Synthesis, pharmacological evaluation, and in-silico studies of thiophene derivatives

Abstract

The relevance of Retinoic acid receptor-related orphan receptors in cancer progression has sparked interest in developing multifunctional therapeutics. In the search for potentially active novel compounds with anticancer characteristics, the Gewald reaction was employed to develop different thiophene derivatives (8a–8i). Physicochemical and spectroanalytical investigations verified the molecular structures of the synthesized derivatives. Using an in vitro primary anticancer assay, NCI chose all of the synthesized molecules as prototypes and assessed their anticancer efficacy against a panel of various cancer cell lines representing nine distinct neoplasms. The compounds were found to have a wide range of anticancer activity. Following significant anticancer efficacy against all cell lines in the initial screening, compound 8e was chosen for a five-dose test. Compound 8e inhibited growth at concentrations ranging from 0.411 to 2.8 μM. The antioxidant activity of the compounds was further evaluated using the radical scavenging action of the stable DPPH free radical. In comparison to Ascorbic Acid, compounds 8e and 8i showed outstanding antioxidant activity, while the remaining compounds in the series demonstrated acceptable antioxidant activity. In a molecular docking investigation, 8e demonstrated excellent docking scores inside the binding pocket of the specified pdb-id (6q7a), complementing the results of anticancer screening. Based on our results, novel ethyl 5-acetyl-2-amino-4-methylthiophene-3-carboxylate derivatives could be useful in the development of potential anticancer treatments.