Synthesis and spectroscopic characterization of fluorescent 4-aminoantipyrine analogues: Molecular docking and in vitro cytotoxicity studies

•Computer aided drug design concept is proposed to solve biological problems.•We modeled and synthesized a chemical derivative with 93–95% purity.•We performed computational docking and spectral analysis.•We proposed a novel chemical molecule with anticancer drug activity with less cytotoxicity.•Various experimental performances prove that the molecule has good anticancer activity.

Two substituted aromatic carbonyl compounds (compounds 1 and 2) of 4-aminoantipyrine were synthesized by condensation of fluorine substituted benzoyl chlorides and 4-aminoantipyrine. The structures of synthesized derivatives were established on the basis of UV–Vis, IR, and Mass, 1H, 13C NMR and Fluorescence spectroscopy. Both compounds showed significant fluorescence emission and two broad emission bands were observed in the region at 340 nm and 450 nm on excitation at 280 nm. Theoretically to prove that the molecule has anticancer activity against cervical cancer cells, the compounds were analyzed for molecular docking interactions with HPV16-E7 target protein by Glide protocol. Furthermore, 4-aminoantipyrine derivatives were evaluated for their in vitro cytotoxic activity against human cervical cancer cells (SiHa) by MTT assay. Compound 1 showed two fold higher activity (IC50 = 0.912 μM) over compound 2, and its activity was similar to that of Pazopanib, suggesting that although the two compounds were chemically very similar the difference in substituent on the phenyl moiety caused changes in properties.

Graphical abstractFigure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload as PowerPoint slide