An efficient preparation of imidazolines from nitriles and aziridines in the presence of TfOH via Ritter reaction is described. It indicates that different kinds of nitriles can undergo the process. Among the nitriles, pivalonitrile is proven to be better than acetonitrile. The reaction is performed at room temperature and the yields are excellent.An efficient TfOH-promoted Ritter reaction of nitriles with aziridines to imidazolines is described.

An efficient preparation of (±)-antofine is described. The main steps involved in this synthesis are the Horner–Wadsworth–Emmons reaction, the intramolecular Schmidt reaction of an azido aldehyde, and the one-pot deprotection of the N-formyl group, followed by Pictet–Spengler cyclization. The asymmetric hydrogenation of the trisubstituted α,β-unsaturated ester is also explored, however only moderate enantio-control (55% ee) is obtained. Finally, (±)-antofine is prepared in six steps from the phenanthryl aldehyde 5 with an overall yield of 35%.

The selective transalkylation of N-methyl tertiary amines with 3,4-dibromobutenolides is described. The N-methyl group of the parent tertiary amines was replaced by alkenyl units of the butenolides; and a series of butenolide-containing tertiary enamines were obtained in moderate to good yields. Interestingly, the product 2b has shown a promising anticancer activity against HeLa cell lines (IC50 = 0.19 μmol/L).A novel transalkylation of N-methyl tertiary amines with 3,4-dibromobutenolides is described, and a series of butenolide-containing tertiary enamines were obtained in moderate to good yields. Interestingly, the product 2b has shown a promising anticancer activity against HeLa cell lines (IC50 = 0.19 μmol/L).

An efficient synthesis of 4,5-diamino-3-halofuran-2(5H)-ones has been developed based on a sequential acylation and bisamination of mucohalic acids. The β- and γ-amination products have also been prepared with high regioselectivity. This reaction shows some advantages in terms of its simple operation and readily available but highly functionalized starting material. All products gave satisfactory IR, 1H NMR, 13C NMR and HRMS.An efficient synthesis of 4,5-diamino-3-halofuran-2(5H)-ones was controlled by a regioselectivity of amination reaction under ambient temperature and without a catalyst.

1,2,4-Triazole derivatives have received much attention due to their versatile biological properties including antibacterial, antifungal, anticonvulsant, antiinflammatory, anticancer, and antiproliferative properties. 1,2,4-Triazole nucleus has been incorporated into a wide variety of therapeutically interesting molecules to transform them into better drugs. Schiff bases of 1,2,4-triazoles have also been found to possess extensive biological activities. On the other hand, γ-substituted butenolide moiety represents a biological important entity that is present in numerous biologically active natural products.We have described herein the synthesis of 12 hybrid 1,2,4-triazole Schiff bases bearing γ-substituted butenolide moiety. These compounds were synthesized by utilizing the tandem asymmetric Michael addition/elimination reaction as the key step. All the new compounds were evaluated for their in vitro anticancer activity.Tandem asymmetric Michael addition/elimination approach has offered an easy access to new chiral 1,2,4-triazole compounds 7a-7l. All these chiral 1,2,4-triazole derivatives exhibited good anticancer activities towards Hela. Of all the tested compounds, the chiral compound 7l with an IC50 of 1.8 μM was found to be the most active.

A new series of chiral 1,3,4-thiadiazoles derivatives possessing γ-substituted butenolide moiety were synthesized and evaluated for in vitro anticancer properties. All the compounds showed good anticancer activities against Hela cell lines. Of all the studied compounds, compound 9e exhibited the best inhibitory activity with an IC50 of 0.9 μM. After being treated with 0.1 μg/mL compound 9e for 24 h, the growth inhibition rate of Hela cell lines was 59.2%.In the present study, a new series of chiral 2,5-disubstituted 1,3,4-thiadiazoles possessing γ-butenolide moiety were synthesized and evaluated for their in vitro anticancer activity.