Synthesis and evaluation of new chalcones and oximes as anticancer agents

Complex illnesses, such as cancer, are often caused by many disorders, gene mutations, or pathways. Biological pathways play a significant part in the development of these diseases. Multi-target directed ligands (MTDLs) have been used by medicinal chemists recently in an effort to find single molecules that can affect many targets concurrently. In this work, several chalcones containing the ligustrazine moiety were synthesized and tested for their in vitro anticancer activity and several cancer markers, including EGFR, BRAF^V600E, c-Met, and tubulin polymerization, in order to uncover multitarget bioactive compounds. In assays using multiple cancer cell lines, the majority of the compounds examined showed strong anticancer activity against them. To synthesize oximes, all of the chalcones were used as precursors. The IC₅₀ values of two compounds (11g and 11e) were found to be 0.87, 0.28, 2.43, 1.04 μM and 11d, 1.47, 0.79, 3.8, 1.63 μM respectively, against A-375, MCF-7, HT-29 and H-460 cell lines. These IC₅₀ values revealed an excellent antiproliferative activity compared to those of the positive control foretinib, (IC₅₀ = 1.9, 1.15, 3.97, and 2.86 μM). Careful examination of their structure and configuration revealed that both compounds had an oxime functional group with z configuration, in place of carbonyl functional group, along with a 2-phenyl thiophenyl moiety with or without a bromo group at position-5. The possible binding pattern was implied by docking simulation, inferring the possibility of introducing interactions with the nearby tubulin chain. Since the novel structural trial has been conducted with a detailed structure activity relationship discussion, this work might stimulate new ideas in further modification of multitarget anti-cancer agents and therapeutic approaches.