Ring‐B Modification of Combretastatin A‐4 to Generate Thiazolidine‐2,4‐dione‐1,2,3‐triazole Hybrids as Tubulin Polymerization Inhibitors

Abstract In this work we have described the synthesis of thiazolidine‐2,4‐dione‐1,2,3‐triazole hybrids ( 7 a – n ) via ring‐B modification of Combretastatin A‐4 involving reactions namely Knoevenagel condensation, O‐propargylation and finally copper (I) catalyzed azide‐alkyne cycloaddition (CuAAC). They were tested for the in vitro anticancer activity against A549, MCF‐7 and HeLa cell lines using MTT assay where some compounds were exhibited more potency than the Nocodazole. In vitro tubulin polymerization inhibition assay for the same compounds revealed that they were more potent in inhibiting tubulin with IC 50 values ranging from 0.22 μM to 0.64 μM compared reference drug Combretastatin A‐4. Molecular docking studies of active compounds with α,β‐tubulin revealed that they compounds have more binding energies than that of combretastatin A‐4. Finally, in silico pharmacokinetic profile was achieved for the same compounds using SWISS/ADME and pkCSM, where some of them have followed Lipinski rule and Veber rule.