Chalcone-based imidazo[2,1-b]thiazole derivatives: synthesis, crystal structure, potent anticancer activity, and computational studies

In this work, two novel chalcone-based imidazothiazole derivatives ITC-1 and ITC-2 were synthesized and characterized by 1H NMR, 13C NMR and high-resolution mass spectrometry with electrospray ionization, and chemical structure of ITC-1 was confirmed by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. Also, the anticancer activity of ITC-1 and ITC-2 was evaluated. First, antiproliferative activity tests were performed against cancer cells namely, human-derived breast adenocarcinoma (MCF-7), lung carcinoma (A-549), and colorectal adenocarcinoma (HT-29) cell lines, and mouse fibroblast healthy cell line (3T3-L1) by XTT assay. Afterward, mitochondrial membrane disruption (MMP), caspase activity, and apoptosis tests were performed on MCF-7 cells to elucidate the anticancer mechanism of action of the test compounds by flow cytometry analysis. XTT results revealed that both compounds exhibited a very high degree of antiproliferative effects on each tested cancer cell line with very low IC50 values while showing much lower antiproliferation on 3T3-L1 normal cells with much higher IC50 values. Besides, ITC-2 was determined to have a striking cytotoxic power competing with the chemotherapeutic drug carboplatin. Flow cytometry results demonstrated the mitochondrial-mediated apoptotic effects of both compounds through membrane disruption and multi-caspase activation in MCF-7 cells. Finally, molecular docking studies were performed to determine the structural understanding of the test compounds by their interactions on caspase-3 and DNA dodecamer enzymes, respectively. The interactions between the compound and the crystal structure were determined according to parameters such as free binding energies (ΔGBind), Glide score values, and determination of the active binding site. The obtained data suggest that ITC-1 and ITC-2 may be considered remarkable anticancer drug candidates. In addition to molecular docking via in silico approaches, the pharmacokinetic properties of compounds ITC-1 and ITC-2 were calculated using the Schrödinger 2021-2 Qikprop wizard.Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma.

Catalytic Asymmetric Synthesis of Bicyclic Isothioureas from a Common Enolizable Template

While bicyclic isothiourea (ITU) moieties are found in biologically active molecules and organocatalysts, a catalytic asymmetric synthesis of ITUs is pending. Here, we report the catalytic, enantioselective functionalization of enolizable template II with a variety of electrophiles, including unsaturated ketones, esters, sulfones, nitro compounds, and thiolating reagents, as an entry to enantioenriched bicyclic ITUs III. Scope and limitations are shown, as well as examples of product derivatization.

Design, synthesis, and anti-inflammatory activity of indole-2-formamide benzimidazole[2,1-b]thiazole derivatives

Molecular hybridization is a widely employed technique in medicinal chemistry for drug modification, aiming to enhance pharmacological activity and minimize side effects. The combination of an indole ring and imidazole[2,1-b]thiazole has shown promising potential as a group that exhibits potent anti-inflammatory effects. In this study, we designed and synthesized a series of derivatives comprising indole-2-formamide benzimidazole[2,1-b]thiazole to evaluate their impact on LPS-induced production of pro-inflammatory cytokines NO, IL-6, and TNF-α release, as well as iron death in RAW264.7 cells. The findings revealed that most compounds effectively inhibited LPS-induced production of pro-inflammatory cytokines NO, IL-6, and TNF-α release in RAW264.7 cells. Compound 13b exhibited the most potent anti-inflammatory activity among the tested compounds. The results of the cytotoxicity assay indicated that compound 13b was nontoxic. Additionally, compound 13b was found to elevate the levels of ROS, MDA, and Fe2+, while reducing GSH content, thereby facilitating the iron death process. Consequently, compound 13b showed promise for future development as an anti-inflammatory drug.

Design, synthesis, biological assessment and molecular modeling studies of novel imidazothiazole-thiazolidinone hybrids as potential anticancer and anti-inflammatory agents

A new series of imidazothiazole derivatives bearing thiazolidinone moiety (4a-g and 5a-d) were designed, synthesized and evaluated for potential epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) kinase inhibition, anticancer and anti-inflammatory activity, cardiomyopathy toxicity and hepatotoxicity. Compound 4c inhibited EGFR kinase at a concentration of 18.35 ± 1.25 µM, whereas standard drug erlotinib showed IC50 value of 06.12 ± 0.92 µM. The molecular docking, dynamics simulation and MM-GBSA binding energy calculations revealed strong interaction of compound 4c with binding site of EGFR. The synthesized compounds were evaluated for their anticancer activity by MTT assay against three human cancer cell lines A549 (Lung), MCF-7 (Breast), HCT116 (Colon), one normal human embryonic kidney cell line HEK293 and also for their EGFR kinase inhibitory activity. Few compounds of the series (4a, 4b, 4c) showed promising growth inhibition against all the tested cancer cell lines and against EGFR kinase. Among these, compound 4c was found to be most active and displayed IC50 value of 10.74 ± 0.40, 18.73 ± 0.88 against cancer cell lines A549 and MCF7 respectively whereas it showed an IC50 value of 96.38 ± 1.79 against HEK293 cell line indicating lesser cytotoxicity for healthy cell. Compounds 4a, 4b and 4c were also examined for their apoptosis inducing potential through AO/EB dual staining assay and it was observed that their antiproliferative activity against A549 cells is mediated via induction of apoptosis. Cardiomyopathy studies showed normal cardiomyocytes with no marked sign of pyknotic nucleus of compounds 4b and 4c. Hepatotoxicity studies of compounds 4b and 4c also showed normal architecture of hepatocytes. Compounds 4a-g and 5a-d were also evaluated for their in-vitro anti-inflammatory activity by protein albumin denaturation assay. Among the tested compounds 4a-d and 5a-b showed promising activity and were selected for in-vivo inflammatory activity against carrageenan rat paw edema test. Among these compounds, 4b was found to be most active in the series showing 84.94% inhibition, whereas the standard drug diclofenac sodium showed 84.57% inhibition. Compound 4b also showed low ulcerogenic potential and lipid peroxidation. Thus, compounds 4c and 4b could be a promising lead compounds for developing anticancer and anti-inflammatory agents with low toxicity and selectivity.

From Bench to Bedside: What Do We Know about Imidazothiazole Derivatives So Far?

Imidazothiazole derivatives are becoming increasingly important in therapeutic use due to their outstanding physiological activities. Recently, applying imidazothiazole as the core, researchers have synthesized a series of derivatives with biological effects such as antitumor, anti-infection, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects. In this review, we summarize the main pharmacological effects and pharmacological mechanisms of imidazothiazole derivates; the contents summarized herein are intended to advance the research and rational development of imidazothiazole-based drugs in the future.

Design, synthesis and biological evaluation of benzo-[d]-imidazo-[2,1-b]-thiazole and imidazo-[2,1-b]-thiazole carboxamide triazole derivatives as antimycobacterial agents

In the search for new anti-mycobacterial agents, we revealed the importance of imidazo-[2,1-b]-thiazole and benzo-[d]-imidazo-[2,1-b]-thiazole carboxamide derivatives. We designed, in silico ADMET predicted and synthesized four series of novel imidazo-[2,1-b]-thiazole and benzo-[d]-imidazo-[2,1-b]-thiazole carboxamide analogues in combination with piperazine and various 1,2,3 triazoles. All the synthesized derivatives were characterized by 1H NMR, 13C NMR, HPLC and MS spectral analysis and evaluated for in vitro antitubercular activity. The most active benzo-[d]-imidazo-[2,1-b]-thiazole derivative IT10, carrying a 4-nitro phenyl moiety, displayed IC90 of 7.05 μM and IC50 of 2.32 μM against Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) H37Ra, while no acute cellular toxicity was observed (>128 μM) towards the MRC-5 lung fibroblast cell line. Another benzo-[d]-imidazo-[2,1-b]-thiazole compound, IT06, which possesses a 2,4-dichloro phenyl moiety, also showed significant activity with IC50 2.03 μM and IC90 15.22 μM against the tested strain of Mtb. Furthermore, the selected hits showed no activity towards a panel of non-tuberculous mycobacteria (NTM), thus suggesting a selective inhibition of Mtb by the tested imidazo-[2,1-b]-thiazole derivatives over the selected panel of NTM. Molecular docking and dynamics studies were also carried out for the most active compounds IT06 and IT10 in order to understand the putative binding pattern, as well as stability of the protein-ligand complex, against the selected target Pantothenate synthetase of Mtb.

Synthesis of New Thiazole Clubbed Imidazo[2,1-b]thiazole Hybrid as Antimycobacterial Agents

Aims:

The study aims to synthesize bioactive hybrid pharmacophores (thiazole ring and imidazo[2,1-b]thiazole system) by incorporating them to one biological assessment molecular system.

Background:

Literature survey revealed that various imidazo[2,1-b]thiazoles, thiazoles and hydrazones have powerful anti-mycobacterial activity.

Objective:

This study demonstrates the effectiveness of molecular hybridization and the scope for imidazo[2,1-b]thiazole-hydrazone-thiazoles to develop as promising anti-mycobacterial agents.

Method:

Several imidazo[2,1-b]thiazole–hydrazine-thiazoles 5a-g, 7a,b, 9a,b, 11a,b, 13, and 15a,b were generated using a molecular hybridization strategy and assessed against Mycobacterium tuberculosis (ATCC 25618) for their in vitro antituberculous activity.

Result:

Derivative 7b (MIC = 0.98 μg/mL) has shown the most promising anti-mycobacterial activity among the series tested. Brief structure-activity relationship studies found that the thiazole of chlorophenyl or pyridine or coumarin had a significant relation with the anti-mycobacterial activity.

Conclusion:

Promising anti-mycobacterial activity of compound 7b compared with reference drug suggests that this compound may contribute as a lead compound in search of new potential anti-mycobacterial agents.

[3+2] Cycloaddition Reaction for the Stereoselective Synthesis of a New Spirooxindole Compound Grafted Imidazo[2,1-b]thiazole Scaffold: Crystal Structure and Computational Study

A new spirooxindole hybrid engrafted imidazo[2,1-b]thiazole core structure was designed and achieved via [3+2] cycloaddition reaction approach. One multi-component reaction between the ethylene derivative based imidazo[2,1-b]thiazole scaffold with 6-Cl-isatin and the secondary amine under heat conditions afforded the desired compound in a stereoselective manner. The relative absolute configuration was assigned based on single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis. Hirshfeld calculations for 4 revealed the importance of the H…H (36.8%), H…C (22.9%), Cl…H (10.4%) and S…H (6.6%), as well as the O…H (4.7%), N…H (5.3%), Cl…C (1.6%), Cl…O (1.0%) and N…O (0.5%) contacts in the crystal stability. DFT calculations showed excellent straight-line correlations (R2 = 0.9776–0.9962) between the calculated and experimental geometric parameters. The compound has polar nature (3.1664 Debye). TD-DFT and GIAO calculations were used to assign and correlate the experimental UV-Vis and NMR spectra, respectively.

Synthesis of novel 2, 3, 5-tri-substituted thiazoles with anti-inflammatory and antibacterial effect causing clinical pathogens

BACKGROUND

The present work is an extension of ongoing efforts toward the development and identification of new molecules as monotherapy displaying anti-inflammatory and anti-infective activities and a wide-range of gastrointestinal selectivity. A series of novel set of trisubstituted thiazole compounds (AR-17a to AR-27a) have synthesized and evaluated for their in-vitro and in-vivo anti-inflammatory activities. Synthesized trisubstituted thiazole compounds were also evaluated for their potential antibacterial activity against clinical pathogens causing infectious disease.

MATERIAL AND METHOD

The structures of synthesized compounds were characterized by FTIR, ¹H NMR, Mass spectroscopic techniques and evaluated for their in-vitro and in-vivo anti-inflammatory effects using the human red blood cell (HRBC) membrane stabilization method and a carrageenan-induced rat paw oedema model, respectively, Diclofenac sodium and Ibuprofen were used as standard drugs. The synthesized compounds AR-17atoAR-27a screened for their in-vitro antibacterial activity against the gram-positive bacteria Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC25923) and Enterococcus faecalis (ATCC29212) and the gram-negative bacteria Escherichia coli (ATCC8739) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (ATCC9027) using ciprofloxacin and cefdinir as standard drugs.

RESULT

Compounds AR-17a and AR-27a elicited maximum anti-inflammatory activity, providing 59% and 61% protection at 20mg/kg, respectively, in the inflamed paw model. Among the tested compounds, AR-17a (6.25), (54) and AR-27a (1.56), (52) had the least minimum inhibitory concentration values and the highest zone of inhibition, indicating their marked antibacterial activities. The lowest conc. were observed at 1.56, 6.25μg/mL for inhibition of bacteria by most of the compounds.

CONCLUSION

Novel set of trisubstituted thiazole compounds (AR-17a to AR-27a) have synthesized and characterized successfully. The preliminary screening revealed that these compounds possess promising anti-inflammatory and antibacterial activities. In addition, the objective of the study was achieved with few of the promising structures like AR-17a to AR-27a, which are prove to be potential monotherapy candidates for the treatment of chronic inflammatory diseases and bacterial infections.

Design and synthesis of novel Imidazo[2,1-b]thiazole derivatives as potent antiviral and antimycobacterial agents

A series of novel acyl-hydrazone (4a-d) and spirothiazolidinone (5a-d, 6a-d) derivatives of imidazo[2,1-b]thiazole were synthesized and evaluated for their antiviral and antimycobacterial activity. The antituberculosis activity was evaluated by using the Microplate Alamar Blue Assay and the antiviral activity was evaluated against diverse viruses in mammalian cell cultures. According to the biological activity studies of the compounds, 5a-c displayed hope promising antitubercular activity, 6d was found as potent for Coxsackie B4 virus, 5d was found as effective against Feline corona and Feline herpes viruses. Consequently, the obtained results displayed that, 5a-d and 6d present a leading structure for future drug development due to its straightforward synthesis and relevant bioactivity.