We performed an extensive analysis about the reaction conditions of the 1,4-Michael addition of amino acids to 1,4-naphthoquinone and substitution to 2,3-dichloronaphthoquinone, and a complete evaluation of stoichiometry, use of different bases, and the pH influence was performed. We were able to show that microwave-assisted synthesis is the best method for the synthesis of naphthoquinone–amino acid and chloride–naphthoquinone–amino acid derivatives with 79–91% and 78–91% yields, respectively. The cyclic voltammetry profiles showed that both series of naphthoquinone–amino acid derivatives mainly display one quasi-reversible redox reaction process. Interestingly, it was shown that naphthoquinone derivatives possess a selective antitumorigenic activity against cervix cancer cell lines and chloride–naphthoquinone–amino acid derivatives against breast cancer cell lines. Furthermore, the newly synthetized compounds with asparagine–naphthoquinones (3e and 4e) inhibited ~85% of SiHa cell proliferation. These results show promising compounds for specific cervical and breast cancer treatment.

Background: The synthesis and biological evaluation of 1,4-naphthoquinone derivatives are of great interest since these compounds exhibit strong antibacterial, antifungal, antimalarial, and anticancer activities. The electronic properties of naphthoquinones are usually modulated by attaching functional groups containing nitrogen, oxygen, and sulfur atoms, which tune their biological potency and selectivity. Methods: A series of 13 amino acid 1,4-naphthoquinone derivatives was synthesized under assisted microwave and ultrasound conditions. The antibacterial activity of compounds was tested against American Type Culture Collection (ATCC): Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus, and Enterococcus faecalis, as well as 2 multidrug resistant pathogens: E. coli and S. aureus from clinical isolated. Minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) was determined using the broth microdilution method. Results: MIC of derivatives 4–11, 14, and 16 showed antimicrobial activity against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. Antimicrobial activities of the compounds 4–8 and 14 were ≤MIC 24.7 μg mL−1 against all the reference strains; even more, compound 6 showed the most potent activity with an MIC of 3.9 μg mL−1 on S. aureus. On the clinical isolated, the compounds 7, 8, and 14 showed an MIC of 49.7 and 24.7 μg mL−1 against S. aureus and E. coli, respectively. About ADME properties and Osiris analysis, the compounds 4–16 presented high gastrointestinal absorption and good characteristics for oral bioavailability, and compound 14 was the less toxic. Conclusion: Amino acid 1,4-naphthoquinone derivatives showed good in vitro antibacterial activity against clinical strains, and modifications on C-3 with a chloride atom enhanced the efficiency against the same pathogens.

We previously showed that microwave assisted synthesis is the best method for the synthesis of naphthoquinone amino acid and chloride-naphthoquinone amino acid derivatives by a complete evaluation of reaction conditions such as stoichiometry, bases, and pH influence. Following the same strategy, we synthesized chloride and non-chloride tyrosine, valine, and tryptophan-naphthoquinones achieving 85–95%, 80–92%, and 91–95% yields, respectively. The cyclic voltammetry profiles showed that both series of naphthoquinone amino acid derivatives mainly display one redox reaction process. Overall, chloride naphthoquinone amino acid derivatives exhibited redox potential values (E_1/2) more positive than non-chloride compounds. The six newly synthesized compounds were tested in HPV positive and negative as well as in immortal and tumorigenic cell lines to observe the effects in different cellular context simulating precancerous and cancerous status. A dose-response was achieved to determine the IC50 of six newly synthesized compounds in SiHa (Tumorigenic and HPV16 positive), CaLo (Tumorigenic and HPV18 positive), C33-A (Tumorigenic and HPV negative) and HaCaT (Keratinocytes immortal HPV negative) cell lines. Non-chloride tryptophan-naphthoquinone (3c) and chloride tyrosine-naphthoquine (4a) effects were more potent in tumorigenic SiHa, CaLo, and C33-A cells with respect to non-tumorigenic HaCaT cells. Interestingly, there seems to be a differential effect in non-chloride and chloride naphthoquinone amino acid derivatives in tumorigenic versus non tumorigenic cells. Considering all naphthoquinone amino acid derivatives that our group synthesized, it seems that hydrophobic and aromatic amino acids have the greatest effect on cell proliferation inhibition. These results show promising compounds for cervical cancer treatment.

The hydantoin moiety is found in several bioactive compounds with important pharmacological properties such as antimicrobial, antifungal, anti-androgens, anticancer and the historical action anticonvulsant. Because of these reasons, the synthesis of these compounds and their derivatives is important to review considering the philosophy of the green chemistry. In this review, we present the actual importance in the green synthesis of hydantoins and their derivatives using green methods, such as microwave and ultrasound irradiation, ionic liquids, solid-phase and solvent-free synthesis. Finally, several green protocols reported have been discussed.

In this work, the synthesis of thiohydantoins from l-amino acids and isothiocyanates was studied, using a high purity method based on the Edman cycle. This process, expected to occur through the Michael addition to a series of 1,4-naphthoquinone derivatives did not lead to the expected final product, rather leading to a colored mixture of compounds, where EPR spectra showed that some of them presented unpaired electrons, indicating that an electron transfer pathway was also involved in the reaction mixture. Detected organic radicals proved to be stable albeit with the use of different experimental conditions. Voltammetric results indicated that the reactions led to the formation of electroactive species, probably derived by homogeneous electron transfer between the reactive quinone moieties and the oxidizable urea functions within the hydantoin species.