Synthesis and anticancer activity of new 2-aryl-4-(4-methoxybenzylidene)-5-oxazolone scaffolds

Abstract

A new series of 4-(4-methoxybenzylidene)-2-substitutedphenyl-5(4H)-oxazolone derivatives has been synthesized through the application of Erlenmeyer condition (Ac2 O, AcONa, and 4-anisaldehyde) to the reaction products of the highly versatile p-aminohippuric acid with various electrophilic reagents such as aromatic aldehydes, phenyl isothiocyanate, diazotization-coupling reaction (malononitrile and 2-amino-4-phenylthiazole) and cyanoacetyl-pyrazole. IR,1 H NMR, and mass spectroscopic techniques were utilized to confirm the structures of these oxazolone scaffolds. The synthesized oxazolone derivatives were evaluated against four human cancer cell lines (HepG2, HTC-116, PC-3, and MCF-7). Compound 3e showed the best activity against hepatocellular carcinoma (IC50 8.9±0.30 μg/mL) and colorectal carcinoma (IC50 9.2±0.63 μg/mL) cell lines compared with the standard anticancer drug 5-fluorouracil.