SYNTHESIS, CYTOTOXIC AND ANTIOXIDANT EVALUATION OF PYRIMIDINE DERIVATIVES DERIVED FROM NOVEL CHALCONES

Abstract

Cancer is a fatal disease with a high mortality rate, followed by infectious and cardiovascular disorders. Consequently, the pursuit of effective and safe anticancer drugs is crucial, constituting a primary objective for medicinal chemists. A series of novel pyrimidine derivatives were synthesized through the refluxing of (1E, 3E)-4-phenyl-1-(2-phenylhydrazinylidine) but-3-en-2-one with urea using ethanolic acetic acid as a solvent. The chalcone intermediates were prepared by stirring a mixture of aromatic aldehyde and substituted (1E)-1-(2-phenylhydrazinylidine) propan-2-one in the presence of 20% NaOH. The synthesized compounds were characterized using IR,1 H NMR, and Mass spectroscopic studies. Cytotoxicity assays were conducted on lung cancer cell lines utilizing MTT and SRB methods, revealing varying degrees of cytotoxic activity among the compounds. Furthermore, the potential antioxidant properties of the synthesized compounds were evaluated by DPPH, nitric oxide scavenging, and superoxide radical scavenging assays. Several compounds exhibited exceptional antioxidant and cytotoxic activity compared to ascorbic acid and doxorubicin, standard drugs used for comparison. As a result, these novel pyrimidine derivatives hold promise for further development as both anticancer and antioxidant agents.