Synthesis and anticancer activities of diverse furo[2,3-d]pyrimidine and benzofuro[3,2-d]pyrimidine derivatives

Abstract

A series of diverse furo[2,3-d]pyrimidines (2a–2b, 4a–4d and 8a–8c) and benzofuro[3,2-d]pyrimidines (12a–12c) were synthesized and screened for their antitumor effects against HepG2, Bel-7402 and HeLa cell lines in vitro. Representatively, 4a, with an IC₅₀ of 0.70 μM, exhibited the best antitumor activity against the tested HepG2 cell lines. Molecular docking investigation further revealed the possible binding modes of compound 4a with receptor tyrosine kinase. Preliminary results indicated that the title compounds were helpful as leading structures for preparing a new antitumor drug.

Graphical abstract

Keywords:

• Antitumor
• Aza-Wittig reaction
• benzofuro[3,2-d]pyrimidine
• furo[2,3-d]pyrimidine
• molecular docking
• synthesis

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

We gratefully acknowledge the financial support of this work by the Natural Science Foundation of Hubei Provincial Department of Education [No. B2016133] and the Open Project of Hubei Key Laboratory of Wudang Local Chinese Medicine Research (Hubei University of Medicine) [No. WDCM2018001]. The Scientific and Technological Project of Shiyan City of Hubei Province [No. 19Y25] and the Initial Project for PostGraduates of Hubei University of Medicine [No. K1286901].