Synthesis, anti-microbial and anti-cancer evaluation study of 3-(3-benzofuranyl)-coumarin derivatives

New Benzofuran-Pyrazole-Based Compounds as Promising Antimicrobial Agents: Design, Synthesis, DNA Gyrase B Inhibition, and In Silico Studies

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES

The alarming rise in antibiotic resistance necessitates the discovery of novel antimicrobial agents. This study aims to design, synthesize, and evaluate new benzofuran-pyrazole-based compounds for their antimicrobial, antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory properties.

METHODS

New benzofuran-pyrazole hybrid molecules were synthesized using the Vilsmeier-Haach reaction and other chemical processes. The structures of the synthesized compounds were confirmed through micro-analytical and spectral analyses. Their antimicrobial activities were assessed against various bacterial and fungal strains, while antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties were evaluated using DPPH-free radical scavenging and HRBC membrane stabilization assays, respectively. The most promising compounds were further tested for DNA gyrase B inhibition.

RESULTS

Compounds 9, 10, and 11b-d exhibited significant broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity with MIC values ranging from 2.50 to 20 µg/mL. Compounds 4, 6, 9, 11b, and 11d demonstrated high antioxidant activity, with DPPH scavenging percentages between 84.16% and 90.52%. Most compounds showed substantial anti-inflammatory effects, with HRBC membrane stabilization percentages ranging from 86.70% to 99.25%. Compound 9 notably inhibited E. coli DNA gyrase B with an IC50 of 9.80 µM, comparable to ciprofloxacin.

CONCLUSIONS

The benzofuran-pyrazole-based compounds, particularly compound 9, show great potential as new antimicrobial agents due to their broad-spectrum activity and potent DNA gyrase B inhibition. These findings support further development and optimization of these compounds for clinical applications.

Latest developments in coumarin-based anticancer agents: mechanism of action and structure-activity relationship studies

Many researchers around the world are working on the development of novel anticancer drugs with different mechanisms of action. In this case, coumarin is a highly promising pharmacophore for the development of novel anticancer drugs. Besides, the hybridization of this moiety with other anticancer pharmacophores has emerged as a potent breakthrough in the treatment of cancer to decrease its side effects and increase its efficiency. This review aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the recent development of coumarin derivatives and their application as novel anticancer drugs. Herein, we highlight and describe the largest number of research works reported in this field from 2015 to August 2023, along with their mechanisms of action and structure-activity relationship studies, making this review different from the other review articles published on this topic to date.

A QSAR Study on the 4-Substituted Coumarins as Potent Tubulin Polymerization Inhibitors

Purpose: Despite the discovery and synthesis of several anticancer drugs, cancer is still a major life threatening incident for human beings after cardiovascular diseases. Toxicity, severe side effects, and drug resistance are serious problems of available commercial anticancer drugs. Coumarins are synthetic and natural heterocycles that show promising antiproliferative activities against various tumors. The aim of this research is to computationally study the coumarin derivatives in order to develop reliable quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR) models for predicting their anticancer activities.

Methods: A data set of thirty one coumarin analogs with significant antiproliferative activities toward HepG2 cells were selected from the literature. The molecular descriptors for these compounds were calculated using Dragon, HyperChem, and ACD/Labs programs. Genetic algorithm (GA) accompanied by multiple linear regression (MLR) for simultaneous feature selection and model development was employed for generating the QSAR models.

Results: Based on the obtained results, the developed linear QSAR models with three and four descriptors showed good predictive power with r2 values of 0.670 and 0.692, respectively. Moreover, the calculated validation parameters for the models confirmed the reliability of the QSAR models.

Conclusion: The findings of the current study could be useful for the design and synthesis of novel anticancer drugs based on coumarin structure.

Coumarin-containing hybrids and their anticancer activities

Cancer is the second leading cause of death worldwide, and it results in around 9 million deaths annually. The anticancer agents play an intriguing role in the treatment of cancers, while the severe anticancer scenario and the emergence of drug-resistant especially multidrug-resistant cancers create a huge demand for novel anticancer drugs with different mechanisms of action. The coumarin scaffold is ubiquitous in nature and is a highly privileged motif for the development of novel drugs due to its biodiversity and versatility. Coumarin derivatives can exert diverse antiproliferative mechanisms, and some of them such as Irosustat are under clinical trials for the treatment of various cancers, revealing their potential as putative anticancer drugs. Hybridization of coumarin moiety with other anticancer pharmacophores is a promising strategy to reduce side effects, overcome the drug resistance, and may provide valuable therapeutic intervention for the treatment of cancers. Thus, coumarin-containing hybrids occupy an important position in the development of novel anticancer agents. This review aims to summarize the recent advances made towards the development of coumarin-containing hybrids as potential anticancer agents, covering articles published between 2015 and 2019, and the structure-activity relationship together with mechanisms of action are also discussed.

Benzofuran derivatives and their anti-tubercular, anti-bacterial activities

Benzofuran is a fundamental structural unit in a variety of biologically active natural products, and its derivatives display various biological properties. Some benzofuran derivatives possess unique anti-tubercular and anti-bacterial action mechanism, and exhibit excellent in vitro and in vivo activities against both drug-sensitive and drug-resistant pathogens. Moreover, several benzofuran derivatives have already used in clinics for the treatment of various diseases. Thus, benzofuran is a useful pharmacophore to develop new anti-tubercular and anti-bacterial drugs. This review covers the recent advances of benzofuran derivatives as potential anti-tubercular and anti-bacterial agents, and the structure-activity relationship is also discussed to pave the way for the further rational development of this kind of derivatives.

Design and synthesis of 2,3-dihydro- and 5-chloro-2,3-dihydro-naphtho-[1,2-b]furan-2-carboxylic acid N-(substitutedphenyl)amide analogs and their biological activities as inhibitors of NF-κB activity and anticancer agents

A series of 2,3-dihydro- and 5-chloro-2,3-dihydro-naphtho-[1,2-b]furan-2-carboxylic acid N-(substitutedphenyl)amide analogs (1a-k and 2a-i) were designed and synthesized for developing novel naphthofuran scaffolds as anticancer agents and inhibitors of NF-κB activity. Compound 1d, which had a 4'-chloro group on the N-phenyl ring, exhibited inhibitory activity of NF-κB. Compound 2g, which had a 5'-chloro group on the naphthofuran ring and a 3',5'-bistrifluoromethane group on the N-phenyl ring, had the best NF-κB inhibitory activity. In addition, the novel analogs exhibited potent cytotoxicity at low concentrations against HCT-116, NCI-H23, and PC-3 cell lines. The two electron-withdrawing groups, especially at the 3',5'-position on the N-phenyl ring, increased anticancer activity and NF-κB inhibitory activity. However, only 5-chloro-2,3-dihydronaphtho[1,2-b]furan-2-carboxylic N-(3',5'-bis(trifluoromethyl)phenyl)amide (2g) exhibited both outstanding cytotoxicity and NF-κB inhibitory activities. This novel lead scaffold may be helpful for investigation of new anticancer agents by inactivation of NF-κB.