Design, Synthesis, Structure‐Activity Relationship and Docking Studies of Novel Functionalized Arylvinyl‐1,2,4‐Trioxanes as Potent Antiplasmodial as well as Anticancer Agents

A novel series of synthetic functionalized arylvinyl‐1,2,4‐trioxanes (8 a–p) has been prepared and assessed for their in vitro antiplasmodial activity against the chloroquine‐resistant Pf INDO strain of Plasmodium falciparum by using a SYBR green‐I fluorescence assay. Compounds 8 g (IC50=0.051 μM; SI=589.41) and 8 m (IC50=0.059 μM; SI=55.93) showed 11‐fold and >9‐fold more potent antiplasmodial activity, respectively, as compared to chloroquine (IC50=0.546 μM; SI=36.63). Different in silico docking studies performed on many target proteins revealed that the most active arylvinyl‐1,2,4‐trioxanes (8 g and 8 m) showed dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR) binding affinities on a par with those of chloroquine and artesunate. The in vitro cytotoxic potentials of 8 a–p were also evaluated against human lung (A549) and liver (HepG2) cancer cell lines along with immortalized normal lung (BEAS‐2B) and liver (LO2) cell lines. Following screening, five derivatives viz. 8 a, 8 h, 8 l, 8 m and 8 o (IC50=1.65–31.7 μM; SI=1.08–10.96) were found to show potent cytotoxic activity against (A549) lung cancer cell lines, with selectivity superior to that of the reference compounds artemisinin (IC50=100 μM), chloroquine (IC50=100 μM) and artesunic acid (IC50=9.85 μM; SI=0.76). In fact, the most active 4‐naphthyl‐substituted analogue 8 l (IC50=1.65 μM; SI >10) exhibited >60 times more cytotoxicity than the standard reference, artemisinin, against A549 lung cancer cell lines. In silico docking studies of the most active anticancer compounds, 8 l and 8 m, against EGFR were found to validate the wet lab results. In summary, a new series of functionalized aryl‐vinyl‐1,2,4‐trioxanes (8 a–p) has been shown to display dual potency as promising antiplasmodial and anticancer agents. Multitasking molecules: Functionalized arylvinyl‐1,2,4‐trioxanes have been prepared and assessed for their in vitro activities. Two compounds showed approximately ten times the antiplasmodial activity of chloroquine. A third compound exhibited >60 times the cytotoxicity of artemisinin against a lung cancer cell line. In silico docking studies validated that these compounds have dual potency as antiplasmodial and anticancer agents.