Simultaneous synthesis of 4,5-dihydro-3H-azepines and 3H-azepines, bearing alkoxy and alkylsulfanyl substituents, through metallation of 2-aza-1,3,5-trienes by t-BuOK

Indole-fused azepines and analogues as anticancer lead molecules: Privileged findings and future directions

The search for new lead compounds of simple structure, displaying highest quality anti-tumor potency with new mechanisms of action and least adverse effects is the major intention of cancer drug discovery now a days. For the time being, indole-fused azepines emerged as a simple class of compounds prolifically designed with strong pharmacological significances in particular of cancer protecting ability. In the recent years from the efforts of our research group, indole-fused heteroazepines, a simple structural class achieved by fusion of indole with oxygen, sulphur and nitrogen containing heteroazepine rings, have known for its superior outcomes in cancer treatment. Surprisingly, the chemistry and biology of these unique families with an amazing role in cancer drug discovery has remained broadly unexplored. This short review is consequently an endeavor to highlight the preliminary ideas over this structural class and to draw the medical attention towards future development of indole-fused azepines and analogues for their promising function in cancer drug discovery.

Indole-fused benzooxazepines: a new structural class of anticancer agents

Aim:

A new series of compounds (1a–16a) bearing indole-fused benzooxazepine was synthesized, characterized and evaluated for anticancer activity.

Materials & methods:

In this study, all the synthesized compounds were screened via in vitro anticancer testing on Hep-G2 cancer cell line. A computational study was carried out on cancer-related targets including IL-2, IL-6, COX-2 Caspase-3 and Caspase-8.

Results:

Some of the synthesized compounds effectively controlled the growth of cancerous cells.

Conclusion:

The most active compounds – 6a, 10a, 13a, 14a and 15a – exemplify notable anticancer profile with GI₅₀ <10 μg/ml. Preliminary structure–activity relationship among the tested compounds can produce an assumption that the electronegative groups at phenyl ring attached with indole-fused benzooxazepine are instrumental for the activity. Molecular docking study showed crucial hydrogen bond and π–π stacking interactions, with good ADMET profiling and molecular dynamic simulation.

Indole, azepine and six-membered flexible rings are getting much attention for cancer drug discovery. To contribute to the development of drugs for liver cancer, we designed a new structural class of compounds, indole-fused benzooxazepines. All the compounds were subjected to a preliminary bioassay analysis against Hep-G2 cancer cell line to determine their effect. Studies were also performed on various cancer-related targets to understand the mechanism of action. Our findings show that five compounds were of remarkable efficacy and warrant further investigation.