Patent ID: 7320981

Claim:
A compound of formula (I): wherein: R 1 and R 2 are each independently selected from the group consisting of H, OH, OR′, SH, SR′, SOR′, SO 2 R′, NO 2 , NH 2 , NHR′, N(R′) 2 , NHCOR′, N(COR′) 2 , NHSO 2 R′, CN, halogen, C(═O)H, C(═O)R′, CO 2 H, CO 2 R′, C 1 -C 12 alkyl, C 1 -C 12 haloalkyl, C 2 -C 12 alkenyl, C 2 -C 12 alkynyl, substituted or unsubstituted aryl, substituted or unsubstituted aralkyl and substituted or unsubstituted heteroaromatic; and R 3 is selected from the group consisting of OH and OMe; wherein each R′ group is independently selected from the group consisting of OH, C 1 -C 12 alkyl, C 1 -C 12 haloalkyl, C 2 -C 12 alkenyl, C 2 -C 12 alkynyl, substituted or unsubstituted aryl, substituted or unsubstituted aralkyl, substituted or unsubstituted arylalkenyl and substituted or unsubstituted heteroaromatic, and wherein when the group R 1 or R 2 is a group of formula N(R′) 2 or N(COR′) 2 , each of the R′ groups may be the same or different, or the two R′ groups, together with the nitrogen atom to which they are attached, may form a 5-14 membered heterocyclic ring; the aryl group and the aryl moiety of the aralkyl and arylalkenyl group is a carbocyclic aryl group having from 6 to 14 carbon atoms in a carbocyclic ring or two or more fused rings; the aralkyl group is a C 1 -C 6 alkyl group which is substituted by an aryl group as defined above; the arylalkenyl group is a C 2 -C 6 alkenyl group which is substituted by an aryl group as defined above; the heteroaromatic group is a heterocyclic aromatic group having from 5 to 14 ring atoms in one ring or two or more fused rings of which at least one ring atom is selected from the group consisting of nitrogen, oxygen and sulphur, and such a heterocyclic aromatic group fused with an aryl group as defined above; the substituents on the aryl and heteroaromatic groups and the aryl moiety of the aralkyl and arylalkenyl groups are selected from the group consisting of C 1 -C 12 alkyl, C 1 -C 12 haloalkyl, C 1 -C 12 alkoxy, C 1 -C 12 alkylthio, NH 2 , C 1 -C 6 alkylamino, di(C 1 -C 6 alkyl)amino, C 1 -C 4 alkanoylamino, di(C 1 -C 4 alkanoyl)amino, NO 2 , CN and halogen; and wherein one or more of the tertiary amine nitrogen atoms of formula (I) is optionally quaternised, or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof, with the exception of the compounds wherein: R 1 and R 2 are amino and R 3 is hydroxy.