Synthesis and antiproliferative activity in vitro of new pyrido[1,4-b]diazepine derivatives and imidazo[4,5-b]pyridine

A novel series of esters 8-10 and hydrazones 4-6 was synthesized from 4-aryl-2-phenacylidene-1,3,4,5-tetrahydropyrido[2,3-b][1,4]diazepine (1-3). Subsequent treatment of hydrazone 4 with p-chlorbenzaldehyde furnished azine 7. Long-standing heating of ester 8 with hydrazine hydrate afforded 3-[1-(p-chlorophenylene)-2-(5-phenyl-1H-pyrazol-3-yl)-ethyl]-1,3-dihydroimidazo[4,5-b]pyridin-2-one (11). The structures of 4-6 and 8-10 were identified by the results of elemental analysis and their IR, 1H-NMR and MS spectra. Additionally, the structure of 11 was confirmed by X-ray diffraction method. Compounds 8-10 and 11 were examined for their antiproliferative activity in vitro against the cells of 5 human cancer cell lines, using SRB or MTT technique. Among tested compounds, only 11 revealed cytotoxic activity in vitro against all cell lines applied with ID50 (inhibitory dose 50%) values lower than 4 microg/mL, which is an international activity criterion for synthetic compounds. All compounds inhibit the proliferation of HL-60 human promyelocytic leukemia cell line.