Silica-supported thionyl chloride-assisted synthesis and bioassay of novel tetrazinan-3-thione and 3-oxo-pyrazolidine-4-carbonitrile derivatives of steroids

A series of tetrazinan-3-thione and 3-oxo-pyrazolidine-4-carbonitrile derivatives of steroids(1–3) were synthesized with silica-chloride as a heterogeneous catalyst. The synthesized compounds 4–9 were obtained in substantial yields. In vitro evaluation of anticancer and antioxidant activity of the synthesized compounds was carried out via 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide(MTT) and 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl(DPPH) assays, respectively. Compound 6 exhibited promising anti-proliferative activity towards a panel of cancer cell lines. The significant activity of compound 6 was further ascertained on structural, molecular modelling and docking studies. This study may provide a valuable insight into the further design and development of more potent biologically active compounds.