Design, synthesis and biological evaluation of benzyl 2-(1H-imidazole-1-yl) pyrimidine analogues as selective and potent Raf inhibitors

The synthesis of a novel series of (3,4--aminobenzyl/benzoyl)-1H-imidazol-1-yl pyrimidin-2-yl derivatives 9, 10, 18, 19 and their in vitro antiproliferative activities against the A375P human melanoma cell line and the U937 human leukemic monocyte lymphoma cell line are described. Potent antiproliferative effects were found from 9l, 9s and 10c; 10c was found to be a highly potent and selective BRAF V600E and CRAF inhibitor (IC50 = 38.3 nM and 8.79 nM).