Guanylation Reactions for the Rational Design of Cancer Therapeutic Agents

The modular synthesis of the guanidine core by guanylation reactions using commercially available ZnEt₂ as a catalyst has been exploited as a tool for the rapid development of antitumoral guanidine candidates. Therefore, a series of phenyl-guanidines were straightforwardly obtained in very high yields. From the in vitro assessment of the antitumoral activity of such structurally diverse guanidines, the guanidine termed ACB3 has been identified as the lead compound of the series. Several biological assays, an estimation of AMDE values, and an uptake study using Fluorescence Lifetime Imaging Microscopy were conducted to gain insight into the mechanism of action. Cell death apoptosis, induction of cell cycle arrest, and reduction in cell adhesion and colony formation have been demonstrated for the lead compound in the series. In this work, and as a proof of concept, we discuss the potential of the catalytic guanylation reactions for high-throughput testing and the rational design of guanidine-based cancer therapeutic agents.