Phthalimides as anti-inflammatory agents

Isoindoline-1,3-dione, also referred as phthalimide, has gained recognition as promising pharmacophore due to the documented biological activities of its derivatives. Phthalimides are a family of synthetic molecules that exhibit notable bioactivity across various fields, particularly as anticancer and anti-inflammatory agents. This review focuses on syntheses and anti-inflammatory studies of the reported phthalimide derivatives. Although there are several synthetic protocols to produce phthalimide derivatives, two methods for synthesizing phthalimides are traditionally used: reacting phthalic anhydride with amines or anilines and the Gabriel synthesis. Due to their structural versatility and established pharmacological effects, derivatives of phthalimides such as the commercially available drugs thalidomide, pomalidomide, and lenalidomide, have driven the development of new derivatives offering hundreds of promising drug candidates with exceptional therapeutic potential, such as LASSBio 468 and adducts 2, 9, 150, 241, 255, and 305 to name some.