Synthesis and antitumor activity evaluation of new 2-(4-aminophenyl)benzothiazole derivatives bearing different heterocyclic rings

Twenty-five new N-[4-(benzothiazole-2-yl)phenyl]acetamide derivatives bearing different heterocyclic ring systems were synthesized using 2-(4-aminophenyl)benzothiazole structure as a pharmacophoric group. Final compounds were screened for their potential antitumor activity in vitro against approximately 60 human tumor cell lines derived from nine neoplastic diseases at National Cancer Institute, USA. 2-(4-Aminophenyl)benzothiazole structure was prepared by the reaction of 4-aminobenzoic acid and 2-aminothiophenol in polyphosphoric acid using microwave irradiation. After acetylation reaction, amide compounds 2a and 2b were obtained, which were then reacted with 2-mercapto(benz)imidazole/benzothiazole/benzoxazole derivatives in acetone with the presence of potassium carbonate to gain final compounds (3-27). Among all tested compounds, compound 10, namely N-[4-(benzothiazole-2-yl)-3-chlorophenyl]-2-[(benzimidazole-2-yl)thio]acetamide, and compound 16, namely N-[4-(benzothiazole-2-yl)phenyl]-2-[(1,5-diphenyl-1H-imidazole-2-yl)thio]acetamide, were found to be of considerable anticancer activity against some cancer cell lines.