Synthesis of new spirooxindole-pyrrolothiazole derivatives: Anti-cancer activity and molecular docking

The 1,3-dipolar cycloadditions of an azomethine ylide generated from isatin and thiazolidinecarboxylic acid to a series of 2,6-bis[(E)-arylmethylidene]cyclohexanones afforded new di-spiro heterocycles incorporating pyrrolidine and oxindole rings in quantitative yields and chemo-, regio-, and stereoselectively. The newly synthesized compounds were characterized using spectroscopic techniques. Furthermore, the molecular structures of 4a, 4e, and 4n were confirmed by X-ray crystallography. These newly synthesized compounds were screened for their in vitro activity against breast cancer cell line MCF-7 and K562-leukemia. 4k was found to be the most potent compound of this series in targeting MCF-7 breast cancer cells and K562-leukemia, with IC50 values of 15.32 +/- 0.02 and 14.74 +/- 0.7 mu M, respectively. The molecular studies of the synthesized compounds were investigated. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.