Synthesis, Quantitative Structure–Activity Relationship and Biological Evaluation of 1,3,4-Oxadiazole Derivatives Possessing Diphenylamine Moiety as Potential Anticancer Agents

Abstract

Synthesis of 2,5-disubstituted-1,3,4-oxadiazole (2a–c), 3-substituted aminomethyl-5-substituted-1,3,4-oxadiazole-2(3H)-thione (4a–m) and 2-substituted thio-5-substituted-1,3,4-oxadiazole (5a, b) had been described. All the synthesized derivatives were screened for anticancer activity against HT29 and MCF7 cancer cell lines using Sulfo-Rodamine B (SRB) standard method. Most of the tested compounds exploited potent antiproliferative activity against HT29 cancer cell line rather than MCF7 cancer cell line. Compounds 2a–c, 4f and 5a exhibited potent cytotoxicity (IC₅₀ 1.3–2.0 µM) and selectivity against HT29 cancer cell line. Quantitative structure–activity relationship (QSAR) study was applied to find a correlation between the experimental antiproliferative activities of the newly synthesized oxadiazole derivatives with their physicochemical parameter and topological index.