Synthesis and biological evaluation of some 1,2-disubstituted benzimidazole derivatives as new potential anticancer agents

The synthesis of some new 1-(2-aryl-2-oxoethyl)-2-[(morpholine-4-yl)thioxomethyl]benzimidazole derivatives and investigation of their anticancer activities were the aims of this work. 2-(Chloromethyl)benzimidazole compound was reacted with sulfur and morpholine via WillgerodtKindler reaction to give 2-[(morpholine-4-yl)thioxomethyl]benzimidazole. Then, the obtained compound was reacted with appropriate -bromoacetophenone derivatives in the presence of potassium carbonate to give the final products. Structure elucidation of the final compounds was achieved by FT-IR, 1H NMR spectroscopy and MS spectrometry. The anticancer activities of the final compounds were evaluated by MTT assay, BrdU method, and flow cytometric analysis on C6, MCF-7, and A549 tumor cells. Most of the synthesized compounds exhibited considerable selectivity against the MCF-7 and C6 cell lines.