Synthesis and evaluation of in vitro antiviral activity of novel phenoxy acetic acid derivatives

Abstract

Several substituted phenoxy acetic acid derived pyrazolines were synthesized by the reaction between 2-{4-[3-(2,4-dihydroxyphenyl)-3-oxo-1-propenyl]-2-methoxyphenoxy} acetic acid and substituted acid hydrazides and were tested for their in vitro cytotoxicity and antiviral activity. None of the compounds showed any specific antiviral activity [50% antivirally effective concentration (EC₅₀) ≥ 5-fold lower than minimum cytotoxic concentration]. The most cytotoxic of the series was 2-{4-[3-(2,4-dihydroxyphenyl)-1-(2-hydroxybenzoyl-4,5-dihydro-1H-5-pyrazolyl]-2-methoxyphenoxy}acetic acid (3_j), with a minimum cytotoxic concentration of 0.16 μg/mL in human embryonic lung (HEL) cells.

Keywords::

• Pyrazoline
• antiviral
• cytotoxic

Acknowledgements

The authors thank Mrs. Leentje Persoons (Rega Institute for Medical Research) for excellent technical assistance with the antiviral assays and Dr. Ashraf Ali (Research Scientist, Chemical Research Division, Ranbaxy Laboratories, Gurgaon, India) for valuable help and suggestions.

Declaration of interest: The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.