Amide derivatives of 4-azaindole: Design, synthesis, and EGFR targeting anticancer agents

Abstract

A series of amide derivatives of azaindole-oxazoles (11a-n) were designed and synthesized and their structures were confirmed by ¹HNMR, ¹³CNMR and mass spectral analysis. Further, these derivatives were screened for their anticancer activity against human cancer cell lines viz; MCF7 (breast), A549 (lung) and A375 (melanoma). In vitro anticancer activity screening indicated that most of the hybrids exhibited potent inhibitory activities in a variety of cancer cell lines. Among the compounds 11d, 11e, 11f, 11j, 11k, 11l, 11m, and 11n were exhibited more potent activity than standard, in those mainly two compounds 11m and 11j were exhibited excellent activity in MCF-7 cell line with IC₅₀ values 0.034 and 0.036 µM. Moreover, all these compounds were carried out their molecular docking studies on EGFR receptor results indicated that two potent compounds 11m and 11j were strongly binds to protein EGFR (PDB ID: 4hjo). It was found that the energy calculations were in good agreement with the observed IC₅₀ values.

GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT

Keywords:

• Azaindole
• oxazole
• docking and anticancer activity

Acknowledgments

We would like to express our gratitude and thanks to the Department of Chemistry, Koneru Lakshmaiah University, Guntur for constant encouragement and providing basic research facility.