Synthesis of curcumin based imidazo[2,1-b]thiazole derivatives and their biological evaluation as antiproliferative agents

Abstract

Motivated by the antiproliferative potential of curcumin and imidazothiazoles, a series of curcumin based imidazo[2,1-b] thiazole derivatives have been prepared, characterized and evaluated for their anticancer activity against various human cancer cell lines. These synthesized compounds have been found to have appreciable to moderate activity. Consequently, compounds 8a and 8g display noteworthy cytotoxicity with IC50 values of 7.2 μM and 4.7 μM, respectively, against A549 cell line. Furthermore, compounds 8a, 8b and 8g exhibit substantial cytotoxicity with IC50 values ranging between 9.1 μM to 9.9 μM respectively, against HeLa cell line. Interestingly, compounds 8a and 8g exhibit appreciable cytotoxicity with IC50 values ranging between 7.5 μM to 8.7 μM respectively, against DU145 cancer cell line. Overall, four compunds (8a, 8b, 8g and 8h) demonstrate IC50 values less than 10 μM against selected human cancer cell lines. They could be taken further for investigation of their mode of action and other parameters.