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α,β‐Unsaturated compounds are one of the most important functional compounds. Due to their unique property and versatile utility, they usually occur as the key intermediates for the synthesis of pharmaceuticals and biological materials. Thus, their synthesis has attracted more attentions than before. The early approaches to α,β‐unsaturated compounds are mainly about transition‐metal‐free methods, such as halogenation‐dehydrohalogenation methods and strong oxidants methods (organosulfur, organoselenium, benzoquinone). Subsequently, palladium and the other transition‐metals catalyzed dehydrogenation of carbonyl compounds appeared respectively. In this review, transition‐metal‐catalyzed α,β‐dehydrogenation is discussed, which is categorized by functional groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A series of 31 chalcones were synthesized and evaluated for anti-proliferative activity against the human cervical cancer cell lines (HeLa and SiHa). Compound 19, (E)-1-(2,4-dihydroxyphenyl)-3-(4-(dimethylamino) phenyl)-2-methylprop-2-en-1-one was found to be an effective anti-proliferative agent in HeLa and SiHa cells (IC = 0.035 μM). Compound 19 increased the percentage of apoptosis in a dose-dependent manner, as measured by Annexin V-FITC (fluorescein isothiocyanate)/(propidium iodide) PI staining. Molecular modeling studies of compound 19 showed that the most potent structure was docked at the yeast 20 S proteasome binding site (Protein Data Bank code-3E47) and was stabilized in the cavity by various hydrophobic and hydrogen bonding interactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]