Abstract
An efficient route towards the synthesis of symmetrical diselenide and selenium-containing quinone pseudopeptides via one-pot Ugi and sequential nucleophilic substitution (S-N) methodology was developed. Compounds were evaluated for their antimicrobial and anticancer activities and their corresponding antioxidant/pro-oxidant profiles were assesed employing 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), bleomycin dependent DNA damage and glutathione peroxidase (GPx)-like activity assays. Selenium based quinones were among the most potent cytotoxic compounds with a slight preference for MCF-7 compared to HepG2 cells and good free radical scavenging activity. Furthermore, symmetrical diselenides exhibited the most potent GPx-like activity compared to ebselen. Moreover, compounds 7, 8, 9 and 10 exhibited similar antifungal activity to the antifungal drug clotrimazole with modest activity against the Gram-positive bacterium S. aureus. These results indicate that some of the synthesized organoselenides are redox modulating agent with promising anti-cancer and antifungal potentials.