Development of Innovative Routes for Biologically Important Natural and Synthetic Products
During drug development program on Reproductive health including management of osteoporosis and bone related disorders, CSIR-CDRI research group observed that crude extract of Butea monosperma exhibited in vitro and in vivo bone forming (osteoblast mineralization) activity (Pandey et al. Menopause, 2010, 17, 602-610). Fractionation-guided activity showed a mixture of five isoflavonoids having good osteogenic activity. In order to identify the activity of individual isoflavonoids, high quantities of medicarpin and cajanin were required. We developed efficient protocol for the synthesis of these natural isoflavonoids (medicarpin and cajanin) and their new derivatives, and demonstrated their differential actions in osteoblasts and parameters of acquisition of PBM in growing female rats (Tyagi et al. Molecular and Cellular Endocrinology 2010, 325, 101-109; J. Nutritional Biochemistry, 2011, in press; Osteoporosis International, 2011, in press).
We further prepared a series of new pterocarpans and showed that they hold therapeutic promise in postmenopausal osteoporosis (Goel et al.: Substituted benzofurochromenes and related compounds for the prevention and treatment of bone related disorders: PCT filing Appl. No. PCT/IN2009/000285 dated 14-05-09).
New leads such as CDRI S-006-1709, S-007-1500, S-008-398/399 were identified as potent osteogenic agents and one of the pterocarpans S-007-1500 significantly stimulated callus formation and increased fracture healing at only 1.0 mg/kg/day dose in adult rats. New bone formation at the fracture site is increased by ~40% in rats treated with S-007-1500 compared to vehicle treated rats. These compounds are currently under development stage and open for further development and licensing (For further information, please contact Director, CDRI).

New Organic Fluorescent Molecules and their Applications

The use of small molecule organic fluorescent probes to investigate biological and material phenomena has become a prominent research approach in chemical biology and material sciences. The importance of new efficient fluorescent organic probes is realized due to their wide application ranging from labeling of amino acids, peptides, proteins, and chemosensors, biomarkers to nano-material semiconductors and electroluminescent materials like organic light emitting devices (OLEDs). As the demand for fluorescent molecules continues to grow, the need to develop new methodology for the rapid generation and evaluation of small molecules has also become an area of high importance
Our group is engaged in the development of New Organic Fluorescent Dyes with absorption and emission at variety of wavelength for biological (as drug candidates or biomarkers) and material (smart electroluminescent devices) applications. Very recently we have demonstrated  a novel ‘concept’ of inhibiting “Green Emission Defect” in fluorene-based OLEDs by transforming “green-yellow” fluorenone molecules to “blue” fluorenone compounds by appropriate positioning of donor-acceptor and chromophoric  groups onto widely used fluorene/fluorenone p-conjugated system (Goel et al. PCT patent WO/2009/122445 dated 08.10.2009; PCT/IN2009/000215 dated 31.03.09). The performance of a blue fluorene was investigated by fabricating a multilayer OLED with a configuration of ITO/PEDOT:PSS/TPD (30nm)/D/A-fluorene (60nm)/BCP (8nm)/ LiF(0.5nm)/Al (160 nm), which revealed stable bright blue emission with a low turn on voltage of 3.5V and a brightness of 573 Cd/m2 with good chemical, thermal and electrochemical stability (Goel et al. Organic Letters, 2009, 6, 1289).