Antiproliferative potency of novel benzofuran-2-carboxamides on tumour cell lines: Cell death mechanisms and determination of crystal structure

Abstract In this manuscript the synthesis and biological activity of novel heterocyclic derivatives of benzofuran-2-carboxamides 3a – j and 6a – f is presented. Biological evaluation in vitro revealed that only few compounds exerted concentration-depended antiproliferative effects on tumour cell lines at micromolar concentrations. In particular, 2-imidazolynyl substituted compound 6f showed selectivity on SK-BR-3 cell line while 2- N -acetamidopyridyl substituted 3h and 2-imidazolynyl substituted amide 3i showed selective concentration-dependent antiproliferative effects on SW620 cell line. Compounds 3h and 6f induced apoptosis while compound 3i acted through a cell death mechanism other than apoptosis.