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In this work we describe the synthesis and the biological activity of 2-[(E)-3-(6chloroimidazo[2,1-b]thiazol-5-yl)prop-2-enyl]-5,6-dimethoxy-3-methyl-1,4-benzoquinone i.e. an imidazothiazole derivative connected to the benzoquinone ring of Q0. This compound was tested as specific inhibitor of the NADH:ubiquinone (UBQ) reductase activity of NADH dehydrogenase in mitochondrial membranes. Binding of the imidazothiazole moiety to the quinone site normally occupied by the isoprenoid lateral side chain increases the inhibitory effect (with an IC50 for NADH-Q1 activity of 0.24 μM) whereas the benzoquinone moiety seems to lose the capability as electron acceptor from Complex I. The new compound was also tested as potential antitumor agent at the National Cancer Institute.

One of our projects devoted to the synthesis of potential antitumor agents is called “Cancer Fighting Cancer”. This brought us to synthesize the new heterocyclic system, diimidazo-[1,2a:1,2-c]-pyrimidine, which is a key intermediate for the synthesis of antitumor derivatives. The structure of this compound was demonstrated by means of NMR and MS experiments.