Synthesis and in vitro antiproliferative activity of 2,5-disubstituted-1,3,4-oxadiazoles containing trifluoromethyl benzenesulfonamide moiety

A series of new 2,5-disubstituted-1,3,4-oxadiazoles 6(a–j) have been conveniently synthesized by intermolecular oxidative cyclization of (E)-2-(arylbenzylidene)-2-[(4-methoxyphenyl)amino]acetohydrazides promoted by iodobenzene diacetate as an oxidant. The synthesized compounds were characterized by elemental analyses, FT-IR, LCMS, 1H NMR, and 13C NMR spectral studies. All the compounds were evaluated for their in vitro antiproliferative effect using the 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide assay method against four human cancer cell lines (K562, Colo-205, MDA-MB 231, IMR-32) for the time period of 24 h. Among the analogs, compounds 6h and 6i showed good activity on all cell lines, whereas the other compounds in the series exhibited moderate activity.