New strategies for the synthesis of functionalized substituted bisphosphonates: chemistry and biological activity

Abstract

The ever expanding cutting edge technologies in medicine for the benefit of society, the orthopedic branch is one among those significant branches in medicine pertaining to bone. Bisphosphonates (BPS) are being increasingly and successfully used to prevent bone fractures and the concerning problems of bone diseases such as Paget’s diseases, osteoporosis and tumour bone disease. In view of this specific problem, BPS are well established in the treatment of osteoclast -mediated resorbtive bone diseases including osteoporosis, Paget's disease and tumor-induced osteolysis. Recent studies suggest that, besides inhibiting bone resorbtion, BPS may also exert a direct antitumor effect, and this class of drugs has been shown to inhibit proliferation and to induce apoptosis in vitro in different human tumor cell lines. BPs are classified into two groups according to their chemical structure and mechanism of action: (i) non nitrogen containing BPS such as etidronate and clodronate that are of low potency and inhibit osteoclast function via metabolism into toxic ATPmetabolites and (ii) nitrogen-containing BPS (NBPS), such as pamidronate, alendronate, risedronate, ibandronate and zoledronate which is the most potent antiresorptive agent. Hence in present investigation we synthesized some several bisphosphonates bearing a substituted isoxazolidine ring by direct 1, 3- dipolar cyclization reaction in the absence of solvent and good yield under novel, promising and low cost microwaves catalysis. The method allows the simultaneous incorporation on the geminal position of the bisphosphonate framework, of basic nitrogen and of an oxygen atom, as third hook. The studies on the inhibitory potency of cyclic nitrogen containing bisphosphonates indicate that the presence of two geminal phosphonate groups is responsible for interaction with the molecular target. In addition, basic nitrogen in the heterocyclic side chain affects potency and its orientation is critical for effective inhibition of bone diseases. For the synthetic point of view, different aryl and alkyl substituents on the isoxazolidine ring prompt us to investigate the ring opening of these compounds through cleavage of the N-O bond. This strategy represents a novel access to new gem-hydroxyl bisphosphonates, bearing aryl substituents on the lateral chain. The reductive cleavage of the N-O bond in isoxazolidines represents a simple and direct access to N-substituted aminoalcohols, valuable intermediates in many synthetic strategies. Moreover, additional reaction path way have been envisaged leading to the formation of non-hydroxyl bisphosphonates.