Design, synthesis, and dual evaluation of novel quinoline and quinolinium iodide salt derivatives as potential anticancer and antibacterial agents

A series of novel quinoline and quinolinium iodide derivatives were designed and synthesized to discover potential anticancer and antibacterial agents. With regard to anticancer properties, in vitro cytotoxicities against three human cancer cell lines (A-549, HeLa and SGC-7901) were evaluated. The antibacterial properties against two strains, Escherichia coli (ATCC 29213) and Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC 8739), along with minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values were evaluated. The target alkyliodine substituted compounds exhibited significant antitumor and antibacterial activity, of which compound 8-((4-(benzyloxy)phenyl)amino)-7-(ethoxycarbonyl)-5-propyl-[1,3]dioxolo[4,5-g]qui nolin-5-ium (12) was found to be the most potent derivative with IC50 values of 4.45+/-0.88, 4.74+/-0.42, 14.54+/-1.96, and 32.12+/-3.66 against A-549, HeLa, SGC-7901, and L-02 cells, respectively, stronger than the positive controls 5-FU and MTX. Furthermore, compound 12 had the most potent bacterial inhibitory activity. The MIC of this compound against both E. coli and S. aureus was 3.125 nmol mL(-1) , which was smaller than that against the reference agents amoxicillin and ciprofloxacin.