Imidazole Hybrids: A Privileged Class of Heterocycles in Medicinal Chemistry with New Insights into Anticancer Activity

Imidazole is a five-membered heterocyclic system featuring two nitrogen heteroatoms at the 1- and 3-positions of the ring. The imidazole scaffold is particularly suited for kinase inhibition concepts. This further confirms that this scaffold is a privileged structure in the development of anticancer drugs. Considering these key factors and the recent focus of scientists on imidazole compounds, we discuss the anticancer activities of imidazole-containing hybrids and related compounds, highlighting articles published in 2023 that serve as a basis for medicinal chemistry leads. From a chemical perspective, the present review emphasizes hybrid molecules with an imidazole ring in the side chain, imidazole-centered hybrid molecules, condensed imidazole hybrids, hybrid compounds containing two or more imidazole rings, polycyclic imidazole hybrids, imidazole-containing metal complexes, and benzimidazole hybrids.