Synthesis and biological evaluation of tetrazole containing compounds as possible anticancer agents

A series of new tetrazole derivatives are synthesized from Baylis-Hillman allyl amines in a clean, efficient and straightforward manner. The stereochemistry of the double bond is confirmed by X-ray diffraction data. These compounds are evaluated for in vitro anticancer activity against five cancer cell lines. Most of the compounds exhibited good anticancer activity in micro molar concentration out of 16 compounds synthesized and screened. Furthermore, the compound 5o has good binding affinity to calf thymus DNA (ct DNA), as assayed by UV-vis absorption and fluorescence spectroscopic methods.