Graphene oxide as an active carbocatalyst for cyanation of quinoline and isoquinoline N-Oxides

Graphene oxide was found to be a highly efficient and cost-effective heterogeneous catalyst for the direct metal-free transformation of quinoline and isoquinoline N-oxides into the corresponding nitriles under mild conditions. This method is simple, economic and environmentally benign, representing a useful strategy for the convenient synthesis of alpha-cyano N-oxides that are difficult to prepare by transition-metal-free catalyzed methods. In vitro, compound 2s exhibited good activities against T-24 cell lines with IC50 values in 10.23 +/- 1.05 mu M. Further studies investigated the mechanism of the effective inhibition of cell growth, including apoptosis ratio dection, cell cycle analysis, measurement of Ca2+ generation, ROS, and mitochondrial dysfunction. (C) 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.