Synthesis and biological evaluation of novel imidazopyrimidin-3-amines as anticancer agents

Groebke–Blackburn–Bienayme reaction has been utilized for the synthesis of new imidazo[1,2-a]pyrimidine derivatives as novel anticancer agents. The cytotoxic activities of compounds were evaluated against human cancer cell lines including MCF-7, T-47D, and MDA-MB-231, compared with etoposide as the standard drug. Among the tested compounds, hydroxy- and/or methoxy-phenyl derivatives (6a–c and 6k) with IC50 values of 6.72–14.36 μm were more potent than etoposide against all cell lines. The acridine orange/ethidium bromide double staining and DNA fragmentation studies demonstrated that the cytotoxic effect of 3-hydroxy-4-methoxyphenyl derivative 6c is associated with apoptosis in cancer cells.