Synthesis and antiproliferative activity of some new fluorinated Schiff bases derived from 1,2,4-triazoles

•A series of new fluorinated Schiff bases 4(a–j) were synthesized.•New compounds were characterized by different spectral techniques.•All the synthesized compounds were screened for their antiproliferative activity.•Compounds 4f, 4g and 4h were found to be the most potent of this series.

In the present study, 2,6-diflurobenzohydrazide 1 and 4-fluorophenylisothiocyanate were used as the starting materials to synthesize 5-(2,6-diflurophenyl)-N3-(4-fluorophenyl)-4H-1,2,4-triazole-3,4-diamine 3. Further, compound 3 reacted with fluoro substituted benzaldehydes to yield a series of Schiff bases 4(a–j). All the title compounds were characterized using IR, 1H NMR, 13C NMR, MS and elemental analyses. New compounds were evaluated for their antiproliferative effect using the MTT assay method against four human cancer cell lines (K562, COLO-205, MDA-MB231 and IMR-32) for the time period of 24 h. Among the series, compounds 4f, 4g and 4h showed good activity on all cell lines except K562, whereas the other compounds in the series exhibited moderate activity. Compound 4g could be a potential anticancer agent and therefore deserves further research.

Graphical abstractA series of new fluorinated Schiff bases 4(a–j) were synthesized and screened for their antiproliferative activity against MTT model. Compound 4g was found to be most potent among the series.Figure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload as PowerPoint slide