Design, synthesis of novel substituted imidazole derivatives: Cytotoxicity and molecular docking studies

A novel series of 5-(2-chlorophenyl)-4-(3,4-dimethoxyphenyl)-2-(substituted phenyl)-1H-imidazole derivatives 3(a-m) were synthesized by one pot synthesis of diketone, aldehyde and ammonium acetate. The structures of novel compounds were established by interpretation of IR, 1H NMR, 13C NMR and Mass spectral data. Evaluated their invitro anticancer activity against human cervical cancer HeLa cell line by MTT assay using Cisplatin as standard reference drug. Compounds 3e (R3 = 4-cyanophenoxy), 3c (R3 = 2-nitrophenoxy) and 3 g (R2 = 4-nitrophenoxy & R3 = methoxy) exhibited outstanding activity against the HeLa cell line with IC50 value of 2.7 ± 0.4351 μM, 4.824 ± 0.8869 μM and 6.877 ± 0.6042 μM respectively, compared to Cisplatin IC50 value of 7.06 ± 0.36 μM. Molecular docking simulations were performed against the crystal epidermal growth factor receptor ensued the best docking scores and thought-provoking binding interactions compared to co-crystalized ligand Erlotinib. [Display omitted]