Abstract
We describe the preparation of a series of novel spiroheterocycles, namely 1,3,4-thiadiazole derivatives possessing an indane unit. These active heterocyclic compounds are prepared starting from thiocarbohydrazide and 2-indanone via an intermediate indan-2-thiocarbohydrazone which is used to afford the corresponding 2-(1-acetylhydrazino)-4H-acetyl-5-spiro(indano-2-yl)-1,3,4-thiadiazoline in an acidic medium. The 1,3,4-thiadiazole derivatives are obtained in good yields by reaction with aromatic carboxylic acids at reflux temperature in the presence of POCl3 as a catalyst, their structure–activity relationships are discussed and the structures of the newly synthesized derivatives are confirmed by spectroscopic techniques.
Introduction
Heterocyclic compounds are important structures in organic chemistry because of their roles in pharmaceuticals, materials science, and medicinal research (they are ubiquitous in drug molecules), while the presence of heteroatoms can modify many other molecular properties. 1 According to the literature, nitrogen-containing heterocyclic molecules are of great interest due to their biological and industrial significance.2,3 Heterocyclic derivatives have been used as precursors of biological origin for the treatment of different types of cancer, as antimalarials, and in light transmission.4,5
Compounds with heterocyclic rings, including spiroheterocycles with five-membered rings at symmetrical positions such as 1,3,4-thiadiazole derivatives, have been studied extensively due to their interesting bioactivity profiles and anti-inflammatory activity with reduced ulcerogenic effects.6–8 Small molecules containing 5-membered heterocyclic moieties have received significant interest in the design of antitumor agents. For example, 1,3,4-thiadiazoles 9 are important in a wide range of applications in various scientific fields, such as in the pharmaceutical industry, drug discovery, as scintillating materials, and in the dyestuff industry.10–12 Besides, thiadiazole rings are deficient in π electrons and do not react easily on carbon or nitrogen via electrophilic attack. However, electrophilic attack on an azine ring can occur in the presence of electron-donating substituents. 13 Therefore, 1,3,4-thiadiazole derivatives have the ability to interfere with processes associated with DNA replication. As a result, they can inhibit the replication of both bacterial and cancer cells. 14 Thiadiazole rings exhibit potent structural–activity relationships, which results in unique chemical phenomena 15 and valuable biological properties. 16
Heterocyclic moieties have diverse activities depending on their molecular structure. For example, 1,3,4-thiadiazole moieties are present in antidiabetic, anticancer, anti-inflammatory, antispasmodic, antiviral, antihypertensive, and antibacterial drugs. Medicines based on a thiadiazole moiety include butazolamide and acetazolamide.17,18
In light of the great importance of spirocyclic systems containing a 1,3,4-thiadiazole unit, the present study focuses on the synthesis of spiro compounds consisting of a 1,3,4-thiadiazoline moiety and different substituents with the potential to act as active pharmacophores. The desired compounds are obtained from thiocarbohydrazide

Synthetic pathway toward the spiroheterocycles
Results and discussion
A series of new spiro derivatives
The formation of thiocarbohydrazide

Mechanism for the formation of spiro-1,3,4-thiadiazoline
In addition, in vitro anticancer activities of 1,3,4-thiadiazolo derivatives have been assessed against human tumor cell lines and exhibit different cytotoxic effects.22,23 An efficient synthesis of dihydrothiadiazoles was accomplished via intramolecular cyclization by condensation of the 2-thiocarbohydrazone derivative
The formation of indane-2-thiocarbohydrazone
The formation of spiro compound
Compound
The formation of the final compounds

The structures of products
The formation of compounds
Conclusion
The present study reports the synthesis and characterization of novel spiroheterocyclic compounds based on 1,3,4-thiadiazole derivatives derived from thiocarbohydrazide. The final step was performed through traditional heating in the presence of phosphorous oxychloride using a free-solvent and represents as an easy procedure to obtain spirothiadiazoles
Experimental
The melting points (mp) were measured with an SMP30 Stuart electric melting point device. 1H NMR spectra were recorded at the Turkish EGE University using a 400 MHz spectrometer, and DMSO-d6 or CDCl3 as the solvent. FT-IR spectra were recorded on Shimadzu Prestige-21, spectrometer as KBr disks. Ultraviolet (UV) spectra were obtained on a T92+UV spectrophotometer (PG instruments) using methanol as the solvent. Thin-layer chromatography was performed using aluminum plates (20 x 20 cm) coated with silica gel 60 F254 (Merck), and column chromatography was performed using silica gel (Sigma-Aldrich) and petroleum ether (40–60) methanol as the eluent (20:80).
Thiocarbohydrazide (1 )
Carbon disulfide (13 mL, 22 mmol) was gradually added to a vigorously stirred solution of 85% hydrazine hydrate (24 mL, 44 mmol) in distilled water (15 mL) over 30 min. The reaction temperature was raised to 100–110 °C, and the mixture was refluxed for 2 h before being cooled in an ice bath (0 °C). The precipitated thiocarbohydrazide was washed with ethanol and recrystallized from a minimum amount of hot water to give compound
Indan-2-thiocarbohydrazone (2 )
In a round-bottomed flask (100 mL), 2-indanone (1.32 g, 10 mmol) was dissolved in methanol (25 mL) and a solution of thiocarbohydrazide
2-(1-Acetylhydrazino)-4H-acetyl-5-spiro(indano-2-yl)-1,3,4-thiadiazoline (3 )
To a round-bottomed flask, acetic anhydride (1.5 mL) was slowly added to the solution of compound
Compounds 4a-h
A mixture of compound
N’-Acetyl-N-(3’-acetyl-1,3-dihydro-3’H-spiro[indene-2,2’-[1,3,4]thiadiazol]-5’-yl)benzohydrazide (4a )
Bright yellow solid; yield 0.17 g (80%); mp 118–119 °C; Rf = 0.760 (hexane/EtOAc = 5:1). UV (MeOH): λmax = 376, 234 nm. 1H NMR (400 MHz, CDCl3): δ 8.1–7.6 (m, 9H, ArH), 3.6 (m, 4H, CH2 indane), 2.5 (s, 3H, H3C-C=O), 2.3 (s, 3H, H3C-C=O). FT-IR (KBr): 2924 (C–H), 2866 (CH2 indane), 1704 (C=O amide), 1597 (C=N cycl.), 1172 (C-O-C cycl.), 1017 (N-N), 709 (C-S-C) cm−1.
N’-Acetyl-N-(3’-acetyl-1,3-dihydro-3’H-spiro[indene-2,2’-[1,3,4]thiadiazol]-5’-yl)-2-chlorobenzohydrazide (4b )
Bright yellow solid; yield 0.19 g (94%); mp 153–154 °C; Rf = 0.754 (hexane/EtOAc = 5:1); UV (MeOH): λmax
N’-Acetyl-N-(3’-acetyl-1,3-dihydro-3’H-spiro[indene-2,2’-[1,3,4]thiadiazol]-5’-yl)-3-chlorobenzohydrazide (4c )
Bright yellow solid; yield 0.12 g (57%); mp 193–194 °C; Rf = 0.750 (hexane/EtOAc = 5:1); UV (MeOH): λmax = 374, 236 nm. 1H NMR (400 MHz, CDCl3): δ 7.95–7.4 (m, 8H, ArH), 3.9 (m, 4H, CH2 indane), 2.5 (s, 3H, H3C-C=O), 2.1 (s, 3H, H3C-C=O). FT-IR (KBr): 2920 (C–H), 2856 (CH2 indane), 1716 (C=O amide), 1596 (C=N cycl.), 1188 (C-O-C cycl.), 1107 (N-N), 747 (C-Cl), 707 (C-S-C) cm−1.
N’-Acetyl-N-(3’-acetyl-1,3-dihydro-3’H-spiro[indene-2,2’-[1,3,4]thiadiazol]-5’-yl)-4-chlorobenzohydrazide (4d )
Bright yellow solid; yield 0.1 g (51%); mp 126–128 °C; Rf = 0.784 (hexane/EtOAc = 5:1); UV (MeOH): λmax = 394, 258 nm. 1H NMR (400 MHz, CDCl3): δ 8.0–7.5 (m, 8H, ArH), 3.5 (m, 4H, CH2 indane), 2.5 (s, 3H, H3C-C=O), 2.0 (s, 3H, H3C-C=O). FT-IR (KBr): 3054 (C–H), 2928 (CH2 indane), 1680 (C=O amide), 1588 (C=N cycl.), 1274 (C-O-C cycl.), 1122 (N-N), 754 (C-Cl), 714 (C-S-C) cm−1.
N’-Acetyl-N-(3’-acetyl-1,3-dihydro-3’H-spiro[indene-2,2’-[1,3,4]thiadiazol]-5’-yl)-4-methylbenzohydrazide (4e )
Bright yellow solid; yield 0.13 g (60%); mp 100–103 °C; Rf = 0.673 (hexane/EtOAc = 5:1); UV (MeOH): λmax = 320, 236 nm. 1H NMR (400 MHz, CDCl3): δ 8.0–7.4 (m, 8H, ArH), 3.8 (m, 4H, CH2 indane), 2.5 (s, 6H, H3C-C=O), 2.04 (s, 3H, m-CH3). FT-IR (KBr): 2953 (C–H), 2830 (CH2 indane), 1678 (C=O amide), 1587 (C=N cycl.), 1281 (C-O-C cycl.), 1030 (N-N), 697 (C-S-C) cm−1.
N’-Acetyl-N-(3’-acetyl-1,3-dihydro-3’H-spiro[indene-2,2’-[1,3,4]thiadiazol]-5’-yl)-2-nitrobenzohydrazide (4f )
Bright yellow solid; yield 0.2 g (96%); mp 232–235 °C; Rf = 0.760 (hexane/EtOAc = 5:1); UV (MeOH): λmax = 346, 283 nm. 1H NMR (400 MHz, CDCl3): δ 8.5–7.4 (m, 8H, ArH), 4.5 (m, 4H, CH2 indane), 2.5 (s, 6H, H3C-C=O). FT-IR (KBr): 3035 (C–H), 2888 (CH2 indane), 1692 (C=O amide), 1595 (C=N cycl.), 1525 (NO2), 1243 (C-O-C cycl.), 1066 (N-N), 702 (C-S-C) cm−1.
N’-Acetyl-N-(3’-acetyl-1,3-dihydro-3’H-spiro[indene-2,2’-[1,3,4]thiadiazol]-5’-yl)-4-nitrobenzohydrazide (4g )
Bright yellow solid; yield 0.12 g (56%); mp 259–260 °C; Rf = 0.620 (hexane/EtOAc = 5:1); UV (MeOH): λmax = 376, 242 nm. 1H NMR
N’-Acetyl-N-(3’-acetyl-1,3-dihydro-3’H-spiro[indene-2,2’-[1,3,4]thiadiazol]-5’-yl)-3-methoxybenzohydrazide (4h )
Bright yellow solid; yield 0.11 g (55%); mp 99–100 °C; Rf = 0.666 (hexane/EtOAc = 5:1); UV (MeOH): λmax = 258, 236 nm. 1H NMR (400 MHz, CDCl3): δ 8.0–7.5 (m, 8H, ArH), 3.5 (s, 4H, CH2 indane), 2.7 (s, 3H, OCH3), 2.1 (s, 6H, H3C-C=O). FT-IR (KBr): 2956 (C–H), 2822 (CH2 indane), 1676 (C=O amide), 1589 (C=N cycl.), 1283 (C-O-C cycl.), 1122 (N-N), 1065 926 (sym., asym. C-O-C ether), 698 (C-S-C) cm−1.
Supplemental Material
sj-docx-1-chl-10.1177_17475198221109503 – Supplemental material for Novel spiroheterocycles containing a 1,3,4-thiadiazole unit: Synthesis and spectroscopic characterization
Supplemental material, sj-docx-1-chl-10.1177_17475198221109503 for Novel spiroheterocycles containing a 1,3,4-thiadiazole unit: Synthesis and spectroscopic characterization by Shaymaa K. Alazawi and Mohammed Hadi Ali Al-Jumaili in Journal of Chemical Research
Footnotes
Author contributions
S.H.K. and M.H.A. contributed to the conceptualization and writing of the original draft. The authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.
Declaration of conflicting interests
The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Funding
The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This work was supported by the Department of Chemistry, College of Science, University of Mosul.
Declarations and ethics
Our study did not require an ethical board approval because it did not contain human or animal trials.
Supplemental material
Supplemental material for this article is available online.
References
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