Quinoline-pyrimidine hybrid compounds from 3-acetyl-4-hydroxy-1-methylquinolin-2(1H)-one: Study on synthesis, cytotoxicity, ADMET and molecular docking

Abstract Some novel 2-amino-6-aryl-4-(4′-hydroxy-N-methylquinolin-2′-on-3′-yl)pyrimidines have been synthesized from α,β-unsaturated ketones of 3-acetyl-4-hydroxy-N-methylquinolin-2-one by reaction of corresponding α,β-unsaturated ketones with guanidine hydrochloride. The purity and structure of the obtained products have been confirmed by thin layer chromatography, IR, 1H NMR, 13C NMR, HSQC, HMBC and MS spectra. All the synthesized of 3-(2-amino-6-arylpyrimidin-4-yl)-4-hydroxy-1-methylquinolin-2(1H)-ones 6a-i were screened for their in vitro cytotoxic activity against human hepatocellular carcinoma HepG2 and squamous cell carcinoma KB cancer lines. Compounds 6b and 6e had the best activity in the series, with IC50 values equal to 1.33 μM. Compounds 6a-g exhibited weak or insignificant activity with liver cancer cell lines HepG2, while compounds 6a and 6g had more powerful activity in this sequence, with IC50 values equal to 47.99 and 89.38 μM, respectively. ADMET properties showed that compounds 6b, 6e, and 6f possessed the drug-likeness behavior. Cross-docking results indicated that two hydrogen bonding interactions in the binding pocket, as potential ligand binding hot-spot residues for compounds 6b and 6e, may be one of the mechanisms of action responsible for the higher cytotoxic effect on HepG2 and KB cells.