A two-step synthesis of medicinally-important 1,8-naphthalimide peptidyls by solid phase organic synthesis

A new approach for a short synthesis of novel medicinally-important mono-, bis- and tris-1,8-naphthalimide peptidyl derivatives is described. The method generates efficiently 1,8-naphthalimides with variable spacer lengths and charged, polar or hydrophobic residues at desired positions, which can increase binding affinity, conformational stability, intracellular transport and/or biological activity. The synthetic routes reported in this work are both general and applicable, and significantly expand the scope of potential 1,8-naphthalimide anticancer candidates.