Design, Synthesis, and Anticancer Evaluation of Tetrazole-Fused Benzoxazole Derivatives as Tubulin Binding Agents

Abstract

A novel series of tetrazole fused benzoxazole derivatives 9a–9j are synthesized, and their structures are characterized by ¹H and ¹³C NMR, and mass spectra. The compounds 9a, 9b, 9g, 9h, and 9j demonstrate the highest activity. The compounds 9b and 9g exhibit good anticancer activity, in particular against MCF7, Hop62, and A-549 cell lines with the range of GI₅₀ values from <0.1 to 4.56 μM. Molecular docking study is carried out for the compounds 9a–9j, according to which the compound 9b forms one hydrogen bond with THR766 with the highest docking score (–7.33). This indicates that 9b is effeciently binging to tubulin site.