Convenient synthesis and anticancer evaluation of novel pyrazolyl-thiophene, thieno[3,2-b]pyridine, pyrazolo[3,4-d]thieno[3,2-b]pyridine and pyrano[2,3-d]thieno[3,2-b]pyridine derivatives

The newly synthesized 3-(3-amino-5-(phenylamino)-4-(phenylcarbamoyl)thiophen-2-yl)-3-oxopropanoate was utilized as a precursor for the synthesis of pyrazolyl-thiophene derivative, which undergoes cyclization upon treatment with benzaldehyde derivatives to provide pyrazolo[3,4-d]thieno[3,2-b]pyridines. Basic treatment of pyrazolyl-thiophene derivative with phenyl isothiocyanate followed by subsequent addition of chloroacetone and/or ethyl bromoacetate yielded the thiazolylidene-pyrazolyl thiophenes. In addition, the building block 3-(3-amino-5-(phenylamino)-4-(phenylcarbamoyl)thiophen-2-yl)-3-oxopropanoate was converted into the corresponding thieno[3,2-b]pyridine compounds through its reactions with (DMF-DMA) and/or heating in sodium ethoxide. Moreover, the reaction of 7-hydroxy-5-oxo-N-phenyl-2-(phenylamino)-4,5-dihydrothieno[3,2-b]pyridine-3-carboxamide with 2-arylidenemalononitrile produced the new annulated pyrano[2,3-d]thieno[3,2-b]pyridines. The prepared thiophene-based compounds were evaluated against HepG2, PC3, and MCF-7 cancer cells, and normal fibroblast cell (WI38). The pyrazolo[3,4-d]thieno[3,2-b]pyridine and pyrano[2,3-d]thieno[3,2-b]pyridine compounds substituted with chlorophenyl group presented promising cytotoxic activities against HepG2 cancer cell line without any human toxicity. Docking study for the synthesized thiophene compounds delivered valuable insights about the binding interactions with the crystal structure of NS5B enzyme with PDB ID (4TLR).

Automated summary

In this study, a newly synthesized thiophene derivative was used as a precursor for the synthesis of various pyrazole and thiophene compounds. These compounds were evaluated for their cytotoxic activities against different cancer cell lines and normal fibroblast cells. Some compounds showed promising cytotoxic activities against cancer cells without human toxicity, indicating potential applications in cancer treatment.