Synthesis of novel fluorophenylpyrazole-picolinamide derivatives and determination of their anticancer activity

Abstract

A series of fluorophenylpyrazole-picolinamide derivatives were synthesized in high yields using a cross-coupling reaction catalyzed by in situ formed palladium-N-heterocyclic carbenes (Pd-NHCs). The synthesized novel derivatives were evaluated for in vitro anticancer activity against a panel of four human tumor cell lines, HeLa (cervical), A-549 (lung), MCF-7 (breast), and IMR-32 (neuroblastoma). Four compounds, 11c, 11e, 11j, and 11k, showed growth inhibition (low µM) comparable with the standard drug cisplatin, providing a preliminary structure–activity relationship for the series. The present procedure is operationally simple and works with a wide range of substrates and may thus be useful in further compound optimization.

Graphical Abstract

Keywords:

• Fluorophenylpyrazole-picolinamide
• cross-coupling
• palladium-N-heterocyclic carbenes
• anticancer activity

Acknowledgments

Dr. S. Kankala is thankful to CSIR, New Delhi for the award of Research Associate.

Disclosure statement

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