancer-targeted and redox-responsive nanoparticles (NPs) from disulfide-linked oxidized cysteine-phenylalanine (CFO). The NPs were conjugated with folic acid (FA) to specifically target cancer cells, and the presence of disulfide bonds would enabled the disintegration of the particles in the presence of elevated levels of glutathione (GSH) in cancer cells. Anticancer drug doxorubicin (Dox) was successfully loaded inside the disulfide-linked nanoparticles (CFO-Dox-NPs), which further demonstrated stimuli-responsive drug release in the presence of GSH. We have also demonstrated enhanced uptake of FA-derivatized NPs (FA-CFO-NPs) in cancerous cells (C6 glioma and B16F10 melanoma cells) than in normal cells (HEK293T cells) due to the overexpression of FA receptors on the surface of cancer cells. Cytotoxicity studies in C6 cells and B16F10 cells further revealed enhanced efficacy of Dox loaded (FA-CFO-Dox-NPs) as compared to the native drug. The findings of this study clearly demonstrated that the disulfide-linked nanoparticle system may provide a promising selective drug delivery platform in cancer cells.

A series of thieno[3,2-c]pyrans were designed and synthesized by L-proline catalyzed reaction of 6-aryl/5,6-diaryl-4-methylthio-2H-pyrane-2-one-3-carbonitriles or 4-(methylthio)-2-oxo-5,6-dihydro-2H-benzo[h]chromene-3-carbonitrile and methylthioglycolate in good yields. These thieno[3,2-c]pyrans exhibit substituent dependent fluorescence. The 6-aryl-thieno[3,2-c]pyrans 3a–3e exhibit high fluorescence quantum yields (95%) with large Stokes shifts, whereas the 6,7-di-substituted-thieno[3,2-c]pyrans 3f–3h show poor fluorescence in solution and exhibit an aggregation-induced emission (AIE). Interestingly, fused 6,7-di-substituted-thieno[3,2-c]pyran is highly fluorescent in the solution state, which reveals that restricted intramolecular rotation is the cause for AIE in 3f–3h.

A simple, efficient and economical synthesis of dimethyl 3-amino-5-(2-oxo-2-arylethyl)thiophene-2,4-dicarboxylates has been reported by ring opening of methyl 3-amino-6-aryl-4-oxo-4H-thieno[3,2-c]pyran-2-carboxylates by alkoxide ions. Pyranothiophenes have been obtained by the reaction of methyl thioglycolate and 6-aryl-4-methylthio-2H-pyran-2-one-3-carbonitriles in the presence of triethylamine. A one-pot multicomponent protocol for the synthesis of tetrasubstituted thiophenes has been developed by reaction of 6-aryl-4-methylthio-2H-pyran-2-one-3-carbonitriles and methyl thioglycolate in the presence of sodium methoxide in excellent yields. The structure of the isolated compound was confirmed by single crystal X-ray diffraction and spectroscopic studies.

A base controlled regioselective 1,6-cyanoallylation of suitably functionalized 2H-pyran-2-ones has been demonstrated for the synthesis of various multi-substituted benzenes through a tandem process. We observed that lithium hydroxide provides a major product from α-attack and a minor product from γ-attack of allyl cyanide, while the use of sodium hydride as a base exclusively provides the product by γ-attack of allyl cyanide. We have also performed NMR experiments to understand the mechanistic pathway. The structure of the compound was confirmed by single crystal X-ray analysis.