Thiamine plays a very important coenzymatic and non-coenzymatic role in the regulation of basic metabolism. Thiamine diphosphate is a coenzyme of many enzymes, most of which occur in prokaryotes. Pyruvate dehydrogenase and 2-oxoglutarate dehydrogenase complexes as well as transketolase are the examples of thiamine-dependent enzymes present in eukaryotes, including human. Therefore, thiamine is considered as drug or diet supplement which can support the treatment of many pathologies including neurodegenerative and vascular system diseases. On the other hand, thiamine antivitamins, which can interact with thiamine-dependent enzymes impeding their native functions, thiamine transport into the cells or a thiamine diphosphate synthesis, are good propose to drug design. The development of organic chemistry in the last century allowed the synthesis of various thiamine antimetabolites such as amprolium, pyrithiamine, oxythiamine, or 3-deazathiamine. Results of biochemical and theoretical chemistry research show that affinity to thiamine diphosphate-dependent enzymes of these synthetic molecules exceeds the affinity of native coenzyme. Therefore, some of them have already been used in the treatment of coccidiosis (amprolium), other are extensively studied as cytostatics in the treatment of cancer or fungal infections (oxythiamine and pyrithiamine). This review summarizes the current knowledge concerning the synthesis and mechanisms of action of selected thiamine antivitamins and indicates the potential of their practical use.

Thermal rate constants of the CH₄ + O₂ = CH₃ + HO₂ reaction were calculated from first principles using both the conventional transition state theory (TST) and canonical variational TST methods with correction from the explicit hindered rotation treatment. The CCSD(T)/aug-cc-pVTZ//BH&HLYP/aug-cc-pVDZ method was used to characterize the necessary potential energy surface along the minimum energy path. We found that the correction for hindered rotation treatment, as well as the re-crossing effects noticeably affect the rate constants of the title process. The calculated rate constants for both forward and reverse directions are expressed in the modified Arrhenius form as \(k_{\text{forward}}^{\text{CVT/HR}} = 2.157 \times 10^{ - 18} \times T^{2.412} \times \,\exp \,( - \frac{25812}{T})\) and \(k_{\text{reverse}}^{\text{CVT/HR}} = 1.375 \times 10^{ - 19} \times T^{2.183} \times \,{\kern 1pt} \exp \,\,(\frac{2032}{T})\) (cm³ molecule⁻¹ s⁻¹) for the temperature range of 300–2,500 K. Being in good agreement with literature data, the results provide solid basis information for the investigation of the entire alkane + O₂ = alkyl radical + HO₂ reaction class.

Eighteen previously undescribed trimethoprim (TMP) analogs containing amide bonds (1–18) were synthesized and compared with TMP, methotrexate (MTX), and netropsin (NT). These compounds were designed as potential minor groove binding agents (MGBAs) and inhibitors of human dihydrofolate reductase (hDHFR). The all-new derivatives were obtained via solid phase synthesis using 4-nitrophenyl Wang resin. Data from the ethidium displacement test confirmed their DNA-binding capacity. Compounds 13–14 (49.89% and 43.85%) and 17–18 (41.68% and 42.99%) showed a higher binding affinity to pBR322 plasmid than NT. The possibility of binding in a minor groove as well as determination of association constants were performed using calf thymus DNA, T4 coliphage DNA, poly (dA-dT)², and poly (dG-dC)². With the exception of compounds 9 (IC50 = 56.05 µM) and 11 (IC50 = 55.32 µM), all of the compounds showed better inhibitory properties against hDHFR than standard, which confirms that the addition of the amide bond into the TMP structures increases affinity towards hDHFR. Derivatives 2, 6, 13, 14, and 16 were found to be the most potent hDHFR inhibitors. This molecular modelling study shows that they interact strongly with a catalytically important residue Glu-30.