Synthesis and antitumor activity of some 2, 3-disubstituted quinazolin-4(3H)-ones and 4, 6- disubstituted- 1, 2, 3, 4-tetrahydroquinazolin-2H-ones

The synthesis of some new 3-substituted quinazolin-4(3H)-ones and 3,4-dihydro-quinazolin-2(1H)-one derivatives and their biological evaluation as antitumor agents using the National Cancer Institute (NCI), disease oriented antitumor screening protocol are investigated. Compounds 2-[2-(4-chlorophenyl)-2-oxo-ethylthio]-3-(4-methoxyphenyl)quinazolin-4(3H)-one (3b), and 3-(4-chlorophenyl)-2-[2-(4-methoxyphenyl)-2-oxo-ethylthio]quinazolin-4(3H)-one (3d), are broad-spectrum antitumors showing effectiveness toward numerous cell lines that belong to different tumor subpanels, Compounds 3b, 3d are the most active members in this study. Those two quinazoline analogues could be considered as useful templates for future development to obtain more potent antitumor agent(s).

Graphical abstractFigure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload as PowerPoint slideResearch highlights► The manuscript deals with the synthesis of some new 3-substituted quinazolin-4(3H)-ones and 3,4-dihydro-quinazolin-2(1H)-one derivatives and their biological evaluation as antitumor agents. ► Structure–activity correlation, based on the number of cell lines proved sensitive toward each of the synthesized individual compounds, revealed that, 3-substituted quinazolin-4(3H)-ones heterocycles (3–10) are more active antitumors than 3,4-dihydro-quinazolin-2(1H)-one counterparts (12–18). ► Compounds 2-[2-(4-chlorophenyl)-2-oxo-ethylthio]-3-(4-methoxyphenyl)quinazolin-4(3H)-one (3b), and 3-(4-chlorophenyl)-2-[2-(4-methoxyphenyl)-2-oxo-ethylthio]quinazolin-4(3H)-one (3d), are broad-spectrum antitumors showing effectiveness toward numerous cell lines that belong to different tumor subpanels. ► Those two quinazoline analogues could be considered as useful templates for future development to obtain more potent antitumor agent(s).