Design and synthesis of novel 5-aminosalicylate (5-ASA)-4-thiazolinone hybrid derivatives with promising antiproliferative activity

Two privileged pharmacophores were assembled in one molecular frame involving 5-aminosalicylate and 4-thiazolinones that can be found in different stereochemical features. The compounds were fully characterized and evaluated for antiproliferative activity against four human cancer cell lines and some are equipotent to doxorubicin with lower cytotoxicity to normal cells. The most interesting finding relates to compound 10, which shows an IC50 value of 70 nM against MCF-7 cells, while the IC50 against human fibroblasts is 10 mu M. The results of this study indicate that the new compounds are optimal anti-cancer leading compounds and merit further studies to optimize their structure, detect their biotargets and in vivo activity. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.