Pyrazolylphenanthroimidazole heterocycles: synthesis, biological and molecular docking studies

The synthesis of a series of novel pyrazolylphenanthroimidazoles 6a-6j has been accomplished utilizing a multi-step synthetic protocol, and characterized through physical and spectral techniques. Among them, the molecules possessing para -bromo ( 6d ), para -methyl ( 6f ) and para -nitro ( 6j ) phenyl substituents on the pyrazole scaffold displayed similar anti-inflammatory activity and the one with no substituents on the aryl unit ( 6a ) exhibited the highest anti-inflammatory profile. While investigating the DPPH radical scavenging activity, the synthesized chemical entity with a para -methoxyphenyl group attached at the pyrazole structural motif ( 6i ) revealed the highest activity when compared to the other synthesized molecules. Furthermore, the evaluation of cytotoxic activity of the synthesized molecule ( 6a ) exerted significant activity against both the pancreatic cell lines such as AsPC1 and SW1990. Besides, while performing the molecular docking studies of 6a with B-cell lymphoma 2, an appreciable binding affinity (−9.04 kcal mol −1 ) has been observed. The results of the present examination imply that these chemical entities could be used as efficient intermediates for the construction of biopertinent molecules. The synthesis of a series of novel pyrazolylphenanthroimidazoles 6a-6j has been accomplished utilizing a multi-step synthetic protocol, and characterized through physical and spectral techniques.