SYNTHESIS AND BIOLOGICAL EVALUATION OF NOVEL 6-(SUBSTITUTED BENZYLIDENE)-2-METHYLTHIAZOLO [2,3-b] OXAZOL-5(6H)-ONE AS POTENTIAL ANTICANCER AGENTS

Heterocyclic systems are a part of a large number of drugs and biologically relevant molecules. The chemistry and biological study of heterocyclic compounds have been an interesting field for a long time, and oxazole is one such moiety that has gained attention in recent times due to its increasing importance in the field of medicinal chemistry. Oxazole is a doubly unsaturated five-membered ring having one oxygen atom at position 1 and nitrogen at position 3 separated by a carbon atom in between. The substituted pattern in oxazole derivatives play a vital role in delineating the biological activities like antimicrobial, antifungal, antitubercular, anticancer. The utility of oxazole as intermediates for the synthesis of new chemical entities in medicinal chemistry has been increased in the past few years. Oxazole is an important heterocyclic nucleus having a wide spectrum of biological activities, which drew the attention of researchers around the globe to synthesis various oxazole derivatives and screen them for their various pharmacological activities like antimicrobial activity, antitubercular activity, anticancer activity. 6-(substitutedbenzylidene)-2-methylthiazolo [2, 3-b] oxazol-5(6H)-one were prepared by dissolving 1- hydroxypropan-2-one and KSCN in ethanol and screened for anticancer activity. A series of 6-(substituted benzylidene)-2-methylthiazolo [2, 3-b] oxazol-5(6H)-one O13-24 were tested against anticancer activity. Their activity was evaluated by MTT assay method against cervical HeLa (ME 180) cells. The results of studies indicates that, among the compounds, O13, O14, O15, O16, O17, O21, O23, and O24 displayed significant activity. The purity of the compounds was characterized by means of IR, ¹HNMR mass spectral, and elemental analysis. Of these compounds, O14 and O24 showed enhanced activity.