Therapeutic significance of quinolines: a patent review (2013-2015).

INTRODUCTION: Quinoline is a versatile bicyclic heterocyclic scaffold with immense therapeutic potential. Some of the compounds containing quinoline nucleus are agents of choice for the treatment of various ailments, particularly cancer and malaria. Furthermore, several quinoline derivatives exhibit a broad spectrum of antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, and antidiabetic activities, quite a few of which are under clinical investigation to combat potentially lethal diseases/disorders. AREAS COVERED: The present review summarizes inventions developed towards finding new chemotherapeutic agents based on the quinoline skeleton. It presents an outline of patents filed between 2013 and 2015, relating to the anticancer, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory and other biological activities exhibited by quinoline derivatives. EXPERT OPINION: Several molecules containing quinoline skeleton are clinically significant drugs, extensively used for the treatment of various human diseases/disorders. The clinical success of some of these compounds and the versatile character of the quinoline nucleus attracted medicinal chemists in the development of newer chemotherapeutic agents. The considerably high number of patents filed in a relatively short period of time indicates the increasing importance of this pharmacophore. The development of facile synthetic strategies is anticipated to facilitate the generation of chemical libraries that could serve as a source of new chemical entities.