Design, synthesis, and in vitro antitumor activity evaluation of novel 4-pyrrylamino quinazoline derivatives

Here, we describe the design and synthesis of two series of 4-pyrrylamino quinazolines as new analogs of the epidermal growth factor receptor inhibitor gefitinib. In vitro antitumor activity of these novel compounds against pancreatic (Miapaca2) and prostate (DU145) cancer cell lines was evaluated. Compared with the parental gefitinib, all 18 derivatives show a greatly increased cytotoxicity to cancer cells. In vitro kinase inhibitory activity on epidermal growth factor receptor was also investigated. Among them, compounds GI-6, GII-4, GII-6, GII-8, and GII-9 are more potential receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK) inhibitors. Based on these results, we propose simple structure-activity relationship to provide information for designing and developing more potent antitumor agents.