Synthesis, Anticancer, and Molecular Docking Studies of 2-(4-Chlorophenyl)-5-Aryl-1,3,4-Oxadiazole Analogues

In 2013, researchers synthesized 10 2-(4-chlorophenyl)-5-aryl-1,3,4-oxadiazole analogs and assessed their anticancer properties. Compound 4c, with a 4-methoxyphenyl group, exhibited the highest activity, showing an average growth inhibition of 95.37% against various cancer cell lines. Molecular docking studies showed that the oxadiazole ring interacted with key residues in the EGFR tyrosine kinase active site, suggesting that the methoxy group at the para position might enhance EGFR selectivity. The study concluded that compound 4c has potential as an anticancer agent. The compounds were tested at a concentration of 10^(-5)M and showed moderate activity, with docking scores of -5.251 and -5.433 for compounds 4a and 4c, respectively. The most sensitive cell lines included those from CNS, breast, renal, colon, lung, prostate, leukemia, and ovarian cancers. The exact number of cell lines tested was not provided.