Zephycandidine A (1), the first naturally occurring imidazo[1,2-f]phenanthridine alkaloid, was isolated from Zephyranthes candida (Amaryllidaceae). The structure of 1 was elucidated by spectroscopic analyses and NMR calculation, and a plausible biogenetic pathway for zephycandidine A (1) was proposed. Zephycandidine A (1) exhibited significant cytotoxicity against five cancer cell lines with IC...

A new benzo[c]phenanthridine, oxynorchelerythrine (1), and two new benzenoid derivatives, methyl 4-(2-hydroxy-4-methoxy-3-methyl-4-oxobutoxy)benzoate (2) and (E)-methyl 4-(4-((Z)-3-methoxy-3-oxoprop-1-enyl)phenoxy)-2-methylbut-2-enoate (3), have been isolated from the twigs of Zanthoxylum ailanthoides, together with 11 known compounds (4-14). The structures of these new compounds were determine...

The effect of the novel and potent monofunctional platinum(II) agent phenanthriplatin on Escherichia coli and bacteriophage λ lysogens is reported. E. coli filamentation was observed by light microscopy when cells were grown in the presence of phenanthriplatin, cis-[Pt(NH3)2(Am)Cl](+) where Am is phenanthridine. Treatment of lysogenic bacteria with this compound resulted in lysis and the produc...

The totality of chemical space is so immense that only a small fraction can ever be explored. Computational searching has indicated that bioactivity is associated with a comparatively small number of ring-containing structures. Pyrrole, indole, pyridine, quinoline, quinazoline and related 6-membered ring-containing aza-arenes figure prominently. This review focuses on the search for fast, effic...

A set of oxime carbamates having N-alkyl and N,N-dialkyl substituents were prepared via carbonyldiimidazole intermediates. It was shown by EPR spectroscopy that they underwent clean homolysis of their N-O bonds upon UV photolysis. During photolysis of acetophenone O-allylcarbamoyl oxime, the corresponding oxazolidin-2-onylmethyl radical was detected by EPR spectroscopy, providing the first evid...

Approximately half of all patients who receive anticancer chemotherapy are treated with a platinum drug. Despite the widespread use of these drugs, the only cure that can be claimed is that of testicular cancer following cisplatin treatment. This article reviews some of our recent work on phenanthriplatin, a cisplatin derivative in which a chloride ion is replaced by phenanthridine, and on one ...

At submicromolar concentrations two novel phenanthridine biguanides exhibit distinctly different spectroscopic signals for dGdC and dAdT sequences, respectively, by opposite fluorimetric changes (quenching for dGdC and increase for dAdT) and especially the bis-biguanide derivative gives an opposite ICD response (negative ICD for dGC and strong positive for dAdT). This specific signalling was ex...

The aim of this study was to compare the toxic effects of selected two- and three-ringed PAHs (naphthalene, phenanthrene, and anthracene) and their N-heterocyclic analogs with one (quinoline, acridine, and phenanthridine) or two (quinoxaline, phenazine, and 1,10-phenanthroline) nitrogen atoms on the survival and reproduction of Enchytraeus crypticus in artificial soil. Toxicity of compounds was...