Synthesis and biological evaluation of 1,2,4-oxadiazole linked 1,3,4-oxadiazole derivatives as tubulin binding agents

Abstract

As an aspect of our ongoing research in search of new anticancer agents, a series of novel analogs of 1,3,4-oxadiazole embedded with 1,2,4-oxadiazole moieties (11a–j) were synthesized. The structure of the final compounds was confirmed by ¹H NMR, ¹³CNMR and mass spectroscopic techniques and evaluated for their in vitro anticancer activity against three human cancer cell lines (lung, breast). Among the synthesized compounds, 11 b, 11 g, 11 h, and 11i showed potent anticancer activity with IC₅₀ values within the range of 0.34 ± 0.025 to 2.45 ± 0.23 μM against three human cancer cell lines. Further, these compounds (11a–j) were investigated for molecular docking studies. Among them, compound 11 h showed strong binding affinity on binding sites of target protein EGFR (PDB ID: 4hjo) with highest docking score (-7.028). It revealed that 11 h was a strong tubulin binding agent.

Graphical Abstract

Keywords:

• Raltegravir
• Zibotentan
• phidianidines A
• B
• anticancer activity

Supporting Information

Full experimental details, spectral data of the products, ¹H NMR and ¹³C NMR of all the new compounds can be found via the Supplementary Content section of this article’s Web page.

Acknowledgments

We would like to express our gratitude and thanks to Department of Chemistry, Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University, Hyderabad for constant encouragement during this research program and thanks to GVK Bio, Hyderabad for providing basic research facility.