A series of three para-benzoquinone mono-oximes and four oxy-derivatives were prepared and tested for their antidepressant properties. The (4E) oxime of 2-isopropyl-5-methyl-para-benzoquinone (4) and the corresponding 2-diethylamino-ethyl derivative (10) present antidepressant activities and were slightly more potent than the reference standard.

We have successfully demonstrated that a microflow reactor is extremely useful in controlling reactions involving an unstable o-benzoquinone. The key features of the method are an effective o-benzoquinone generation and its rapid use for the following reaction without decomposition in a microflow system.

Many clinically useful antitumor agents have a quinone group in their structure. A series of model compounds has been studied to determine if the quinone group is involved in the cytotoxic activity of these agents and to investigate the mechanism of this action. Hydrolyzed benzoquinone mustard, which contains a quinone group, produced significant cell kill of L5178Y lymphoblasts, whereas hydrol...

From the acetone extract of the North American toadstool Lepiota americana 2-aminophenoxazin-3-one (1) and a novel amino-1,4-benzoquinone derivative, lepiotaquinone (2), were isolated. The structure of 2 was confirmed by its preparation from 2-aminophenol and amino-1,4-benzoquinone.

Benzoquinone (BQ) and O(2) are among the most common stoichiometric oxidants in Pd-catalyzed oxidation reactions. The present study provides rare insights into mechanistic differences between BQ and O(2) in their reactivity with a well-defined Pd-hydride complex, Pd(IMes)(2)(H)(O(2)CPh) (1). BQ promotes the reductive elimination of PhCO(2)H from 1 and catalyzes the formation of a Pd(II)-OOH com...

We have previously evaluated the role of NAD(P)H:quinone oxidoreductase 1 (NQO1) in the bioreductive metabolism of 17-(allylamino)-demethoxygeldanamycin (17AAG) to the corresponding hydroquinone, a more potent 90-kDa heat shock protein (Hsp90) inhibitor. Here, we report an extensive study with a series of benzoquinone ansamycins, which includes gel-danamycin, 17-(amino)-17-demethoxygeldanamycin...