Synthesis, in vitro anticancer and antimycobacterial evaluation of new 5-(2,5-dimethoxyphenyl)-1,3,4-thiadiazole-2-amino derivatives

Design strategy for new 2,5-disubstituted-1,3,4-thiadiazole derivatives. [Display omitted] A series of 2,5-disubstituted-1,3,4-thiadiazole derivatives 5a–5l, 7a–7e and 9 have been synthesised and screened for in vitro antimycobacterial activity against Mycobacterium smegmatis MC-155. In addition these compounds have also been screened for cytotoxic activity against cancer cell lines HT-29, MDA-MB-231 by MTT colorimetric assay. The compounds are well characterized by spectral analysis viz. 1H NMR, 13C NMR, FT-IR, mass and HRMS. Screening results indicate that compounds 5g, 7a possess good antitubercular activity with MIC value 65.74 and 40.86, respectively, compounds 5g, 7a, 7b, 7d, 7e and 9 displayed promising cytotoxic activity against the cell lines tested. 5g and 7a stand out to be potent antimycobacterial and anticancer agents among the tested series. Further the title compounds were also tested on human normal cells HEK293T and are found to be safer with lesser cytotoxicity. It is interesting to observe that compound 5g has come out to be safer, potent anticancer and antimycobacterial agent.