Sulfur and selenium derivatives of quinazoline and pyrido[2,3-d]pyrimidine: Synthesis and study of their potential cytotoxic activity in vitro

The synthesis, cytotoxic activities and selectivities of 35 derivatives related to quinazoline and pyrido[2,3-d]pyrimidine are described. The synthesized compounds were screened in vitro against four tumoral cell lines – leukemia (CCRF-CEM), colon (HT-29), lung (HTB-54) and breast (MCF-7) – and two cell lines derived from non-malignant cell lines, one mammary (184B5) and one from bronchial epithelium (BEAS-2B). MCF-7 and HTB-54 were the most sensitive cell lines with GI50 values below 10 μM for eleven and ten compounds, respectively. Two compounds (2o and 3a) were identified that evoked a marked cytotoxic effect in all cell lines tested and one compound, 7h, was potent and selective against MCF-7. A preliminary study into the mechanism of the potent derivatives 2o, 3a and 7h indicated that the cytotoxic activities of these compounds might be mediated by inducing cell death without affecting cell cycle phases.

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► Thirty five sulfur and selenium quinazoline and pyridopyrimidine were synthesized.
► Compounds were tested as cytotoxic agents against four tumoral cell lines.
► Specific structural modifications carried out for the synthesized compounds.
► Some derivatives exhibited higher antiproliferative activity than reference drugs.