Synthesis, antiproliferative activity, and molecular docking of some N-heterocycles bearing a pyrazole scaffold against liver and breast tumors

A new series of some 1,3-diphenylpyrazole-based heterocycles were constructed from 2-cyano-3-(1,3-diphenyl-1H-pyrazol-4-yl)propenoyl chloride (1). The titled acid chloride was submitted to react with mono-nucleophilic reagents, including oxygen, sulfur, or nitrogen, to afford new acrylate, thioacrylate, and acrylamide derivatives, respectively. Meanwhile, condensation of 1 with some 1,2- and 1,3-binucleophiles led to the construction of oxadiazepine, pyridopyrimidine, and thiadiazolopyrimidine derivatives (16, 18, 20, 23). In turn, two benzoxazinone derivatives (27, 28) were synthesized upon treating 1 with substituted anthranilic acids followed by heating with acetic anhydride. The antiproliferative activity of the compounds developed against two tumors (HePG2 and MCF7) was evaluated. Compounds 4, 6, 11, 25, and 26 exhibited strong activity and compounds 3, 5, 16, 18, 27, and 28 exhibited moderate activity. A molecular modeling study was conducted by utilizing molecular modeling environment to test the binding free energies of the studied compounds toward human cyclin-dependent kinase 2. The compounds, 4, 25, and 26, displayed the best docking score. The orientation and hydrogen bond pattern of these compounds in the active site correspond to that of PNU-292137, which had been approved as a selective CDK2 inhibitor.

Automated summary

A new series of 1,3-diphenylpyrazole-based heterocycles were synthesized and evaluated for their antiproliferative activity. Some compounds exhibited strong activity, and molecular modeling showed that the orientation and hydrogen bond pattern of certain compounds in the active site corresponded to that of an approved selective CDK2 inhibitor.