Synthesis and characterization of novel bioactive 1,2,4-oxadiazole natural product analogs bearing the N-phenylmaleimide and N-phenylsuccinimide moieties

• Published in: Beilstein journal of organic chemistry 2013-10, Vol.9 (1), p.2202-2215
• Main Authors: Maftei, Catalin V, Fodor, Elena, Jones, Peter G, Franz, M Heiko, Kelter, Gerhard, Fiebig, Heiner, Neda, Ion
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 1,2,4-oxadiazoles; antitumor activity; bioisosteres; Chemistry; Full Research Paper; maleimide; natural product analogs
• ISSN: 1860-5397; 1860-5397
• DOI: 10.3762/bjoc.9.259

Taking into consideration the biological activity of the only natural products containing a 1,2,4-oxadiazole ring in their structure (quisqualic acid and phidianidines A and B), the natural product analogs 1-(4-(3-tert-butyl-1,2,4-oxadiazol-5-yl)phenyl)pyrrolidine-2,5-dione (4) and 1-(4-(3-tert-butyl-1,2,4-oxadiazol-5-yl)phenyl)-1H-pyrrole-2,5-dione (7) were synthesized starting from 4-(3-tert-butyl-1,2,4-oxadiazol-5-yl)aniline (1) in two steps by isolating the intermediates 4-(4-(3-tert-butyl-1,2,4-oxadiazol-5-yl)phenylamino)-4-oxobutanoic acid (3) and (Z)-4-(4-(3-tert-butyl-1,2,4-oxadiazol-5-yl)phenylamino)-4-oxobut-2-enoic acid (6). The two natural product analogs 4 and 7 were then tested for antitumor activity toward a panel of 11 cell lines in vitro by using a monolayer cell-survival and proliferation assay. Compound 7 was the most potent and exhibited a mean IC50 value of approximately 9.4 µM. Aniline 1 was synthesized by two routes in one-pot reactions starting from tert-butylamidoxime and 4-aminobenzoic acid or 4-nitrobenzonitrile. The structures of compounds 1, 2, 4, 5 and 6 were confirmed by X-ray crystallography.