Synthesis and cytotoxic evaluation for some new 2,5-disubstituted pyrimidine derivatives for anticancer activity

An efficient synthetic approach for 2,5-disubstituted pyrimidines has been reported. The desired 2,5-substituted pyrimidines were obtained by Suzuki coupling of 2-substituted benzyloxy-5-bromopyrimidines with various aryl boronic acids in the presence catalytic amount of PdCl2(PPh3)(2) with 0.5 M aqueous Na2CO3 in water at 80 A degrees C. 2-Benzyloxy-5-bromopyrimidines were synthesized, in turn by the reaction of 2-chloro-5-bromopyrimidine with substituted benzyl alcohols in the presence of Cs2CO3 in CH3CN:DMF (1:1). Some of the 2,5-disubstituted pyrimidines have shown moderate in vitro cytotoxic activity against HeLa cell line.