New Bioactive Azaartemisinin Derivatives

Reaction of artemisinin (1) with ethanolamine, followed by acid treatment produced the lactam (4S,8S,9S,13S,1R,5R,12R)-11-aza-11-(2-hydroxyethyl)-1,5,9-trimethyl-14,15-dioxatetracyclo [10.2.1.0<4,13>.0<8,13>]pentadecan-10-one (4) and the diol (1S,2S,6S,7S,5R,8R)-4-aza-5,6-dihydroxy-4-(2-hydroxyethyl)-2,8-dimethyl-7-(3-oxobutyl)bicyclo[4.4.0]decan-3-one (7). When ethylenediamine was used instead of the ethanolamine, the dimeric lactam (1S,4S,8S,9S,13S,5R,12R)-11-[2-((1S,4S,8S,9S,13S,5R, 12R)-11-aza-1,5,9-trimethyl-14,15-dioxa-10-oxotetracyclo[10.2.1.0<4,13>.0<8,13>] pentadec-11-yl)ethyl]-11-aza-1,5,9-trimethyl-14,15-dioxatetracyclo-[10.2.1.0<4,13>.0<8,13>]-pentadecan-10-one (8) was obtained. All compounds are new azaartemisinin derivatives lacking the peroxide functionality. These compounds were evaluated for antimalarial and cytotoxic activities. Only the dimer 8 was found to possess antimalarial activity, while only the diol 7 exhibited cytotoxic activity against human breast ductal carcinoma.