Synthesis of novel quinoline derivatives and their cytotoxicity in A549 lung cancer cells
Authors:   , Nkosi S'busiso Mfan'vele 
Published: July 2021

Quinoline and its derivatives represent an important class of nitrogen-containing heterocylces as they are useful intermediates in organic synthesis and possess a broad spectrum of biological activities, such as anti-asthmatic, anti-inflammatory and anti-malarial activity. Hence, synthesis of novel compounds with potent biological activities is important in medicine. Significant research is directed into the development of new quinoline based structures and new methods for their preparations. In the past, synthesis of complex molecules was accomplished by step-wise reaction. This was time consuming and yield was generally low. Nowadays, multi-component reactions (MCRs) are being used since three or more substrates can be reacted in a one-pot reaction. Therefore yields are higher and the reaction is more efficient. In this research investigation novel quinoline derivatives, using the multi-component reaction protocol, were synthesized. After characterization of the product by several spectroscopic techniques, the biological potential of these compounds were assessed using lung cancer cell lines, bacteria and molecular modeling in an enzymatic system. In the synthetic part of this study, the first step was the preparation of the starting compound 2- chloro-3-formyl quinoline for which the Vilsmeier-Haack cyclisation protocol was used. The cyclisation was carried out by combining DMF and POCl3 at 5°C to form an electrophile which then reacted in situ with N-phenylacetamide at 100ºC to afford 2-chloro-3-formyl quinoline in high yield (95%). This was followed by the synthesis of a series of novel quinoline derivatives in a MCR system comprising 2- chloro-3-formyl quinoline, malononitrile, aromatic amines and dimethyl acetylenedicarboxylate in the presence of a catalytic amount of triethylamine. Valuable features of this routine included high yields, extensive substrate range and straight forward procedures. Eight novel poly-functionalised dihydropyridine quinoline derivatives were synthesized, purified and characterized. The outline for the synthesis of poly-functionalised dihydropyridine quinoline derivatives is presented graphically in Scheme 1. Scheme 2 shows the eight compounds synthesized and used subsequently for further studies. Step 1 CH3 a N O H CHO N Cl Step 2 CHO CN N Cl CN NH2 R O OCH3 b OCH3 O MeO2C MeO2C N Cl CN N NH2 R = m-CH3, o-OCH3, p-Cl, m,p-Cl, o-F, m-F, p-F R Reaction Conditions: a. DMF, POCl3 b. Et3N, EtOH Scheme 1: Graphical representation for the synthesis of poly-functionalised dihydropyridine quinoline derivatives The novel eight compounds were screened for their potential activity in lung cancer cell lines. A549 cells were incubated for 24 hours with a range of concentrations of each compound, in triplicate, in a micro-titre plate together with an untreated control. Each experiment was conducted twice on separate occasions; the results from the first set matched the repeated experiment. The cells were then incubated (37ºC, 5% CO2) with the MTT substrate for 4 hours. Thereafter all supernatants were aspirated and DMSO was added to the wells. Finally the optical density was measured at 570 nm at a reference wavelength of 690 nm with an ELISA plate reader. The net MTT dependant absorbance (optical density) of each sample was calculated by subtracting the average absorbance of the blank from the average absorbance of each sample. Data were represented as mean optical density plus or minus the standard deviation. Four of the synthesized compounds (A1-A8) were evaluated for their cytotoxicity activities. The anti-cancer assay indicated that poly-functionalised dihydropyridine quinoline compounds, A2, A3 and A4 have good potential as anti-cancer drugs. Among them, A2 and A4 proved to be dose dependent with A4 having the highest toxicity at 250 µM and A8 having the highest toxicity at 125, 250 and 500 µM, whereas A1, A5, A6 and A7 were not cytotoxic. O H3CO H3CO O N Cl CN NH2 O H3CO H3CO O N Cl CN N NH2 OCH3 O H3CO H3CO O N Cl CN N NH2 O H3CO H3CO O N Cl CN NH2 CH3 Cl A1 A2 A3 A4 O H3CO H3CO O N Cl CN N NH2 F O H3CO H3CO O N Cl CN N NH2 O H3CO H3CO O N Cl CN NH2 O H3CO H3CO O N Cl CN N NH2 F Cl F Cl A5 A6 A7 A8 Scheme 2: Structures of novel poly-functionalised dihydropyridine quinoline derivatives by MCRs Since molecular docking is a key tool in structural molecular biology and computer-assisted drug design, these compounds were subjected to molecular docking and the binding mode for the compounds, within the active site of the protein, was analyzed. Docking of A1 to Human mdm2 protein provided insights into the binding regions. Three hydrogen bonds were formed between GLU 25 (2.7 Å distance), LEU 27 (3.2 Å distance) and LEU 54 (3.2 Å distance) atoms with binding energy of -8.91 kcal/mol. Docking of A1 with Human mdm2 indicated the lowest binding energy thereby showing strong affinity of the ligand molecule with the receptor which has been stabilized by strong hydrogen bond interactions in the binding pocket. This confirms that A1 is a better inhibitor for E3 ubiquitin-protein ligase mdm2 than all the other compounds tested (A2-A8). Further, the eight novel poly-functionalised dihydropyridine quinoline derivatives were evaluated for their antibacterial activity. This was performed using the MABA method against three strains i.e. Gram negative; Pseudomonas aeruginosa (ATCC 27853), Escherichia coli (ATCC 25922) and Gram positive; Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC 29213) using the broth micro dilution method. Standard antibiotics (ciprofloxacin and nalidixic acid) were used as positive controls and DMSO was used as a negative control. The results obtained from the anti-bacterial assay showed that compounds A4, A7 and A8 have high activity, whereas A2 and A3 showed poor activity against all the tested bacterial strains. Compound A6 showed no activity against S. aureus and E. coli.